It’s been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad month for Richmond organizations and institutions. Millions of dollars in federal funding have been pulled from our city thanks to the crass efforts of the Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE). Our organization, Studio Two Three, stands alongside a growing number of local nonprofits rushing to plug the holes left behind by federal grant losses.
In the last two weeks, we’ve seen [publicly shared] reports that Virginia Community Voice, Health Brigade and Oakwood Arts have lost funding. We know that is only a small fraction of local organizations that have been impacted. As a result, Richmonders will lose vital health care services, experience a reduction in arts and cultural programs and products, benefit from fewer environmental efforts to make our city greener and healthier, and will experience the loss of vital neighborhood-level improvements.
Education has also become a highly visible battleground for President Donald Trump’s culture wars, casting our academic institutions into an existential crisis. Should they limit the rights and freedoms of their students to salvage as much public funding as possible, or take courageous steps to defend academic freedom? In the face of these threats, Virginia Commonwealth University has been taking out their angst on their greatest asset—their students.
Last week, three VCU students were invited to walk at their commencement ceremony while their diplomas hung in limbo of an institutional review of misconduct. Their misconduct? Participating in a picnic protest on a VCU lawn next to the Cabell Library. As VCU public relations employees watched, VCU Police surrounded approximately 40 students and began making demands. They declared that students could no longer sit on their blankets (some of which had Pro-Palestine slogans printed on them), hold signs, or remain at that location.
In a public statement, VCU claimed that the primary issue was the location of the gathering. If they’d moved 200 feet, this wouldn’t have happened. These students stood––or in this case sat–– their ground for good reason: VCU has failed to serve its primary purpose as an educational institution. If we punish our students for expressing their political and intellectual autonomy, we deny them of their civil liberties, as well as the skills any good academic institution should aim to nurture.
To this end, VCU has degraded its institutional integrity, casting a shadow on the degrees of everyone who walks onto the stage to receive a diploma in 2025. In an essay penned by Michael Roth, the president of Wesleyan College, to The New York Times on Sept. 2, 2024, he speaks to the importance of honoring the rights of students:
The issue that matters most to many activists right now is the war in Gaza, and protestors will undoubtedly continue to make their voices heard. Last spring at Wesleyan, students built an encampment of up to about 100 tents to protest the war and to call for the university to divest from companies thought to be supporting it. Since the protest was nonviolent and the students in the encampment were careful not to disrupt normal university operations, we allowed it to continue because their right to nonviolent protest was more important than their modest violations of the rules.
VCU, unlike Wesleyan, had one student arrested for holding a sign and withheld the degrees of three others for participating in a protest picnic [pending an investigation]. We believe that the students’ modest violation of the rules merits a helping hand, not an iron fist.
As a Richmond organization led by VCU alumni, we are dismayed by these acts of institutional self-preservation. When you undermine a student’s ability to speak and act freely, you undermine the integrity and legitimacy of your institution. VCU should be protecting the rights of its students and armoring their classrooms for active learning and participation; anything short of that is a violation of the rights of students who have committed themselves to a rigorous and meaningful education.
As the Trump Administration continues its campaign against American civic life and health, we have to stand beside each other and uplift our community assets. These students deserve to receive the diplomas they earned through hard work (and of course, by paying lots of money). We applaud them for standing up for what they believe in and believe their actions are a positive representation of the values conferred to them through their education. We cannot take out our angst and fear on the people who are brave enough to say “enough.” Self-protectionism will not keep our institutions safe under this administration.
We stand alongside a growing list of VCU educators and alumni who are requesting that VCU reconsider these punitive measures and provide a clear explanation for their basis. You can read their letter, in full, below:
Dear Dean Willis and Associate Director Filipchuk,
We write with deep concern regarding the University’s decision to notify at least three VCU students, just two days before graduation, that their degrees will not be conferred until a resolution on an arbitrary disciplinary action is reached. From what we understand, this disciplinary action is connected to an incident that occurred on April 29 in front of Cabell Library. We urge the administration to reconsider this course of action and to provide clear and public justification for such an extraordinary sanction.
To our knowledge, the students in question were engaged in peaceful, nondisruptive activity—sitting on the grass, working on homework, making art, talking with friends. We understand that university police escalated what was a pleasant informal gathering into an aggressive public confrontation in the center of campus, intervening based on a determination that the gathering constituted a “demonstration.” However, prior to the arrival of the police witnesses report no chanting, marching or other conduct typically associated with protest. We further understand that one student was arrested and others were dispersed after being informed that “Legal has determined this is a demonstration.” This statement raises important questions: Who makes such determinations, and on what criteria? What specific space-use policy or rule was violated?
While we recognize the importance of maintaining campus safety and order, we are concerned that disciplinary measures appear to have been applied based not on disruptive behavior, but on the perceived meaning or symbolism of this particular group of students, of what they may represent. As faculty members at VCU we are troubled by the precedent this sets for student expression and campus life.
To deny students their diplomas based on such vague and contested grounds risks undermining core values of fairness, transparency, and academic freedom. We respectfully request that the administration reconsider these punitive measures and provide a clear explanation for their basis.
Onward, together!
Studio Two Three’s Kate Fowler and Ashley Hawkins
Kate Fowler is director of community partnerships and development at Studio Two Three and Ashley Hawkins is the executive director at Studio Two Three, which is a nonprofit arts center based in Manchester with studio access for artists of all levels, plus classes, exhibits and a shop.
Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and not necessarily those of Style Weekly.
