News

Jacob Helt and Kimberley Neal-Helt caught each other’s eye at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart on VCU’s Monroe Park Campus. (Tom Kojcsich, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Ram romances: Their first (and second) impressions were way off, but Kimberley Neal-Helt and Jacob Helt found their way to happy ‘havoc’

Feb. 13, 2024

VCU alums from 2015 and 2016 overcame mixed messages – and a rocky first date – and eventually tied the knot where they met.

The couple had their engagement photos taken on VCU’s campus. (Courtesy photo)

Ram romances: Fraternity fine wasn’t too high a price to pay for Brandes S.G. Ash and Terrell Matthews

Feb. 12, 2024

Soon marking 20 years since their first ‘official’ encounter, the VCU alums mix loud and quiet to find the right volume together.

Jamarr and Shakeema Daniels, who married in 2014, returned to Virginia Commonwealth University’s James Branch Cabell Library, where they first met as undergraduate students. (Tom Kojcsich, VCU Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Ram romances: For one VCU couple, everything started with a pencil

Feb. 9, 2024

In 2010, Shakeema and Jamarr Daniels met as students in Cabell Library – and they share a bit of ink to mark the memory.

Filmmaker Cecilia Peck (left) and cult survivor Keely Griffin (center) joined Robert Milazzo’s communications 101 lecture to talk about the making of the docuseries, “Escaping Twin Flames.” (Contributed image)

VCU mass communications students get inside look at making of Netflix docuseries

Feb. 7, 2024

‘Escaping Twin Flames’ filmmaker and featured cult survivor offer perspective and access for instructor Robert Milazzo’s mass communications class.

Kay Coghill’s Ph.D. dissertation explores digital violence and misogynoir, the unique discrimination that Black women experience. (Contributed photo)

Through research and activism, VCU doctoral student explores gender, race, violence and culture – and wins American Society of Criminology award

Feb. 1, 2024

In their studies, in front of a classroom and in digital work, Kay Coghill sheds light on misogynoir and helps survivors of sexual violence.

Students in Dr. Christopher Ehrhardt’s lab will work over the next six months to analyze changes in the cellular autofluorescence that occur in animal fluids over time. Eventually, the research will be used to help investigators working on cases involving animal cruelty.

VCU forensic science professor receives ASPCA grant to support animal cruelty investigations

Jan. 31, 2024

Christopher Ehrhardt’s lab is developing a test that could determine when animal DNA was left at a crime scene.

The new website for the Blackbird literary journal will support more visual art and audio and video projects and help to create space for a conversation between text and visual art.

VCU online literary journal Blackbird launches new website and publishing schedule

Jan. 31, 2024

Digital redesign will highlight writing, visual art and audio/video – with improved search and accessibility – for four issues annually.

VCU physics doctoral candidates Mohammed Almahyawi and Thomas W. Rockett demonstrate the setup of their nanopore research that could one day help diagnose ovarian cancer. (Photo by Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

VCU-led research shows effectiveness of new technique to detect ovarian cancer marker peptides

Jan. 30, 2024

The nanopore-sensing technology could lead to earlier and more accurate diagnoses.

The lab group of UFRN kinesiologist Daniel Machado, Ph.D. (right, standing). Edmund Acevedo, Ph.D., professor in VCU’s Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences, (left, standing) collaborated with Machado as a Fulbright Scholar in Brazil to examine what predicts the likelihood a person will continue to participate in physical activity. (Contributed photo)

If you break your promise to exercise, a VCU researcher is exploring why

Jan. 24, 2024

As a Fulbright Scholar who recently returned from Brazil, Edmund Acevedo expands his work on psychobiology and physical activity.

Karen McIntyre Hopkinson, Ph.D., associate professor in the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture, interviews a journalist in East Africa. (Photo credit: Meghan Sobel Cohen)

Freedom of the press is more of a ‘roller coaster’ than a straight line, VCU professor says in new book

Jan. 16, 2024

The Robertson School’s Karen McIntyre explores how three East African countries are navigating landscapes far different than America’s.