This story was reported and written by VPM News.
The Virginia General Assembly passed a law nearly five years ago requiring some public universities to develop a scholarship for descendants of enslaved Virginians. That legislation specifically targeted those colleges whose foundational success was based on the labor of enslaved individuals.
Virginia Commonwealth University recently launched its scholarship, known as the Gabriel Scholars Program. But the scope of the award has changed due to anti-diversity, equity and inclusion policies issued by President Donald Trump’s administration, according to emails obtained by VPM News.
VCU officials previously cited federal orders to roll back DEI programs on college campuses in its decision to remove references to race in at least seven scholarships, and hired Richmond law firm Cozen O’Connor to review the language of 60 additional awards.
Among the scholarships the firm reviewed was the Gabriel Scholars Program. That’s according to a June email Karen Helderman, VCU President’s Chief of Staff, sent to Stephanie Rizzi, director of Project Gabriel. “We need to first ensure the application is structured in a way that minimizes risk to the university,” Helderman wrote. “That is why I am advocating for Cozen to assess the risk. …”
What comes next was redacted by VCU officials, citing attorney-client privilege.
On July 18, Cozen O’Connor sent the completed risk assessment to stakeholders. It was included in the emails VPM News obtained, but was fully redacted.
Rizzi told VPM News that the original idea for the scholarship was to focus on students from Richmond Public Schools – given their proximity to MCV, where human bones and artifacts – mainly of African descent – were discovered in the 1990s. Those artifacts were believed to have been robbed from African American graves for illegal medical experiments in the 1800s.
However, Rizzi said Cozen O’Connor suggested the university should open up the scholarship to everyone in the state because RPS could be interpreted as a proxy for race.
Rizzi pushed back on the suggestion in an Aug. 18 email to Helderman: “I just really think that the regional concern is problematic considering that the population of Richmond is no longer majority Black. Is RPS to be held to account for the fact that residents aren't sending their children to public schools? Are scholarships okay as long as they don't serve majority minority populations? I am just unclear what the actual argument is against focusing on a particular region,” Rizzi wrote.
Ultimately, the scholarship was expanded to include any Virginia student with ties to enslavement – or from a community that “continues to experience the negative legacy of enslavement in Richmond.” Rizzi told VPM News that the change didn’t feel fair to Richmond students.
In an emailed statement in response to VPM’s question about why the scholarship was ultimately expanded, Mike Porter, VCU’s associate vice president for public relations, told VPM News that “VCU was unable to find records that would help to identify descendants. Like the other institutions identified in the state law, VCU opened Project Gabriel Scholarships to all Virginia students.”
VCU did not respond by deadline to VPM’s question about whether any other VCU scholarships are reserved for – or prioritized for – students from specific regions, though some VCU scholarships listed online like the Barbara Payton Scholarship and the Ed and Jo Pritchett Endowed Scholarship do mention specific regions.
Shawn Utsey, chair of the Department of African American studies at VCU, told VPM News that VCU’s steps to remove mentions of race – and even concerns about proxies for race – are nonsensical.
He said the conversations colleges are being forced to engage in under the current federal administration deny the past. For example, Utsey said VCU’s changes to the scope of the Gabriel Scholars Program punish students in Richmond who’ve been historically harmed by other policies like redlining.
“We have been forced to realign our thought processes to match this far-right conservative race-blind administration,” Utsey said.
Though, he said he isn’t surprised given VCU’s actions in the 21 years he’s been with the university.
“I’ve seen VCU grow, regress, grow again, and now we’re regressing,” Utsey said.
Rizzi said while she wishes her university could’ve been the one to stand up to the Trump administration, realistically, it looks like “they’re all caving in.”
She’s at least glad that the scholarships, worth $5,000 each, have been awarded to seven students based on demonstrated financial need. One recipient reached out to her to express her gratitude: she was able to pay off a past balance due and continue her studies.
“We’ve started to hear from students about how impactful this has been, so that’s reason to be hopeful,” Rizzi said.
Del. David Reid (D–Loudoun), who sponsored the legislation creating the scholarship, said other universities have designed their scholarships differently than VCU. For example, the University of Virginia’s covers the entire cost of attendance for recipients.
“Their son is going to be able to get a degree and be able to start to develop generational wealth,” Reid told VPM News. “So it's having the desired effect.”
He added that when he crafted the legislation, it notably did not mention race or ethnicity.
“Making it about the ancestors of the enslaved individuals meant that we were not making it about race,” Reid said. “And I think that that's probably the reason why, even in 2020, it got bipartisan support from the Republicans.”