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Virginia Reflections: The Week of Tragedy and Triumph
First it was the constant phone buzzing and then the flurry of emails. Alert. Alert. Alert. I thought the late Sunday evening text messages were too numerous not to be true. However, I did not fully register the seriousness of it all. Shelter in Place. I fell asleep. In the early hours of the next morning those same alerts, now opened and read through my email inbox, made me suspicious. The sender’s email address was questionable to me. I soon awakened to the reality. Three University of Virginia students, Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis, Jr., and D’Sean Perry, were no longer here on this earthly plane.
Surely due to my intimate relationship with the place that I still consider home, a roller coaster of emotions flooded my mind. Even after 40+ years of my being a curious first-year student at Jefferson’s Academic Village, and now living in another state it rings true. My University of Virginia. I live and have experienced UVA in many ways. Student. Athlete. Soror. Leader. Alumna. Donor. Mentor. Advisor. Advocate. Counsel. Recruiter. Professor. Defender of all things Virginia.
As one who guides and instructs leadership principles centered on race and racism, I find…
