88. Spiders contain multitudes
“He Sings A Cappella. Then He Destroys Quarterbacks.” That’s a January Wall Street Journal headline about Kobie Turner, ’22, who plays for the Los Angeles Rams. As a student, he played for the Spiders and was a star vocalist with Choeur Du Roi, sometimes dashing from practice to rehearsal and game to performance.
The best detail from the story? Turner was offered a music scholarship at Richmond before he landed his athletics one.
Spiders often excel in multiple, seemingly dissimilar passions. Duality, thy name is Richmond.
89. Presidential receptions
It’s always great to spend an evening with UR’s president learning about where the university is and is headed. This spring, his schedule included receptions in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Charlotte and the Carolina Triangle region, New York City, Dallas, and London. Look for future dates here.
90. Everyone is all in on students
Wendy Perdue, dean of the law school, sees the sign above every day. It’s right on her desk.
From the D-Hall cook who makes an omelet for a stressed student to the electrician who wires the tech in a classroom to the professor who pulls up a presentation, everyone — and we mean every single staff and faculty member — is all in for the students they care for and prepare for their futures.
@urichmond Us? Obsessed with you? Yes, yes we are. 😍❤️💙🕷#URichmond #spiderpride #universityofrichmond
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91. Spiders we haven’t met yet
More than 1,000 Spiders join this community every year. First-year students make up most of that number. It also includes new law, MBA, SPCS, and other part-time and full-time students, plus new staff and faculty. That’s a lot of opportunity for continuing to build a more vibrant, inclusive community with a broad diversity of perspectives and experiences, all dedicated to excellence.
92. Students who help students
A tip of the hat to upper-level students across campus who are the experts offering guidance in places like the Writing Center, the Speech Center, and the Academic Skills Center. In addition to their skills, they offer been-there empathy and can-do confidence for students finding their way in difficult classes. Now, that’s community support.
93. Chapel weddings
2017 alums Rachel DuMez and Benjamin Kornegay met in a science classroom on their first day of classes. Yes, you know exactly where this story is headed.
By junior year, they were both science majors and Jepson students — and, to the surprise of few of their friends, became a couple when they were taking a class on leadership on stage and screen taught by professor Kristin Bezio.
Fast-forward to after graduation. Benjamin popped the question in the very Gottwald classroom where they first met. For the wedding ceremony, there was really only one choice: Cannon Memorial Chapel. Bezio led the ceremony. Chaplain Craig Kocher officiated. Cue the chapel bells. Today, they’re building their lives together as doctoral students in North Carolina.
The chapel hosts approximately two dozen weddings each year. At least one Spider is getting married in about 80 percent of them. #Spiderlove doesn’t get any sweeter.
94. Grotesques (the fun kind)
Campus buildings are replete with decorative flairs that go by the not-so-nice term grotesques. Most people just call them gargoyles — a term that shares a Latin root with gurgle because true gargoyles are waterspouts. At Richmond, the grotesques often amuse. Squirrels play atop Jepson Hall. The steampunk-looking figure on the Refectory is a likeness of Ralph Adams Cram, the first campus architect.
95. Proclamation letters
Among Richmond’s strongest traditions are Richmond College’s Investiture and Westhampton College’s Ring Dance and Proclamation. An integral part of Proclamation is writing and sealing a letter to one’s future self and then opening and reading it as a senior. In 2014, Andrea Johnson Almoite, ’99, wrote in this magazine about reading about her own Proclamation letter as a senior. For every Westhampton student, she wrote, the letter will probably brings laughs. It may even bring tears. But chances are it will also bring gratitude and discovery of just how far they’ve come.
96. We practice gratitude
More than 600 Spiders gathered in early November for a simple reason: To say thanks. We call it Gratitude Day. On Gratitude Day, students write personal thank-you notes that are assembled into a web of gratitude displayed on the Forum.
We all have something — or someone — that gives us a reason to be grateful at the University of Richmond. We also know it’s important to say so.
97. Spider Business Hub
There’s no experience like a hands-on learning experience. Through the Spider Business Hub, students in the Robins School of Business get the chance to conduct research with local businesses.
Here’s how it works: Businesses in Richmond identify a question they’re trying to answer. Should we rebrand our company? What should our social media strategy look like?
Students — as individuals, small groups, or even entire classes — work alongside faculty experts to help solve these real-world problems through data analysis, case studies, and other research.
The result is a win-win: Local businesses receive valuable expertise and support, and students gain resume-worthy experience right here on campus.
98. Eye-popping ROI
There’s a good reason Richmond is routinely named a Best Value College for return on investment by the Princeton Review. Consider the annual alumni outcomes survey, which surveys Spiders who received undergraduate degrees five years ago. The most recent one, in 2023, shows a five-year employment rate of 97% and an average salary of $90,000-$94,000 for 2018 graduates.
Nearly 40% were enrolled in or had completed a graduate program.
99. Giving the benefit of the doubt
An oft-repeated refrain from President Hallock to the campus community is rooted in a profoundly simple idea. Let’s always give one another the benefit of the doubt and recognize that every Spider cares and wants to make Richmond better, even (and especially) during difficult conversations. As he says, “Universities can and must serve as models of constructive dialogue.” This world can use more of that.
@urichmond Spiders in our School of Arts & Sciences showed off their incredible work, art, research, and talent in our 38th Symposium — check it out! ❤️💙🕷#SpiderPride #URichmond
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100. Student experts
If you were an A&S major, you remember the feeling. There you stood — maybe wearing nicer clothes than what you usually wore — in front of a poster or an audience during the A&S Symposium explaining a research or creative project that you poured months of your life into.
Hundreds still present each spring. UR’s biggest celebration of mentored research and scholarship will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2025.
Academic excellence at its finest.
101. D-Hall’s dessert case
“It’s the first thing you see when you walk in,” says Cassie Price, a staff member in the Jepson School. “That’s where I start planning my meal, and I work backward from there.”