Richmond competes in the A-10 in all sports except for football, golf and men’s lacrosse.

Davidson and George Mason “fit well within the mission and vision of our conference,” A-10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade said. “They are very strong academically, they are prestigious institutions, and they have a national commitment to their men’s basketball programs and an overall broad-based Olympic sport program.”

Richmond Athletic Director Keith Gill said men’s basketball was the sport the league focused on the most when adding Davidson and George Mason.

“It’s not the only thing that you would consider when you make these decisions, but it’s certainly right there at the top of the list,” he said.

Davidson’s and George Mason’s basketball programs each have had national success in the past decade. As an 11-seed, George Mason beat four higher seeded teams, including 1-seed Connecticut to reach the Final Four in 2006. Davidson, led by current NBA star Stephen Curry, reached the Regional Finals in 2008.

“I think it’s good because its two schools who are geographically close to Richmond,” Richmond men’s basketball coach Chris Mooney said. “George Mason is an old rival from the CAA which is great for our fans, and Davidson is a very similar school profile-wise. I think the additions are really good for Richmond specifically.”

“Richmond is one of our strongest programs,” McGlade said. “I think that they really appreciate the strength of the A-10, and they understand that getting multiple bids into the NCAA Championship is really one of the hallmarks of a national conference.”

Five A-10 teams, including Butler and Temple, earned bids to the NCAA Championship last season, which was the same amount of bids as the Pac-12 and Big-12 received and more than the ACC.

Both Temple, who was one of the founding members of the A-10, and UNC-Charlotte announced they would move to the old Big East (now called the American Athletic Conference) and Conference USA respectively last spring. Temple and Charlotte, who are the only current schools in the A-10 with FBS football programs, wanted to join a league where football was the focus, McGlade said.

Butler, who only competed in the A-10 for one season, and Xavier announced they would join the new Big East in March. Since 2009, Butler has reached the National Championship twice and Xavier has advanced to the Sweet Sixteen three times.

The departing schools “all have really strong basketball traditions and have really been good for the A-10,” Gill said. “We will certainly miss them, but we are really excited about what the conference looks like.”

The A-10 will have 13 teams and play a 16 game schedule next season. Mooney said he was sure Richmond and crosstown rival VCU would play twice next season.

As conference realignment has shown, there is always potential for more teams to switch conferences. ESPN’s Dana O’Neil and Andy Katz reported that A-10 schools St. Louis and Dayton are expected to follow Butler and Xavier to the Big East in 2014. Katz also listed Richmond as potential long shot to receive an invitation to the Big East.

McGlade said if she knew how conference realignment was going to shake out, she would “have the best crystal ball in America.”

“I think we are coming into a period of stability,” she said. “I feel like we are in great position now with the addition of George Mason and Davidson.”

“I think that we would consistently consider all of our options,” Mooney said. “But I think that we are in a great position, and we are extremely proud to be in the A-10.”

Contact staff writer Jack Nicholson at jack.nicholson@richmond.edu

Purchasing textbooks is often a heavy financial burden for students. Junior Danielle Frappolli said she had books costing up to $250 each.

At the end of each semester, students have options, both on campus and with outside companies, for selling back their books in the hopes of receiving some of their money back.

One option that has been growing in popularity in recent years is selling books to Belltower Books, a company started in 2004 by two Cornell University undergraduates.

Lauren Shute, the “team captain” for Belltower’s Richmond chapter, said students who wished to sell their books could call or email one of the seven campus representatives. Representatives are undergraduate students who make a 6 percent commission off of the books they buy back, Shute said.

Belltower Books is more convenient than other options because the representatives come right to the sellers’ dorm room or apartment, Shute said.

Sophomore Murphy Shannon rents her textbooks each semester from the online company Chegg, she said. Chegg rents students textbooks for a fraction of the selling price and allows students to send them back at no charge at the end of the semester. Amazon has a similar model, Shannon said.

Shannon said she thought the saved money was worth the extra time it took to send the books back at the end of the semester.

Richmond has recently adopted the renting model as well. Beginning in the 2011-2012 school year, the bookstore began to offer students a rental option, where students could pay a lesser price and return the book after each semester’s exam period, said Sabiha Edrenic, a bookstore employee.

Edrenic said the rental option had been popular among students, and she thought they were grateful for the opportunity to save money.

Frappolli said this model had eased the financial burden of buying textbooks, but that the price of books was still a source of frustration for her. Frappolli, a rhetoric and communications major and business administration minor, said her business textbooks tended to be the most expensive, but that she has had expensive books in most of the subjects she had taken at Richmond.

“It’s ridiculous,” Frappolli said. “I’ve bought books for $200 and got $20 back for them at the end of the semester. I think professors need to realize that we are paying a lot in tuition, room and board and for food. If they don’t absolutely need a book in class, don’t require us to buy it.”

Contact reporter Molly Gentzel at molly.gentzel@richmond.edu

Provost Stephen Allred recognized Daleng’s contributions to the university and named her director emerita of dance at the banquet on Friday, April 26.

Daleng said that she had not expected the honor, which had been a unanimous decision made by the board of directors.

Junior Jordyn Luks performed a tap dance to “Brown Eyed Girl” in Daleng’s honor. Other students spoke about their relationships with Daleng and praised the dance program that she has developed at Richmond.

“I was very moved and humbled,” Daleng said. “They spoke from the heart and I was honored. It was very emotional for me as each one spoke.”

Daleng said that she had been considering retiring for a while.

“Everybody said you’d know when it’s time,” she said. “It’s time. I want to do other things. I’m really excited about another path I’m moving into.”

Daleng plans to teach Sherry Zunker’s technique, BeMoved, which is a dance fitness program for everyone, including people who have never danced before. BeMoved includes disco, swing, Bollywood and many kinds of Latin dance.

Daleng has started studying online and will train with Zunker in Chicago this summer. Once certified, she would love to teach somewhere in Richmond, she said.

She has also been studying yoga for the past five or six years and said there was a possibility that she would begin teaching yoga to an older demographic.

Daleng also plans to spend her time traveling to visit her husband’s family in Norway and her niece in India.

Although Daleng created the University Dancers, as well as the dance major at Richmond, she said that she was most proud of the opportunities that she had given students.

“The one thing I have loved and will cherish is the warm and personal relationships I have been able to foster over these years,” she said. “And I will miss that most of all.”

Junior Nicole Pradas said that Daleng had been more of a friend than a teacher.

“I think her biggest achievement in general is just having all of her students feel welcome and comfortable around her,” Pradas said.

Keely Naughton and Emma Sullivan, both 2012 graduates, said that they had kept in contact with Daleng and that Sullivan had visited her in Richmond. On Daleng’s 25th anniversary with the University Dancers, students gave her a scrapbook that included letters from alumni who graduated more than 20 years ago.

When Daleng came to the university, she worked part-time in the department of health and sports science. She taught ballet, a dance exercise class required for all students.

After four years of employment, the university offered her a full-time position as the director of dance. Because Daleng only had her bachelor’s degree, she completed her graduate work at James Madison University while teaching at Richmond and managing her studio, the Richmond Dance Center.

When she started the University Dancers in 1985, her mission was to create a diverse company that performed all genres, Daleng said.

She choreographed each piece and created the costumes herself until the school began to provide funding.

Daleng began to bring in major national and international choreographers to work with the company. The students developed personal relationships with some very influential dancers including Robert Battle, the artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Sullivan said.

Daleng said that her last big contribution to the school was the company’s Jazzed Concert last year. She brought in seven major choreographers from different genres to work with the students.

Daleng handed over directorship after 25 years. She created the dance major four years ago and continues to teach classes, including dance history and kinetics, which she also created. For the past two years, Daleng has taught one of the Sophomore Scholars in Residence programs, which includes a trip to Cuba with her students.

Students chose glitter as the theme of the banquet because Daleng continues to wear glitter eyeliner and tells her students to “sparkle and shine” when they dance.

“The idea of Lavender Graduations comes from LGBTQ students who do not usually have family support at commencement, or are not out,” Ted Lewis, associate director of Common Ground, said. “So, it’s hard to talk about the great stuff they’ve done on campus. It’s a great opportunity for them to be out and share that prior to commencement.”

Nineteen LGBTQ and ally students received graduation certificates and lavender cords. They were recognized for their accomplishments and for their plans after school.

The Common Ground office, the LGBTQ Spiders Alumni Group and the Office of Alumni and Career Services hosted the ceremony Thursday, April 25.

The night began with a dinner and Lewis’ introductory speech, which he said had been centered on the community’s progress, as well as the history of Lavender Graduations.

Steve Bisese, vice president for student development, also spoke about the community’s accomplishments.

Guy Ross, alumnus and emeritus board of trustees member, and senior Jah Akande gave keynote speeches. Ross discussed 30 things that every Lavender graduate should know and Akande reflected on his time at Richmond.

The Common Ground office chose Akande and Ladelle McWhorter, professor of philosophy, environmental studies and WGSS (women, gender and sexuality studies), as the student and faculty recipients of the Ally of the Year Awards. Lewis said that they had been chosen because they had received the most nominations.

Their names will be added to the plaque in the LGBTQ lounge.

McWhorter said that she had always tried to assist students with issues regarding sexual diversity. She has made many contributions to the LGBTQ community, such as helping to found the Safe Zone program and helping to change the university’s non-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation.

At the end of the night, students had the opportunity to join the LGBTQ alumni group.

Lewis said that despite having expected about 30 people to attend the graduation, 60 people came representing all five schools at the university. Students of the School of Professional & Continuing Studies and the Law School usually do not participate in LGBTQ activities, he said.
Lewis hopes to make the Lavender Graduation an annual tradition at the university, he said.

Senior ally Abbey Warchol, who was recognized at the ceremony, said that she had heard positive feedback about the event.

“I thought it was really great,” she said. “And I know a lot of my friends said it was one of the more meaningful experiences they had. It was a great time to regroup and celebrate what we’ve done over the past four years.”

Contact reporter Jamie Edelen at jamie.edelen@richmond.edu

Amy O’Neill Richard develops counter-trafficking strategies, including the development of public and private partnerships as the senior adviser to the director in the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, according to Richmond’s website.

Richard has a record of leadership and achievement in promoting human rights, particularly through combating human trafficking, Brian Eckert, director of media and public relations, said.

“Although I’m excited to hear Richard speak, human trafficking seems like a heavy topic of discussion for the celebration that is graduation,” senior Elizabeth McCarthy said.

Speakers are invited by President Edward Ayers upon the recommendation of the Provost, Eckert said.

Ayers also seeks input throughout the academic year from student leaders, Eckert said. There are no set criteria, but on many occasions, the university has sought to invite alumni who have had a significant impact on society after graduation.

Richard will provide an important perspective on global issues as well as on how graduates can shape their own careers to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others, whatever their field, Eckert said.

Past commencement speakers include Gov. Bob McDonnell in 2012 and Emmy Award winner Curtis Carlson in 2011.

Justice Cleo Elaine Powell of the Supreme Court of Virginia will address the Richmond Law School graduates. Ayers, an award-winning historian of the American South, will mark the 50th anniversary of the School of Professional and Continuing Studies when he speaks to its graduates May 11.

All three ceremonies will take place at The Robins Center.

Contact reporter Olivia Simons at olivia.simons@richmond.edu

Gabara began her career at Richmond as the director of international education before she became the associate provost, and eventually, dean.

“She has worked really hard through various administrations,” said Michele Cox, a study abroad adviser who has worked with Gabara for 22 years. “She has a clear vision of how the university should internationalize and has been very successful at doing that.”

One of Gabara’s biggest contributions to the school of international education is the implementation of faculty seminars. Gabara said she had wanted to change the faculty’s approach and knowledge of international education, so she implemented the seminars.

“We began with a great focus on making it possible for faculty to study parts of the world which they didn’t know,” Gabara said. “That made a huge difference in the way people were teaching and thinking about their work.”

Faculty seminars also changed the culture of Richmond “and the fun,” said Gabara. The seminars are discussed in the book “The Twenty-first Century University,” by Lisa Childress, and are used as a model for international education programs at other schools.

Gabara said that she began working in international education for a few reasons. The first was because there were few jobs in Russian literature, which she had taught. She also said she realized that she had already been training for international education.

“I’ve migrated between different cultures and languages,” she said. “I am very much an activist. Doing some active work with various people appealed to me by comparison to doing research.”

Gabara also began the study abroad program at Richmond. “An international education in general is one of the very important things that Richmond has to offer,” she said. “Having faculty and students from all over the world and having courses with international content is important.”

Associate Dean of International Education Joe Hoff described Gabara as “very eloquent on the outside, and a lot of fun on the inside.” She is always willing to challenge someone with her own perspective, “which is a quality I admire,” he said.

Gabara has written articles and presented at conferences about the Richmond model of international education. Cox said Gabara had taught her to look at the entire field in an academic way. “She pushes really hard, but not in a bad way,” Cox said. “She expects a lot out of you because she wants you to realize your potential.”

Gabara said that in the future, she hoped that Richmond’s partnerships with other schools around the world would evolve and grow. “I hope to see more of our students study abroad,” she said, “and to have that influence the education here on campus.”

Contact reporter Molly McGrath at molly.mcgrath@richmond.edu

Coming into the weekend, Saint Louis boasted an in-conference record of 11-1, and by winning two of three games, the Spiders became the first Atlantic-10 team to win a series against them this year, despite scoring in only two innings in three days.

On Friday, the Spiders won 8-7, though the Billikens took the lead early. They scored six runs off starting pitcher sophomore Zak Sterling, who continued his recent trend of lasting only a few innings into a start. He stayed in the game for two and one-third innings, and gave up three walks and seven hits, two of which were home runs.

Freshman Peter Bayer pitched in relief of Sterling, and was fantastic, coach Mark McQueen said. He pitched four and two-thirds innings, and gave up one run with six strikeouts, striking out three batters in a row in the top of the fifth.

After a few rough outings lately, Bayer said it had felt good to bounce back.

“When I have innings when everything is working, I feel like I can dominate,” Bayer said. “And that’s exactly what I did.”

The Spiders’ offense was quiet except for during the fourth inning, when the team scored all eight runs. Seniors Jake Mayers and Adam Forrer and freshman Tyler Beckwith all singled to load the bases, and then patience paid off to keep the momentum going, as juniors JB Gadd and Mike Small both walked with two outs to bring home two runs.

Freshman Tanner Stanley continued his dominance on offense by hitting a triple and scoring on a throwing error to clear the bases and add three runs to the total. Forrer tripled in his second at-bat of the inning to tack on another run, before the inning ended on a Bret Williams strikeout.
Bayer said his teammates wouldn’t normally expect to win a game in which they fell behind 0-6 so early, but McQueen was pleased with the way the team handled those expectations.

“I told them I was proud of them today because no one was freaking out in the dugout,” McQueen said. “They showed real maturity. Even though we only scored in one inning, I’m proud of the way they handled that one inning.”

Stanley was the top overall offense-producer of the day, going 3-for-5 at the plate. He thought taking the first game from a team that wasn’t accustomed to losing very often would make the second game of the series more intense, he said.

“Tomorrow [Saint Louis is] going to come up ready to fight,” Stanley said. “They put up six runs. We put up eight. That’s kind of a slap in the face.”

The Billikens did come out eager to win on Saturday, scoring right away on a double from Mike Vigliarolo, the Billikens’ first baseman who went 8-for-12 on the weekend with three home runs. But the Spiders’ pitching, led by starter Blum, quelled the Saint Louis offense for the remainder of the game, and Richmond won 3-1.

Blum was tremendous, McQueen said. He pitched seven and one-third innings, gave up one run on nine hits, walked one and struck out five.

Though the offense didn’t have an explosive inning like on Friday, it did enough to secure the win, while Blum kept the score close for the Spiders.

Forrer led the offense on Saturday, going 2-for-3 with a home run, an intentional walk and two runs batted in. Beckwith also went 2-for-4 with two doubles.

Junior pitcher Andrew Brockett earned his second save in as many days on Saturday. Though he had pitched the final two innings of Friday’s game, getting all six outs without surrendering a hit, he threw only about 18 pitches in that game, which made McQueen comfortable calling on him for a second day in a row, he said.

“[Being a closer] is his role, and he’s the best we have,” McQueen said. “I would be mistaken if I didn’t go to him in that situation against a first place team.”

On Sunday, the Spiders lost the final contest of the series 0-2 in a remarkably quick one hour and 58 minute pitchers’ duel. More than four batters never came to bat in a half inning.

Mayers pitched eight innings, and gave up seven hits and two runs with seven strikeouts. But the Billikens’ pitcher Clay Smith was just that much better, throwing the complete game and surrendering only two hits with one walk and eight strikeouts.

Mayers said Smith was one of the toughest pitchers the Spiders had faced all year.
“Both pitchers were unbelievable,” McQueen said. “Nine out of 10 times, if Jake throws like that we’re going to win.”

After winning the series, the Spiders moved into fourth place in the A-10 standings, in a tie with Saint Joseph’s University. They will play their next in-conference series against Temple University at 3 p.m. on Friday at Pitt Field.

UR Downtown, which is located at 626 East Broad St., is in the heart of the city, said Kimberly Dean, Richmond Families Initiative and UR Downtown Program Director. As a result of coordination with transportation services at University of Richmond, the shuttle schedule now includes a stop at the UR Downtown building each running hour in an effort to make the space more accessible to students and faculty, Dean said.

The original three programs housed in UR Downtown were the Richmond Families Initiative, Jeanette Lipman Family Law Clinic and the Harry L. Carrico Center for Pro Bono Service. The Lipman Family Law Clinic has a weekly graduate-level class that meets at UR Downtown and provides legal services to about 30 clients, Dean said.

Dean said that UR Downtown had helped to enhance the ties that already existed between UR and the community, and among separate schools in the university. UR Downtown also serves as home base for Bonner Scholars, who are already active in the Richmond community, Dean said.

“UR Downtown is a good example of the ‘opportunity of place,’” Dean said. “We’re located right in the midst of city government and hope to be a launch pad for the folks in the on-campus community. We want them to use our space as home base and then get out into the community.”

This semester, political science professor Daniel Palazzolo taught a class in conjunction with students’ General Assembly internships that met in the UR Downtown space, Dean said.

Dean said this was a perfect example of Richmond students and professors using UR Downtown for its convenient location and free meeting spaces. She said she hoped this kind of use would become more frequent in the future.

Dean said on average, there were only about a dozen students who visited UR Downtown on a weekly basis. Four of these are undergraduate students who work in the office as student coordinators and help promote programs and greater community outreach.

“My understanding was that the school was trying in many ways to embrace the greater Richmond community,” said freshman Diane Gremillion, a Bonner Scholar and student coordinator.

“This whole idea goes along with trying to break the Richmond ‘bubble,’” she said. “Being downtown has tapped me into a variety of communities throughout Richmond and enhanced my experience. There is so much going on in the city of Richmond that UR Downtown is working to make students more aware of.”

As a student coordinator, Gremillion gives tours of exhibits to visitors and helps as UR Downtown needs her. Recently, she provided childcare when free tax preparations were offered to the Richmond community. Gremillion is currently organizing an exhibit that will open in September and will focus on murals throughout Richmond, she said.

Students don’t realize how willing to help UR Downtown is, Gremillion said. UR Downtown just opened its refinished basement level, which can hold many more people than the original gallery, Dean said. This space now hosts “Take 30” talks, which occur during the lunch hour and are based on TED talks, Dean said.

Dean said the hope was that these talks by Richmond professors and Richmond professionals would allow people to stop in during their lunch breaks, listen to a talk, grab lunch and still get back to work on time. Richmond’s shuttle schedule accommodates these talks, and Dean said she hoped students would begin to take advantage of the Take 30 talks this summer and next year.

One of the biggest attractions this year was the opening of the Richmond on Broad Café, where students can use dining dollars to pay for meals, Dean said. Gremillion’s first visit to UR Downtown was part of Bonner Orientation and happened to coincide with a First Friday Downtown, the opening of the café and the showing of an exhibit of Richmond photography, she said.

She has continued to eat at the café ever since, she said, and recently heard a patron commenting on the high quality of one of the café’s burgers. “I don’t even think that many students know what they’re missing out on until they get there for a visit,” Gremillion said.

Contact reporter Anika Kempe at anika.kempe@richmond.edu

Spider fans can register using their email address and link their social media options, she said. Through engaging with Richmond athletics on Facebook and Twitter, users earn points that they can use to redeem prizes, she said.

Schools around the country have been building similar programs, said Mitchell, who worked with an outside group to build the technical aspects of the website. To create the point system and prizes, Mitchell spoke to students, season ticket holders and alumni to gauge which people were interested in, she said.

A user can receive points for a variety of activities. For example, a check-in to an official athletic event on Facebook is awarded 50 points, and posting the Facebook or Twitter message of the day is awarded 25 points.

After acquiring points, users can visit the the prize store, where 1,000 points can buy a Spider drawstring backpack or $5 bookstore gift card. If a user banks his or her points, 5,000 points buys a “Meet & Greet” and “Chalk Talk” with the head coach of a Spider team of his or her choice.

Currently, there are about 150 members, Mitchell said, and some of the most active users have been non-students. Overall, membership has been a balanced mix of both students and alumni, she said.

“The goal is to be more interactive with the people who are already engaged with us,” said Jana Ross, assistant director of athletics and director of marketing and fan development. “This is a way to reward people for being involved and engaged with us, and a way to be social.”

The idea is to keep people engaged and interested, she said, and the website will continue into next year and the prizes will be updated.

Junior Leah Ching said she joined to show her support for Spider athletics and to try to get everyone else to do the same by attending events.

Phoebe Flinn Easley, Westhampton College ’66, said that she had joined the website for fun and had won 500 points for attending the spring football game. “My husband, son and I all graduated from UR and we have always enjoyed the sports events there,” Easley said.

Contact report Jessica Racioppi at jessica.racioppi@richmond.edu

“Ricochet represents a bounce back into the mainstream of a cappella for us,” sophomore member Chase Brightwell said. “It’s a transition into a more successful and vigor influence on the a cappella community.”

Around six years ago, the Octaves were in the college a cappella spotlight, receiving high reviews and award nominations for their album, “Shotgun,” Brightwell said. “Ricochet” is an attempt to return to that spotlight, he said.

An important factor in the album’s sought improvement was reaching a wider music network to help produce the album, Octaves president Jackson Taylor said.

Taylor and Octaves music director Jared Feinman made a concerted effort to network further into the a cappella community, starting as far as a couple years ago, Feinman said. The effort began in 2011 when the two attended the SoJam A Cappella Festival, a three-day music festival in North Carolina.

“That’s where we first got involved with a lot of the big wig guys in the a cappella community,” Taylor said.

One person Taylor met, Danny Ozment, would later play a crucial role in the album’s release. Multiple Octaves members would drive every weekend to his Washington, D.C. in-house music studio to record tracks for the album, Taylor said. All 12 tracks on the album were recorded there, he said.

“Sometimes we would be taking cars up there two to three times in one weekend,” Taylor said.

Another connection from SoJam was Dave Sperandio, founder of the festival as well as Alliance for A Cappella Initiatives. The Octaves used him as a consultant to find other music producers, mixers and editors who could provide the album with a different feel than previous ones, Taylor said.

“The last album we did had a very gelatinous feel because it was the same type of production being used for every song,” Taylor said. “With different mixing and editing this time around, it’s much more dynamic from song to song.”

The album comprises 12 songs from a diverse group of original artists, including Kanye West, Billy Joel and the Zac Brown Band. The multi-genre style of the album fits the group well, Feinman said, because of the diversity of voices of the members.

Certain songs and their respective solos just fit certain members of the group perfectly, Taylor and Feinman said, which is exemplified by two favorite songs of Octaves members: “Basket Case” and “No Church in the Wild.”

“‘Basket Case’ is a slow ballad with a really amazing arrangement and one of the best solos on the album,” Brightwell said. “Al Califano is great on it. In some ways, it was a better version [than the original] because he’s really connecting to the lyrics.”

“No Church in the Wild” shows a stark contrast in sound, as the group attempts to take on the hip-hop hit by Jay-Z and Kanye West.

The song features multiple rap verses performed by junior member Bennie DeSalvo. The ability to rap in an a cappella group is rare, Brightwell said, and having Bennie just gives the group one more element to use.

Having a variety of genres was the most important component of “Ricochet,” Brightwell said, because it represented the message of the album: the group’s dedication to music and its fans.

“We’re very appreciative to everyone who was involved in the album but also everyone who is going to listen,” Brightwell said. “That’s the most important thing.”

Contact report Scott Himelein at scott.himelein@richmond.edu