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One of the most unique aspects of the University of Richmond is its coordinate college system. Essentially, the University of Richmond is divided into two schools Richmond College, for men, and Westhampton College, for women. This does not actually affect the student body on a daily basis. All students eat together, have classes together, and the dorms are close to each other. The main differences from the coordinate system are: two separate Deans and separate student governments. One advantage of the coordinate college system is that there are actually two student government associations. Richmond College Student Government Association (RCSGA) was created for the men, and Westhampton College Government Association (WCGA) is for the women. Having two student governments may at first sound repetitious but it is a great way to provide additional leadership roles for both men and women on campus. Furthermore, it provides a way that women and men can play an equal role in influencing the campus via student government activities.

Since I have not actually been a member of RCSGA I am unable to comment on how they are organized but I have been a member of class cabinet since my first year at Richmond. WCGA is well organized and has an executive board that includes the Westhampton College student body president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary. In addition to these exectutive positions there are also class presidents and senators that are elected for each individual class. The senators, presidents, and exec. members meet every week to discuss various things that are going on campus. Also, the senate listens to funding requests from various organizations each week. In addition to the class senators, each president also has the responsibility of selecting a class cabinet.While the senate deals with campus wide issues, the class cabinet focuses predominately on class issues and plans class events and traditions throughout the year. The number of girls on a class cabinet could vary from as small as 7 or 8 to 14 depending on who the president wants to be on cabinet. Generally cabinets will meet once a week and are responsible for fundraising and coordinating Westhampton traditions such as tree planting during the spring of the first year and the junior Ring Dance.

During senior year the WCGA class cabinet will work closely with the RCSGA class cabinet on organizing senior socials. These socials are a nice way for members of the senior class to hang out and see people during their final year at Richmond.

Overall, having two student governments at Richmond may seem confusing, but as a member of WCGA cabinet, I can honestly say that it is an amazing way to provide equal leadership responbilities to both sexes. Furthermore, two student governments enable each group to focus on what interests them ie: what do girls want on campus vs. what do some boys want? I have had a wonderful experience on class cabinet, and it has provided me wonderful experiences that I could apply to any future endeavour.

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The Bonner Scholars program is a scholarship program for students who devote time every week to direct service in the community surrounding the University of Richmond. There is an application process to become a Bonner, but anyone who applies to the University is welcome to apply to the Bonner program, as well. There are 25 students accepted into the program for each class entering the University. As a Bonner Scholar, students commit to 10 hours of service per week, as well as two summers of service. Scholars volunteer at a variety of locations all over the Richmond area.

My personal experience as a Bonner scholar has been incredibly rewarding. While many of my classmates have changed their service site several times, I have stayed at the same site, Crestview Elementary, for three years and I plan to stay at the same site for my fourth and final year, as well. At Crestview, I have helped in many different capacities, but the one I settled into after my first year was helping in the Hearing Impaired program. I work with several students who have hearing aids or cochlear implants, but who are behind their classmates academically because they were not able to hear until the age of three or four. I love working with these kids because they are all incredibly smart and yet have been taught to believe that they aren’t. Helping them realize how much they really can do is an amazing experience.

I also have completed two summer service experiences at non-profit companies in Washington, DC. The first was Bread for the World, which does grass roots organizing and advocating to provide for the needs of the hungry, both nationally and internationally. The second non-profit I worked with was Manna Inc, which buys, renovates, and resells homes as affordable housing for low and middle income residents in Washington, DC. At both of these companies, I worked in the Development department, where I was able to learn the way non-profits function financially and developmentally. These were perfect experiences that fit right in with my major at school, which is accounting.

In addition to service, I have also been a part of the Bonner Scholar Community Fund Committee, the Bonner Student Admissions Committee, and I will be a Bonner Senior Intern during my senior year. The Community Fund is a sum of money set aside each year that is given out to service sites that submit grant proposals to the program. The student committee reads these proposals and decides how much money to give to each site based on what they have requested and for what purpose. The Admissions Committee helps the Bonner staff narrow down the applicant pool for the program, and runs online chats with prospective Bonner students who may have questions. Senior Interns serve a few of their service hours working in the Bonner office to help build the Bonner community.

Finally, the Bonner Scholars program would be nothing if it weren’t for the community it provides. Each class goes on a service trip at the end of freshman year, and bonds are formed between classmates that are very hard to break. For the rest of college, fellow Bonners become close friends, and even feel like a family, providing a comfortable and safe place that can always be counted on.

University of Richmond Center for Civic Engagement: About the Center

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When I first set foot on the University of Richmond campus three years ago, I had no idea what to expect. As I shouldered my bag and trudged though the entrance to Gray Court, I couldn’t help looking around at the beautiful area in which I would be spending the next four years of my life. My new home sat at the top of a wooded hill overlooking Westhampton Lake and the school’s Greek theatre. Flowers and bushes abounded. It was like living in a garden.

I cautiously entered room 102, my assigned room and looked around. My roommate had not yet arrived and the wooden furniture was piled in the center of the room. I had to admit that it looked rather depressing. However, as I explored the bathroom that connected my room to the next one, I met the first friend I was to make at Richmond, Justin. He and his parents had already begun setting up 106, and it was beginning to look like a true college dorm. I had barely started talking with Justin when Charlie, my new roommate, walked in. We introduced ourselves and began setting up our room. Within no time, it was the perfect home away from home. It’s really surprising what a few posters can do to the cinderblock walls. That night, we met some guys from our hall and played frisbee on the Westhampton quad until 3am. It ended up being an awesome first day.

Before I had come to the university, I signed up for the RC X-treme program, which was exclusively for freshman men. It consisted of about twenty guys and our RA, Steve Horvath (who later would become the student body president). The cool part was all of the guys in the group were in the same hall, so we got to know each other really well pretty quickly. After going on a few hiking trips and rafting down the James River, I felt comfortable walking into their rooms at any time to play some Game Cube or order a pizza. In fact, almost everyone on my hall (myself included) left their doors open and unlocked while we were in so that any of our friends walking down the hall could stop in and chat for a bit.

And as far as RA’s go, Steve was the best. He’d always make sure we were happy and wasn’t strict at all. By the end of the first week, we all considered him a friend. Since there was a mutual feeling of trust among the members of our hall, there were rarely any problems to work out.

Overall, I would say that living in Gray Court my freshman year quite possibly made my college experience. My room was right in the heart of the Westhampton side of campus, so I was literally a few steps away from big events happening on the Westhampton quad or concerts being held in the Greek theatre. Plus, most importantly, it was really close to the dining hall!

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