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VOL. 30 NO. 33

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

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Meet board chair of Voices for Virginia’s Children B1

AUGUST 12-14, 2021

Jury still out After a year on the job, Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith has not won over many officers or residents either through style or substance By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Police Chief Gerald Smith consoles the mother of one of the victims injured in gun violence April 27 at the Belt Atlantic Apartments in South Side. Sharnez Hill, 30, and her 3-month-old daughter were killed in the shooting and three others, ages 29, 15 and 11, were wounded. Chief Smith marched with scores of people attending a rally sponsored by Men in Action on May 1 calling for an end to the violence. The group marched from George Wythe High School to the apartment complex, where Chief Smith tried to comfort the mother.

A year ago, Gerald M. Smith was introduced to the city as an “innovator” and a “reform-minded change agent” as Mayor Levar M. Stoney introduced him as Richmond’s new police chief. “Gerald Smith is who Richmond needs right now — a reform-minded leader with deep experience in community policing and de-escalation,” said Mayor Stoney, who tapped him on the recommendation of Rodney Monroe, a former police chief in Richmond and Charlotte, N.C. A year later, there are few signs of reform being accomplished in the department or in its relationship with the community. Just before he started on July 1, 2020, Chief Smith said, “We’re looking for this community to be deeply involved in the police department, and we’re looking to be deeply involved in the community.” As best as can be determined, that hasn’t happened either. Currently, his biggest challenge is fielding enough officers as violence spikes. Homicides and other shooting

crimes are happening almost nightly, and robberies and assaults also are on the rise. It’s a far different scene from when Chief Smith arrived. At the time, the big focus for police was on racial justice protests and preventing further

violence He came just as Richmond began taking down its Confederate statues and demonstrators were nightly clashing with officers. Chief Smith, 52, brought plenty Please turn to A4

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Chief Gerald Smith walks outside Richmond Police headquarters on Grace Street in Downtown to a news conference on July 27, 2020, following two nights of uprisings in the city. The building had been boarded up and barricaded by a city dump truck, which was burned by demonstrators protesting police abuse and racial injustice. The chief had been on the job less than a month.

State mandates COVID-19 vaccinations for state workers; Richmond School Board to follow suit By George Copeland Jr., Ronald E. Carrington and Jeremy M. Lazarus

First came the universities. Then came the City of Richmond. Then Gov. Ralph S. Northam followed their lead in imposing a mandate on most state employees to get vaccinated against coronavirus. And next Monday, Aug. 16, the Richmond School Board is anticipated to be the first school system in the state to mandate vaccinations for faculty and staff. The new mandate would be on top of a requirement that anyone entering a school building in the city be masked. Ignoring critics, Mayor Levar M. Stoney called it “the right and proper step at a critical moment” on Aug. 4 when he made Richmond the first jurisdiction in the state to require city employees to be vaccinated. While most government entities have yet to follow, these initial mandates reflect growing frustration among officials that millions in Virginia and across the country are refusing to join the fight by getting vaccinated as the new delta variant of the virus spreads like chicken pox. Worries are growing over the increase in new cases and the renewed threat of overcrowding hospitals with unvaccinated people needing ventilators and specialized care. With colleges and universi-

ties set to open in-person classes for the first time in more than a year and public schools to follow, the risk of disease spread are projected to increase. That risk was highlighted this week at Richmond’s charter elementary school. On Monday,

the entire fourth grade at the Patrick Henry School of Science & Arts — 53 students — was sent home to quarantine for 14 days after two classmates tested positive. Please turn to A4

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Fraternal twins Aniyah Rawl, left, and her brother, Xavier Rawl, 14, pause for a portrait through the frame of the Dodge Daytona Coupe 500 R that they are helping to build under the tutelage of pioneering aviator Barrington Irving with The Flying Classroom project and Richmond Public Schools. The hands-on work is taking place at Richmond Raceway.

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Tracey Avery-Geter, a nurse practitioner supervisor with the Richmond and Henrico health districts, receiving one of the first two vaccinations given in Richmond of the Moderna vaccine on Dec. 23. Administering the shot is Sara Noble, a clinical nurse manager. Health care workers were among the first group of people eligible for the vaccine under state rules.

Free COVID-19 testing, vaccines Free community testing for COVID-19 continues. The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations: • Thursday, Aug. 12, 10 to 11 a.m., Southwood Resource Center, 1742 Clarkson Road, Apt. A. • Thursday, Aug. 17, 1 to 2 p.m., Hillside Resource Center, 1615 Glenfield Ave. Appointments are not necessary, but can be made by calling the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or by registering online at https://bit.ly/RHHDCOVID.

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Building a race car from the wheels up revs up learning process for RPS students By Ronald E. Carrington

Vroom…. Vroom…Vroom. That’s the sound Armstrong High School students yearn to hear as they build the interior of a Dodge Daytona 500R STEM car in a summer program at Richmond Raceway. For three weeks in July and August, students from after-school learning centers at Armstrong High School, Lucille Brown and River City Middle schools in Richmond and Wilder Middle School in Henrico County have risen to the challenge to help construct the vehicle designed by Factory Five Racing Inc. The project by The Flying Classroom is designed for hands-on learning with a goal to improve student attendance and engage-

ment while introducing them to careers in the automotive industry. The Flying Classroom is a supplemental Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathplus curriculum started by aviator Barrington Irving, who, in 2007 at age 24, became the youngest person and first African-American to fly solo around the world. He turned down football scholarships to follow his dream of becoming an aviator. He had the plane built from the ground up. In 2014, he started The Flying Classroom using his global aeronautic and technical experience to introduce students to STEM career possibilities. This summer’s end game proved exciting Please turn to A4

VSU changes names of 4 buildings to honor history of women at university By Ronald E. Carrington

Virginia State University has taken a monumental step honoring the achievements of African-American women with ties to the school. The university has renamed four of its buildings after women who, since the late 1800s, have made remarkable contributions to the school—Lucretia Campbell, Johnnella Jackson, Otelia S. Howard and Lula Johnson. The VSU Board of Visitors voted to drop the buildings’ previous names because they honored individuals “whose past beliefs were not consistent with the beliefs and legacy of Virginia State University,” officials said. They were white men who were linked to the Confederacy or Jim Crow. The new names are a major change for the university that was founded March 6, 1882, when the state legislature passed a bill to charter Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute. “This is a fantastic thing,” VSU President Makola M. Abdullah said shortly before the unveiling ceremony on campus Aug. 6. “The university had an opportunity to name the buildings after

giants that helped in building Virginia State. As students return to campus, they may not initially appreciate the new names’ relevance today, but they will as they learn more about the legacy of Virginia State.” The buildings and their new names: Lula Johnson Hall, formerly Vawter Hall, is named for the first Black woman to graduate from the university when it was Otelia Shields Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute. Ms. Howard, from a Johnson is believed to be the first woman 1921 graduation to graduate from a Virginia public college. photograph in She attended Virginia Normal and Collegiate “The Crisis.” Institute in the 1890s and became a teacher in Southampton County. Lucretia Campbell Hall, formerly Eggleston Hall, a dormitory, is named for the first Black woman to serve on the university’s faculty. A Petersburg resident, she graduated from VSU in 1896. After returning to the university, she trained future teachers. Johnnella Jackson Hall, formerly Trinkle Hall, is named for

the musician and civil rights activist who penned the music for the university’s alma mater, “Hail Virginia State.” Otelia S. Howard Hall, formerly Byrd Hall, is named for the Petersburg native who served for more than two decades as a professor, adviser and a charter member of two organizations on campus. She taught at Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, then attended Fisk University, where she earned a bachelor’s in English with high honors in 1921 followed by a master’s from Columbia University in 1926. She was a charter member of VSU’s graduate chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and founded the school’s newspaper, the Virginia Statesman. Dr. Abdullah said alumnae, in particularly, will be proud when they return to campus and see the new names. The renaming, which started five months ago, was approved by the VSU board after a submission by a committee made up of faculty, staff and the university historian Lucious Edwards. They said renaming the buildings would help ensure the campus environment reflects the institution and is a source of pride for Please turn to A4