Tonight we were joined by our first speaker of the semester, Lauren Mims. Lauren attended UVA for her undergraduate degree, and is currently working on her PhD in the Curry School. She is also the former Assistant Director of the White House Initiative for Education Excellence for African-Americans. While filling that role, she designed and hosted student summits, led White House and DOE briefings, and highlighted the stories of Black students who were multiply marginalized, including those with physical or intellectual disabilities. Hearing about her work in the Obama Administration and her current work on her PhD made for an interesting evening. 

Today members attended the 5th District Candidate Forum held in Downtown Charlottesville. It was great to hear from all four candidates about their visions for serving our district. We are confident that no matter who is the nominee, they will be well equipped to take on Tom Garrett in the fall. 

We started off the semester by writing to members of the General Assembly during our first meeting. Members wrote about issues currently before committees, ranging from sensible gun laws to expanding Medicaid in the Commonwealth. We hope that legislators in Richmond will pay attention to the November 2017 elections and take action on these important matters. 

Want a succinct summary of our fall semester? Look no further than our newsletter, posted below!

Our members had a very productive day today lobbying members of the General Assembly in Richmond! Some of the issues we spoke to legislators about include expanding rural access to broadband internet, and raising the felony threshold for larceny in the Commonwealth. We hope that the General Assembly will be able to pass laws this session that serve to advance a more just, equitable Commonwealth.

Today, members attended the inauguration of the commonwealth-wide officials we worked to elect. While there, we were lucky enough to see UVA's own Professor Larry Sabato. The weather may have been cold, but nothing could chill our optimism for the next four years!