Lisa Rowan

3 weeks ago | cardinalnews.org | Lisa Rowan

A judge has dismissed a federal lawsuit by a group of Virginia Military Institute alumni who claimed that the school’s alumni association violated their civil rights. Judge Norman Moon on Monday ordered the case dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought back to court. Moon’s opinion accompanying the order said that he chose not to address two of the four counts that made claims under state law, though the federal court has supplemental jurisdiction over those claims.

1 month ago | cardinalnews.org | Lisa Rowan

Virginia Tech’s board of visitors voted Tuesday to comply with a presidential executive order by scrubbing initiatives at the university that support diversity, equity and inclusion. Tech’s board is the latest in Virginia to affirm compliance with President Donald Trump’s orders. It did so while a group of students and supporters of campus diversity efforts protested the move outside, expressing concerns that dissolving Tech’s DEI office would lead to more discrimination on campus, not less.

1 month ago | cardinalnews.org | Lisa Rowan

When President Donald Trump started talking months ago about eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, questions quickly arose about how K-12 students might be affected by that attempt. Trump signed an executive order March 20 calling for his administration to close the department — all a part of Trump’s larger effort to cut costs and shrink the scope of the federal government. Trump can’t close the Department of Education on his own — Congress would need to vote on whether or not to do so.

1 month ago | cardinalnews.org | Lisa Rowan

Nonprofits might not have to pay taxes, but they still have to file annual returns to the IRS. These documents, known as Form 990, contain lots of information about the money a nonprofit brought in (often via donations from people like you) and spent in a given year. As an education reporter, I use these required filings to monitor private colleges, which aren’t held to the same transparency standards as state-funded schools.

1 month ago | cardinalnews.org | Lisa Rowan

More than 650 people have signed on to an open letter questioning the decision made last month to remove retired Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins as superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute. The board of visitors voted in late February to allow Wins’ contract to expire this summer. Wins, the institute’s first Black superintendent, was brought in to reform it following allegations of widespread racism at the Lexington school, which has about 1,500 students known as cadets.