VCU begins removing Confederate names from buildings

By The Associated Press
January 8, 2021 | 4:37 PM

RICHMOND, Va. — Workers at Virginia Commonwealth University are removing Confederate-associated names from its buildings in response to a resolution calling on them to be taken down.

The Richmond-Times Dispatch reports that while the university began discussions about removing Confederate names in 2017, it took action in August following nationwide protests of the police killing of George Floyd and the removal of Confederate statues on Monument Avenue in Richmond.

The name of former Confederate President Jefferson Davis was taken down in November from the chapel in the West Hospital building.

Workers also dismantled a plaque recognizing former Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens from a building on the Medical College of Virginia campus.

Youngest Black professor at Cambridge who faced plagiarism claims is found dead

By The Associated Press
August 14, 2026 | 7:58 PM

LONDON (AP) — A British sociologist who resigned last week from the University of Cambridge following weeks of public accusations of plagiarism and media scrutiny was found dead Friday. Jason Arday, who was 37 when he became Cambridge's youngest Black professor in 2023, resigned after he came under intense media pressure, with weeks of allegations about plagiarism in his academic work and questions surrounding claims about his athletic and fundraising accomplishments. The Times and Telegraph newspapers, along with the BBC and Sky News, reported that Arday, 41, was found “unresponsive” inside a home in Battersea, south London, on Friday afternoon. News of his death comes the same week as the release of his memoir, “Great and Unfortunate Things,” a highly anticipated work that Simon & Schuster had decided to release despite the doubts about his credibility. In a statement issued through his publisher, Arday's family said that they were “in shock to have lost this amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son.”

Related Stories

A renewed push to ban seclusion, reduce restraint in Michigan schools

AP Exclusive: US military base schools put new emphasis on Western civilization and Christianity

AP Exclusive: US military base schools put new emphasis on Western civilization and Christianity

Judge dismisses Trump administration lawsuit alleging antisemitism at Harvard University

Student wounded and young suspect is in custody after shooting at Georgia high school, police say