College of Humanities and Sciences
At the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences, we believe in the potential within every student, scholar, and researcher — a potential that fosters exploration, drives innovation, and shapes the future of our communities. Unlocking Potential: VCU’s Campaign for the Future reflects our unwavering commitment to both excellence and access, ensuring that transformative education reaches all who seek it while maintaining the highest academic standards. Your support during this campaign ensures our graduates are well-rounded scholars, engaged citizens, and leaders in natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Your generosity fuels opportunities for research, experiential learning, and transformative academic experiences.
With your support, we will create scholarships that open doors for talented students, develop programs that prepare graduates for meaningful careers, and remove barriers to student success, as well as support faculty research and scholarship. Together, we will continue to ensure that higher education remains a public good.
Join us in unlocking potential at the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences. When you invest in higher education, you invest in the future of knowledge, discovery, and a better world for all.
Our goal
You will unlock potential in the College of Humanities and Sciences when you help us reach our goal of $39 million.
Our priorities
Increasing access and fostering student success
At the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences, students don’t just earn a degree — they engage in hands-on research, gain real-world experience, and develop the critical-thinking skills that prepare them to make a lasting impact.
Our students — more than a third of whom are first-generation and/or Pell-eligible — face many hurdles on their higher education journey. Your support ensures that every deserving student has access to a transformative education. Undergraduate endowed scholarships open doors for talented students, making a VCU education more accessible. Graduate fellowships provide critical support for tuition, research, travel, and professional development, helping students excel in their fields. Our unrestricted, student-focused annual funds create opportunities for all students, including support for first-generation students and stipends for internships that connect classroom learning with practical experience. And by investing in undergraduate research, you help students engage in hands-on discovery that prepares them for future careers and advanced study.
Together, we can unlock every student’s potential and empower the next generation of scholars, innovators, and leaders.
Blazing trails and leading change through innovative research
Innovation thrives in the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences. Every day, our student and faculty researchers push boundaries, challenge assumptions, and generate knowledge that drives meaningful change.
A key part of an R1 research institution, our faculty engage in meaningful and timely research and scholarly work addressing pressing global challenges like AI, climate change, and civic engagement. Your support bolsters transdisciplinary research within the College of Humanities and Sciences, expanding opportunities for scholars and ensuring that the next generation of thought leaders has the resources necessary to explore critical issues in today’s society.
Together, we can unlock a future defined by discovery and innovation.
Recognizing faculty and nurturing scholarship
VCU College of Humanities and Sciences faculty are scholars, researchers, mentors, and teachers shaping the future of discovery. Their excellence and expertise creates new knowledge, inspires students, and addresses critical societal challenges.
With recent changes in federal funding for research, it has never been more important to recruit, retain, and support star faculty through endowed positions and research seed funding. Your support invests in faculty excellence by creating endowed chairs and professorships that attract and retain top scholars, ensuring that VCU remains a leader in research and teaching. Contributions to the Dean’s Fund for Faculty Innovation fuel cutting-edge faculty research and transformative teaching practices, enabling faculty to pursue bold ideas, enhance student learning, and engage students in their research. With your help, we can recruit, retain, and recognize faculty of excellence and provide them with the resources to push boundaries of knowledge.
Together, we will unlock faculty excellence to advance knowledge, enrich communities, and shape the future.
Sustaining institutional excellence and achieving prominence
The disciplines within the College of Humanities and Sciences are foundational to an informed, engaged, and empowered society. They remind us why higher education is a public good. As a college, we are committed to creating opportunities that strengthen our communities, broaden access to education, and cultivate excellence in students and faculty alike.
Your support advances strategic initiatives that can help us expand our partnerships with Richmond Public Schools and the Virginia Community College System, ensuring students have stronger pathways to higher education and career success. You will also help enhance our community engagement projects, connecting students and faculty with local organizations that make an immediate and lasting impact within our communities. Additionally, your support will allow us to launch Uncommon Connections, a dean’s lecture series on contemporary topics, bringing thought leaders and scholars together to explore issues shaping our world.
Together, we will unlock new levels of success in partnership and progress.
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Shape what’s next
The College of Humanities and Sciences is the place where excellence and access meet so I’m excited about the ways the Unlocking Potential campaign can amplify our ability to realize those twin goals for our students, faculty, and researchers. When we provide scholarships to deserving students, support groundbreaking faculty research, and create opportunities for graduates to be job-ready, we're not just investing in individual success stories. We’re cultivating the next generation of leaders, scientists, innovators, and engaged citizens who will tackle our world's most pressing challenges. Please join me in unlocking potential at VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences.
Catherine Ingrassia, Ph.D.
Dean, VCU College of Humanities and Sciences
You are the key.
You’ve seen how this historic effort is unlocking potential across VCU and VCU Health for students, patients, faculty members, researchers, clinicians and members of our community. Now it’s your turn. How will you help shape what’s next?