When senior Hitasha Singh arrived at Virginia Commonwealth University in the fall of 2001, she was surprised by the lack of political activism on campus.

“Coming from California and its very progressive environment, it was almost jarring to come to Richmond and see so little going on at VCU” politically, Singh said. “I became involved in the Student Government Association (SGA) so that I could even have a clue as to what was going on statewide, because I wasn’t going to find out otherwise.”

Three years later, Singh said, VCU has become much more politically aware.

“Everywhere you go now – and particularly this fall – you see voter registration tables, protests against university policies, announcement for candidate forums, and events such as the Kerry children coming to campus,” she said. “It’s like night and day.”

Peter Feddo on VCU Insight