Joanita Senoga, C'06
Commitment to education propels SCS alumna through challenges
October 19, 2009
On her first day of class at the University of Richmond's School of Continuing Studies (SCS), Joanita Senoga, C'06, looked around at her fellow students, wondering what they thought of her. "Everyone was minding their own business," she says. "They didn't even know that I was from Africa."
First-day jitters may be normal, but Senoga's path to that classroom was anything but. Six years earlier, she was forced to flee her home in Uganda — reluctantly leaving behind her two daughters and the Circle of Peace School that she founded. After she was granted asylum in the United States, her possessions were stolen at a bus station. She arrived homeless in Richmond and cleaned schools, churches and houses to make a living.
Driven by her strong will, Senoga was able to send money back to her family and the school. "What kept me going was my family," she said. "I had two kids who I knew one day I had to see." After five years of separation, her daughters Josie and Jemi came to Richmond in 2001.
In 2002, Senoga started house cleaning for Richard Leatherman, then associate professor of human resource management at SCS. Leatherman discovered that she had been a teacher in Uganda and encouraged her to get a Virginia teacher's license.
"He asked me, 'Do you want to go back to school?'" Senoga recounted. "I said, 'I don't think I want to go back to school. I just want to work and have money and help my kids.'"
But Senoga, whose family values education above all else, kept coming back to the idea. "Growing up ... my parents said, 'We don't have money to buy dolls or to buy gifts for birthdays. Education is the gift that we are giving you for life,'" she said.
Her daughter's support helped seal the deal. She recalled, "When I told her about the University of Richmond, Josie said, 'You go do that! You are not going to clean anymore. Going back to school is going to help you.'"
With Leatherman's assistance, Senoga took "Interpersonal Communication" that summer. At the course's conclusion, she decided to enroll full-time in the Bachelor of Liberal Arts program.
Through federal and state grants, a payment plan, and the school's Jean Profitt Scholarship, Senoga met tuition costs. But as a single mother, she still needed income to support her family in Richmond and Uganda.
With the help of the student employment office, Senoga found a job in Boatwright Library that allowed her to work during the day and attend classes at night. Shortly after graduating in 2006, she was offered the night supervisor position, which she still holds.
Senoga's work ethic set an example for her daughters. They share a passion for learning that has already helped them earn scholarships to private schools in the Richmond area. Jemi is a student at St. Catherine's School, and Josie graduated from Collegiate School before enrolling at the University of Richmond. Her tuition costs are covered through the employee tuition remission program.
"It's really a blessing to be able to provide this education for my child," Senoga said. "It's hard to put it in words — to know that my child goes to University of Richmond. This school has everything that I want my child to get."
Senoga's dedication to education extends beyond her own family. She is still heavily involved in the operation of the Circle of Peace School in Uganda, and she started a task force at the University to support the school through donations and volunteering. Four Richmond students travelled to Uganda over the summer to teach at the school.
In December, Senoga will return to Uganda for the first time in 13 years to help relocate the Peace School. Two Richmonders will accompany her: Boatwright Library Operations Manager Iria Jones and attorney Anita Schneider, L'84.
Article ID: 341
