Ask any seniors at Richmond, and they’ll tell you it’s tough to imagine seeing their alma mater in their rearview mirror as they leave campus after graduation. Which begs the question—why leave?

Music major Austin Bourdon, ’10, has immersed himself in the study of great classical composers of the 18th century to understand how they went about their work and what distinguished them from their peers.

The word chemistry conjures images like white coats and goggles, bubbling beakers, gleaming lab instruments and complicated equations stretching across a white board. What probably doesn’t come to mind is mascara. Or eyeshadow. Or foundation, concealer, and lipstick. But for Meredith Baker, ’06, chemistry and make-up were always linked.

Since coming to Richmond six years ago, physics professor Con Beausang has been awarded over a million dollars in grants to better understand the science behind nuclear weapons.

The University of Richmond’s National Debate Institute (URNDI) is an intensive two-week summer debate camp for high school students and, similar to the University itself, is unique among debate camps because of its small student to staff ratio.

During her four years at the University of Richmond, Jackie McMahon,’09, a psychology major and Chinese minor, studied abroad twice in China. Now, she's living abroad once again, this time teaching Chinese to students in Guam.

"This was a great chance for me to bring something new to the lab as well as to gain more knowledge on multi-reference coupled cluster theory."

New Orleans native Julie Kokemor, '09, lost her family home to Hurricane Katrina one week after starting college at Richmond and is now dedicated to fighting poverty and social injustice.

"It was really a cultural experience," said Julie Schorr and Lauren Kleimola, '08, of their experience in a small New York town that is home to a female prophet.

Although Katey Reighard, '08, was raised a Christian, she found herself most interested in religion classes on Judaism and traveled to Israel to build on this interest.