“Small Talk”

"Is it harder to make it as a woman writer? Yes. Is it harder to make it as a person of color? Yes. There will be opportunities opened to you because of those things, but do they counteract the everyday weight of all of these other things? No."

Saladin Ahmed, novelist and comics writer, bicentenary celebration of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, February 2018

"Novels are not just about something, they have to have other layers of voicing, of coloration, of metaphor that make the novel real and alive and special."

Chang-rae Lee, author and Stanford University professor, Dos Passos Prize for Literature award ceremony, March 2018

"[These men] … did not give up. … They retained great faith in American institutions, even when those institutions seemed to fail them.”

Margaret Edds, author of We Face the Dawn: Oliver Hill, Spottswood Robinson, and the Legal Team that Dismantled Jim Crow, March 2018

"Longwood taught me how to think critically, synthesize ideas, and write good sentences — which are life skills, not college skills."

Dr. Robert Northington ’03, research assistant professor at the University of Maine Climate Change Institute, April 2018

"The Moton spirit exists in each of us. It teaches us to right a wrong, to fill a gap, to support progress in society, to generate forward momentum. Most of all it's a spirit that creates a ripple effect that creates a tsunami of change.” 

Nadine Marsh-Carter, CEO of the Children’s Home Society of Virginia, Moton Community Banquet, March 2018

"When I was growing up, they told us sunlight is the best disinfectant. Our job as reporters is to lift up the rock and to show you what’s underneath. It’s not our job to throw the rock at you.” 

Susan Glasser, New Yorker columnist and former Politico chief international affairs columnist, President’s Lecture Series, April 2018

"Exercise is one of the fountains of youth. The research has shown that 15 minutes [of exercise] a day can increase your lifespan by four to five years."

Dr. Diane Langemo, clinician researcher and medical consultant, Simkins Lecture, April 2018

"Think for yourself, but act for the common good."

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, Undergraduate Commencement, May 2018

"Find a career that fulfills you, and work like you mean it—never coast."

Joan Brock ’64, philanthropist, Graduate Commencement, May 2018