March 13, 2026

This week, we celebrated our birthday at Radford University! Founded on March 10, 1910, as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Radford, our institution began with a mission to expand educational opportunity and prepare the next generation of teachers. 

Radford University continues that legacy today, 116 years strong.

As Radford University students returned to campus this week following spring break, we also welcomed back Tartan and Talon, our beloved ospreys. The pair return annually to the same nest on the main campus in Radford.

Thanks to a collaborative effort between the Departments of Biology and Geospatial and Earth Sciences, University Advancement, Facilities Management, Information Technology Services and Marketing and Communication, and with the support of CMG Leasing, Radford community members can watch the birds of prey in their nesting habitat via a YouTube feed called the Radford Raptor Cam. 

This year, a microphone has been added so you can hear the birds while watching the feed.

The nest has been an active incubation site for the ospreys since 2019. Ospreys are unique because males and females form permanent pairings, returning to the same site every year and sharing incubation and caregiving duties. Since we started streaming the nest, more than 2,500 viewers have looked in on the progress of our ospreys and their eggs over the years.

You can learn more about these remarkable birds in a news story published in 2024, featuring information about their long-distance migrations, their declining population and conservation measures underway to help them flourish again. (Please note that the video link embedded below the news story is no longer active. To see the 2026 live feed, visit here.)

The Radford University Office of Marketing and Communication will offer professional headshot photo sessions on the main campus for new employees who need a directory photo and current employees who wish to update their photos.

The Office of Marketing and Communication schedules days at the start of each semester for headshot photos and then some makeup days at mid-semester. Due to demand for photography services year-round, we are not able to take drop-ins outside of these scheduled sessions.

The photo studio is located next to the Marketing and Communications suite on the first floor of Martin Hall. No appointment is required for these makeup day sessions.

Photo sessions will be offered on the following dates:

Radford University’s Department of Information Technology Services (IT) is providing annual security awareness training beginning the week of March 16. This year, we will be using our new training platform, KnowBe4, to make the experience smoother and easier to complete.

All employees will be required to complete the training by mid-May. The course should take no more than 45 minutes, and IT has worked to make it as straightforward and user-friendly as possible.

This annual training is an important part of helping protect both university information and our community. Cybersecurity continues to affect all of us, and a little awareness goes a long way toward preventing phishing, fraud and other common threats.

Keep an eye out for additional details and launch instructions next week. Your support in helping keep Radford secure is appreciated.

The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) hosted the 2025-26 Scholars Transforming Through Research (STR) program during the first week of March in Washington, D.C., and Radford University sent more students than any other school in the nation. Among them were art students Jessica McCann, Kalyn Pinner and Patrick Kielawa, led by mentor Carlee Bradbury.

Monday featured training and networking, during which students built strong connections with the University of Mary Washington cohort. Our art history students visited the Asian Art Museum, applying Buddhist art concepts from last year’s Elevate Research course. Tuesday included a Library of Congress visit and Capitol Hill meetings, where students presented their research to congressional offices.

Spring Commencement is only a few weeks away. If you know a student who is graduating in May, please help them celebrate the achievement by sharing the opportunity to secure a graduation stole. Each graduate may select one stole – free of charge – provided by Connected Communities.

Graduating students can reserve their stoles online now. Please share this link with our graduating students and let them know that the deadline to reserve is Friday, March 20.

Stoles can be picked up at the following times and locations.

Radford University’s Office of Archives and Special Collections has announced two significant additions that further enrich the documentation of Radford University’s history and the scholarly work of our community.

These new materials are now available for research in Archives and Special Collections. The entire Highlander community is invited to explore these collections and discover the stories they help preserve.

Radford University Graphic Design program students received twelve awards in the recent American Advertising Federation Student ADDY competition, where 99 student entries were submitted across participating institutions.

Award recipients included:

These winners will advance to the district competition involving schools from Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Radford University’s Department of Academic Technologies is offering training opportunities in late March. Training is open to all employees and students. All sessions are in Walker Hall 275 on the main campus, with the option to join remotely. Click on a link below to learn more and register for the training.

Ready to go back in time? On Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21, the Artis Center Blackbox Theatre will transform into an ’80s-style club, and the Commercial Music Ensemble will play the hits of 1985 in an immersive concert experience. Van Halen, Eurythmics, Madonna, Tears for Fears, Simple Minds and much more will be played. Rumor has it there will be Rubik's cubes, slap bracelets, photo ops and even a mocktail bar.

The entire Highlander community is invited to come and enjoy this free public event. So, dig out your hairspray and Members Only jackets – seriously, 80’s fashion is encouraged. It’s going to be tubular.

By the way, the models recreating the iconic “Breakfast Club” poster for the 1985 concert are Serenity Everett (floor as Molly Ringwald), Ange Capots and Aron Erb (second row as Ally Sheedy and Anthony Michael Hall) and Wilson Purdue and Joe Williams (top row as Judd Nelson and Emilio Estevez).

Radford University's master’s in healthcare administration receives accreditation

Highlander Pantry receives SCHEV funds

Highlanders in the News:
Week of March 2, 2026