October 3, 2025

The bowling alley in the Hurlburt Student Center on the main campus in Radford is now open after a remodeling and students are taking full advantage. Watch for the announcement of a grand re-opening event coming soon.

The deadline is coming for Radford University’s spirit song competition on Friday, Oct. 10. President Bret is counting on our creative community to answer his call. Watch his video to see his appeal for help crafting an anthem for our Highlander family. 

Open to students, employees and alumni, this competition offers a $1,000 prize for the winning song, which will debut at the men’s basketball home opener this fall. 

Whether you have musical experience or simply feel inspired by Radford, now is the time to submit your spirit song.

Don't miss this chance to showcase your Highlander pride and help shape university history.

At Radford University, we are dedicated to the students we serve. That’s why the Division of Student Affairs is addressing the need of food insecurity by maintaining the Highlander Pantry. During Homecoming, we invite you to help us “Stock the Pantry” by donating food items or giving online. Drop off is Saturday, Oct. 11, from 2-4 p.m. on Moffett Lawn (beside the “Under the Kilt” tent).

Items needed include:

If you donate a minimum of five food items, you will receive the official #HighlandersGiveBack T-shirt designed by one of our own talented students. It will be available at the drop-off location. 

Brook Ramsey’s exhibition, “The Art of Becoming,” will have a closing ceremony for the artist on Friday, Oct. 3, at 3 p.m. in the Tyler Gallery.

Ramsey will discuss her work, which blends realism, symbolism and surrealism in some striking pieces.

The reception is free and open to everyone. Refreshments will be provided.

Join Radford University’s Connected Communities for “Come As You Are” on Friday, Oct. 10, from 11 a.m. to noon in Heth Hall 157. This event is a relaxed and welcoming gathering where employees can connect with students in a casual, friendly atmosphere.

Whether you’re stopping by between classes or staying to chat, your presence makes a difference. Light refreshments will be served. Let’s build community, one conversation at a time.

Did you know that Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) at Radford University comprises 19 Greek-letter organizations and 400 undergraduate student members? These students strive to uphold the four pillars of the fraternal experience: leadership, scholarship, service and friendship.

University employees are invited to connect, celebrate and give back with the upcoming lineup of FSL events:

Emma Violand-Sánchez, a lifelong educator and advocate for immigrant and refugee students and their families, will present a reading and talk on Friday, Oct. 10, at 3 p.m. in McConnell Library’s Ross Gallery.

Violand-Sánchez received her bachelor’s degree from Radford in 1966 and her master’s degree from Radford in 1968. The focus of her talk will be on her book “Dreams and Shadows: An Immigrant’s Journey.” Books will be available for sale at the event, and light refreshments will be served.

This event is sponsored by Radford University’s McConnell Library and the Office of Alumni Relations.

On Sept. 26, WDBJ aired a story on the work of music therapy major Leah Bratton, who used her SURF grant to study one-handed piano compositions after an injury to her right hand.

Mentored by Associate Professor Matt Cataldi, who has experienced similar injuries, Bratton was able to transform a negative into a positive.

Want to see Bratton’s talent in person? Make plans to attend her free lecture-recital in Davis Performance Hall in the Douglas and Beatrice Covington Center for Visual and Performing Art on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 11 a.m.

Got something broken, wobbly, torn or tangled? Don’t toss it – fix it. Join the Center for Innovative Teaching & Learning (CITL) on Friday, Oct. 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the Radford Repair Café, where repair coaches will help you learn how to bring your items back to life for free. This event will take place in CITL, McConnell Suite 270.

What you can bring:

Additionally, you can bring plants that need a little TLC to the biology greenhouse from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for propagation, repotting and dividing.

Come for the fixes, stay for the fun of learning new skills and keeping useful things out of the landfill.

Radford University’s Connected Communities will host this year’s Supper Club, and they are looking for four enthusiastic volunteers to serve as table hosts at the event on Sunday, Oct. 19, from 6-8 p.m.

This is an evening of delicious family-style dining, great conversation and meaningful connections with students. Table hosts will guide engaging discussions with a group of six students.

The Radford University Office of Accounting Services will offer Emburse (Chrome River) Travel Training and Food and Beverage Policy Training in October for employees.

The October training sessions will be:

To attend a session, email travel@radford.edu with the subject line “Training.” In the body of the email, indicate if you would like to attend the Emburse (Chrome River) Travel training session or the Food and Beverage Policy training. You may also indicate in the email that you would like to attend both sessions.

Each Zoom session is limited to 20 participants. Once your email request is approved, you will receive a link to attend the requested session.

University Libraries at Radford University is dedicated to supporting everyone in all areas of research, scholarship, curiosity and creativity. There are many resources available to you through our libraries, including Radford University’s Archives and Special Collections, featuring the Archives Reading Room.

Visiting the Archives Reading Room
To help you get more familiar with this area of the Library, Archives and Special Collections is offering drop-in hours in the Archives Reading Room on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 9-11 a.m. and 2-4 p.m. this semester. Whether you’re diving into a research project or just curious about Radford’s history, the Archives Reading Room should be your go-to destination.

Need more flexibility? No problem. The reading room is also open by appointment by emailing archives@radford.edu or calling 540-831-5691.

Can’t make it in person? Check out the digital archive for a growing collection of digitized materials. Please note that not everything is online. Reach out if you don’t see what you need.

Faculty and student groups can also plan class visits or field trips to explore archival materials. Advance notice is required by emailing or calling to schedule your visit.

Digitization Services
Archives and Special Collections also offers digitization services. Do you have your own history that you’d like to digitize so it can be available for future generations? Archives and Special Collections can help digitize items like historical documents and family memorabilia. Limit 25 pages per visit unless approved by staff.

As a part of Radford University’s partnership with the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, all Radford University students and employees are automatically members of the museum. Here are some of the events coming up in October at the Taubman.

Make plans to attend the New Horizons Concert on Monday, Oct. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Davis Performing Hall of the Covington Center. This event brings new music and video to the stage with works by guest composer David Dies, Matt Cataldi and Bruce Mahin.

Featuring performances by Department of Music faculty – soprano Denise Bernardini, pianist Matt Cataldi and guitarist/synthesist Bruce Mahin – this concert will stretch the limits of music, video and sound.

Cataldi will perform his arrangements of Broadway show tunes, while Dies’s settings of texts by Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca speak of transfiguration and spirituality.

The Center for Career and Talent Development supports our students in securing quality internship opportunities. To make this effort more efficient, Radford University is transitioning the attorney general-approved Radford University Internship and Co-operative Education Agreement (RUICEA) form from paper/PDFs to an online workflow called Experiences, a module hosted on the Handshake platform.

All students pursuing for-credit internships or co-ops must complete the RUICEA form by accessing the Experiences module using Handshake. Completing the Experience module will not only serve as a completed version of the RUICEA form, but it will also register the students for their internship courses.

As part of this change, students will only be able to register for an internship or co-op course by completing the Experience module.