Highlanders in the News: Week of Feb. 20
Every week, our Highlanders are using their education to do extraordinary things. Here, we’ll highlight some notable mentions from local, regional, national and international news media. Whether our students, alumni, faculty and staff are featured as subject matter experts in high-profile stories or simply helping make the world a better place, we’ll feature their stories.
Foundational knowledge
There are lots of ways to give back to your community.
Kenneth Dorsey Jr., MBA ’18, is taking a direct approach.
In 2019, after working as an after-school volunteer, Dorsey created an organization that supports mentoring, tutoring and volunteering at Virginia Beach’s Bayside Middle School, where he was once a student.
The mission of the Kenneth Dorsey Jr. Foundation, which partners with Virginia Beach City Public Schools, is to provide the tools students need to succeed.
On Feb. 11, at the Tidewater Community College library, Dorsey’s foundation coordinated the school’s first STEM event, to promote education in science, technology, engineering and math, according to a recent news story by the Norfolk, Virginia station WAVY. The event also featured the participation of members of Virginia Tech’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers and its Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity.
Dorsey, who works for Nike as a supply chain operations lead, told WAVY that the students who attended took part in scientific and technological experiments and got practical hands-on experience.
“The biggest thing for me is showing representation in these professional fields and getting the students engaged at an earlier age. Helping them get there, not just giving them the information,” Dorsey said.
The story also covers Dorsey’s efforts with a Reading Pals program in which middle and high school student-athletes from that area read to local elementary schoolers.
According to the foundation website, its projects also include professional and leadership development workshops, school supply drives, free haircut events for K-12 students and summer internships.
Chief among them
After serving the Culpeper (Virginia) Police Department for just over 25 years, a Radford University graduate has become that office’s leader.
Christopher Settle ’97, who has held the rank of major since 2015, was promoted to the position of Culpeper police chief earlier this month. He will be the department’s sixth chief in its 67-year history, according to a Feb. 10 article in the Culpeper Times.
Settle joined the department the year he graduated from Radford. He is on track to complete his master’s degree in public safety later this spring through the University of Virginia.
He has also attended the Department of Forensic Science Training Academy, the Institute on Leadership in Changing Times and the Professional Executive Leadership School at the University of Richmond, the story said.
“I want to thank everyone who continues to support the Culpeper Police Department as we look forward to working with our citizens and our community stakeholders,” Settle told the newspaper.