Virginia Tech to disband minority communities amid newest Trump administration alignment
Ujima and Lavender House, two Living-Learning Communities (LLC) at Virginia Tech, will say goodbye to their programs starting next year.
Benjamin Gozzi - Gazette contributor
O'Shaughnessy Hall (left) and Peddrew-Yates Hall (right) host Lavender House and Ujima respectively. Photo: Residential Experience at Virginia Tech
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Virginia Tech officials announced Tuesday that a pair of campus minority communities are to be dissolved at the start of the 2026 academic year, following U.S. Department of Justice pressure to conform to diversity, equity and inclusion guidelines.
Ujima, a community focused in Africana Studies, and Lavender House, which focuses in LGBTQ+ Studies, are to stop accepting applications in the fall of 2026, states the announcement. The two groups are the only established Living-Learning Community (LLC) programs at Virginia Tech that are to be shut down.
“As a previous member of Ujima LLC, it breaks my heart to know there will be no core heart to the Black community,” said Drusilla Wilson, director of media and advertising for Virginia Tech’s Black Student Alliance. “Hearing the news this past week has made me reconsider the promise Virginia Tech makes to serve its communities.”
Only students currently enrolled in either program were notified of the closure, done so via email messaging early Tuesday morning.
“To put it flatly, I’m disappointed in the administration that I work with,” said Cedric Dunham III, who has served as director of Ujima since August 2024. “This is a sad time for the Black community in Blacksburg.”
Social media has allowed the news to spread quickly beyond the bounds of Virginia Tech. For Shelton Kwiterovich, who graduated from the University of Virginia in 2022, the dissolution of minority community programs speaks volumes about the state’s approach to government interference in higher education.
“I can’t imagine going to school right now. I feel for the students who rely on these support systems,” said Kwiterovich. “These spaces feel as if they’re shrinking…a compounding lack of effort from administration to keep these programs is frightening.”
At the time of writing, Virginia Tech administration has yet to send a message regarding the closures to its wider student population.
TAGS: Community, Virginia Tech, Programs, Diversity, Culture