First Black superintendent of VMI faces backlash and more Va. headlines

The State Capitol. (Ned Oliver/ Virginia Mercury)

• The U.S. Supreme Court turned down an appeal from the Fairfax County School Board, arguing it couldn’t be held liable for an alleged sexual assault on a school band trip. The case, now going to trial in Alexandria, hinges on whether a school system can be held at fault for a “single alleged assault when there had been no prior notice of a problem.”—Associated Press

• Fauquier Hospital is facing a $15 million lawsuit from the superintendent of the county’s school system over the death of his 28-year-old son, who died seven days after being hospitalized for severe vomiting.—Prince William Times

• Mike Hollins, a University of Virginia football player who survived the shooting that killed three of his teammates, has been released from the hospital.—CBS News

• The first Black superintendent of Virginia Military Institute is facing growing attacks from conservative alumni over his efforts to make the military school more inclusive.—Washington Post

• With nods to Tidewater icons like Missy Elliott, Timbaland, and Allen Iverson, The Atlantic magazine has dubbed 2002 “The Year Virginia Rewrote the Rules of Popular Culture.”—The Atlantic

by Staff Report, Virginia Mercury

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