Virginia

Paid college internships: A smart way Virginia can ease its youthful brain drain – Virginia Mercury

Published

2 years ago

February 22, 2024

Paid college internships: A smart way Virginia can ease its youthful brain drain – Virginia Mercury

Virginia needs to keep the Breyana Stewarts who are graduating from our colleges and universities from taking their brains, their energy and their winning personalities to other states.

In May, Stewart will become the first in her family’s line of descent to earn a degree when she graduates from Virginia Commonwealth University. At age 23, she’s smart, optimistic, instantly likable, and looking for a job where she can soon put her new bachelor’s degree in communications to good use.

She is a candidate for a permanent, fulltime, post-commencement job within Virginia. But she plans to search elsewhere, too.

“I just applied for my first communications job,” she said over a latte in a Shockoe Bottom coffee shop this week. “I think it’s a shot in the dark because I haven’t graduated yet, but I want to get the ball rolling.”

Too many newly minted graduates from Virginia’s institutions of higher learning are finding their futures outside the commonwealth, and it’s creating a demographic brain drain that could have economic consequences. That bothers Kirk Cox.

If the name sounds familiar, it’s because he was the 55th speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates from 2018 to 2020. A Republican and a career educator who represented Colonial Heights for 32 years in the House, Cox now heads the Virginia Business Higher Education Council, a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of leaders from the state’s business community and higher education institutions.

In an interview earlier this month, Cox was blunt about challenges Virginia faces from other states that are magnets for early-career professionals and recent college grads. And he’s advancing a solution that makes sense: paid internships that build bridges to connect Virginia college students — particularly diverse students and those of limited economic backgrounds — with relevant experience in their fields of study, which can lead to jobs here after college.

“They’ll tend to stay if they get a really good internship. If they don’t, they’re looking for other places to go,” Cox said. “The statistics show — and I think the kids will tell you —[that] if they get a meaningful internship, it’s much more likely that they get offered a job, [and] they’re much more likely to stay.”

The “stay” part has become a problem in the past decade. During the latter 20th century though the first decade of this one, educated, upwardly mobile, young professionals flocked to Virginia for jobs in such numbers that it created uncontrolled suburban sprawl, especially in Northern Virginia. That trend is now in reverse as more of today’s smart, youthful and affluent cohort are leaving for opportunities in other states than are moving here.

One way to track arrivals from other states vis-à-vis departures is Internal Revenue Service year-to-year personal income tax returns. The IRS aggregates data on the number of returns filed each year from within all 50 states and the District of Columbia and the number of individuals represented in them. Recent year-over-year comparisons do not inspire confidence for Virginia.

Thirty years ago, almost 15,000 more people moved into Virginia than left, according to the IRS data for tax years 1994-95.

Returns from tax years 2020-21, however, show that almost 9,300 more left Virginia than moved in. There were 243,217 departures compared to 233,924 come-heres. Twenty-seven states took more people from Virginia than migrated here from those states. Florida alone took in 10,584 more people from Virginians than came to Virginia from Florida, roughly the equivalent of Essex County.

(Chart made by Bob Lewis)

Hamilton Lombard, the chief demographer for the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia, said the trend has hit Northern Virginia the hardest. Hampton Roads has also lost more than it gained, he said, but not as sharply. Smaller, less urbanized areas of Virginia, by contrast, have enjoyed net gains, especially since the pandemic popularized widespread use of working virtually from home, Cooper Center research shows.

Another worrisome omen for colleges and businesses in need of their graduates is that enrollment still struggles with pandemic disruptions.

National Student Clearinghouse Research Center data from last September shows that undergrad enrollment ticked marginally upward for the first time since the start of the pandemic, but freshman enrollment dipped by 3.6%.

That may be because teens see some recent college grads moving back home with their parents, working gigs as rideshare drivers, pizza deliverers and wait staff to repay college loans and seek work in their degree field. Short-term undergraduate certificate programs spiked by nearly 10% compared with a 3.6% jump in associate degrees and just under 1% for bachelor’s degrees, according to the NSCRC.

The idea of paid internships has done the nearly impossible: united Democratic and Republican policymakers. It’s no mean feat to get Senate President Pro Tem Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and her frequent nemesis, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, literally reading from the same script as they did in this recent promotional video.

At the behest of the VBHEC and its development campaign, Growth4Va, the program is poised to receive either $24 million (under the Senate version of the budget) or $29 million (in the House version) from the state through June of 2026. Some of that will help small businesses pay for interns.

(Some disclosure is in order here. This initiative is advised by McGuireWoods Consulting, a public policy advisory services firm where I was a senior advisor for more than five years. I did not perform work for the VBHEC.)

Let’s put aside the retail politics as well as the commercial and macroeconomic considerations. Paid internships for all Virginia students stands on its own egalitarian merit because of the way it can improve the lives of kids like Breyana Stewart.

She knew she wanted to work in communications since her elementary school days in Hampton Roads, when she was an anchor of the school’s closed-circuit morning newscast.

“My mom always advocated for me to go to college,” Stewart said. “She was always saying how important it is to get a degree. I knew that when I started college that I would have to support myself … so I’ve always worked since I’ve gone to college.”

Now in her final semester, she works two jobs — one as a receptionist at a clinic and another as a promotions assistant at Radio One’s Richmond stations.

But the big differentiator for her career path is the three months she spent last summer as an intern at the Hodges Partnership, a marketing, PR and media relations shop in Richmond.

“Being able to have an internship that paid me for my time was definitely necessary,” she said. Because of that, she was able to cover her rent in Richmond during that time.

Might she wind up where she interned? Who knows. Stewart said she loved her time at Hodges and stayed in touch with the friends and colleagues she made there. Regardless, just listing experience with such an esteemed company on her résumé gives her an edge wherever her search leads her.

It’s time for Virginia to make paid internships accessible to any kid willing to learn and put in the work the way she did and — with a little luck — keep more of our most promising prospects home.

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Virginia

Five Key Takeaways From Virginia’s 80-72 Win Over Maryland

Published

6 hours ago

December 21, 2025

Press Room

Five Key Takeaways From Virginia’s 80-72 Win Over Maryland

Virginia picked up another key win on Saturday evening after a 56 point explosion in the second-half marked by stellar shooting from the perimeter. Virginia pulled away to a double-digit lead and hit its free throws late to put the game away. Let’s take a deeper look at some key takeaways in the victory for the Cavaliers.

1. Virginia shoots the lights out in the second half

After struggling in the first half and only making nine of its 33 field goals, Virginia found its groove in the second half. The Cavaliers went 21-33 and were scorching hot from three-point range. The Hoos went 6-11 from beyond the arc, and their best perimeter shooter Jacari White went 3-3 from the three-point line in the second half. How was Virginia able to find its groove? They were sharing the basketball and continuing to find the open man. Virginia had 13 assists on 21 made field goals. Maryland had no answers for the Virginia offense and struggled to slow them down after an impressive showing in the first half. The Hoos had two players who scored double figures in the second half.

2. Chance Mallory gets it done on defense

The young guard didn’t have a great game shooting the basketball, going just 2-9 from the field, but what makes him special is his ability to affect the game in other ways especially defensively. Mallory was a pest on the defensive side of the ball and came up with five steals in the game, which led the team. He also added a block on Saturday evening. To be a small guard, he guards the perimeter extremely well. In days like Saturday when your offense is not hitting on all cylinders and struggling to score, it is a luxury to have a defense you can lean on to get you going. The Hoos have a perimeter player who can lead the charge and help the offense get back in a rhythm.

3. Dallin Hall Ignites

Hall was a go-to player in the second half of the game for the Cavaliers. He finished with 20 points on 8-8 shooting. In the second half alone, he scored 18 points. Hall scored in multitude of ways by driving to the rim, hitting perimeter shots, catch and shoots, and creating offense for himself. He did a little bit of everything and was the main engine on offense for the Cavaliers, especially when their best players struggled to get it going. That is what makes Virginia so good; they have true depth on their roster, and anybody can get theirs. Tonight happened to be Hall’s night.

4. Virginia defense is a problem

As we mentioned earlier, a main part of the defensive effort was Mallory, but he didn’t do it alone. Virginia continued to apply ball pressure and make it tough for the Terrapins to bring the ball up the floor. That led to 19 turnovers by Maryland on Saturday evening. The Hoos turned those turnovers into 22 points. A stat that further brings home their performance is their 15 steals on the evening. Yes, you read that right: 15 steals. Virginia had three different players with at least three steals on Saturday. Mallory, Hall, and Jacari White. Their first-half defense was exceptionally good as they held Maryland to just five made field goals and 21% from the field. They also only made two threes and forced 10 turnovers. When Virginia is playing at that level defensively, they are tough to beat.

5. Virginia is a scary basketball team

They are ranked No.24 in the country for a reason, but the Cavaliers are one of the best teams in the country, and they continue to prove it each night on the floor. After a long break, the first half was rough for the Hoos, but they hung their hat on their defense, which came through in a major way. Then their offense came alive, and the game wasn’t even close. Virginia has one of the better offenses in the ACC, and they have hit 80+ points in 10 of the 11 games played this season. What makes that stat even better is that the scoring isn’t predicted on their best players like Thijs De Ridder, Johann Grunloh, or Chance Mallory. Anybody can be the leading scorer on any given night. In their win over Maryland Eastern, Sam Lewis was the leading scorer with 15 points. Tonight it was Dallin Hall with 20 points on a perfect 8-8 shooting. When you have the depth, defense, scoring prowess, and unselfishness that Virginia has, it makes the team a tough one to play against and stop. Virginia continues to send warning signs to college basketball about how legit they are. Don’t just look at the 10-1 record, but what they are doing in each game and how they play basketball together. This team is legit.

More Virginia Basketball News:

•How to Watch Virginia Basketball vs Butler: Tipoff Time and TV Channel

•Virginia Men’s Basketball Ascends In Latest KenPom Rankings After Win vs Northwestern

•Will Virginia Land a Spot on the AP Top 25 After Win Over Northwestern?

•Virginia Finishes Strong, Downs Northwestern

•Three Key Takeaways from Virginia’s Tight 83-78 Win Over Northwestern

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Virginia

Colorado, Deion Sanders to hire former highly-touted DC as defensive assistant

Published

18 hours ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

Colorado, Deion Sanders to hire former highly-touted DC as defensive assistant

Colorado is expected to hire former Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Chris Marve as its next linebackers coach, according to CBS Sports. Marve served as the Hokies DC from 2022-2024.

Marve has previous experience on defensive staffs at Vanderbilt, his alma mater, Mississippi State, Florida State and Virginia Tech. He’s been in the coaching industry since 2014 when he was brought on as a defensive assistant with the Commodores.

By the time he left his alma mater in 2018, he had worked his way up to inside linebackers coach. He was brought on at Mississippi State in 2019 as the Bulldogs’ defensive run game coordinator and linebackers coach. His run there lasted one year before moving on to coach at Florida State for two seasons as the Seminoles’ linebackers coach.

ACC foe Virginia Tech would poach him away ahead of the 2022 season, where he stayed until he was fired following the 2024 season. He spent the 2025 season away from college football, and will now get another shot by joining Deion Sanders’ staff in 2026.

His playing days spanned from 2007-2011, where he has a three-time All-SEC linebacker for the Vanderbilt Commodores. Marve also earned Freshman All-American honors in 2008.

He’ll join a Buffaloes program that finished the 2025 season with a 3-9 record, which included a 1-8 record vs. conference opponents. This came in the fallout of their 9-win season led by current Cleveland Browns QB Sheduer Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter.

Colorado wide receiver Dre’lon Miller plans to enter NCAA Transfer Portal

Colorado wide receiver Dre’lon Miller plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal, per On3’s Pete Nakos. He caught 20 passes for 158 yards and a touchdown this past season.

His 2024 season was a bit better. Miller caught 32 passes for 277 yards and three touchdowns prior. He’s shown he can get the job done when there’s some solid quarterback play on offense.

Miller played high school football at Silsbee (Silsbee, TX), where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 141 overall recruit in the 2024 cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking, a weighted algorithm that complies all major recruiting media services.

Time will tell where he ends up next. There will certainly be plenty of interest in his services when the time comes.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

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Virginia

Virginia Democratic operative arrested on child pornography charges

Published

1 day ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

Virginia Democratic operative arrested on child pornography charges

WARNING: This story contains material some readers may find disturbing due to its graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia Democratic operative is accused of distributing child pornography.

Randon Alexander Sprinkle, 30, allegedly engaged in conversations with an undercover FBI agent in May of this year through the Jack’d app under the name “Randy.”

The 9-page affidavit states that Sprinkle asked the agent to move their conversation to Telegram, where he allegedly wrote “mostly into young, rape, incest – you?”

The arrest has prompted swift condemnation from elected officals who worked with Sprinkle in various capacities.

Richmond City Council Vice President Katherine Jordan said Sprinkle served as her 2024 campaign treasurer, handling campaign forms, events and financial reporting.

“What has been alleged is disgusting and abhorrent,” Jordan said in a statement. “I’m shocked and sickened.”

1st District Council member Andrew Breton also used Sprinkle’s services for campaign finance reports and event logistics.

“The allegations are shocking and disturbing. I am grateful that law enforcement is involved, and that justice is taking its course,” Breton said.

Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan, who has appeared in several photos with Sprinkle that he posted on X, also responded through spokesman Jared Leopold.

“Congresswoman McClellan is shocked by these appalling accusations which should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Leopold stated.

Sprinkle previously served as a leader in the Young Democrats of Virginia and held a financial director position with the Democratic Part of Virginia.

He has also been photographed with Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger. Spanberger’s representatives have not responded to requests for comment.

The FBI affidavit confirms that 68 files were extracted during a forensic sweep of Sprinkle’s electronic devices, some with disturbing titles. Legal expert Ed Riley said the investigation may have uncovered evidence of distribution through peer-to-peer networks where individuals exchange illegal video files and images.

If convicted on the single charge of distribution of child pornography, Sprinkle faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison, with potential sentencing up to 20 years.

“If they find the images and they can connect you to the images, you’re not dealing with the merits of the case anymore. You’re dealing with the resolution that it’s going to be,” Riley said.

Sprinkle is currently being held at the Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw.

This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.

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