For many students, it’s hard to picture their professors back in their college years, let alone as students on the University of Richmond campus. But some of those wizened adults leading classroom discussions and reading papers in book-filled offices were once first-year students, trying to find their residence halls at move in.

Law professor Danielle Stokes lived in Lora Robins Court — aka LoRo — her first year. “Initially, I was pretty shy and felt out of place because I was from a small town. By sophomore year, I felt as if I found my voice,” Stokes said.

As a member of the Class of 2013, she chose a newly created major: philosophy, politics, economics, and law. Beyond the classroom, she spent a summer studying abroad in Australia, and interned with the Women in International Trade Charitable Trust.

Stokes worked in the financial aid office for two years and the law school’s dean’s office for one year. She still found time to take part in Delta Sigma Theta sorority and chill with friends.

“My fondest memories at UR are Sunday brunch with friends to kick off each week,” she said.

Being a faculty member allows her to give back to her alma mater. “I am eternally grateful for my experience at UR. I feel as though my time as a student was life-changing developmentally and professionally,” she said. “I was excited for the opportunity to help to positively shape the lives of students and be at a place that continues to pour into me.”

Chemistry professor Miles Johnson from the Class of 2009 remembers what he was like as a first-year student. “Definitely nerdy. I was fairly shy but also enjoyed the opportunity to meet people from so many different places,” Johnson said.

Although he considered majoring in two languages, he ended up double majoring in chemistry and Spanish. “Professors Alvaro Kaempfer in Spanish and Wade Downey in chemistry were probably my two most influential professors,” Johnson said. “Organometallic chemistry with professor Emma Goldman played a particularly important role in pursuing the research that I do.”

Outside of class, he was a resident assistant and participated in Peer Advisors and Mentors, a program that pairs student guides with incoming first-year students to help them ease into the UR community. He worked at the school post office and was a teaching assistant for chemistry labs. Studying abroad in Argentina during his junior year gave him a chance to strengthen his Spanish skills.

Johnson loved summer research. “I spent all day doing fun work in a lab full of nice people and then spent the rest of my time hanging out with friends and exploring Richmond.”

He’s kept the vibe going as a faculty member. “It was a great opportunity to be in a department with amazing people — both faculty and students. The school provides excellent resources for the research that I wanted to do, and Richmond is a great place to live.”

The campus has a few new buildings since he was a student, but one thing hasn’t changed.

“Of course, there is always a triceragoose,” he said, referring to an aggressive denizen of Westhampton Lake. 

Psychology professor Laura Knouse lived in Lora Robins as a first-year student in the Class of 2002. Back then she was “nerdy, hopefully in a good way.”

She majored in psychology with a music minor. “I came pre-med but, after taking PSYC100 my freshman year and learning that you can do research on people’s behavior for a living and maybe do some good with that, I was hooked.”

Her activities included Schola Cantorum and Choeur du Roi, in which her future husband also participated. She was in the Alpha Phi Omega co-ed service fraternity and dabbled in theater.

“My friends and I made up our own sorority called Eta Mu Pi,” she said.

She worked as a psychology teaching fellow and, before that, as a lab prep for Introductory Biology. She enjoyed doing the sample dissections and growing coleus plants in the greenhouse.

Today as a faculty member, she is inspired by her students’ commitment to community service and appreciates the greater diversity on campus.

“I wanted to teach and mentor students in research the way I had the opportunity to be taught and mentored. I also wanted to be in a place that embraced the spirit of the liberal arts,” she said.

She regrets not studying abroad as a student, but there’s one memory she wouldn’t change: “My first walk around the lake with my now-husband.”