It’s a new year, and we are excited about what the future holds for the Richmond community and even more delighted about the stories we get to share with you. But first, we’d like to take some time to reflect on the successes of the year gone by.  

In our weekly digest, we bring you the latest news about campus activities, national awards, guest speakers, and profiles of alumni, faculty, staff, and students. And we know that Spiders enjoy the connection! Nearly 60% of our targeted readership opens our email — a statistic well above the industry standard.

In this UR Now issue, our editorial team reflects on the moments that helped us create the 200-plus stories published on our site in 2024 and identifies four of our widely read stories.

• In 2024, we shared some of the experiences of the 550-plus UR summer fellows who interned across the country and abroad — from the United Nations headquarters in New York City to a nonprofit that helps domestic abuse survivors in South Africa.
• We highlighted our students’ honors, including the four Fulbright Scholars who will attend the University of Oxford master’s degree programs in England, the three science students who received Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships for their research, and the two who were named Beckman Scholars.
• We let you know about actress and producer Issa Rae’s visit and covered the campus' world premiere of novelist Garth Greenwell’s book turned opera.
• And when the men’s and women’s basketball teams had dream seasons — each named A10 regular season champions — we were there.

But in case you were wondering which story received the most views — 4,470 views to be exact — it was the article that celebrated our Princeton Review ranking.  

We also bring you a roundup of some of the top photos of the year by our talented photographer Jamie Betts.

We look forward to bringing you more Spider stories in 2025.

We wish you a Happy New Year!