UR alumni receive top honors
UR Now: Alumni
Kimberly Bowers Rollins set the tone at the President’s Breakfast and Alumni Awards Presentation on May 31 when she recalled her mother’s words: “We do this because it’s what we do. It’s who we are.” Throughout the awards ceremony, Rollins and fellow Reunion Weekend alumni honorees Beth Vann-Turnbull, Charlotte Denoyer, and Lina Tori Jan echoed this theme of bringing their passions to their work in ways that benefit their communities and their alma mater.
In recognition of their contributions, Kevin F. Hallock, president of the University of Richmond, and Edward Pruden Jr., president of the University of Richmond Alumni Association, presented Rollins, a 2005 graduate, and Vann-Turnbull, a 1993 graduate, with the Alumni of the University of Richmond Award for Distinguished Service. They also presented Denoyer, a 2015 graduate and Tori Jan, a 2020 graduate, with the Distinguished Recent Graduate Award.
Rollins, who majored in political science and minored in leadership studies, has held leadership roles in fundraising and development at Goodwill, Junior Achievement, George Washington University, and the University of Richmond. She is currently the director of development at Lowell School, an independent prekindergarten–to–eighth-grade school in Washington, D.C. She has served on the boards of the University of Richmond Alumni Association and the Black Alumni Network, the Jepson School Executive Board of Advisors, and the Alumni Recruitment Committee.
“I never prayed for fame,” Rollins said. “I prayed to be effective. To be influential. The Jepson School of Leadership Studies gave me that foundation. My servant leadership showed me how to lead with my heart.”
Vann-Turnbull’s career also reflects a deep commitment to servant leadership. With 27 years of experience as an executive director, she currently leads the Richmond-based nonprofit Housing Families First. She also serves on various boards, including Homeward and the Richmond Animal League. When accepting her award, she acknowledged the “good hand I was dealt” when, like both her parents, she received a scholarship to attend Richmond. Her mother, Dianne Minter Vann, a 1965 graduate, was in the audience cheering her on.
“It’s very affirming to have your alma mater recognize how you have chosen to use your degree,” Vann-Turnbull said.
Lessons learned
Denoyer, a double major in business management and leadership studies, taught elementary school in the Bronx and Harlem with Teach for America for seven years. In 2019, she pivoted to create Cupped Desserts, a gourmet chocolate business, with her sister, Carrie. The second-generation restaurateurs have expanded their business ventures to include Café Deux, an award-winning French American restaurant in Harrison, New York, and Deux Luxe, a New York City café specializing in gourmet burgers.
The entrepreneur said that success comes when you learn from your failures. “I would rather be a person who sometimes fails but always keeps trying. A person who, when they fail, finds a way to repair the relationship, alter the system, and push through the ugly to create something beautiful in the mess.”
Like the three alumni who spoke before her, Tori Jan highlighted “the defining role UR has played in my life” when accepting her award. A native of Afghanistan and first-generation college student, she received a scholarship to attend Richmond as a Bonner Scholar. Through her leadership studies and political science majors, she said she gained an understanding of international security, public policy, and accountability mechanisms.
Tori Jan said the generosity of Robert S. Jepson Jr. and Alice Andrews Jepson enabled her to earn a Master of Public Policy at the University of Oxford as a Jepson Scholar. Today she is a tireless human rights advocate passionate about girls’ access to a quality education, something she promotes as a UNICEF education champion. She previously led the development and implementation of a Georgetown University initiative supporting the rights of Afghan women and girls. Currently, she is the assistant director at the Harvard College Women’s Center and serves on the board of the international NGO RefugePoint and the Jepson School Executive Board of Advisors.
“We are who we are today, yes, because of our efforts and hard work,” Tori Jan said, “but also because of this wonderful University that has taught us lessons of life, loyalty, leadership, and service. I owe so much to everyone who has contributed to my journey and promise to continue to do what I can, in ways big or small, to do good for the world and the communities of which I am a part.”