As the University of Richmond offers support to students and all members of the Spider family during the pandemic, alums also are playing a part.

Ukee Washington, R’80, is a news anchor in Philadelphia, and in an effort to provide a counterbalance to all of the coronavirus reporting, he produced a YouTube video offering a bit of musical inspiration.

“The average reader or the average viewer can turn it off and can get away from it for a day or two, and then come back,” Washington told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “It’s reality. You have to come back to it. But we were doing it every day.”

Washington’s version of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” has already received more than 66,000 views. He said that being in the TV news industry helped him recognize the public’s need for a support system. 

His project came to life with the support of keyboardist Bill Jolly, the former music director for Grover Washington Jr. 

While at UR, Washington was a co-captain on the 1979-80 men’s basketball team. He’s been involved with music and acting throughout his life, and was profiled by the University of Richmond Magazine in 2014.