VUU’s tower sign stays; scooter rentals advance

By Jeremy Lazarus

Virginia Union University can keep its logo shining at night from the top of a historic 60foot tower on its campus.

City Council voted 9-0 Monday night to approve a special use permit to keep what VUU’s Attorney Dale G. Mullen described as a “beacon of hope” in place.

The sign has been controversial to historic preservation regulators who felt the addition of the lighted VUU sign on top of the tower was a modern touch that should not be allowed.

The university has agreed to pay $30,000 a year to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to keep the sign up. The payment represents compensation for VUU’s decision to alter the tower without first seeking permission.

The vote for VUU came at a meeting in which the council also voted 9-0 to put in place a a sweeping city plan for tackling climate change without shutting down the city’s natural gas

25 employees at its Northside Richmond headquarters and it operates the well-known and popular Diversity Thrift, as well as hosting programing and services for the LGBTQ+ community. The organization also delivers grants and funding to other area nonprofits such as Richmond Triangle Players, Health Brigade, Side by Side and Equality Virginia.

According to its website, Diversity Richmond has distributed nearly $1 million since its inception in 1999.

When Rev. Cross, 47, stepped into the role as executive director last year on Oct. 17, she became the first Black, queer woman to hold the position in the nonprofit’s history.

“The LGBTQ+ community is a very diverse community, it crosses just about every racial, socioeconomic, religious line you can imagine,” Diversity Richmond Board Chair Chris Moore said about the appointment. “Lacette, as a queer Black woman, has the lived experience of intersectionality.”

Known as “Reverend L” to many, Rev. Cross is currently pastor of Restoration Fellowship RVA, a welcoming-to-all congregation that embraces diversity. She grew up in a military family in Oceanside, Calif., about 40 miles north of San Diego near Camp Pendleton. College took her