2022 Virginia Education Summit

October 27-28, 2022

Radford and Roanoke, VA

Laura Novey and Farnaz Thompson

McGuireWoods Consulting’s Laura Worley Novey and McGuireWoods’ Farnaz Farkish Thompson

McGuireWoods Consulting senior vice president Laura Worley Novey and McGuireWoods partner Farnaz Farkish Thompson participated in discussions at a joint session of the Virginia House Education and Senate Education and Health Committees.

Novey, a former Virginia Secretary of Education, helped organize the joint session through the Hunt Institute. She serves on the Board of the Hunt Institute, which hosted the Virginia Education Summit. Novey opened discussion for the session “Postsecondary Funding – Linking State Higher Education Goals with Postsecondary Funding Opportunities,” with the chancellor of the Virginia Community College System and the president of Virginia State University.

Thompson moderated a panel, “Balancing Free Speech: Academic Civility and Inclusivity,” with former Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, the president of Marymount University, the president of Radford University, and the director for diversity, opportunity and inclusion pathways for the Virginia Department of Education. The Virginia senators and delegates asked questions of the subject matter experts, and Thompson provided opening remarks and moderated the discussion.