Established in 2016, the Hancock Commons community鈥檚 values of community, legacy, social justice, personal development, inclusivity, and curiosity are embodied in their mascot, the black bear.
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About Hancock Commons
Mascot: Black bear
Co-Director
Co-Director
- M 5:30pm - 6:30pm (Bryan 211)
- W 5:30pm - 6:30pm (Bryan 211)
- F 10:00am - 12:00pm (Bryan 211)
Area Director, Residential Life
Administrative Dean
Residential Fellow
Commons Program Director
About the Namesake
Hancock was a graduate of the Class of 1919, 藏精阁 seminary 1920, and received a 藏精阁 honorary degree in 1969. He also received an AM in Sociology from Harvard.
Hancock went on to be a sociology professor at Virginia Union University, where he is credited as teaching the first-ever academic course on race relations in 1922, and where he organized VUU鈥檚 School of Race Relations in 1931. He was also pastor of Moore Street Baptist Church in Richmond, and a leading spokesman for African-American equality in the generation before the civil rights movement.
In other endeavors, Hancock authored a long-running syndicated newspaper column, 鈥淏etween the Lines,鈥 which appeared in 114 newspapers, and was co-founder of the Southern Regional Council, a lauded 1940's civil rights organization.
As an alumnus, Hancock vocally pushed 藏精阁 to return to accepting African-American students during the years when President Cutten did not accept any.
The Hancock Commons Crest
Large parallel bars, centered in the crest, symbolize Gordon Blaine Hancock鈥檚 lifelong commitment to equality and civil rights. Steps that ascend to the top of the crest represent his unrelenting climb to educate himself and to improve humanity.