The Longwood Leadership Forum welcomed Richmond Times-Dispatch political reporter and columnist Jeff Schapiro on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014 at the Molnar Recital Hall in Wygal Hall at 7 p.m.
Diane Easter, director of Major Programs for Commonwealth Relations was the one who organized the event.
President W. Taylor Reveley IV attended and gave a brief introduction to Justin Pope, chief of staff for the President’s Office, who gave a formal introduction of his mentor, Jeff Schapiro.
He opened up his statement by saying that Virginia politics "have not been going well for us lately.” Following this was a comment in the audience saying it was all New Jersey’s fault, making the mood light and enjoyable.
The event was open to the public and had a fairly decent amount of guests, many of which were very interested in what was going on in Virginia politics.
“Jeff Schapiro is from New York City and has since graduated from Georgetown University,” said Pope. “From his bowtie down to his shoes, his now successful 25 plus year career with the Richmond Times-Dispatch, he has transformed Virginia politics with his hard-hitting questions and even better responses.”
He even has his own radio show, which can be listened to on AM radio in the mornings.
Schapiro’s role in Virginia is crucial. “Not everyone has a Jeff Schapiro,” said Pope. “An aggressive but fair reporter with an understanding of a deep poll of action, genuine with a stack of fear and power; Virginia is extremely fortunate and thankful that he is working on our side and helping Virginia within politics.”
Pope also mentioned earlier this month that The Washington Post published a list of the most important state government officials in the country. Schapiro did an excellent job representing Virginia on the list.
Schapiro was extremely humble after the formal introduction by Justin Pope, saying, “I am not worthy.” He took the stage shortly after with all eyes on him. This was followed by his remark that “God really is on Longwood’s side,” regarding Longwood’s winning basketball game against Liberty University.
Schapiro was able to easily capture the audience with witty humor followed by tough questions and responses that correspond with it.
During his talk, Schapiro raised some extremely tough questions and was open to any and every question the audience asked him.
He first started off by talking about Democratic Attorney General Mark Terry’s refusal to defend same sex marriage. He said, “That is a reflection of Virginia’s politics and that is a reflection of [change].”
Audience members were allowed to ask Schapiro a number of questions. One person asked how Schapiro felt about the Senate Bill 107 possibly being passed, to which Schapiro responded, “I don’t think it’ll go anywhere because the government should not have the right to tell small businesses how to run their companies.”
After the event, there was a light reception where the audience members were allowed to interact with Schapiro if desired.
His talk in Molnar Hall makes us think about how we need to be more in touch with politics, especially in Virginia since Schapiro is able to give us the details and important updates with his hard hitting questions.
