Another Milestone for H-SC's Class of '86

I was pleased to learn today that a classmate and long-time friend has been named as the Publisher of the Virginian-Pilot.

Maurice A. Jones, H-SC '86, a Rhodes Scholar and former Commissioner of Social Services in Gov. Mark Warner's administration, assumed his duties on 14 April. It makes the Virginian-Pilot the nation's largest daily newspaper with a black publisher. Nevertheless, Maurice commented on the significance of that fact about as I would have expected:

"I hope that in whatever period of time I have to do this job, I won't be remembered as just the first black publisher," Jones said. "I hope people will say, 'This guy made a positive contribution to this place.' "

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Maurice graduated at the very top of our class, and was therefore our Valedictorian. He's just about one of the hardest-working guys I know. The Virginian-Pilot could have done a lot worse and, to my mind, couldn't have done much better.

Congrats, Maurice!