2026 SESSION

INTRODUCED

26108513D

HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 394

Offered March 11, 2026

Commending the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities.

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Patrons—Cousins, Callsen, Carr, Clark, McPike, McQuinn, Price, Rasoul, Schmidt, Tran, Ward and Ware

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WHEREAS, the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities, a nonprofit organization that strives to improve academic achievement, increase workplace productivity, and enhance local trust by addressing prejudice in all forms, celebrated the 90th anniversary of the founding of its precursor organization, the Lynchburg Round Table, in 2025; and

WHEREAS, the rich history of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities began in 1935, when Lynchburg College, now the University of Lynchburg, hosted the Lynchburg Round Table, an interfaith conference with a Jewish rabbi, a Catholic priest, and a Protestant minister, who were traveling the country in response to a rise in antisemitism and anti-Catholic sentiment; and

WHEREAS, the Lynchburg Round Table was a great success and similar conferences were established in Richmond and Norfolk; by 1946, these conferences had become affiliated with the National Conference of Christians and Jews; and

WHEREAS, chapters of the National Conference of Christians and Jews flourished throughout the Commonwealth and succeeded in promoting interfaith understanding through open dialogue and community service; the chapters adapted to substantial demographic changes over the decades and expanded their missions to support people of all faiths, races, and backgrounds; and

WHEREAS, in the 1990s, the National Conference of Christians and Jews rebranded as the National Conference, then as the National Conference for Community and Justice to reflect its evolving mission; and

WHEREAS, in 2005, local chapters of the National Conference for Community and Justice across the country became independent nonprofit organizations, and two years later, the Virginia Conference for Community and Justice adopted its current name, the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities works diligently to ensure that schools, businesses, and communities throughout the Commonwealth can operate free from prejudice, intolerance, and fear; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities serves more than 15,000 Virginians every year with programs tailored to meet the needs of kindergarten through 12th-grade students, colleges and universities, and workplaces; the organization also supports community-wide efforts to address human rights and societal issues; and

WHEREAS, the comprehensive programs offered by the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities have earned local, state, regional, and national accolades and have served as models for similar programming in other states; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities hereby be commended on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Lynchburg Round Table; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities as an expression of the House of Delegates' admiration for the organization's work to overcome prejudice and discrimination and uplift communities in Richmond and across the Commonwealth.