Donna E. Coghill

Currently the VCU Libraries Community Engagement Librarian and Coordinator of Campus Partnerships , Donna E. Coghill has focused her career in education, instruction, and outreach. As the Community Engagement Librarian, Donna is the liaison to VCU’s Division of Community Engagement and the Division of Strategic Enrollment Management, as well as high schools and non-VCU researchers in need of access to collections and services. In these roles, she provides research and teaching services for service learning courses, as well as outreach support for Living Learning Programs; serves as first point of contact for non-VCU researchers in need of access to collections and services, including opportunities for community engagement; engages high school students and librarians in classroom and online environments to support information literacy skills that foster the transition between K-12 and higher education information literacy; and teaches library instruction sessions and supports the research goals of VCU's undergraduates.

Outside of VCU Libraries, Donna has designed and taught teacher workshops incorporating the arts into the core curriculum. She has also taught workshops to K-12 and college students; developed educational materials to align with productions; and has worked as a consultant, artist and educator with many Central Virginia arts and cultural organizations.

For the university and the Richmond community, Donna has been an active voice for equality, diversity, and change. She participated in the development of the universities diversity plan, served on the VCU Alumni Board of Directors, was chair and charter member of Single Volunteers of Richmond, and was as a member of the Family Lifeline Youth Advisory Board. At present, Donna is a VCU Green Zone volunteer, a facilitator for the VCU Safe Zone program, on the advisory board of Cultures of Consent, manages two VCU scholarship committees, and is an on the VCU Police Departments LGBTQ Safety Advisory Group.

Most particularly, Donna has been an active member, prior co-chair, of the LGBTQIA collaborative, advocacy, and advisory body, Equality VCU. Donna has been instrumental in the creation of an annual LGBTQ Award, Lavender Graduation, and educational forums and workshops. Donna was honoured to receive the 2012 Burnside-Watstein LGBTQ Award.

Donna holds an MFA in Theatre with a pedagogy and directing emphasis and a BFA in theatre administration, both from VCU.