Eastern Virginia Medical School, which embattled Virginia Governor Ralph Northam attended, banned yearbooks in 2013 after the school’s provost was shown a yearbook featuring portraits of three white students dressed in Confederate uniforms and standing in front of a Confederate flag. The decision to ban the yearbooks was made almost 30 years after Northam’s 1984 yearbook page included a photo of two people in black face and a KKK costume. EVMS Provost Richard Homan said it did not occur to him to review earlier editions of the books when the 2013 incident occurred. The recent resurfacing of the 1984 photo has put the governor in hot water, with many calling for him to step down. The commemorative books were reportedly largely run by students, with little oversight from the school’s staff. “We can’t ignore the fact there were incendiary and outrageous and shockingly disturbing pictures in a yearbook,” Homan told the Post. The school has hired former Virginia Attorney General Richard Cullen to lead an investigation into how racist photos came to be published in EVMS yearbooks.
