VSU Is First HBCU To Host Chesapeake District Robotics Championship

PETERSBURG, VA

Virginia State University expects to welcome about 3,000 high school students and their families to campus on April 10-12 for its three-day Chesapeake District FIRST Robotics Competition Championship.

Matches will be held daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the VSU Multi-Purpose Center. Winning teams will advance to the FIRST World Championship in Houston, Texas, where more than 600 international teams competed last April inside of the George R. Brown Convention Center. This year’s First Robotics championship will be held April 29 – May 2 at the Brown Convention Center in Houston, according to its website.

More than 19,000 global students representing more than 1055 teams will compete. It is sponsored by BAE Systems.

Virginia State is the first HBCU to host this competition, an event that showcases the efforts of high school engineering and tech students. Teams are located across Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland, and West Virginia. FIRST Chesapeake District is a nonprofit that currently serves more than 10,000 students.

“This event embodies our college’s commitment to fostering innovation, collaboration, and the next generation of STEM leaders,” said Dr. Dawit Haile, dean of the College of Engineering and Technology, speaking in a recent statement on the school’s website. Haile explained. “What began as a historic first in 2024 has grown into a broader effort to expand opportunity and strengthen the pipeline of future engineers and technology professionals.”

The upcoming robotics championship resulted from a 2024 partnership that was developed between VSU and FIRST Chesapeake. (The acronym FIRST means For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology).

This partnership also launched the VSU STEM Hub, an on-campus collaborative space that provides regional robotics teams with practice space, equipment, and VSU faculty and student mentors. Since its launch, the Hub has supported five new FIRST Tech Challenge teams across Petersburg, Colonial Heights, Hopewell, and Dinwiddie County. The initiative has also drawn support from regional partners, including the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM) and the Cameron Foundation, which aims to strengthen workforce development pathways in Southside Virginia.

Alex Bryant, president of FIRST Chesapeake, said in a statement, “By combining university resources, community investment, and a championship-level event, VSU has created an ecosystem that extends far beyond a single season. Hosting this championship on an HBCU campus reinforces that impact and sends a powerful message about who belongs in STEM.”

The free event is open to the public.