Graduates of the University of Ricmond’s Jepson School recognized at awards ceremony

Three Jepson School of Leadership Studies alumni were recognized for their personal and professional achievements and public service on Feb. 15 at the Jepson EDGE Institute, the school’s annual alumni-led professional development program for juniors.

Dean Sandra Peart presented the Alumni Awards, given to alumni who graduated at least 20 years ago, to Patrick Rucker, ’96, an investigative journalist with The Capitol Forum, and Kenneth Kraper, ’05, a national security professional with the U.S. government. Jessie Thompson, ’15, director of youth hockey development for the Washington Capitals, received the Tenth-Year Recognition Award, given to an alum who graduated a decade ago.

“Patrick, Ken, and Jessie exemplify the best of a Jepson School education in their purposeful, ethical leadership," Peart said. 

Patrick Rucker, investigative journalist

For more than two decades, Patrick Rucker has been reporting for news outlets, including the Chicago Tribune, Reuters, and for the past seven years, the Capitol Forum. He started covering local beats but eventually transitioned to in-depth, investigative reporting.  

“The idea that more is happening behind the curtain started to chew at me,” the journalist said. “Investigative reporting takes patience and time. You dig a lot of dry holes, but eventually you get to something.”

For the last few years, Rucker’s investigative reporting has focused on health insurance, specifically the health insurance review process.

“The review process can be so cursory, with some insurers taking three seconds or less to deny requests for coverage,” he said. “A lot of frustrated people are on the receiving end of that three-second denial.” That frustration was evident in the public’s ambivalent reaction to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4, 2024, in New York City, he added.

Beginning in 2022, Rucker, by then a Capitol Forum journalist, and a team of ProPublica journalists spent three years investigating health insurance companies. Together they wrote a series of in-depth articles published by ProPublica and collectively archived under the title “Uncovered: How the Insurance Industry Denies Coverage to Patients.”  

“Millions of people are denied their requests for care,” Rucker said. “They have insurance — many have been paying into their policies for years — and their doctors say they need care. But that can be balled up and tossed aside if the insurance company decides not to pay.”

Rucker said his reporting helps consumers understand how and why this happens.

“At its best, journalism strives to edify the public and hold powerful figures to account,” he said. “That has certainly been my professional motivation for nearly 30 years of work in journalism, which I believe is a vocation of service.” 

Kenneth Kraper, national security professional

Working for the U.S. government, Kraper assembles teams responsible for building key global partnerships and tackling some of the most difficult, pressing national security challenges. He harnesses the talents of a diverse group of national security professionals and provides strategic vision that helps drive U.S. policy.

His University of Richmond education, including his leadership studies and international studies majors, anchors his work, he said. He also earned a Master of Science in intelligence studies from Mercyhurst University.

“My Jepson classes prepared me to be a critical observer of leadership in process — at the individual and organizational levels and among cultures and nationalities at the nation-state level,” he said. “It gave me the tools, mindset, and values to inform policymakers in meaningful ways and to exercise the kind of leadership required to advance U.S. foreign policy objectives.”

He recalled the Jepson Class of 2005 convocation ceremony where Professor J. Thomas Wren charged the soon-to-be graduates to live a life of purpose. “I have earnestly sought to live by that call,” Kraper said.

Jessie Thompson, director of youth hockey development

A lifelong sports enthusiast, Thompson played soccer, ice hockey, and lacrosse in high school and served as president of the Richmond Women’s Club Lacrosse team. But the fifth-generation Spider said her “aha!” moment came in a leadership studies class with Dr. Crystal Hoyt during her junior year.

“Dr. Hoyt asked us to identify three role models who weren’t family members,” Thompson said. “I immediately thought of three coaches who shaped me into the person I am. That’s when I realized I wanted to work in sports.”

The leadership studies and Latin American and Iberian studies double major explored that interest by coaching lacrosse at a private school close to campus and by completing her Jepson School internship with the United States Tennis Association. She went on to earn a master’s in sports industry management from Georgetown University while simultaneously interning with the Washington Capitals (Caps), a National Hockey League team based in Washington, D.C.

Thompson’s internship led to a job as a marketing and youth hockey ambassador with the Caps starting in 2016. Ten years and five promotions later, she is the Caps’ director of youth hockey development, responsible for leading a team of 40 staff with a mission to grow and provide access to the game of hockey throughout Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.

Her team offers over 30 programs on and off the ice for all skill levels. Thompson counts the 2021 launch of the ALL CAPS ALL HER initiative, which connects women and girls to the game, as her proudest professional moment.

ALL CAPS ALL HER won the NHL Stanley Award for Social Impact and Growth in 2024. Thompson was named to the Top 50 Women Leaders of Arlington in 2025.

Despite the often long, erratic hours, Thompson couldn’t be happier with her career choice. “I get to introduce hockey to kids and that’s the best thing ever!” she said.  

Inspiring students

Alum Susan Keller, ’06, who served on the alumni awards selection committee, said holding the awards ceremony during EDGE served to inspire the 60 student and 40 alumni program participants.

“The number of fields in which Jepson graduates flourish continues to surprise and delight me,” said Keller, a member of the Jepson School Executive Board of Advisors. “It’s great for students to see the possibilities and connect with such exceptional alumni.”