Vincent Maurice Woodard, poet, community activist and professor of English, passed away Feb. 4, 2008.

He joined the University of Colorado at Boulder faculty in 2002 as an assistant professor of English. His writings often focused on the historical context of black gay and lesbian lives along with spiritual traditions in essays such as "Just as (Quare) as They Want to Be: A Review of the Black Queer Studies in Millennium Conference" and "A Soul Retrieval." Woodard recently finished writing his first book, "The Delectable Negro: Race, Hunger and Homoeroticism in the Nineteenth-Century American Culture," which is currently under contract with New York University Press.

Passages is a recognition for recent employees; you may contact the Silver & Gold Record for obituary notices for retired employees.