Lauren LeMunyan and Justin Trawick ’04 are the stars of the “The Lauren and Justin Show,” which has streamed live every Sunday and Thursday evening since their first in-person music gig was cancelled March 12.
Life in the Time of Covid-19
Longwood alums show resilience, leadership, generosity during pandemic
By Sabrina Brown
Alumnus cranks up the creativity to keep music paying the bills during pandemic
There’s a theme song, joking around, special guests, a band and thousands of views from devoted fans.
It’s not “The Tonight Show” or “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”—it’s “The Justin and Lauren Show,” coming to you live from the Arlington, Virginia, living room of Justin Trawick ’04, and his girlfriend, Lauren LeMunyan.
Streaming at 8 p.m. every Sunday and Thursday evening via Facebook, the show not only has hooked fans from around the country and abroad since it debuted on March 12, but also attracted the attention of Washingtonian Magazine, the Washington Post, Reuters and CNN.
And it’s all because of Covid-19.
Now none of us, including Trawick, would say the pandemic has been a good thing. For him, the biggest impact has been on his livelihood. He and his band, Justin Trawick and The Common Good, have seen more than 60 of their live performances cancelled so far, and he expects more cancellations and postponements in coming months.
He could easily have looked at the impact of the pandemic as a disaster. But entrepreneurial and optimistic by nature, he saw something else: opportunity.
“On March 12, my first show was cancelled because of the coronavirus,” said Trawick. “Lauren and I decided to do something on Facebook live instead.”
When the first two shows attracted 4,000 views each and brought in enough money, via a virtual tip jar, to cover the losses from five cancelled in-person shows, Trawick knew they were onto something.
He attributes the show’s success to two things.
First, he and LeMunyan were some of the earliest musicians to embrace live streaming when the pandemic hit. Second, they decided simply replicating a gig—in other words, just playing music—wouldn’t be enough to capture an audience.
“Early on we realized that would not be the way we could most impact people and get their attention,” he said. “Instead, we try to do it like a TV show. We talk about our day. We’ve done skits, and we’ve interviewed people—like Tony Lucca, who was on ‘The Voice.’”
They’ve kept the show going even as some of the Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted, and it’s helping to pay the bills. They’ve also leveraged their growing online fanbase into several new in-person endeavors.
In June, they held the first in a series of “secret socially distanced backyard concerts” where people can see “The Justin and Lauren Show” live. The first backyard concert sold out, and four shows in Arlington scheduled through September also are sold out, Trawick said. They’re taking the show on the road to Philadelphia and Richmond in the near future.
Also planned is a Common Good on The Block street concert with the full band set for Aug. 1 in Arlington. It sold out in three days, and more street concerts are in the works.
Safety is the most important factor in all of these live outdoor events, Trawick said, with the number of tickets limited and socially distanced seating mapped out and strictly observed.
“Before the pandemic, I never would have considered doing shows like this,” he said. “The future for being an artist in a post-Covid world is going to be based on re-invention and the willingness to adapt.”
CNN, Reuters, the Washington Post and Washingtonian Magazine did stories featuring “The Justin and Lauren Show,” one of the earliest developed by professional musicians in the face of the pandemic. Each show attracts thousands of viewers and helps pay the bills via contributions to a virtual tip jar.
Tickets to an Aug. 1 street block concert by Trawick and his band, The Common Good, sold out in three days. Limited tickets and socially distanced seating that is strictly observed are among the safety measures in place for their outdoor events.
Photo by Martin Radigan
Longtime friends dream big after successful fundraiser provides Internet access for students
Theta Chi fraternity brothers Bharani “Barney” Sankar (left), Daishan Johnson, Wil Miles and Conner Niver, all members of the class of 2016, hope the technology they provided to eight families will help students stay on track academically this summer and in the future.
Keeping up with online schoolwork is going to be a lot easier this summer and from now on for the children in several families thanks to the efforts of four Longwood University alumni who graduated together in 2016.
The young men—Theta Chi fraternity brothers at Longwood—knew the lack of access to Internet service had made it extremely difficult for many children to keep up with their studies after schools closed due to the pandemic.
So they decided to do something.
“We are all really close friends and are always in communication,” said Bharani “Barney” Sankar, a senior associate at KPMG in Chicago. “One night we were talking, sharing stories of the impact this has had on our network, and we immediately decided that we wanted to do our part, even if it was something small.”
Their plan: Launch a fundraiser, redeploying a clothing line they had created several years earlier to sell sweatshirts with the group’s distinctive sunflower design and Beauty in the Struggle (BITS) brand.
In just a month, they sold 65 sweatshirts, netting a profit of $564. They added $250 of their own money and purchased eight WiFi routers, which work like a cellphone hotspot, and paired them with prepaid data cards. The setup allows recipients to connect to the Internet so they can complete their online assignments.
The group hopes the technology will help the students stay on track academically during the summer months, said Daishan Johnson, who is working toward a Ph.D. in exercise science at VCU. And when school starts again in the fall, parents won’t have to worry if there is homework that requires Internet access, he added.
The success of the project has inspired the group to expand their community service efforts beyond the current pandemic—and earned them a spot on WRIC-Channel 8’s “Positively Richmond” segment earlier this month.
The group is in the process of applying for 501c3 status as a nonprofit organization in Virginia, said Conner Niver, a Richmond resident who works as a location assistant for CBS/Apple TV’s “Swagger” drama series. Eventually they want to establish a college scholarship for minority students.
“Our ability to create opportunities for these eight families warms my heart,” said Wil Miles, who had seen students struggling to adjust in his job as a health and physical education teacher at Powhatan Middle School and the head varsity boys soccer coach at Powhatan High School. “The success of the initial project has helped me see that making a positive impact is possible, and I am excited to be a part of this group heading into the future.”
One night we were talking, sharing stories of the impact this has had on our network, and we immediately decided that we wanted to do our part, even if it was something small.”
Young men focused on helping others treat essential workers to lunch
Louis Gould III ’19 (standing, far right) started the FreshBoyz Club in 2008 as a place for members to focus on helping their communities.
Photo by Courtney Vogel
Going out to lunch at the end of a busy week is always a treat. It’s even better when someone else picks up the check.
In May, the members of the FreshBoyz Club gave that experience to more than 30 people considered essential workers in the pandemic: nurses, convenience store and Walmart employees, and correctional officers, for example.
“These people are risking their lives every day to provide the services we need,” said Louis Gould III ’19, who founded the club in 2008 to give boys and young men a place to focus on becoming productive and helping members of their communities. “In FreshBoyz, we focus on thinking not just about ourselves, but about others.”
The club, whose members are from Prince Edward, Cumberland and Buckingham counties and represent a range of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, gave away free lunches every Friday during the month of May via Facebook live drawings. Gould, who teaches history at Prince Edward County Middle School, said a total of 36 essential workers, some from as far away as North Carolina, each received $10 to purchase lunch at the restaurant of their choice.
Funding for the free lunch initiative came from community businesses, including A&J Consulting—Community Engagement and Outreach Services LLC, and individuals, including Prince Edward County Commonwealth’s Attorney Megan Clark ’05, as well as from club members.
The FreshBoyz Club plans new community service projects every quarter, with the idea of raising the bar for what members expect of themselves and each other. That philosophy is reflected in the club’s motto: “All men were created equal. Some just stand out more.”
“I am ecstatic that there is a group dedicated to mentoring young men in our community,” said Clark. “FreshBoyz members provide much-needed services while also learning the tools necessary to be successful, productive members of society.”
For Jaheim Maye, 13, a rising 9th-grader at Cumberland High School, the club has provided motivation and positive ways to spend his time and energy.
“I wanted to be a leader, not a follower,” he said. “I wanted to volunteer instead of just sitting around doing nothing.” 
