University of Virginia

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University of Virginia
Established	1819
Type	Public university
Endowment	US $3.6 billion
President	John T. Casteen III
Faculty	2,053
Students	19,843
Undergraduates	13,353
Postgraduates	6,490
Location	Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.
Campus	World Heritage Site, small city 1,682 acres (2.6 mi²/6.8 km²)
Founder	Thomas Jefferson
Colors	Orange and Navy Blue
Mascot	Virginia Cavalier
Athletics	25 varsity teams
Affiliations	AAU, Universitas 21
Website	Virginia.edu

Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville¹
UNESCO World Heritage Site

State Party	United States of America
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, iv, vi
Identification	#442
Region2	Europe and North America
Inscription History
Formal Inscription:	1987 11th WH Committee Session
WH link:	http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/442
1 Name as officially inscribed on the WH List 2 As classified officially by UNESCO

The University of Virginia (also called U.Va., UVA, Mr. Jefferson's University, or The University^[1]) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, established by Thomas Jefferson. Conceived by 1800, and established in 1819, it is notable in U.S. history for being the first to offer academic specializations in disciplines now common, such as Architecture, Astronomy, and Philosophy, as well as for being the first to separate church and education. Its School of Engineering and Applied Science was the first engineering school in the United States associated with a university. Officially, U.Va. is incorporated as The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia.

The University of Virginia is the only university in North America that is designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, defining it as being of outstanding cultural importance to the common heritage of mankind. It shares the honor jointly with Jefferson's nearby homestead at Monticello.

[edit] History

On January 18, 1800, Thomas Jefferson, then Vice President of the United States, alluded to plans for a new college in a letter written to British scientist Joseph Priestley: "We wish to establish in the upper country of Virginia, and more centrally for the State, a University on a plan so broad and liberal and modern, as to be worth patronizing with the public support, and be a temptation to the youth of other States to come and drink of the cup of knowledge and fraternize with us."^[2] In 1802, then serving as President of the United States, Jefferson wrote to artist Charles Willson Peale that his concept of the new university would be "on the most extensive and liberal scale that our circumstances would call for and our faculties meet."^[3] Although Virginia was already home to one university, the College of William and Mary, Jefferson had lost confidence in his alma mater, partly because of its religious biases and lack of education in the sciences.^[4]

The University of Virginia stands on land purchased in 1788 by an American Revolutionary War veteran, James Monroe. The farmland just outside Charlottesville was purchased from Monroe by the Board of Visitors of what was then Central College in 1817; Monroe was beginning the first of his own two terms in the White House. Guided by Jefferson, the school laid its first building's cornerstone later in 1817 and the Commonwealth of Virginia would charter the new university on January 25, 1819.

In the presence of James Madison, the Marquis de Lafayette toasted Jefferson as "father" of the University of Virginia at the school's inaugural banquet in 1824. The University's first classes met in March 1825. Other universities of the day allowed only three choices of specialization: Medicine, Law, and Religion, but under Jefferson's guidance, the University of Virginia became the first in the United States to allow specializations in such diverse fields as Astronomy, Architecture, Botany, Philosophy, and Political Science. Jefferson explained, "This institution will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it."^[5]

An even more controversial direction was taken for the new university based on a daring vision of higher education, completely separated from religious doctrine. One of the largest construction projects in North America up to that time, the new Grounds were centered upon a library (then housed in the Rotunda) rather than a church—further distinguishing it from peer universities of the United States, most of which were still primarily functioning as seminaries for one particular religion or another.^[6] Jefferson even went so far as to ban the teaching of Theology altogether. In a letter to Thomas Cooper in October 1814, Jefferson stated, "a professorship of theology should have no place in our institution" and, true to form, the University never had a Divinity school or department, and was established independent of any religious sect. Replacing the then-standard specialization in Religion, the University undertook groundbreaking specializations in more "scientific" subjects such as Astronomy and Botany. However, the University currently maintains one of the highest rated religious studies departments in the U.S. A non-denominational University chapel, notably absent from Jefferson's original plans, was constructed in 1890.

The Lawn during winter, with tracks through the snow. At center is the Rotunda, which was the original library building at the head of Jefferson's Academical Village.

Jefferson was intimately involved in the University, hosting Sunday dinners at his Monticello home for faculty and students, until his death. So taken with the import of what he viewed the University's foundations and potential to be and counting it amongst his greatest accomplishments, Jefferson eschewed mention of his political posts, and instead insisted his grave mention only his status as author of the Declaration of Independence and Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and father of the University of Virginia.

In 1826, the nation's fourth President James Madison became Rector of the University of Virginia, at the same time America's fifth President James Monroe made his home on the Grounds (at Monroe Hill) and was a member of the Board of Visitors. Both former Presidents stayed at the University until their deaths in the 1830s.

The School of Engineering and Applied Science opened in 1836, making it the oldest engineering school in the United States associated with a university.

At the onset of the American Civil War, the University of Virginia was the largest in the Southern United States and second nationwide only to Harvard University in its scope.^[7] Unlike many other colleges in the South, the University was kept open throughout the conflict, an especially remarkable feat with its state being the site of more battles than any other. In March 1865, Union General George Armstrong Custer marched troops into Charlottesville, whereupon faculty and community leaders convinced him to spare the University. Though Union troops camped on the Lawn and damaged many of the Pavilions, Custer's men left four days later without bloodshed and the University was able to return to its educational routines.

Jefferson, ever the skeptic of central authority and bureaucracy, had originally decided the University of Virginia would have no President. Rather, this power was to be shared by a Rector and a Board of Visitors. As the nineteenth century waned, it became obvious this arrangement was incapable of adequately handling the many administrative and fundraising tasks which had become regrettably but unavoidably necessary amid the inner-workings of the growing University.

Father of the University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson was the first and only President of the United States to found an institution of higher learning.

In 1904, Edwin Alderman resigned as President of Tulane University to take the same position at the University of Virginia. As the University's first President, he embarked on a number of reforms for both the University and the state of Virginia's public educational systems in general. A reform specific to the University of Virginia was one of the first school-sponsored financial aid programs in all of higher learning and, though primitive by today's standards, it included a loan provision for those "needy young men" who were unable to pay. Initially controversial and opposed by many at what had become a very traditional school, Alderman's progressive ideas stood the test of time and he today remains the longest-serving President in the University's history, having served for nearly thirty years until his death in 1931. Alderman Library, a popular landmark among today's students, is his namesake.

Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winner William Faulkner became writer-in-residence at the University in 1957, keeping open office hours until his death in 1962. He was also a lecturer at the school, as well as taking the title "Consultant on American Literature to the Alderman Library". Faulkner had a large collection of his manuscripts and typesets given to and made available (the request reaffirmed by his wife and daughter) at the library upon his death.

In 2004, the University of Virginia became the first public university in the United States to receive more of its funding from private sources than from the state with which it is associated. Thanks to a Charter initiative that recently passed the Virginia legislature, the University—and any other public universities in the state that choose to do so—will have greater autonomy over its own affairs.

James Madison served as the second Rector of the University of Virginia until his death (1826–1836).

In the same year, the 100^th anniversary of Alderman becoming President, the University announced the AccessUVa financial aid program. This program guarantees the University will meet 100% of a student's demonstrated need. It also provides low-income students (up to 200% of the poverty line – as of 2006, about $40,000 for a family of four) with full grants to cover all of their educational needs, and it caps the level of need-based loans for all other students. This program is the first to guarantee full grants to students of low-income families at any public university in the United States.

Though all-white until 1950 and generally all-male until 1970 (women had for many years prior been admitted to the education and nursing schools), the University of Virginia is now more diverse. The makeup of the Class of 2008 was 10% African-American, 14% Asian-American, 5% Hispanic, 5% Other and 5% International. Fewer than two-thirds identified themselves as being white. Eighty-five percent of the University's entering Class of 2009 were ranked in the top 10% of their graduating high school class and 56% were female.

Today, minority students are particularly successful at the University of Virginia. According to the Fall 2005 issue of Journal of Blacks in Higher Education ^[8], the University "has the highest black student graduation rate of the Public Ivies at 86 percent." The journal goes on to state that "by far the most impressive is the University of Virginia with its high black student graduation rate and its small racial difference in graduation rates."

The University of Virginia joined with Harvard University and Princeton University as the three universities announced the end of their Early Decision programs in September 2006, stating that such policies limit low-income and middle class students from competing on an equal footing with applicants from wealthy families.^[9][10] Early Decision programs force a student to accept an offer of admission before evaluating the financial aid offers of various universities. For its part, U.Va. noted that of 947 Early Decision acceptances for the Class of 2010, fewer than 20 of those students had applied for aid.^[11]

[edit] Grounds

Main articles: The Lawn, The Rotunda, and The Range

Elevation of The Rotunda drawn by Thomas Jefferson in 1819.

The Great Rotunda Fire, 1895

The Rotunda today

Throughout its history, the University of Virginia has won praise for its unique Jeffersonian architecture. In January 1895 (less than a year before the Great Rotunda Fire) The New York Times said that the design of the University of Virginia "was incomparably the most ambitious and monumental architectural project that had or has yet been conceived in this century".^[12] In the United States Bicentennial issue of their AIA Journal, the American Institute of Architects called it "the proudest achievement of American architecture in the past 200 years".^[13] Today, the University of Virginia remains an architectural landmark and popular tourist destination.

The University, together with Jefferson's home at Monticello, is a World Heritage Site, one of only three modern sites so listed in the 50 states. The others are the Statue of Liberty and Independence Hall. It was the first collegiate campus worldwide to be awarded the designation.

Jefferson's original architectural design revolves around The Lawn, a grand, terraced green-space surrounded by residential and academic buildings. He called it the "Academical Village", and that name remains in use today to describe both the specific area of the Lawn and the larger University surrounding it. The principal building of the design, The Rotunda (RotundaCam), stands at the north end of the Lawn, and is the most recognizable symbol of the University. It is half the height of the Pantheon in Rome, which was the primary inspiration for the building. The Lawn and the Rotunda were the model for many similar designs of "centralized green areas" at universities across the country (most notably those at Duke University in 1892, Johns Hopkins University in 1902, Rice University in 1910, Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in 1915, the Green at the University of Delaware in 1916, and Killian Court at MIT in 1916 — the last of which was coincidentally founded by William Barton Rogers, who immediately prior to founding MIT was a Natural Philosophy professor at the University of Virginia for 19 years). Frank E. Grizzard, Jr., a scholar at the University, has written the definitive book on the original academic buildings at the University.^[14]

Flanking both sides of the Rotunda and extending down the length of the Lawn are 10 Pavilions interspersed with student rooms. Each has its own classical architectural style, as well as its own walled garden separated by Jeffersonian Serpentine walls. These walls are called "serpentine" because they run a sinusoidal course, one that lends strength to the wall and allows for the wall to be only one brick thick, one of many innovations by which Jefferson attempted to combine aesthetics with utility.

On October 27, 1895, the Rotunda burned to the ground with the unfortunate help of overzealous faculty member William "Reddy" Echols, who attempted to save it by throwing roughly 100 pounds (^~45 kg) of dynamite into the main fire in the hopes that the blast would separate the burning Annex from the main building. His last-ditch effort ultimately failed. (Perhaps ironically, one of the University's main honors student programs is named for him.) University officials swiftly approached celebrity architect Stanford White to rebuild the Rotunda. White took the charge further, redesigning the Rotunda interior — making it two floors instead of three, adding three buildings to the foot of the Lawn, and designing a President's House. He did omit rebuilding the Rotunda Annex, which had been built in 1853 to house classroom space. The classes formerly occupying the annex were now moved to the South Lawn in White's new buildings.

In concert with the United States Bicentennial in 1976, Stanford White's changes to the Rotunda were removed and the building was returned to Jefferson's original design. Renovated according to original sketches and historical photographs, a three-story Rotunda opened on Jefferson's birthday, April 13, 1976.

Though student enrollment has grown well beyond the original Lawn facilities, the University further distinguishes itself by extending the original Academical Village ideal with two exclusively First-Year living areas, The Old Dorms, located on McCormick Road, and The New Dorms, adjacent to Scott Stadium, both situated wholly on Grounds and considered integral to establishing peer discourse. The common bonding experience proves such a fixture to the University experience, students often identify themselves by individual "Old" or "New" dormitory.

In 2001, John Kluge donated 7,378 acres (30 km²) of additional lands to the University. Kluge wished for the core of the land to be developed by the University, and the surrounding land to be sold to fund an endowment supporting the core. A large part of the gift was soon sold to musician Dave Matthews, of the Dave Matthews Band, to be utilized in an organic farming project. It is unknown what the University will do with its "core" portion of the land.

The Virginia Department of Transportation maintains the roads through the University grounds as State Route 302.^[15]

[edit] Modern luminary gatherings and events

On June 10, 1940, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt came to the University's Memorial Gymnasium to watch his son Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. graduate, and to give the commencement address. Instead, "in this university founded by the first great American teacher of democracy" he made his impromptu "Stab in the Back"^[16] speech denouncing the act of Italy joining beside Nazi Germany to invade France on that day.^[16] (Graduation ceremonies are traditionally held on the Lawn, but rain had forced a move to "Mem Gym" for the Class of 1940.)

Nearly two decades later, in 1958, Senator John F. Kennedy visited and spoke in the same space with brothers Robert Kennedy and Ted Kennedy, the latter of whom was managing JFK's 1958 Senatorial re-election campaign from his dormitory at the University of Virginia.

To commemorate the anniversary of America's independence, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II strolled The Lawn and lunched in the Dome Room of The Rotunda, one of five American sites she publicly visited.

The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu stayed on Grounds for one week in 1998 while attending the University's Nobel Laureates Conference.

[edit] Academics

To receive a degree from the University of Virginia, it must be earned academically – there has never been an honorary degree offered.^[17] The policy was instituted by Thomas Jefferson. When the Virginia Legislature's Committee of Schools and Colleges was reconsidering it in 1845, then U.Va. professor and future Massachusetts Institute of Technology founder William Barton Rogers wrote "the legislators of the University have, we think, wisely made their highest academic honor—that of Master of Arts of the University of Virginia—the genuine test of diligent and successful literary training, and, disdaining such literary almsgiving, have firmly barred the door against the demands of spurious merit and noisy popularity." Sixteen years later in 1861 when MIT was chartered, Rogers carried the U.Va. policy through to the new institute.^[18]

Georgia O'Keeffe (photo at U.Va.–1915) was inspired to take up painting again during Summer Session, and was later a Teaching Assistant for several years, before becoming one of the world's most famous modernists.

The University of Virginia places ^#1 among state-supported universities in the United States^[19] in the production of Rhodes Scholars. Its most recent winners were two awarded in 2004, bringing it to a cumulative total of 45.

Tuition is lower for both in-state and out-of-state students than at most other top universities. The student composition of the University is such that it was described in the 2006 America's Best Colleges edition of U.S. News and World Report as being "chock full of academic stars who turn down private schools like Duke, Princeton, and Cornell for, they say, a better value."^[20]

Edgar Allan Poe lived on the Range during the University's second session before dropping out in 1826 after going into debt.

In the popular U.S. News and World Report rankings, the University of Virginia consistently ranks in the top handful of public universities nationwide. In the 2007 edition, the undergraduate program at U.Va. ranked ^#2 out of roughly 200 public universities in the United States and ^#24 overall (including privates).^[21] In the 20-year history of the rankings, U.Va. has never dropped out of the Top 25 listing, and in the ten years since U.S. News began ranking public universities as a separate category, U.Va. has ranked either No. 1 or No. 2.[5] In every published edition of the report going back to 1983, the University of Virginia has retained its position as the highest ranking university, public or private, in its home state.

The Jefferson Scholars Foundation offers four year full-tuition scholarships based on regional, international, and at-large competitions. Students are nominated by their high schools, interviewed, then invited to weekend-long series of tests of character, aptitude, and general suitability. Approximately 3% of those nominated are successful.

Echols (College of Arts and Sciences) and Rodman (School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) Scholars, which include 6-7% of undergraduate students, receive no financial benefits, but are entitled to special advisors, priority course registration, and residence in designated dorms, and fewer curricular constraints than other students.

The University offers 48 bachelor's degrees, 94 master's degrees, 55 doctoral degrees, 6 educational specialist degrees, and 2 first-professional degrees (Medicine and Law) to its students.

The University of Virginia Library System holds 5 million volumes. Its Electronic Text Center, established in 1992, has put 70,000 books online as well as 350,000 images that go with them. No university in the world can claim more electronic texts. These e-texts are open to anyone and, as of 2002, were receiving 37,000 daily visits (compared to 6,000 daily visitors to the physical libraries).^[22]

The University of Virginia is a member of a consortium engaged in the construction and operation of the Large Binocular Telescope in the Mount Graham International Observatory of the Pinaleno Mountains of southeastern Arizona. It is also a member of both the Astrophysical Research Consortium, which operates telescopes at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, and the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy which operates the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, the Gemini Observatory and the Space Telescope Science Institute. The University of Virginia hosts the headquarters of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which operates the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia and the Very Large Array radio telescope made famous in the Carl Sagan television documentary Cosmos and film Contact. The North American Atacama Large Millimeter Array Science Center is also located at the Charlottesville NRAO site.

UVA also hosts the Rare Book School, a non-profit organization that studies the history of books and printing. The University is one of 60 elected members of the Association of American Universities, and the only member representing the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the United States' sole member of Universitas 21, an international consortium of research-intensive universities.

[edit] Faculty

The University of Virginia possesses a distinguished faculty, including a Nobel Laureate, 25 Guggenheim fellows, 26 Fulbright fellows, six National Endowment for the Humanities fellows, two Presidential Young Investigator Award winners, three Sloan award winners, and three Packard Foundation Award winners. The University's faculty were particularly instrumental in the evolution of Internet networking and connectivity. Physics professor James McCarthy was the lead academic liaison to the government in the establishment of SURANET, and the University has also participated in ARPANET, Abilene, Internet2, and Lambda Rail. On March 19, 1986 the University's address Virginia.edu became the first .EDU contribution to the Internet originating from the Commonwealth of Virginia.^[23]

Julian Bond - University Professor and current Chairman of the NAACP

Faculty were originally housed in the Academical Village among the students, serving as both instructors and advisors, continuing on to include the McCormick Road Old Dorms, though this has been phased out in favor of undergraduate student resident advisors (RAs). Several of the faculty, however, continue the University tradition of living on Grounds, either on the Lawn in the various Pavilions, or as fellows at one of three residential colleges (Brown College at Monroe Hill, Hereford College, and the International Residential College).

Some of the University of Virginia's faculty have become well-known national personalities during their time in Charlottesville. Larry Sabato has, according to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, become the most cited professor in the country by national and regional news organizations, both on the Internet and in print.^[24] Julian Bond, a lecturer at the University since 1990, has been the Chairman of the NAACP since 1998.

The Cavalier Daily student newspaper posted faculty compensation for 2002 online.^[25]

[edit] Endowment

With $3.5 billion as of April 30, 2006 for approximately 19,800 students, the University of Virginia ($177,000 per student) has the largest per capita endowment of any national public university in the United States. Considering public university endowments across the country, the University of Michigan ($142,000) is second to U.Va. among national publics. Both are in the top 5 for recent growth rates nationwide.

When compared to other public universities of its state, the per-student endowment at the University of Virginia is several times larger than its nearest competitors, College of William and Mary ($59,000 per student) and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University ($16,000). It is also several times larger than the highest among flagship institutions of nearby states, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ($55,000) and University of Maryland at College Park ($8,600).

[edit] Colleges and schools

• School of Architecture
• College of Arts & Sciences
• Darden Graduate School of Business Administration
• McIntire School of Commerce
• School of Continuing and Professional Studies
• Curry School of Education
• School of Engineering and Applied Science
• School of Law
• School of Medicine
• School of Nursing
• University of Virginia's College at Wise - branch campus in Wise, Virginia

The University is also endowed with several affiliated centers including The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, The Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership, and The Miller Center of Public Affairs.

[edit] Graduate placement

In 2003, The Wall Street Journal studied the undergraduate backgrounds of entering students at "elite" graduate programs (e.g., Harvard Business School and Yale Medical School).^[26] The University of Virginia (82 placements, 2.6% of class) placed 33rd overall, first statewide, and third among all state-supported universities in elite graduate placement.^[27] No other state university on the Atlantic Seaboard had greater than one-third the number of placements as the University of Virginia.

[edit] Athletics

The Virginia Cavalier mascot during pre-game introductions of a basketball game at John Paul Jones Arena

Main article: Virginia Cavaliers

The University of Virginia's athletics program competes in Division I-A and since 1953 as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Virginia Cavaliers, also called "Wahoos" or "Hoos", have won 19 recognized national championships, 14 of them since 1980. Virginia has won multiple national titles in five different sports, including three men's sports (lacrosse, 6; soccer, 5; and boxing, 2) and two women's sports (lacrosse, 3; and cross country, 2). It also holds a national championship in track and field. The men's college basketball team has been to the Final Four twice, and the women's squad has been three times. The college football team is historically notable for enjoying the South's Oldest Rivalry with UNC.

In 2006, Virginia's latest championship season culminated with its fourth NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship, and sixth including the pre-tournament era. Virginia handily won the final game 15-7 over UMass in front of a record crowd of 47,062 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, the first lacrosse crowd to surpass the Final Four of men's basketball and the largest crowd to witness any NCAA Championship during the year.^[28] The team finished the season a perfect 17–0, the best record in NCAA Lacrosse history.

The new John Paul Jones Arena opened in the fall of 2006 for men's and women's basketball. It seats 15,219 fans, making it the third largest on-campus basketball facility in the ACC and the largest arena not located in a major metropolitan area. The arena's inaugural year witnessed the Virginia Men's Basketball Team's first place finish in the ACC. Other well-known athletic facilities at the University of Virginia include Scott Stadium, Davenport Field, Klöckner Stadium, and the Aquatics and Fitness Center (webcam).

[edit] Student life

Student life at the University of Virginia is marked by a number of unique traditions. The campus of the University is referred to as "the Grounds." Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors are instead called first-, second-, third-, and fourth-years in order to reflect Jefferson's belief that learning is a never-ending process, rather than one to be completed within four years. Also, students do not "graduate" from the University - instead they take their degrees. Professors are traditionally addressed as "Mr." or "Ms." instead of "Doctor" or "Professor" (although medical doctors are the exception and are called "Doctor") in deference to Thomas Jefferson's desire to have an equality of ideas, discriminated by merit and unburdened by title.

Alderman Library is a favorite study spot for students. This plaque in honor of the university's first President Edwin Alderman, with a quote from founder Thomas Jefferson, was donated by the Seven Society, one of the University's many secret societies.

In 2005, the University was named "Hottest for Fitness" by Newsweek magazine,^[29] due in part to 94% of its students using one of the four indoor athletics facilities. Particularly popular is the Aquatics and Fitness Center, situated across the street from New Dorms.

The University of Virginia sent more workers to the Peace Corps in 2006 than any other "medium-sized" university in the United States.^[30] Volunteerism at the University is centered in Madison House, which offers numerous opportunities to serve others. Among the numerous programs offered are tutoring, housing improvement, and an organization called Hoos Against Hunger, which gives leftover food made at restaurants to Charlottesville's homeless rather than allowing it to be thrown away.

A number of secret societies at the University, most notably the Seven Society, Z Society, and IMP Society, have operated for decades, leaving their painted marks on University buildings. Other significant secret societies include Eli Banana, T.I.L.K.A., the Purple Shadows (who commemorate Jefferson's birthday shortly after dawn on the Lawn each April 13), and the Rotunda Burning Society (who commemorate the Great Rotunda Fire). Not all the secret societies keep their membership unknown, but even those who don't hide their identities generally keep most of their good works and activities far from the public eye. A number of fraternities were founded at the University of Virginia including Pi Kappa Alpha (1 March 1868) and Kappa Sigma (10 December 1869).

The student life building on the University of Virginia is called Newcomb Hall. It is home to the Student Activities Center, where student groups can get leadership consulting and use computing and copying resources, as well as several meeting rooms for student groups. Most publications on grounds are produced here, as it is home to both the office of the independent student newspaper The Declaration, The Cavalier Daily, and the Consortium of University Publications. It is also home to the University Programs Council, which uses money from student activities fees to provide events for the student community. Newcomb Hall includes a dining hall, a theatre, a ballroom, an art gallery, and several rooms for magazine and newspaper production.

Notice The Rotunda in the reflection of this Chardonnay.

A national publication's survey recently revealed that U.Va.'s students give their library system higher marks than students at any other school in the United States. The best-known library is Alderman Library for the humanities and social sciences, which contains 10 floors of stacks with many useful study nooks hidden among them. U.Va.'s renowned Small Special Collections Library feature one of the premier collections of American Literature in the country as well as an original copy of the Declaration of Independence. It was in this library in 2006 that Robert Stilling, an English Graduate Student, discovered an unpublished Robert Frost poem from 1918.^[31] Clemons Library, next to Alderman, is a popular study spot. Hundreds of students can be found gathered on its various quiet floors on any given night. Clark Hall, home of the Science & Engineering Library, also scores high marks. Clark Hall is also notable for a large Greek-style mural on the ceiling and walls of the library entrance. As of 2006, the University and Google were working on the digitization of selected collections from the library system.^[32]

As at many universities, heavy drinking characterizes the social life of nearly all undergraduate students at the University. Responding to the prevalence of alcohol and a recent tradition observed by a portion of the student body called the Fourth-Year Fifth (where some fourth-year students strive to drink a fifth (750 ml) of alcohol during the day of the last home football game),^[33] President Casteen announced a $2.5 million donation from Anheuser-Busch to fund a new UVA-based Social Norms Institute in September 2006.^[34] A spokesman said: "the goal is to get students to emulate the positive behavior of the vast majority of students."

One of the largest events at the University of Virginia is called Springfest. It takes place every year in the spring, and features a large free concert and various inflatables and games.

[edit] Honor System

The University of Virginia has an honor code, formally known as the Honor System.^[35] The Honor System is entirely student-run and was founded by Virginia students in the 1840s after a professor, who was attempting to resolve a conflict between students, was shot to death. The student is presumed to be a lady or a gentleman unless and until proved otherwise, and is expected to conduct him or herself accordingly. The Honor System is composed of only three tenets: a student will not lie, cheat, or steal. It extends to all matters academic and personal, and the sole sanction for a confirmed Honor System violation is dismissal from the University. This is called the "single sanction".

The Honor System allows the faculty to do such things as assigning timed take-home examinations, and research or studies to be done in a particular way, with the assurance that the strictures placed on the student will be observed. The student is required to sign all examinations or assignments with the following pledge: "On my honor as a student, I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment/examination." The Honor System allows the student to purchase books and supplies on-Grounds upon giving his or her word to pay, and it is instrumental in allowing the community at large to accept the word of the student regarding off-Grounds business transactions.

[edit] Distinguished alumni

Main article: List of University of Virginia people

Among the individuals who have attended or graduated from the University of Virginia are poet Edgar Allan Poe, medical researcher Walter Reed, painter Georgia O'Keeffe, polar explorer Richard Byrd, three NASA astronauts, Director of the Human Genome Project Francis Collins, journalist Katie Couric, comedian Tina Fey, 3-time NCAA Player of the Year for men's basketball Ralph Sampson, 3-time Olympic Gold Medalist for women's basketball Dawn Staley, NFL Pro Bowlers Ronde Barber and Tiki Barber, Buffalo Bills founder and owner Ralph Wilson, billionaire commodity trader Paul Tudor Jones, and influential indie rock artist Stephen Malkmus. The University of Virginia has also been home to several top soccer players throughout the years. Seven former UVA players have gone on to play for the United States men's national soccer team, including former U.S. team captains Claudio Reyna and John Harkes. Ryan Zimmerman, the 2005 first round pick of the Major League Baseball team, the Washington Nationals, also graduated from the University of Virginia.

Numerous political leaders have also attended the University of Virginia including 28th U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, 1968 Presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy (see Robert F. Kennedy assassination), his son Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and his brother, Ted Kennedy. Other alumni in leadership roles include three United States Supreme Court Justices, two Surgeons General, a Speaker of the House, a Senate Majority Leader, numerous Senators and Representatives, Secretaries of State, Defense, Energy, Transportation, Treasury, and the Navy, and the Secretary General of both NATO and the Council of the European Union.

Woodrow Wilson

Robert F. Kennedy

Javier Solana

Katie Couric

[edit] References

This Gutzon Borglum sculpture located near Alderman Library commemorates James R. McConnell, U.Va. alum and Lafayette Escadrille aviator for France, shot down before the U.S. entered World War I.

1. ^ Many universities' students and alumni refer to their respective institutions as "the university" for short. At the University of Virginia, this title is capitalized as a proper noun (i.e., "The University" or "the University")[1] in reference only to this particular school, much like The Lawn and The Rotunda. In recent decades many of the school's alumni and students have sported university-licensed bumper stickers and window decals of simply THE UNIVERSITY in the school's colors ([2]), a practice not always well understood or appreciated by outsiders, leaving some to declare such usage to be elitist.[3] However, the vernacular tradition goes back more than a hundred years, as indicated in the following excerpt from a 1903 novel.[4]

But hardest of all to leave had been Archie, best and most promising of young brothers—Archie, who had come out ahead of his class in the high-school, all ready to go to The University—the University of Virginia is always "The University"; but who, it had seemed at a certain dark season, must give up this long-cherished hope for lack of the wherewithal...

– Marie Manning, 1903, Judith of the Plains

[edit] External links

• University of Virginia home page
• University of Virginia Library website
• University Programs Council (events planning)
• U.Va. History
• University Guide Service: Information on Tours and Visiting
• Online tour
• Jefferson's Academical Village
• University of Virginia Athletics website
• The Cavalier Daily
• High Quality Photographs of University of Virginia
• U.Va. Bookstores website
• The Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership
• [6]

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University of Virginia

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v • d • e
ACADEMICS	Schools: School of Architecture (SARC/GARC) • College of Arts & Sciences (CLAS/GSAS) • School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCED) • Darden Graduate School of Business Administration (GSBA) • McIntire School of Commerce (SCC) • Curry School of Education (SED/GED) • School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS/GEAS) • School of Law (LAW/GLAW) • School of Medicine (SMD) • School of Nursing (NURS/GNUR) • US Army Judge Advocate General’s School Programs: Jefferson Scholars • Echols Scholars • Rodman Scholars Research: Association of American Universities • Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy • Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities • Japanese Text Initiative • Universitas 21 • Mid Atlantic Terascale Partnership • Flexible Extensible Digital Object Repository Architecture • Applied Research in Patacriticism • Networked Infrastructure for Nineteenth-Century Electronic Scholarship • Legion • Mentat • Real-Time Cmix Research publications: Journal of Law and Politics Miscellaneous: Honor code • Rare Book School • Semester at Sea • University of Virginia's College at Wise
ATHLETICS	ACC • Virginia Cavaliers • Cavalier Marching Band • Virginia Pep Band • theSabre • Wahoos • Wah-hoo-wah Rivalries: Commonwealth Cup • Jefferson-Eppes Trophy • South's Oldest Rivalry Current Facilities: Aquatics and Fitness Center • Birdwood Golf Course • Davenport Field • John Paul Jones Arena • Klöckner Stadium • Lake Monticello • Lannigan Track • Memorial Gym • Panorama Farms • The Park • Scott Stadium • Sheridan Snyder Tennis Center • Turf Field Past Facilities: University Hall
GROUNDS	The Lawn • The Range • The Rotunda • The Corner • Charlottesville • Fan Mountain Observatory • Jefferson Hall • McCormick Observatory • Rugby Road
STUDENT LIFE	Publications: The Cavalier Daily • Corks & Curls • The Virginia Quarterly Review • University of Virginia Press • Virginia Law Weekly Debating Societies: Jefferson Literary and Debating Society • Washington Literary Society and Debating Union Performing Arts: Academical Village People • Hullabahoos • New Dominions • Virginia Glee Club • Other Residential Colleges: Brown College at Monroe Hill • Hereford College • International Residential College Secret Societies: IMP Society • Seven Society • Z Society • Other
PEOPLE	Notable Alumni • University Presidents Thomas Jefferson • James Madison • James Monroe • Woodrow Wilson • Robert F. Kennedy • Edgar Allan Poe • Georgia O'Keeffe • Javier Solana • Paul Tudor Jones • Katie Couric • Tiki Barber • Ronde Barber • Ralph Sampson • Dawn Staley • Claudio Reyna • Tina Fey
OTHER	World Heritage Site • United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

World Heritage Sites in the United States of America

Cahokia | Carlsbad Caverns | Chaco Culture | Everglades | Grand Canyon | Great Smoky Mountains | Hawaii Volcanoes | Independence Hall | Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek (w/ Canada) | La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site, Puerto Rico | Mammoth Cave | Mesa Verde | Monticello and University of Virginia | Olympic | Pueblo de Taos | Redwood | Statue of Liberty | Waterton Glacier International Peace Park (w/ Canada) | Yellowstone | Yosemite