UVA Today Weekend’s top 10 stories entertained, informed and made an impact on readers. (Photo illustration by John DiJulio, University Communications)
We are just hours away from the official conclusion to the 2023-24 school year, a year that saw the introduction of our newest product, UVA Today Weekend, to an audience of 280,000 readers.
Since August, we’ve been dropping into your inbox each Saturday morning with stories of determination, achievement and appreciation for the University of Virginia.
Today, we’re looking back at the top 10 stories that grabbed your attention.
The story of a UVA student who formed a successful partnership after a chance meeting in a McLeod Hall hallway garnered the most attention from readers of any weekend story after it appeared on Oct. 28.
For Griffin Spolansky, a 2019 UVA alum, and Coco Sotelo, a mother of three who lives in Crozet, an entrepreneurship course in the fall of 2018 was a life-changing event.
Sotelo was there to share her experience starting a business. Spolansky was hoping to pick up some business pointers; instead, he picked up a business partner.
The duo founded Mezcla, a plant-based protein bar that can be purchased online and in various coffee shops and grocery stores, including Whole Foods.
Mezcla’s success led to Spolansky earning a spot on the 2023 “Forbes 30 Under 30” list.
In March, the term “photo kill” became part of the modern lexicon. UVA Today Weekend readers, and those around the world, were asking questions about a doctored photo and the whereabouts of Kate, Princess of Wales.
UVA Today turned to Kate Sweeney, a UVA professor of practice and former National Geographic producer, to talk about ethics in visual journalism and if it was the right call to “kill” the photo.
“It’s a step away from truth. While the public may not understand why it’s an issue because they’re so accustomed to seeing filtered and doctored photos on Instagram, this is the same public that has a lack of trust in the news today,” Sweeney said.
In December, UVA Today Weekend brought readers the story of UVA alumna-turned-Christmas movie star Jen Lilley, who has made a name for herself appearing in festive films on Hallmark, Lifetime and the Great American Family channel.
While the Roanoke native came to UVA to study Spanish, a routine walk across Grounds changed her plans.
“I found acting by happenstance at UVA because there were posters all over for an open audition for an independent film called ‘The Loss of Life,’” Lilley said. “I ended up booking the female lead opposite Alexis Ohanian.”
It’s not everyone whose wedding day photos appear in the Washington Post, but that’s exactly what happened for UVA alumni Jenna and Dave Stolldorf back in 2019. UVA Today Weekend readers loved catching up with the crowd-surfing bride on her anniversary in March.
The couple’s wedding weekend included many Hoo highlights – a rehearsal dinner at the Colonnade Club in the Academical Village, photos on the Lawn and a Rotunda-themed wedding cake.
But it’s what happened after the ceremony and the reception that drew the most attention. A celebration of a monumental victory for their alma mater’s men’s basketball team led the newlyweds to the Corner and into history.
“It wasn’t really any more complicated than that,” Dave said. “Like, if you’re at a rock concert and someone starts crowd-surfing, there’s not a lot of discussion; it kind of just happens and it’s totally acceptable. That’s what this was. She just went up and everyone knew what to do.”
The story of another big Cavalier victory and one of the players who made it happen landed in the fifth spot of our most popular weekend stories.
In February, we caught up with Anthony Gill to reflect on the 10th anniversary of the Cavaliers’ 72-63 win over Duke University and the program’s first Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship in 38 years.
Gill has vivid memories of the 2013-14 season.
“That year, we just all came together as a group. It really showed me how to serve – sacrifice your own game – for the greater good. And that’s kind of helped me to where I am now. I’ve been in the NBA for a few years and my role is, again, servanthood. And I love it. And I learned that at UVA,” Gill said.
In January, UVA Today gave readers a sneak peek at the renovated Alderman Library, now known as the Shannon Library. The University’s main library had been closed for renovations since early 2020.
The renovated library includes more study spaces, increased seating, a new designated lounge for graduate students and a lighter feel, thanks to new and larger windows.
“The stacks went from being these really dark, confined, cramped spaces to beautiful, high-ceiling, light-filled spaces,” Brenda Loewen, senior project manager, said.
In March, the Board of Visitors voted to rename the library in memory of Edgar F. Shannon, the University’s fourth president, who served from 1959 to 1974.
UVA Today turned its attention to the return of Mike Hollins to the football field and the classroom in October. Hollins survived a shooting that killed teammates Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry on a bus outside Culbreth Garage in November 2022.
Hollins, shot after returning to the bus to try to save his teammates, spent a week in the hospital in critical condition. Early in his recovery, he finished his bachelor’s degree with a double major in American studies and African American and African studies. For Hollis, UVA was always more than a place to play football.
“I could have picked anywhere to go play football,” Hollins said, “but I didn’t want to be remembered as just a football player, because I knew (football) was just a short time in your life.”
In March, UVA Today set out to make spring more enjoyable for allergy sufferers.
Dawn Bourne, a family nurse practitioner, assistant professor in UVA’s School of Nursing and a triple Hoo, had tips to stop the sniffles.
Even with the helpful hints, Bourne had bad news for those who call Virginia home.
“It seems in Virginia, allergy season is almost year-round now, thanks to climate change,” Bourne said.
The good news, as an ode to the season, we created a fun musical playlist so you could at least step into spring, sneezes and all, with a good beat.
Our ninth-most-read weekend story detailed the annual release of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service’s population estimates.
UVA researchers say Virginians are migrating away from the state’s traditional population centers and into rural areas as the ability to work remotely has made it easier to live farther from the office.
According to the study, Winchester has become Virginia’s fastest-growing metro area, with population increasing at nearly five times the rate of Virginia as a whole.
Rounding out the top 10 was a group of rockers who have been taking the stage and shocking audiences since the 1980s.
As GWAR, a punk-influenced, over-the-top art rock band that performs while clad in grotesque and bizarre costumes, prepared for a March show at Charlottesville’s Jefferson Theater, UVA Today caught up with the band’s lead singer, alumnus Michael Bishop.
Bishop, who earned a doctoral degree in music at UVA, explained how he uses his education even when clad as Blöthar – his character who, as the band’s fictitious backstory goes, is part of an intergalactic special forces team that screwed up so badly they were exiled to Earth.
Blöthar and his musical minions were part of our new series, The Music Beat, focused on bringing you the sounds from Grounds and the latest news from the music world.
Thank you for coming along with us on this first year of UVA Today Weekend. We look forward to a Hoo-filled future.
December 20, 2024
