‘First Class’: A New Academic Year Dawns at UVA

August 23, 2022 • By Jane Kelly, jak4g@virginia.edu Jane Kelly, jak4g@virginia.edu

August 23, 2022
Students pass each other and wave under an orange and blue ballon arch with silver balloon letters spelling out Welcome Students

A cluster of students was welcomed outside of Thornton Hall on Tuesday. (Photo by Dan Addison, University Communications)

The University of Virginia was bustling Tuesday as the 2022-23 academic year got underway, with graduate and undergraduate students crisscrossing Grounds carrying backpacks and water bottles.

For some, class began at 8 a.m. As the hours passed, more and more students excitedly made their way to their courses, be it “Introduction to Philosophy” or “True Crime and Social Justice.”

It was a brand-new experience for the Class of 2026, who number 4,000, and UVA’s 700 new transfer students. When taken together, undergraduate and graduate students number more than 27,000, about the same population as Winchester, Virginia.

Enjoy these back-to-school shots from UVA Today photographers.

Robyn Hadley hands a green freezer pop to a smiling student
Robyn Hadley, UVA’s vice president and chief student affairs officer as well as dean of students, handed out frozen pops on the Lawn. (Photo by Sanjay Suchak, University Communications)
An administrator cuts the tops off purple freezer pops for two students
(Photo by Sanjay Suchak, University Communications)
Two smiling students hold a frame reading FDOC '22 and pose for a portrait in front of the Rotunda
Students posed for the first day of classes, or “FDOC ’22.” (Remaining photos by Erin Edgerton, University Communications)
A smiling student holds a frame reading #UVA26
Two smiling students wearing backpacks hold a frame reading FDOC '22
Two students hold a whiteboard with the words 'Hi Mom!' and another holds a frame reading #GoHoos
Six laughing students hold foam fingers, a Virginia banner, a whiteboard with Hi Mom written on it, and a frame reading FDOC '22
Robyn Hadley wears a foam finger reading Go Hoos while she and Ian Baucom hold a frame reading FDOC '22
Hadley and Executive Vice President and Provost Ian Baucom got in on the fun.
Three smiling students wear foam fingers and hold a #UVA26 frame
Two smiling students hold the FDOC '22 frame and smile with the Rotunda in the background
Two students holding the #UVA26 frame laugh together

Media Contact

Jane Kelly

University News Senior Associate Office of University Communications

Article Information

December 12, 2024

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