University News

Love of people, service and UVA led this student to the Board of Visitors

When Jackson Sleadd arrived at the University of Virginia from Louisville, Kentucky, in 2023, he wasn’t sure UVA was the place for him.

He’d removed the University from his college list. Then a high school college counselor encouraged him to take another look.

“She told me, ‘You are a UVA student if I’ve ever seen one,’” Sleadd said. “The more I learned about UVA, the more I fell in love with it.”

So much so, that after three years in student leadership positions, he decided to apply to be the 45th student representative to the University’s Board of Visitors, UVA’s governing body. He was selected this spring and will attend his first meeting Wednesday.

Catching fish in a butter tub

Sleadd, pronounced “sled” – “like bobsled,” Jackson said – spent his summers on his family’s 300-acre farm in eastern Kentucky, where generations of relatives gathered near White Oak Creek. The rising fourth-year student remembers catching fish with empty butter containers. And he’s pretty sure they were used Land O’Lakes tubs.

“I’m guessing I had a lot of patience to kind of sit there with the container under the water, but I remember I did catch a fish one time, and I really, really, really wanted to take the fish home,” Sleadd said. After hearing “No” from his parents, he slipped it back into the water.

“I was raised by a lot of people,” he said. “My parents, my grandparents – they instilled in me the values of helping other people and living a life of service.”

A Jefferson Scholar and an Echols Scholar at UVA, Sleadd has served as class president since his first year and is studying political and social thought in the College of Arts & Sciences and urban planning in the School of Architecture.

Joining the board

As the 45th student representative on the Board of Visitors, Sleadd hopes to make sure all students feel heard.

“I want to connect students with the board and connect the board with students,” he said. “I want to make sure the full breadth of student voices are heard.”

Connecting with students at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise is also a priority. “I’ve already done a lot of outreach to the student government president at Wise,” Sleadd said. “He’s also from Kentucky, coincidentally. His name’s Connor Blevins.”

“My favorite part about UVA is the people I’ve met here,” Sleadd said. “I’ve met friends for life, role models and people who inspire me to do better every day.” He said he wants to pay that forward in his new role.