Editor’s Note: Almost one year ago, the emerging COVID-19 pandemic forced UVA to announce it would move all of its courses online. Students were urged to return to their homes. Along with the rest of the world, the entire UVA community entered a new way of life. As we approach the anniversary of these events, take a look back to early days of the pandemic and what Grounds looked like as UVA shifted to a new paradigm.
Photos: Life on Grounds as UVA Confronts a Pandemic
![A big stuff brown bear sitting in a wooden rocking chair on the Lawn with flowers next to it and a sign that reads I love you!! keep fighting world](/sites/default/files/pan_u_bearss_01_header.jpg)
Students left behind notes – and a big bear – on the Lawn. (Photos by Sanjay Suchak, University Communications)
As the threat of the novel coronavirus spread across the globe, it became increasingly clear that the University of Virginia would not be immune.
On March 11, UVA President Jim Ryan announced that classes would move online in an effort to “flatten the curve” and contain a growing epidemic. With that announcement, UVA moved into uncharted territory and joined countless other universities and organizations across the United States in adapting to this new normal.
As a photographer, I believe it is important to remain safe, but also continue to document, both to create a historical record of this unprecedented time and to show the hard work of members of the University’s faculty and staff. Equally important, I felt we needed to convey our students’ experience as they mourn the sudden and unexpected end to their semester as they knew it.
Here’s what I have seen around Grounds. These were taken throughout the week as the situation on Grounds evolved. Now, courses will remain online for the rest of the semester and faculty and staff have been asked to telecommute as their responsibilities allow.
![Construction of the Memorial of Enslaved Laborers with a table in the middle and a person sitting in a chair working at the table](/sites/default/files/pan_u_mel_ss_02_full-width.jpg)
![Meanwhile in the Rotunda, a Ph.D. candidate defended a dissertation to faculty both in the room and over videoconferencing software. The Rotunda mostly empty with chairs and screens set up in preparation of a speech](/sites/default/files/pan_u_doctoral_defense_ss_01_full-width.jpg)
![Alderman Library is completely empty, except for staff at the circulation desk. Alderman Library empty of people only furniture can be seen](/sites/default/files/pan_u_alderman_ss_02_full-width.jpg)
![Sign on a wooding table that reads: please practice safe social distancing](/sites/default/files/pan_u_alderman_ss_03_regular-inline.jpg)
Around Alderman staff have posted reminders about safe social distancing on tables; however, the normally popular lounge remained empty.
![Staff at The Castle dining facility look out the window. There are no customers to attend to, as most first-years have left for home. Worker in bright green shirt looking out a restaurant window](/sites/default/files/pan_u_the_castle_ss_01_full-width.jpg)
![First-year student Tiana Santana from North Carolina secures her suitcases in the back of a truck as she moves out of her dorm. The University gave students until noon Wednesday to retrieve any belongings they wanted Tiana Santana tying a rope over her luggage on the back of a pickup truck](/sites/default/files/students_moving_out_ss_05_1_full-width.jpg)
![At Bodos on the Corner, a normally bustling lunch spot had only a handful of customers. A sign at the door implored customers to practice safe social distancing, wash their hands and take their food to go. A pink sign with black text on it. Text is hard to read](/sites/default/files/pan_u_bodos_ss_05_full-width.jpg)
![UVA Health member talking to people before entering the Hospital](/sites/default/files/pan_u_healthsystemscreening_ss_03_full-width.jpg)
![Two people walking down a side walk caring packages in their arms while wearing masks](/sites/default/files/pan_u_the_corner_ss_04_full-width.jpg)
![Two people standing outside of a big brick building. One has a camera on a tripod taking pictures and one is holding a laptop](/sites/default/files/pan_u_architecture_ss_02_full-width.jpg)
![Looking over a railing of empty desks and chairs](/sites/default/files/pan_u_architecture_ss_05_full-width.jpg)
![Person shopping at shelves that are half empty with a sign that reads Some products may be temporarily unavailable due to high demand](/sites/default/files/pan_u_cvs_ss_01_full-width.jpg)
![UVA Staff member placing a sign on a door that reads: Be Aware. Be thoughtful. Be kind.](/sites/default/files/pan_u_signoch_ss_02_full-width.jpg)
![Guilford sitting at his desk listening to students speaking](/sites/default/files/pan_u_guilford_zoomclass_ss_03_full-width.jpg)
![Guilford, teaching a zoom class and using a tablet to show specific work to his students](/sites/default/files/pan_u_guilford_zoomclass_ss_04_regular-inline.jpg)
Guilford, assistant dean for undergraduate education at the School of Engineering, helped fellow faculty members prepare to shift classes online in a matter of days. Most online instruction began Thursday and continues through the end of the semester.
![Groups of students gathering on the Lawn playing games and talking](/sites/default/files/pan_u_lawn_ss_01_full-width.jpg)
![View of the Rotunda from the Lawn at night with the sidewalk and Rotunda lights shining](/sites/default/files/pan_u_lawn_ss_02_full-width.jpg)
![People sitting in front of the Rotunda on its steps and Lawn](/sites/default/files/panu_lawn_socialdistancing_ss_02_full-width.jpg)
![Yellow field line in the middle bottom of the photo going away from the camera and a person moving a soccer goal field](/sites/default/files/pan_carrs_hill_field_ss_01_full-width.jpg)
![Two facilities management workers working on a bath tub. One is sitting on a white 5 gallon bucket and looking into a whole in the shower wall and the second is bent down watching](/sites/default/files/panu_col_club_ss_01_full-width.jpg)
![Two students in a dorm room talking. Left person is standing at the closet right: person is sitting on couch](/sites/default/files/panu_move_out_ss_01_full-width.jpg)
![Student sitting alone at a table with headphones on.](/sites/default/files/panu_student_ss_02_full-width.jpg)
![Two students looking at each other in the lab smiling while a professor stands behind them talking](/sites/default/files/steven_zeichner_covid_19_ss_01_full-width.jpg)
![30 pack of Genesee Light on the brick sidewalk in front of a Lawn room with a note that read Take me, just promise you'll [expletive blurred out] quarantine](/sites/default/files/panu_beer_ss_03_blurred_full-width.jpg)
![Door with the number 17 with a sign that reads Gone Fishin'](/sites/default/files/gone-fishin_ss_full-width.jpg)
![Graduates standing and sitting on the rail of the Rotunda looking out on the Lawn](/sites/default/files/pan_u_last_look_lawnss_01_full-width.jpg)
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July 27, 2024