Picture This: UVA Captures Historic Portrait of First Coeducational Class of 1974

June 4, 2024 • Jane Kelly, jak4g@virginia.edu

University News

Picture This: UVA Captures Historic Portrait of First Coeducational Class of 1974

June 4, 2024

Sandra Grady wasn’t planning on attending her college reunion at the University of Virginia.

After all, she’d never attended a previous one. Why start now?

“My daughter. ‘Because it’s history, Mom. How could you not?’” she recounted her daughter saying to her. “And my grandson, who thinks he might come here, he said, ‘And, Grandma, if they take a portrait and you’re not in it, what would I say?’

“I’m here because of my daughter and my grandchildren,” Grady said.

She and about 140 other women, members of the Class of 1974, made the trip to Charlottesville last weekend to celebrate a milestone. Theirs was the first fully coeducational class in the history of the University, and they came back to Grounds to celebrate their 50th reunion.

The weekend – the first of two consecutive Reunion Weekends hosted by the UVA Alumni Association – was filled with meals, receptions, learning and reconnecting for the classes of 1974 (and earlier), ’79, ’84, ’89 and ’94. This weekend, the classes of 1999, 2004, ’09, ’14 and ’19 are invited to return.

Sandra Grady, right, grew up in Halifax County, North Carolina, and enrolled as an English major at the University of Virginia in 1970. (Photo by Erin Edgerton, University Communications)

The return of the first fully coeducational class could not possibly go undocumented, so the University commissioned an official portrait that will eventually be put on display on Grounds.

Pulling it Off

Friday afternoon was unusually cool and breezy as female members of the Class of 1974 made their way to the Rotunda for the massive group portrait. There waited an audiovisual team that had carefully planned how to memorialize the moment.

About 140 alumnae of UVA’s class of 1974 gathered on the steps of the Rotunda

About 140 members of UVA’s first fully coeducational class assembled on the north side of the Rotunda last Friday for a portrait to commemorate the Class of 1974. (Photo by Erin Edgerton, University Communications)

There would be still photography, drone footage, and recorded interviews to capture and logistical challenges to overcome.

“The location was the trickiest part,” said Kelly West, University Communications’ senior video producer, who led the effort. “The group really wanted to have it on the Rotunda steps, but the light is terrible that time of day. That’s why we picked the north side, so that the light was behind them and not in their faces.”

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The team also scouted a rain location in Old Cabell Hall and were prepared to light the space properly if bad weather forced the shoot indoors. “It’s kind of like a wedding,” West said. “You pick the location and the logistics go from there.”

Then there was the difficulty of capturing such a large group: Getting 140 people to look at the camera at the same time is a challenge.

Kelly West taking a photo from a scissor lift

Kelly West, University Communications’ senior video producer, went through a 15-minute training session with Facilities Management in order to safely use the scissor lift to take the portrait. (Photo by Erin Edgerton, University Communications)

“A picture of one person on the Rotunda stairs is not difficult,” she said. “And it was confusing, because we had a lot of photographers.”

So, the team made it as festive as possible, with Marketing Associate Meghan McNicholas directing the women’s attention to first one lens, then the next, then skyward for the drone footage.

Then and now photos of Katherine Taylor, left, Betty Shotton, far right, and Karen Davis Montgomery

Katherine Taylor, left, Betty Shotton, far right, and Karen Davis Montgomery, second from the left, were best friends in college. The trio reunited last weekend to celebrate their class. (Left photo contributed, right photo by Erin Edgerton, University Communications)

After the images were captured, class members Katherine Taylor, Betty Shotton and Karen Davis Montgomery stepped into the shade of a nearby kousa dogwood tree to reflect. Shotton, who was very involved in the planning of the weekend, said, “The goal was to get as many of us together as possible to celebrate, because we are getting older.”

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Montgomery said she’d decided to apply to UVA in 1970, a year after the University determined it could not win a lawsuit that claimed the school broke the law by not admitting women.

Close up of a 50 year reunion pin and scarf

The Alumni Association made special scarves to commemorate the 50th reunion of the Class of 1974. (Photo by Erin Edgerton, University Communications)

“Back then, none of us spent as much time as people do now agonizing over which college they’re going to go to. You just sort of picked some, and you hoped you got in,” she said. “I did not feel the weight of what we were doing when I was here,” she said of being a member of the school’s first fully coeducational class. “I think it’s only looking back that the importance of it for me personally comes to mind.”