Jim Ryan scanned the large crowd of fourth-year students at Scott Stadium and asked for a show of hands. The University of Virginia president wanted to know how many soon-to-be UVA graduates arrived Tuesday morning seeking to bookend a tradition.
In the fall of 2021, UVA debuted its “First-Year Run With Jim” event, a 2-mile jog around Grounds for first-year students alongside the president. Four years later, on Tuesday, the Class of 2025 had a chance to participate in “Fourth-Year Run With Jim,” becoming the first class to have opportunities to do both.
Fourth-year students Liv Schortmann, left, and Chloe Kline share a full-circle moment before going on the final “Run With Jim.” Schortmann and Kline met in 2021 before going on their first “Run With Jim” together.
“Raise your hand if you were there,” Ryan asked the students while holding a T-shirt from the 2021 “First-Year Run With Jim.”
Amid the record-breaking 1,900 “Run With Jim” student participants, a good number of hands shot into the air.
“This class will always have a special place in my heart,” Ryan said.
A few 4th years came out to join friends and classmates for their last “Run With Jim.” This class is resilient, talented, and ambitious, and I’ve loved getting to know them over these past four years. pic.twitter.com/UxfQkzMukH
— Jim Ryan (@presjimryan) April 29, 2025
Fourth-year students Liv Schortmann and Chloe Kline were among Tuesday’s runners completing a full circle. New dormmates as first-year runners, Schortmann and Kline became fast friends. Now, anytime Schortmann, a Duxbury, Massachusetts, native, travels home, she stops to visit with Kline’s family in Lititz, Pennsylvania.
Four years later, they recall their first jog together as an ice-breaking, getting-to-know-you session. Tuesday struck a different tone.
“More reflective conversations and talking about what we’re excited to do next,” said Kline, who graduated in three years with a global public health degree and is now pursuing a master’s degree from the UVA School of Medicine. “There’s always a lot of laughter with Liv. We’ve really gotten to know a lot about each other through this time and we’ve been become such great friends. (This run) is a lot more reflective and bittersweet in nature.”
Fourth-year student Riley McNeill, far left, remains friends with many of her classmates she met around the time of her first “Run With Jim” in 2021.
Schortmann, a biology major who plans to pursue medical school, remembers the 2021 “First-Year Run With Jim” as the period in her UVA life when she said “yes” to every opportunity.
Without regret, she’s kept that trend going.
“I’ve lived a full experience in my four years,” Schortmann, the Class of 2025’s vice president, said. “I’ll catch up on sleep after I graduate.”
Riley McNeill, a global studies major who will soon begin a job at a public relations firm in New York, said Tuesday’s run was a “moment to celebrate the last four years” with her closest friends at the University, many of whom joined her in 2021 at “First-Year Run With Jim.”
