(Transcript) For at least one longtime local activist, this case is clear-cut. Jalane Schmidt, who is also a professor here at the University of Virginia, says it was obvious when many of these far-right groups began gathering in town long before the infamous rally. JALANE SCHMIDT: To me, it seems obvious that this was a conspiracy, meaning they were planning this, you know, for months. We saw it here in Charlottesville. We saw it in our streets - a very steady escalation. So yeah, I think there’s plenty of evidence.
(Commentary by David Ramadan, resident scholar at UVA’s Center for Politics) Glenn Youngkin has a small number of plans based on little more than dog-whistle rhetoric favored by the divisive former president. On the other side, Terry McAuliffe has the experience, fortitude, and vision – over 20 plans to take Virginia forward.
Erik Shannon will become the interim CEO of University of Virginia Community Health on Nov. 5, the network announced Thursday. UVA Community Health is a network of outpatient services across Culpeper and Northern Virginia, with UVA Culpeper Medical Center, UVA Haymarket Medical Center and UVA Prince William Medical Center.
Hospital administrators and human resources executives are seeing nurses retire early, transition into nonclinical roles or leave staff jobs for higher-paying travel nurse positions. “A surprising number are leaving health care altogether, which is really breaking my heart,” says Wendy Horton, CEO of the UVA Medical Center. UVA Health’s voluntary turnover rate among registered nurses this September was 19.1% – significantly higher than the 10% to 12% rate Horton is accustomed to seeing at the hospital. “This is the first time in my career that I have seen this type of turnover,” she says.
A mass exodus of medical professionals is impacting health care centers around the state and nation. It started earlier this year with many experts citing burnout from the coronavirus pandemic. Last week’s report from UVA’s Biocomplexity Institute warned that COVID-19 and the flu – combined with staffing struggles – could push state hospitals to capacity in the winter months.
In a 1999 article published by UVA’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, Holton called his efforts to promote civil rights “the greatest source of satisfaction and pride for me. … It is well-known that in my [gubernatorial] Inaugural address I announced to the world that the ‘era of defiance is behind us,’” he said of his push for racial equality. “I asked that we ‘make today’s Virginia a model of race relations based ... on an aristocracy of ability, regardless of race, color or creed.’”
At the UVA conference on his administration, Holton said the GOP’s attitudes about guns and federal interference in private decision-making were driving voters away. He also called on the party to renounce its “segregationist appeal to Southerners.”
(Commentary) In the U.S., Thomas Jefferson thought that government needed to find and educate the “natural aristocracy” and the University of Virginia was such a move. (John Adams disagreed, arguing that the wisest and most talented would rise without any assistance; but with it, they’d become a force against liberty.) Later, many political leaders, from Woodrow Wilson to Lyndon Johnson and up to the present, would press for widespread “investment” in higher education and for policies that would entrust the educated elite with power to figure out the solutions to national problems.
UVA’s Rotunda will look a little different this weekend. “The Great Rotumpkin” will be taking place Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. each day. It will involve a Halloween-themed projection mapping designed by Jeff Dobrow.
Two members of a former presidential administration will be participating in a discussion with UVA’s Miller Center on Friday. The event is called “9/11: The People in the Room.” It will include a screening of the documentary “9/11: Inside the President’s War Room.” Following the film, there will be a live discussion with former President George W. Bush’s senior adviser Karl Rove and Chief of Staff Andy Card.
A growing number of major research universities (including UVA) have announced COVID-19 vaccination mandates for employees in recent days, in light of President Joe Biden’s order mandating vaccination for employees of federal contractors.
The UVA Medical Center is receiving 6,600 doses, and spokesman Eric Swensen said that the details of how those doses will be distributed are still in the works. “UVA Health anticipates providing pediatric vaccinations in multiple settings, including clinics, mass vaccination sites, and pop-up community events, all of which will be as child-friendly as possible,” Swensen wrote in an email.
Benjamin Ray, a UVA professor emeritus, has been researching what happened in Salem for more than 25 years. Just as it did in Delco, the events in Salem and nearby villages also began in the cold grip of February, but in 1692. “And the form of witchcraft involved here – that is, the type of accusation – was spectral, which is unusual, claiming that the specter or image or likeness of the accused was tormenting, choking, attacking painfully the accuser,” he said.
A Charlottesville company is working to help those who may be struggling with alcohol use disorder. “Our lead drug is a genetically targeted medicine to help people reduce or eliminate their drinking,” Adial Pharmaceuticals CEO Bill Stilley said. Stilley says the main technology for Adial Pharmaceuticals was licensed from the University of Virginia.
(Commentary) Bronco Mendenhall’s return to Provo this Saturday is an intriguing event for myriad reasons as he brings his University of Virginia team to town riding a four-game winning streak. Bronco has always been a fascinating figure to me, from the first time I met him to his last press conference. For the record, I admire Mendenhall. He’s tough, creative and dedicated to his craft. He was always a great interview and I always thought he had insightful angles to write about.
The Eastern District of Virginia has two new U.S. District Court judges, one a former federal prosecutor and the other a former federal public defender [and both graduates of the UVA School of Law]. Patricia Tolliver Giles, a prosecutor with the U.S. attorney’s office, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff, a federal public defender in the Eastern District from 2002 to 2015, have been confirmed by the U.S. Senate — Giles on Tuesday and Nachmanoff and Wednesday.
Kyle Kondik, managing editor of the University of Virginia’s political Crystal Ball and author of “The Long Red Thread: How Democratic Dominance Gave Way to Republican Advantage in U.S. House Elections,” said the four-year map option may be more an advantage to Republicans than a penalty.
Larry Sabato, founder and director of UVA’s Center for Politics, complained on Twitter on Oct. 1 that he had not yet received his requested mail-in ballot for the upcoming Nov. 2 election. On Oct. 16 he got his ballot, which was postmarked Sept. 23.
“I think it’s a pretty competitive race,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at UVA’s Center for Politics. “This is one of the first big tests for the White House after a presidential election. The president’s party usually does worse in the governor’s race compared to how they did in the presidential. Democrats still have a lot of slack there – Biden won the state by 10 points – but both parties are behaving like this is a competitive race.”