The University of Virginia ($131,700) and Virginia Tech ($121,800), which are growing their presences in Northern Virginia, would both place highly on our list. Virginia Tech is building a $1 billion graduate school campus in Alexandria focused on computer science education, while UVA just announced plans to increase its presence in Rosslyn — and hinted at expansion to other sites in the region.
Tired of government regulations standing in the way of his wife’s whiskey distillery, Denver Riggleman decided to enter “the belly of the beast” and run for public office. “We need people who understand how that dance happens,” he said at UVA’s Democracy Biennial conference over the weekend. The former congressman was one of a dozen panel participants at the opening event of UVA’s Miller Center of Public Affairs’ two-day conference. UVA has invested a lot in the study of democracy: The school hosts The Miller Center of Public Affairs, the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Poli...
(Subscription may be required) Large college endowments have notched their biggest investment gains in decades, thanks to portfolios boosted by huge venture-capital returns and soaring stock markets. Duke University over the weekend said its endowment had gained 55.9%. Washington University in St. Louis last week reported a 65% return, the school’s biggest gain ever, swelling the size of its managed endowment pool to $15.3 billion. The University of Virginia’s endowment reported a 49% gain.
The University of Virginia Police Department has created a new unit. The goal of the Community Oriented Policing Squad (COPS) is to take on a more visible presence on the Corner and neighborhoods adjacent to Grounds along with officers in the city. The COPS unit includes four UPD officers and focuses on “building relationships, creating a safe environment, and providing for a more sustained police presence in those neighborhoods where students live, gather, and integrate into the community,” according to a news release.
Shots fired calls in areas near the University of Virginia and incidents at the Corner and nearby areas have led the UVA Police Department to expand its patrol duties beginning this week to include areas of Charlottesville adjacent to the University. The department has created a new squad from its existing force called Community Oriented Policing Squad, or COPS, that will focus on the Corner and neighborhoods adjacent to the school from Thursday to Sunday, 7 p.m. to 3 a.m., when students are often out and socializing.
A student’s grade point average means nothing to admissions officers without context, University of Virginia admissions dean Jeannine Lalonde, aka “DeanJ,” explains in posts on social media. “Methodologies differ so much that it’s impossible to know an applicant’s academic story from the GPA. GPAs are not standardized,” Lalonde wrote in a blog post for the UVA admissions blog, “Notes from Peabody.” “Two students with identical GPAs could have very different coursework and grades on their transcripts. This is why we talk about the transcript being the most important factor in understanding your...
A handful of scientists around the world are trying to create a universal vaccine that would protect against this – and all future – coronavirus pandemics. The problem they face is that viruses are constantly mutating. That’s why a vaccine that protects against the virus that causes COVID-19 may not protect against future variations of the same virus. In order to achieve that, scientists need to find something deep within the coronavirus that must remain constant. In a small lab tucked away at the UVA Medical Center, infectious disease specialist Dr. Steven Zeichner and his team believe they h...
Afterward, the grooms and their families dined privately at the Inn’s Michelin three-star restaurant. The Inn thoughtfully arranged florals in University of Virginia orange and Columbia blue, reflecting the grooms’ legal alma maters and offering tribute to the late Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia, a former UVA professor, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a Columbia alumna, whose close friendship despite ideological differences always inspired the Aiden and Brady.
Hard seltzer category revenues leapt from $41 million in 2016 to $2.5 billion in 2020, according to figures from market-research firm T4. It also aligns with the experiences of the half-dozen current or recently graduated college students from across the country I interviewed for this story. “I really didn’t drink them that much, or even know that much about them at all my freshman year, but second year they were there a lot,” says Katharine (not her real name), 22, who graduated from UVA earlier this year. “I have not seen a keg in awhile,” she continues. “Even in my sophomore year [2018-19, ...
Jason Morefield says he was introduced to the game of chess at a very young age. Now, as a first year at the University of Virginia, his skill and passion for the game are paying off. While many people spent Labor Day relaxing and enjoying the last bit of summer, Morefield was competing for the state chess title. His path to winning the championship included matchups with two former state champions.
J. Miles Coleman, Associate Editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at UVA, said on Twitter that Joe Biden still would have won District 2 with this new map, just by fewer points.
UVA’s Larry Sabato agrees that economic insecurity had little to do with non-college educated votes for Trump in 2020, but believes it’s “fundamentally” about ideology. He writes: “I find that support for Donald Trump among white working class voters reflected conservative views across a wide range of policy issues including social welfare issues, cultural issues, racial justice issues, gun control, immigration, and climate change. In other words, the rejection of the Democratic Party by white working class voters is fundamentally ideological. This fact makes it very unlikely that Democrats wi...
The ads appear to be part of “an attempt to undermine Youngkin’s support in western rural areas, where gun ownership is sacred and the Republican has a big lead – as all Republicans do these days,” according to Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
“There are a lot of factors that suggest the Democrats are going to have a really hard time holding the House majority and the Senate’s 50-50, and so they lose one net seat and the Senate majority is gone,” said Kyle Kondik, an analyst at UVA’s Center for Politics. With Biden’s majorities in the House and Senate in peril, “you’d feel better about Democrats’ chances if his approval rating was more like it was two months ago than it is now,” Kondik said.
“The Latter-day Saints display in microcosm what we see in the larger culture,” Kathleen Flake, UVA’s Richard Lyman Bushman Professor of Mormon Studies, told me. “There is political radicalization and a lack of confidence in the traditional sources of authority – and, consequently, an anxiety about where people can look for truth, about either secular or religious things.”
Disney’s next Marvel movie, “Eternals,” may not be released in China because its director, Chloé Zhao – who was born in the country – said during a 2013 interview that “there are lies everywhere” in China. “I would be surprised if ‘Eternals’ got released in China,” said Aynne Kokas, a media studies professor at the University of Virginia and the author of the book “Hollywood Made in China.” “The controversy has gotten a lot of attention and has been a rallying cry for Chinese netizens.”
Bob Pianta, dean of the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development, said the controversy has delivered yet another blow to the public school system. “What public schools are working very, very hard to be able to do is to teach history accurately and teach history fully,” said Pianta.
“Viral variants arise by mutation of the virus’s genetic material,” said Daniel Engel, professor of microbiology, immunology and cancer biology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. “The overwhelming majority of the time, these mutations do not alter the virus. The mutations are silent. However, extremely rarely, a mutation or a set of mutations will occur in the population that gives the virus a significant advantage over the original virus from which it came.” Engel was a presenter at the CLL Society’s recent webinar on staying protected from COVID-19 and its Delta variant.
Dr. Bill Petri, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Virginia, discusses who is eligible for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster that was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Confusion over COVID-19 has been widespread since the pandemic began. Now, with booster shots, new variants and approvals and recommendations for vaccines varying by age group and medical history, some of us are more confused than ever. Dr. William A. Petri, an immunologist at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, is here to dish out answers to your COVID-19 questions in the Daily Progress.