It hasn’t been a good winter on Rugby Road, the center of Greek life at the University of Virginia. But the start of rush was surprisingly normal. Just days after U-Va. lifted a ban on fraternities and sororities — imposed after publication of a later-discredited article in Rolling Stone magazine described a gang rape at a fraternity house — the number of freshmen choosing to rush fraternities on campus this spring was just about the same as it was last year, a little over a thousand. The number of women rushing sororities went up. And nationally, mor...
Charlottesville City Council unanimously approved a plan to include a University of Virginia student liaison to city council. The liaison will act as a point person between the city and the UVA student body: Council could go through the liaison to express any concerns to students, while students would use the liaison to communicate their thoughts about the city as it relates to the university.
The more that high-achieving, low-income students know about financial aid and quality at a given college, the less likely they are to base their decisions about where to go to college on what they hear from friends and family. That is one of the key findings of a new study that provides a deeper look at the effects of the Expanding College Opportunities project, an intervention known as ECO. The study was performed by economics professors Caroline Hoxby of Stanford and Sarah Turner of the University of Virginia — perhaps best known for their research on “undermatch,” a probl...
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court hear oral arguments about whether the current system for doling out tax subsidies promotes racial segregation and violates the Fair Housing Act of 1968—a civil-rights landmark signed by President Lyndon Johnson a week after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The suit began in 2008 as a Dallas housing dispute brought by advocacy group the Inclusive Communities Project Inc. against the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. It has since blossomed into one of the weightiest housing lawsuits in a generation. Critics say disparate ...
With the recent announcement that ESPN's "College Gameday" will be coming to John Paul Jones Arena on January 31, when the Hoos take on Duke, it's safe to say the University of Virginia is enjoying some time center stage, and Athletics Director Craig Littlepage says his program is spending time in the spotlight. He's at a school where tradition ranks high among the list of priorities but also works in a field where not only success, but recent success, pulls in new players, fans and also that exposure. "I've always had a healthy respect for the traditions of the ...
The Supreme Court delivered a unanimous ruling in favor of a Muslim prisoner’s right to grow a half-inch beard in an Arkansas prison, underscoring its broad view of religious liberty in a case that had united many different faiths. Sikh, Muslim, Catholic, and Jewish groups filed briefs in support of the prisoner, as did evangelical groups like Prison Fellowship and the Southern Baptists. Prisoner Gregory Holt represented himself in lower courts, which ruled against him and then sent a handwritten petition to the Supreme Court. Douglas Laycock from the University of Virginia School o...
A unanimous Supreme Court said on Tuesday that Arkansas can’t dictate the length of a beard maintained by a Muslim prisoner, after he made his own case initially to the Court using a handwritten form. The case of Holt v. Hobbs was accepted in March 2014 after Gregory Holt, 38, sent the Supreme Court a 15-page publicly available form asking the nine Justices to accept his case. Arguments in the case were heard on October 7, 2014, and on Tuesday, the Court agreed with Holt. Noted University of Virginia law professor Douglas Laycock argued Holt’s case in front of the Supreme...
"Ben McKenzie is the one of today's hottest stars on one of the most popular and successful shows on TV," said Wizard World CEO John Macaluso. "Our fans have immediately made 'Gotham' one of their favorites and we know they can't wait to meet him at our two most successful and longest-running Wizard World Comic Cons." The University of Virginia graduate's current starring role in "Gotham," which has regularly hit nearly seven million weekly viewers, follows the Commissioner's life before Batman came onto the scene.
Fourth-year University of Virginia student Robert Petri has been a fired-up basketball fan since the news accidentally broke on national television Monday night. ESPN's "College GameDay" crew is coming to Charlottesville later this month. The popular pregame show airing from John Paul Jones Arena the morning of UVa's Jan. 31 home game against ACC rival Duke.
“The 20 law schools that sent the most alumni to Congress include some of the country's most prominent—Harvard Law School tops the list with 18, followed by Georgetown University Law Center with 13; the University of Texas School of Law with seven; and the University of Virginia School of Law and Yale Law School with six each.”
The University of Virginia is under a federal government order to fix the way it handles sexual assault on campus, and that was – no doubt – one reason why the administration and student leaders pressed ahead with fraternity reforms, even after parts of a story in Rolling Stone Magazine were discredited.
It’s a new year at the University of Virginia and a new era for the school’s fraternities. After Rolling Stone Magazine reported, then hedged on a story of gang rape at a frat house, UVA administrators announced new rules for parties.
Students at the University of Virginia found a way to deal with recent violence against women and minorities in a unique way. Instead of a "sit-in", they held a "teach-in".Grad student and organizer Maya Hislap says they focused in part on drawing attention to the connection between race and gender inequality.
The University of Virginia Student Council is proposing a plan to put a student liaison on Charlottesville City Council.The liaison would act as a point person between the city and the UVA student body. Council could go through the liaison to express any concerns to students, while students would use the liaison to communicate their thoughts about the city as it relates to the university.
Students at colleges of osteopathic medicine could qualify for state scholarships in exchange for committing to work in rural Virginia under the terms of a new bill working its way through the General Assembly.Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, is angling to revive a program created to attract doctors to underserved and poorer parts of the state. In the past, the scholarship only was available to medical students at the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University and Eastern Virginia Medical School.
The University of Virginia plans an internal review of academic integrity in its athletics programs to ensure athletes are receiving an education that meets the school’s standards.U.Va. President Teresa A. Sullivan has commissioned the Task Force on Academic Integrity in Athletics, headed by law professor Alex Johnson, to conduct the review.
The University of Virginia is honoring the legacy of Dr. King through the end of the month. The theme of this year's community MLK Celebration is "Giving Voice" against injustice. Teach-ins, film screenings, and discussions are scheduled around UVA and Charlottesville.
Two fraternities that had initially resisted approving updated agreements with the University of Virginia said Friday that they had signed the new contracts under pressure from the school’s administration.The Kappa Alpha Order and Alpha Tau Omega fraternities joined the 29 other U-Va. houses in signing the Fraternal Order Agreements with the university by Friday’s deadline. Inter-Fraternity Council president Tommy Reid said that all 31 members of the organization had agreed to accept the new rules, which were designed by the university to discourage binge drinking at parties and en...
A University of Virginia junior who is a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity was elected president of the influential Inter-Fraternity Council this week.Ben Gorman, who previously served as a vice president on the IFC, was elected to a one-year term on Tuesday, according to the Cavalier Daily student newspaper.