In 1819, after heavy lobbying by Thomas Jefferson, Virginia’s General Assembly established the state university in Charlottesville, agreeing to spend public dollars because giving young men knowledge and skills would improve the economy for all Virginians. But not too many dollars. Legislators, suspicious that the university might be anti-religion or overly extravagant, allocated a paltry $15,000 a year to the University of Virginia. The former president was appalled. “With the short funds proposed . . . we shall fall miserably short,” Jefferson wrote in a letter, accusing legislators of “higg...
Change is always hard. But often it’s necessary. And real change is necessary in higher education. One of the country’s leading universities feels the pain of change right now. Following the ouster of University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan, all eyes have turned to Charlottesville. The drama unfolding there presents a defining moment for higher education: Incremental change or real innovation? In one camp, the president. In the other, the board.
If Tuesday’s meeting of the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors – at which the board will reconsider the forced resignation of President Teresa Sullivan and likely the strategic direction of the university – was already looking like an epic showdown, Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell just made it a cage match. Fifteen visitors will enter the Rotunda. One consensus will emerge. Or else.
Long gone are the days when academic humanists could sit like dragons astride their hoards of high culture. Today, we have become contrarians, for better or worse, battling adversity from without and uncertainty within. And yet, what we have to offer is needed now more than ever. … Add to all this attacks on the humanities from within higher education — like the recent threat of shutdown for “obscure departments” in classics and German at the University of Virginia — and it feels like the perfect storm. How to weather it? The humanistic answer, I suppose, is that humanists must be true to them...
Members of University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors based their call for “strategic dynamism” and their ouster of President Teresa Sullivan on seriously flawed ideas about tax policy, about what states can and cannot do in this realm, and about what this means for the financing of the nation’s great public universities. The board’s thinking reflects the shortsightedness, timidity, and economic policy misunderstandings displayed by similar boards throughout the nation. Connected to this are related myths about the privatization of public services and the meaning of “business practices” as the...
Thomas Jefferson was the first rector of the University of Virginia, and James Madison the second. Today, the rector serves as the presiding officer of the board of visitors and its chief spokesman. According to the U.Va. board's manual, the rector "is especially charged with the duty of maintaining that level of interest and activity among the members of the board of visitors as will best contribute to the determination of broad policies, wise planning for the future, intelligent and considerate observance of the rights of the faculty and the student body, including the care and preservation...
If the arguments to oust University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan by the board of visitors had been submitted as a paper, they would have gotten a failing grade from the professors and students who rallied in her support Sunday. Drawing on Jeffersonian principles, the honor code, business practices and research standards, speakers called for Sullivan’s reinstatement and for greater transparency in a “Rally for Honor” that attracted about 1,500 people to the lawn of Thomas Jefferson’s university. About 6,500 people watched online, organizers said.
A University of Virginia dean is squashing rumors of cuts to the classics programs. In an email to professors, Arts and Sciences Dean Meredith Woo writes, "I am unaware of any suggestion from the board of visitors or any credible source that any of our departments or programs should be reduced or eliminated."
Grassroots support is growing for ousted University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan. On Saturday, faculty and students are getting ready for what is expected to be a massive protest Sunday at the rotunda, demanding the University of Virginia Board of Visitors reinstate Sullivan. A Facebook group "UVA Students, Faculty, Staff & Alums for a Transparent UVA" has more than 15,000 members, ranging from faculty to alumni in support of reinstating the president.
The past two weeks have shaken the University of Virginia to its core, badly mauled its reputation and raised troubling questions about its future. But though the damage is deep, it is not irreparable. It is no weakness to correct a mistake. Rather, it is a sign of wisdom to learn from a mistake. The Board of Visitors may choose the wiser course when it meets two days from now in a specially called session. There are strong indications that the board will vote to reinstate President Teresa A. Sullivan. This would be the necessary first step toward restoring stability at the university and conf...
The University of Virginia has endured two of the most difficult weeks in its history. The strife may not be over. On Tuesday, the Board of Visitors will reconsider Teresa Sullivan's ouster as president. Whatever the board decides, the effects of the contention will linger. Wounds may fester, yet the university's day is not done. News that broke after the deadlines for the weekend sections could affect the story, although the basics will remain. What defines the idea of a university, not only in Cardinal Newman's day but in ours? The Charlottesville discussion – although "discussion" might dig...
One after another, more than 20 University of Virginia faculty members stood on the steps of the iconic Rotunda on Sunday afternoon and pledged their support for ousted President Teresa Sullivan, urging the school’s governing board to reinstate her. Putting Sullivan back at the helm, several speakers said, would be the easiest way for the board to regain the trust and respect of the hundreds who gathered at the rally as well as the thousands of others with U-Va. ties around the globe who have protested Sullivan’s forced resignation two weeks ago. While previous rallies had a tone of anger and ...
The comments about undergraduate admission and yield at the University of Virginia expressed by John Tudor Jones II — however well intended — were misleading, and need to be placed in context. Of undergraduate admission at UVa, Mr. Jones wrote (“Aspiring to achieve greatness,” The Daily Progress, June 17): “UVa’s most recent reported admissions yield is just 43 percent, which means the rate at which students accept a place at UVa after receiving an acceptance letter from Peabody Hall is well under half … and falling. Harvard’s yield rate is more than 80 percent, Yale’s is 68 percent and Stanfo...
James Baehr
Who graduated with a J.D. and an M.A. in Legal History from the School of Law
Announcing the 2012 Lincoln Fellows
The Claremont Institute / June 21
David Berman
A U.Va. graduate and musician
A brief note from David Berman of Silver Jews
Washington Post (blog) / June 21
Erskine Caldwell
Who graduated from U.Va.
Erskine Caldwell, banned in Portland
Portland Daily Sun / June 21
Geoffrey Gordon
A former Division I athlete at the University of Virginia
A Sweet Send-off for Dr. Geoff Gordon
Patch.com / June 22
Victoria Harker
Who received her B.A. from the University of Virginia
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Elizabeth Brightwell
A rising third-year student and a member of the U.Va. Golf Team
Mike Dooley
A professor in the School of Law
Maintaining Uniformity In Our Corporation Laws: The Unsung Labor ...
Metropolitan Corporate Counsel / June 21
Timothy A. Salthouse
Professor of psychology and director of the Cognitive Aging Laboratory
The aging brain: Why getting older just might be awesome
KTVQ Billings News / June 21
That respect and admiration for Rich, from me and legions of others, endures today as he marks his retirement after 40 years in sports information, 11 at JMU and the last 29 at the University of Virginia. Sports information is a thankless gig. Coaches want publicity, all of it glowing. Media want access, all of it exclusive. Rich balanced those conflicting worlds with grace, humor and energy.
Kidney injuries among high-school varsity athletes are so rare that even youth with only one kidney should be allowed to play, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have concluded after conducting a groundbreaking survey of the frequency of such injuries. The researchers’ findings, published online in the journal Pediatrics, shed light on the frequency and severity of kidney injuries among young athletes. Because of the lack of hard data on the matter, doctors often recommend that youth with only one kidney not be allowed to participate in contact sports.
What does your Facebook profile picture say about you? Maybe more than you think. A study recently released by researchers at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville found that students who were smiling in their profile photo showed a higher level of life satisfaction years later. The study surveyed 92 freshmen during their first semester. They used photos which could be graded on smile intensity. The students were asked to complete a questionnaire that asked how happy they were with their lives.
Many public universities are suffering these days, wracked by budget cuts and struggling to bring enough students through the door. The University of Virginia isn’t one of them. A $5 billion endowment makes it the wealthiest public university, per capita, in the United States. Over 28,000students applied for admission last year, a record high. The stately campus, a classic of red brick and white colonnade, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Thomas Jefferson’s founding spirit lives on.