Staying Grounded: Seven Student Leaders Reveal Their Favorite UVA Places

Serpentine walls sketched by Thomas Jefferson himself hide green sanctuaries of flowers, boxwoods and magnolias.

A short distance away, Jefferson sits in eternal thought, watching a perpetual stream of University of Virginia students leave their faint traces on his enduring bricks.

Generations of white paint coat the pillars holding up the University’s oldest academic buildings. Inside, professors and students labor day and night to solve society’s most pressing issues.

Gleaming new dorms nestled under Observatory Hill transform strangers into a community. And in the shadow of sleepless Newcomb Hall, a quiet fountain provides seclusion in plain sight.

Members of the UVA community are fortunate in the wealth of physical beauty that surrounds us on Grounds. These places feed our souls, make us feel at home and drive us to work and think harder.

UVA’s places are also helping a whole new generation of ’Hoos develop into thoughtful, well-rounded world leaders. See some of their stories: