University of Virginia - Definition and Overview

The University of Virginia (also called UVa) is a research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded by one of America's most prominent Founding Fathers, author of its Declaration of Independence, and third U.S. President Thomas Jefferson. Some time before his death, he insisted that his grave bear the words "Father of the University of Virginia" as one of the three greatest accomplishments of his life. Today, the university that bears his legacy is widely regarded as being one of the best institutions of higher learning in the United States.

History

Statue of Icarus.

Founded in 1819, the University of Virginia's first classes did not meet until March 1825. Jefferson hosted Sunday dinners at his home in nearby Monticello for faculty and students (including Edgar Allan Poe) until his death the next year.

Many of America's political leaders have gravitated to the University of Virginia over the years. In 1826, Fourth U.S. President James Madison became Rector of the University, at the same time America's Fifth President James Monroe made his home on the Grounds (and was a member of the Board of Visitors). 28th U.S. President Woodrow Wilson attended the University of Virginia Law School, as did assassinated 1968 candidate for the Presidency, Robert Kennedy, and his brother, Ted Kennedy.

Unlike many other southern schools, the University of Virginia remained open through the American Civil War. In March 1865, Union General George Armstrong Custer marched troops into Charlottesville. Faculty and community leaders convinced him to spare the University. Union troops camped on the Lawn and ravaged many of the Pavilions but left four days later without any bloodshed.

"Public Ivy" is a term that was first coined to describe the University of Virginia. The term is attributed to Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winner William Faulkner at around the time the Ivy League was forming in the northeast. Some at the time thought the University should privatize a few of its schools (in the style of Cornell University) and attempt to join them. Later, in 1957, Faulkner became writer-in-residence at the University, keeping open office hours until his death in 1962.

Though all-white until 1950 and all-male until 1970, the University of Virginia is now much more diverse. The makeup of the entering Class of 2008 was 10% African-American, 14% Asian-American, 5% Hispanic, 5% Other and 5% International. Less than two-thirds identified themselves as being white.

In 2004, the University of Virginia became the first public university in the United States to receive more of its funding from private sources than from the state with which it is associated. UVa, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University ("Virginia Tech"), and the College of William and Mary are currently undergoing a Charter initiative that would enable these institutions to run themselves more independently in the face of continued budget cutbacks in the state's General Assembly.

Grounds

Jefferson's original architectural design is centered around the Lawn, a grand, terraced green-space surrounded by residential and academic buildings. The principle building of the design, the Rotunda, is at the north end of the Lawn, and stands as one of the founder's greatest architectural achievements. It is half the height of the Pantheon in Rome, which was its primary inspiration. The Lawn and the Rotunda were the model for many "open areas" at universities across the country (including the East Campus of Duke University and Killian Court at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

Flanking both sides of the Rotunda and extending down the length of the lawn are 10 "pavilions" interspersed with student rooms. Each has its own classical architectural style, as well as its own walled garden separated by uniquely Jeffersonian "serpentine walls." Today the Grounds of the University of Virginia, along with Jefferson's Monticello estate, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This honor is bestowed on only three other man-made sites in the US, the others being the Statue of Liberty, Independence Hall, and Pueblo de Taos.

On October 27, 1895, the Rotunda burned to the ground with the unfortunate help of overzealous faculty member William "Reddy" Echols, who attempted to save it by throwing roughly 100 pounds of dynamite into the main fire in the hopes that the blast would separate the burning Annex from the main building. His last-ditch effort ultimately failed. (Perhaps ironically, one of the University's main honors student programs is named for him.) University officials swiftly approached celebrity architect Stanford White to rebuild the Rotunda. White took the charge further, redesigning the Rotunda interior (making it two floors instead of three), adding three buildings to the foot of the Lawn, and designing a President's House. He did omit rebuilding the Rotunda Annex, which had been built in 1853 to house classroom space (now moved to the South Lawn in White's new buildings).

The Great Fire of 1895. Students and faculty mourn.

The Rotunda today.

In 1940, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt came to the University's Memorial Gymnasium and made his "Stab in the Back" speech denouncing Italy's declararion of war on France. Two decades later, John F. Kennedy visited and spoke in the same space with brothers Robert and Ted at his side.

In concert with the bicentennial of the United States in 1976, the Rotunda was returned to Jefferson's original design. Renovated according to its original plans, a three-story Rotunda opened on Jefferson's birthday, April 13, 1976. To commemorate the anniversary of America's independence, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II strolled The Lawn and lunched in the Dome Room of the Rotunda, one of five American sites she publicly visited.

The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu graced The Lawn with their presence in 1998 to attend the University's Nobel Laureates Conference. During his visit at UVa, the Dalai Lama emphasized his desire for autonomy for Tibet and his willingness to cede foreign policy and defense strategy to the main Chinese government.

In 2001, John Kluge donated 7,378 acres (30 km²) of additional lands to the University. Much of this gift was sold by the University with Kluge's permission to musician Dave Matthews.

In the near future, the Lawn will change considerably. The McIntire School of Commerce will move to a new building adjoining Rouss Hall and the College's Economics department. At this time, Monroe Hall (current home of the McIntire School) will become part of the College. New Cabell Hall will be torn down, and in its place will be a technology-equipped classroom space that will straddle both sides of Jefferson Park Avenue. The Lawn will then extend to the space above where today is a faculty parking lot across the street. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr., a scholar at the University of Virginia, has written the definitive book on the original buildings, or Academical Village (http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/grizzard), at the University of Virginia.

Academics

Pavillion Gardens.

First in 1993, and again 8 times since, U.S. News and World Report ranked the University of Virginia as America's #1 public university. It is a perennial battle between the University and the University of California, Berkeley to see which is declared the best public unviersity in the United States. In the most recent (2005) edition, Berkeley was ranked #1 and UVa #2 (tied with the University of Michigan) out of roughly 200 doctorate-granting public universities in the United States. In addition to Berkeley and Michigan, there is a friendly academic rivalry with #6, the College of William and Mary. This exists primarily because these leading public universities are both in Virginia, as William & Mary has always lagged slightly behind the University of Virginia in these national rankings and reputation surveys.

UVa possesses a distinguished faculty, including 25 Guggenheim fellows, 26 Fulbright fellows, six National Endowment for the Humanities fellows, two Presidential Young Investigator Award winners, three Sloan award winners. and three Packard Foundation Award winners. The University is known for its schools of Architecture, Business, Commerce, Law, Medicine, and Education, as well as for its departments of Art History, Astronomy, Astronomy-Physics, Biology, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Economics, English, Finance, French, German, History, Management Information Systems, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies, Spanish/Portuguese, and Systems Engineering.

The University of Virginia Library System holds 5,000,000 volumes. Its Electronic Text Center, established in 1992, has put 70,000 books online as well as 350,000 images that go with them. No university in the world can claim more electronic texts. These e-texts are open to anyone, and that is one reason that the electronic collection gets ten times as many visitors per day as do the physical libraries at the University.

The University's faculty were particularly instrumental in the evolution of Internet networking and connectivity. Physics professor James McCarthy was the lead academic liaison to the government in the establishment of Suranet, and the University also participated in Arpanet and now participates in Internet2 and Abilene. In March of 1986, the University's website Virginia.edu became the first contribution to the World Wide Web originating from the state of Virginia.

The University of Virginia offers numerous special scholars programs. The Echols and Rodman Scholars Programs include 6-7% of undergraduate students and offer these students the "keys" to the university, in the form of advisors, separate first-year dorms, and priority course registration. Echols Scholars are also freed from the area requirements of the basic liberal arts curriculum. Perhaps the most selective program is the Jefferson Scholars Foundation, which offers full 4-year scholarships based on rigorous regional, international, and at-large competitions. Students are nominated by their respective high schools, and then have to pass various interviews before being invited, for a weekend, to participate in various tests of character, aptitude, and general suitablity. Approximately 3% of those nominated are successful, making the scholarship one of the most competitive in the nation.

Organization

Colleges and schools

• School of Architecture
• College of Arts & Sciences
• School of Continuing and Professional Studies
• Curry School of Education
• Darden Graduate School of Business Administration
• School of Engineering and Applied Science
• School of Law
• McIntire School of Commerce
• University of Virginia School of Medicine
• School of Nursing
• University of Virginia's College at Wise - Satellite campus in Wise, Virginia

Athletics

The University of Virginia's sports teams are called the Cavaliers. The mascot is a mounted swordsman referring to the time when Virginia earned its nickname, the "Old Dominion." The Commonwealth was a hotbed for royalists to the crown, called cavaliers in the days of the English Civil War. An unofficial moniker, the Wahoos (or Hoos for short), is also commonly used. Though originally only used by the student body, both terms (Wahoos and Hoos) have come into use by the media.

Since joining in 1953, UVa's teams have participated in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Its men's basketball team has twice been to the Final Four, and its football team has twice been honored as ACC Champions. In recent years, the University's strongest sports have been Soccer and Lacrosse, both winning numerous NCAA championships in the past fifteen years. The men's soccer team won four consecutive national titles (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994) and men's lacrosse added national championships in 1999 and 2003. The women's lacrosse team added the University's most recent NCAA championship in 2004.

Scott Stadium sits across from the first-year dorms along Alderman Road, and it is home to the University of Virginia's most popular sport: football. The University's team shares the "Oldest Rivalry in the South" with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ("UNC") and the schools have played 110 times, including every year since 1919. In what has become an even more heated rivalry, the team faces off with in-state foe Virginia Tech each Thanksgiving Saturday for the Commonwealth Cup, annually given to the winner of this game played 85 times and every year since 1970.

Basketball is also very popular at the University. At its recent height in the 1980s, the men's basketball team was better than perennial power Duke and second only to UNC in that decade's cumulative ACC standings. The 1990s and 2000s have seen a bit of a slide for the program to the middle of the pack in the conference, but UVa is currently building a new facility, John Paul Jones Arena, to replace University Hall. The new arena is scheduled to open in the Fall of 2006.

Student life

The motto around Grounds is "work hard, play hard". Students at the University take this motto seriously, and they combine their academic pursuits with a lot of exercise and partying (not necessarily at the same time). It is often joked that "everyone is a runner" at the University, and many students can be seen on a run in any season of the year. Indeed, the 2005 Kaplan/Newsweek guide "How to Get into College" (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5626574/site/newsweek/), which lists twenty-five universities its editors consider notable in some respect, recognizes UVa for being the "Hottest for Fitness", mentioning that 94% of the students take advantage of at least one of the four recreation centers. Rugby Road and the fraternities are home to much of the social scene, as are private apartments along Jefferson Park Avenue and around the outskirts of the University.

Student life at UVa is marked by a number of unique traditions that set the University apart from other American colleges. The campus of the University is referred to as "the Grounds," and seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen are instead called Fourth, Third, Second and First Years. A number of benevolent, secret societies, from The 7 Society to The Z Society , have operated at the University for decades, leaving painted marks on buildings which they help to fund. Other significant secret societies include IMP, the Purple Shadows, the Raven Society, and the Rotunda Burning Society.

A positive attitude regarding the libraries exists among the students. A national publication's survey recently revealed that UVa's students give their library system higher marks than students at any other school in the United States. The most famous library may be Alderman Library for the humanities and social sciences, which contains seemingly endless stacks of arcane subject matters (and many useful study nooks hidden among them). UVa's renowned Small Special Collections Library feature one of the premier collections of American Literature in the country. Clemons Library, next to Alderman, is a popular study spot. Hundreds of students can be found gathered on its various quiet floors on any given night. Clark Hall, home of the Engineering Library, also gets high marks.

Relative to nearly all other public universities, the University of Virginia has minimal red tape, paperwork, or bureaucracy. UVa's ratio of staff-to-faculty is kept low, allowing for an efficient allocation of funds directly into paying faculty (who enjoy the top 1% among public university salaries across the country) and educating its students. It is also a frequent observation that the faculty are very approachable and enjoy interacting with their students. Several of the faculty live on Grounds, either on the Lawn in the various Pavilions or as fellows at one of three residential colleges (Brown, Hereford, and International).

Volunteerism at the University is centered around Madison House, which offers numerous opportunities to serve others. Among the numerous programs offered are Tutoring, Housing Improvement, and Hoos Against Hunger (where leftover food made at restaurants is given to Charlottesville's homeless rather than being thrown away).

The ideas of student governance, left from the school's Jeffersonian roots, still hold strong at UVa. UVa's Honor System originated in 1842 and was the first to be administered by student elected officials, with student juries. In this "single sanction" system, the penalty for lying, cheating, or stealing is expulsion from the University. The Honor System here was the model for similar systems in place at West Point, Washington and Lee, and other American universities notable for their adherence to systems of honor. A well-known verse written by a student over 100 years ago (James Hay Jr. in 1903) ends "I have worn the Honors of Honor; I graduated from Virginia."

Distinguished alumni

• Val Ackerman, Col 1981 - Founder and president of WNBA
• Jeff Agoos, Com 1991 - Soccer player with San Jose Earthquakes and U.S. national team
• Yasushi Akashi, Grad 1956 - Former undersecretary of the United Nations
• Robert Aldrich (attended) - Film director, writer, and producer of The Dirty Dozen
• George Allen, Col 1974, Law 1977 - Governor and U.S. Senator, Virginia
• Hanan Ashrawi, Grad 1982 - Palestinian spokeswoman and peace activist
• Nathan L. Bachman, Law 1903 - U.S. Senator, Tennessee
• John Backus (attended) - Inventor of first high-level programming language, FORTRAN
• Ronde Barber, Com 1996 - Cornerback, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Tiki Barber, Com 1997 - Tailback, New York Giants
• Alben W. Barkley, Law 1900 - U.S. Senator, Kentucky; Vice-President of the United States
• Daniel Barringer, Grad 1888 - Proved the existence of meteorites on Earth (Barringer Meteorite Crater)
• Evan Bayh, Law 1981 - U.S. Senator, Indiana
• Jesse Beams, Grad 1926 - One of 5 primary physicists selected for Manhattan Project, pioneer of ultracentrifuge
• Alfred Berkeley, Col 1996 - President, NASDAQ Stock Exchange
• Rupert Blue, Col 1890 - Surgeon General of the United States
• Shelby Bonnie, Com 1986 - CEO, co-founder, CNET Inc.
• Alan Stephenson Boyd, Law 1948 - First United States Secretary of Transportation
• Charles Augustus Briggs, Col 1860 - Hebrew Scolar and Theologian
• Algernon S. Buford, Law 1850 - President, Richmond and Danville Railroad
• Heather and Heidi Burge, both Col 1993 - Former WNBA players
• Harry F. Byrd, Jr., Law 1936 - U.S. Senator, Virginia
• Richard E. Byrd (attended) - Polar Explorer, first to fly over South Pole
• James Laurence Cabell, Clas 1833 - President of National Board of Health
• Millard F. Caldwell, Law 1924 - Governor, U.S. Congressman, and State Supreme Court Justice, Florida
• Rick Carlisle, Col 1984 - Former NBA player; current head coach, Indiana Pacers
• James Paul Clarke, Law 1878 - Governor and U.S. Senator, Arkansas
• Francis Collins, Col 1970 - Director, Human Genome Project
• John Cornyn, Law 1995 - U.S. Senator, Texas
• Katie Couric, Col 1979 - Host, NBC's The Today Show
• Hugh S. Cumming, Med 1893 - Surgeon General of the United States
• Henry Winter Davis, Law 1841 - Outspoken Radical Republican; U.S. Congressman, Maryland
• Paul Ereng, Col 1993 - Gold medalist in 800 meters at 1988 Summer Olympics
• Tina Fey, Col 1992 - Head writer, Saturday Night Live
• William Meade Fishback, Law 1855 - Governor and U.S. Senator-Elect, Arkansas
• Patrick G. Forrester, Grad 1989 - NASA Astronaut
• Thomas Frank, Col 1987 - Founder and editor, The Baffler
• Thomas Watt Gregory, Law 1884 - Attorney General of the United States
• Darryl Hammond, Col 1988 - Arena Football League career tackles leader
• Karl G. Henize, Grad 1948 - NASA Astronaut
• Hilary A. Herbert, Law 1855 - Secretary of the Navy
• Russell Herron, Engr 1979 - Author, co-founder of GeoQuest Systems
• Brit Hume, Col 1965 - Managing editor, Fox News
• Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter, Col 1828 - Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and U.S. Senator, Virginia
• Eppa Hunton, Law 1843 - CSA Brigadier General; U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator, Virginia
• Laura Ingraham, Law 1991 - Conservative talk-show host
• Howell Edmunds Jackson, Grad 1854 - Justice, United States Supreme Court
• Louis Arthur Johnson, Law 1913 - Second United States Secretary of Defense
• Edward P. Jones, Grad 1981 - Author, winner of 2004 Pulitzer Prize for fiction
• Robert F. Kennedy, Law 1951 - U.S. Senator, New York; 1968 U.S. Presidential candidate
• Edward M. Kennedy, Law 1959 - U.S. Senator, Massachusetts
• Tim Koogle, Engr 1973 - Vice Chairman and former CEO, Yahoo! Inc.
• William Preston Lane, Jr., Law 1915 - Governor, Maryland
• Stephen Malkmus Jr., Col 1988 - Lead singer of indie-rock band Pavement
• Thurgood Marshall Jr., Col 1978, Law 1981 - Cabinet secretary, Clinton administration
• Samuel D. McEnery, Col 1857, Governor and U.S. Senator for Louisiana
• Benjamin McKenzie, Col 2001 - Actor, Fox's The O.C.
• James Clark McReynolds, Law 1884 - Justice, United States Supreme Court
• Halsey Minor, Col 1987 - Co-founder and former CEO, CNET Inc.
• Herman Moore, Col 1991 - NFL record-holder for catches in a season
• John S. Mosby (attended) - The "Gray Ghost", CSA guerilla fighter
• Janet Napolitano, Law 1983 - Governor of Arizona
• Bill Nelson, Law 1968 - U.S. Senator, Florida
• Longin Pastusiak, Grad 1959 - Marshall of the Senate, Poland
• William N. Page (attended) - Civil Engineer, co-founder of the Virginian Railway
• Edgar Allan Poe (attended) - Poet, author of The Raven
• George W. Randolph, Law 1842 - CSA Secretary of War
• Stanley Forman Reed, Law 1908 - Justice, United States Supreme Court
• Walter Reed, Med 1869 - Discovered vaccine for yellow fever
• Steven Reinemund, Darden 1978 - Chairman & CEO, PepsiCo Inc.
• Claudio Reyna (attended) - Soccer player with Manchester City in English Premiership; captain of U.S. national team
• Rebecca W. Rimel, Nurs 1973 - President, Pew Charitable Trusts
• Eppa Rixey, Col 1912 - Hall of Fame baseball pitcher
• Chuck Robb, Law 1973 - Governor and U.S. Senator, Virginia
• Joseph Taylor Robinson, Law 1895 - Governor and United States Senate Majority Leader, Arkansas
• Larry Sabato, Col 1974 - Called the "Most Quoted College Professor in the Land" by the Wall Street Journal
• Ralph Sampson, Col 1983 - NBA All-Star Center, Houston Rockets
• Mark Sanford, Darden 1988 - Governor of South Carolina
• John William Snow, Grad 1965 - United States Secretary of the Treasury
• Javier Solana, Grad 1968 - Secretary General of the European Union
• William B. Spong, Jr., Law 1947 U.S. Senator, Virginia
• Dawn Staley, Col 1992 - Olympic gold medalist, carried U.S. flag at opening ceremonies of 2004 Summer Olympics
• Melissa Stark, Col 1995 - Reporter, ESPN and ABC's Monday Night Football
• John C. Stennis, Law 1928 - U.S. Senator, Mississippi
• William Force Stead, Col 1905 - American diplomat and poet
• Edward Stettinius, Jr., Col 1924 - United States Secretary of State
• [Henry S. Taylor]], Col 1965 - 1986 Pulitzer Prize winner for poetry
• Charles L. Terry, Jr., Col 1922 - Governor, Delaware
• John Charles Thomas, Col 1972, Law 1975 - Virginia Supreme Court Justice
• Sean Patrick Thomas, Col 1983 - Actor
• Kathryn C. Thornton, Grad 1977, Grad 1979 - NASA Astronaut
• Robert Toombs, Law 1830 - U.S. Senator, Georgia
• John V. Tunney, Law 1959 - U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator, California
• Thomas B. Turley, Law 1867 - U.S. Senator, Tennessee
• John Warner, Law 1953 - U.S. Senator, Virginia
• Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., Law 1957 - Governor, U.S. Congressman, and U.S. Senator, Connecticut
• John Sharp Williams, Law 1876 - Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives
• Woodrow Wilson (attended) - 28th President of the United States
• William Wulf, Grad 1966 - Designer of BLISS programming language
• Walter Wyatt, Law 1917 - General Counsel, Federal Reserve System
• Hugh Young, Clas 1889, Med 1891 - Inventor, author, pioneering surgeon
• Robert R. Young (attended) - Chairman of the Board, C&O Railroad

External links

• University of Virginia home page (http://www.virginia.edu/index.html)
• University of Virginia Athletics website (http://virginiasports.ocsn.com/)
• Cavalier Daily (student newspaper) (http://www.cavalierdaily.com/)
• UVa History (http://www.virginia.edu/uvatours/shorthistory/)
• Online tour (http://www.virginia.edu/uvatours/slideshow/)
• Jefferson's Academical Village (http://www.virginia.edu/academicalvillage/)