University of Virginia

Coordinates: 38°02′06″N 78°30′18″W / 38.035°N 78.505°W / 38.035; -78.505

University of Virginia
Type Public (9 schools)
Private (2 schools)[1][2][3]
Flagship
Established 1819 (1819)
Endowment $7.53 billion (2015)[4]
Budget $1.39 billion[5]
President Teresa A. Sullivan
Academic staff
 2,102
Students 21,985[5]
Undergraduates 15,669[5]
Postgraduates 6,316[5]
Location Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
Campus Small city
1,682 acres (6.81 km2)
World Heritage Site
Founder Thomas Jefferson
Colors Blue and Orange[6]
         
Nickname Cavaliers
Wahoos
Mascot Cavalier
Sporting affiliations
 NCAA Division I – ACC
Website www.virginia.edu
  
Official name Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville
Type Cultural
Criteria i, iv, vi
Designated 1987 (11th session)
Reference no. 442
Region Europe and North America

The University of Virginia (U.Va. or UVA), frequently referred to simply as Virginia, is a public-private flagship and research university.[1][2][3] Founded in 1819 by Declaration of Independence author Thomas Jefferson, UVA is known for its historic foundations, student-run honor code, and secret societies.

UNESCO designated UVA as America's first and only collegiate World Heritage Site in 1987, an honor shared with nearby Monticello.[7] The university was established in 1819, and its original governing Board of Visitors included Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. Monroe was the sitting President of the United States at the time of its foundation. Former Presidents Jefferson and Madison were UVA's first two rectors and the Academical Village and original courses of study were conceived and designed by Jefferson.

The university's research endeavors are highly recognized. In 2015, Science honored UVA faculty for discovering two of its top 10 annual scientific breakthroughs; from the fields of Medicine and Psychology.[8] UVA is one of 62 institutions in the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization of preeminent North American research universities. It is the only AAU member university located in Virginia. UVA is classified as a Research University with Very High Research by the Carnegie Foundation, and is considered Virginia's flagship university by the College Board.[9][10][11] The university was the first non-founding member, and the first university of the American South, to attain AAU membership in 1904. UVA has been referred to as a "Public Ivy" by various sources.[12][13] Companies founded by UVA students and alumni, such as Reddit, generate more than $1.6 trillion in annual revenue – equivalent to an economy the size of Canada, 10th-largest in the world.[14][15]

UVA's academic strength is broad, with 121 majors across the eight undergraduate and three professional schools.[16] Students compete in 26 collegiate sports and UVA leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in men's NCAA team national championships with 16. UVA is second in women's NCAA titles with 7. UVA was awarded the Capital One Cup in 2015 after fielding the top overall men's athletics programs in the nation.[17]

Students come to attend the university in Charlottesville from all 50 states and 147 countries.[18][19][20] The historical campus occupies 1,682 acres (681 ha), many of which are internationally protected by UNESCO and widely recognized as some of the most beautiful collegiate grounds in the country.[21] UVA additionally maintains 2,913 acres (1,179 ha) southeast of the city, at Morven Farm.[22] The university also manages the College at Wise in Southwest Virginia, and until 1972 operated George Mason University and the University of Mary Washington in Northern Virginia.

History

Thomas Jefferson is the founder of the university

1800s

In 1802, while serving as President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson wrote to artist Charles Willson Peale that his concept of the new university would be "on the most extensive and liberal scale that our circumstances would call for and our faculties meet," and that it might even attract talented students from "other states to come, and drink of the cup of knowledge".[23] Virginia was already home to the College of William and Mary, but Jefferson lost all confidence in his alma mater, partly because of its religious nature – it required all its students to recite a catechism – and its stifling of the sciences.[24][25] Jefferson had flourished under William and Mary professors William Small and George Wythe decades earlier, but the college was in a period of great decline and his concern became so dire by 1800 that he expressed to British chemist Joseph Priestley, "we have in that State, a college just well enough endowed to draw out the miserable existence to which a miserable constitution has doomed it."[24][26][27] These words would ring true some seventy years later when William and Mary fell bankrupt after the Civil War and the Williamsburg college was shuttered completely in 1881, later being revived only in a limited capacity as a very small college for teachers until well into the twentieth century.[28]

In 1817, three Presidents (Jefferson, James Monroe, and James Madison) and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court John Marshall joined 24 other dignitaries at a meeting held in the Mountain Top Tavern at Rockfish Gap. After some deliberation, they selected nearby Charlottesville as the site of the new University of Virginia.[29] Farmland just outside Charlottesville was purchased from James Monroe by the Board of Visitors as Central College. The school laid its first building's cornerstone late in that same year, and the Commonwealth of Virginia chartered the new university on January 25, 1819. John Hartwell Cocke collaborated with James Madison, Monroe, and Joseph Carrington Cabell to fulfill Jefferson's dream to establish the university. Cocke and Jefferson were appointed to the building committee to supervise the construction.[30] The university's first classes met on March 7, 1825.[31]

In contrast to other universities of the day, at which one could study in either medicine, law, or divinity, the first students at the University of Virginia could study in one or several of eight independent schools – medicine, law, mathematics, chemistry, ancient languages, modern languages, natural philosophy, and moral philosophy.[32] Another innovation of the new university was that higher education would be separated from religious doctrine. UVA had no divinity school, was established independently of any religious sect, and the Grounds were planned and centered upon a library, the Rotunda, rather than a church, distinguishing it from peer universities still primarily functioning as seminaries for one particular strain of Protestantism or another.[33] Jefferson opined to philosopher Thomas Cooper that "a professorship of theology should have no place in our institution", and never has there been one. There were initially two degrees awarded by the university: Graduate, to a student who had completed the courses of one school; and Doctor to a graduate in more than one school who had shown research prowess.[34]

James Madison was the 2nd rector of the University of Virginia until 1836

Jefferson was intimately involved in the university to the end, hosting Sunday dinners at his Monticello home for faculty and students until his death. So taken with the import of what he viewed the university's foundations and potential to be, and counting it amongst his greatest accomplishments, Jefferson insisted his grave mention only his status as author of the Declaration of Independence and Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and father of the University of Virginia. Thus, he eschewed mention of his national accomplishments, such as the Louisiana Purchase, in favor of his role with the young university.

In the year of Jefferson's death, poet Edgar Allan Poe enrolled at the university, where he excelled in Latin.[35] The Raven Society, an organization named after Poe's most famous poem, continues to maintain 13 West Range, the room Poe inhabited during the single semester he attended the university.[36] He left because of financial difficulties. The School of Engineering and Applied Science opened in 1836, making UVA the first comprehensive university to open an engineering school.

Unlike the vast majority of peer colleges in the South, the university was kept open throughout the Civil War, an especially remarkable feat with its state seeing more bloodshed than any other and the near 100% conscription of the entire American South.[37] After Jubal Early's total loss at the Battle of Waynesboro, Charlottesville was willingly surrendered to Union forces to avoid mass bloodshed and UVA faculty convinced George Armstrong Custer to preserve Jefferson's university.[38] Though Union troops camped on the Lawn and damaged many of the Pavilions, Custer's men left four days later without bloodshed and the university was able to return to its educational mission. However, an extremely high number of officers of both Confederacy and Union were alumni.[39] UVA produced 1,481 officers in the Confederate Army alone, including four major-generals, twenty-one brigadier-generals, and sixty-seven colonels from ten different states.[39] John S. Mosby, the infamous "Gray Ghost" and commander of the lightning-fast 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry ranger unit, had also been a UVA student.

Wikisource has the text of an 1879 American Cyclopædia article about UVA's 16 schools in operation as of 1879.

Thanks to a grant from the Commonwealth of Virginia, tuition became free for all Virginians in 1875.[40] During this period the University of Virginia remained unique in that it had no president and mandated no core curriculum from its students, who often studied in and took degrees from more than one school.[40] However, the university was also experiencing growing pains. As the original Rotunda caught fire and burned to the ground in 1895, there would soon be sweeping change afoot.

1900s

Edwin Alderman was UVA's first president between 1904 and 1931, and instituted many reforms toward modernization
Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Jefferson had originally decided that the University of Virginia would have no president. Rather, this power was to be shared by a rector and a Board of Visitors. But as the 19th century waned, it became obvious this cumbersome arrangement was incapable of adequately handling the many administrative and fundraising tasks of the growing university.[41] Edwin Alderman, who had only recently moved from his post as president of UNC-Chapel Hill since 1896 to become president of Tulane University in 1900, accepted an offer as president of the University of Virginia in 1904. His appointment was not without controversy, and national media such as Popular Science lamented the end of one of the things that made UVA unique among universities.[42]

Alderman would stay 27 years, and became known as a prolific fund-raiser, a well-known orator, and a close adviser to U.S. President and UVA alumnus Woodrow Wilson.[41] He added significantly to the University Hospital to support new sickbeds and public health research, and helped create departments of geology and forestry, the Curry School of Education, the McIntire School of Commerce, and the summer school programs at which a young Georgia O'Keeffe would soon take art.[43] Perhaps his greatest ambition was the funding and construction of a library on a scale of millions of books, much larger than the Rotunda could bear. Delayed by the Great Depression, Alderman Library was named in his honor in 1938. Alderman, who seven years earlier had died in office en route to giving a public speech at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, is still the longest-tenured president of the university.

In 1904, the University of Virginia became the first university in the American South to be elected to the prestigious Association of American Universities. After a gift by Andrew Carnegie in 1909 the University of Virginia was organized into twenty-six departments including the Andrew Carnegie School of Engineering, the James Madison School of Law, the James Monroe School of International Law, the James Wilson School of Political Economy, the Edgar Allan Poe School of English and the Walter Reed School of Pathology.[34] The honorific historical names for these departments are no longer used.

The university first admitted a few selected women to graduate studies in the late 1890s and to certain programs such as nursing and education in the 1920s and 1930s.[44] In 1944, Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, became the Women's Undergraduate Arts and Sciences Division of the University of Virginia. With this branch campus in Fredericksburg exclusively for women, UVA maintained its main campus in Charlottesville as near-exclusively for men, until a civil rights lawsuit of the 1960s forced it to commingle the sexes.[45] In 1970, the Charlottesville campus became fully co-educational, and in 1972 Mary Washington became an independent state university.[46] When the first female class arrived, 450 undergraduate women entered UVA, comprising 39 percent of undergraduates, while the number of men admitted remained constant. By 1999, women made up a 52 percent majority of the total student body.[44][47]

The University of Virginia began the process of integration even before the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision mandated school desegregation for all grade levels, when Gregory Swanson sued to gain entrance into the university's law school in 1950.[48] Following his successful lawsuit, a handful of black graduate and professional students were admitted during the 1950s, though no black undergraduates were admitted until 1955, and UVA did not fully integrate until the 1960s.[48]

In December 1953, the University of Virginia joined the Atlantic Coast Conference for athletics. At the time, UVA had a football program that had just broken through to be nationally ranked in 1950, 1951, and 1952, and consistently beat its rivals North Carolina and Virginia Tech by such scores as 34–7 and 44–0. Other sports were very competitive as well. However, the administration of Colgate Darden de-emphasized athletics, barely allowing the school to join the nascent ACC. It would take until the 1980s for the bulk of programs to fully recover, but approaching the 2000s UVA was again one of the most successful all-around sports programs with NCAA national titles achieved in an array of different sports.

UVA established a junior college in 1954, then called Clinch Valley College. Today it is a four-year public liberal arts college called the University of Virginia's College at Wise and currently enrolls 2,000 students. George Mason University and the aforementioned Mary Washington University used to exist as similar satellite campuses, but those are now wholly self-administered.

2000s

President Sullivan speaks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in front of The Rotunda in 2013

Due to a continual decline in state funding for the university, today only 6 percent of its budget comes from the Commonwealth of Virginia.[49] A Charter initiative was signed into law by then-Governor Mark Warner in 2005, negotiated with the university to have greater autonomy over its own affairs in exchange for accepting this decline in financial support.[50][51]

The university welcomed Teresa A. Sullivan as its first female president in 2010.[52] Just two years later its first woman rector, Helen Dragas, engineered a forced-resignation to remove President Sullivan from office.[53][54] The attempted ouster elicited a faculty Senate vote of no confidence in Rector Dragas, and demands from student government for an explanation.[55][56] In the face of mounting pressure including alumni threats to cease contributions, and a mandate from then-Governor Robert McDonnell to resolve the issue or face removal of the entire Board of Visitors, the Board unanimously reinstated President Sullivan.[57][58][59] In 2013 and 2014, the Board passed new bylaws that made it harder to remove a president and possible to remove a rector.[60]

In November 2014, the university suspended fraternity and sorority functions pending investigation of an article by Rolling Stone concerning an alleged rape story, later to be called a "hoax" after the story was confirmed to be false through investigation by The Washington Post.[61][62][63][64] The university nonetheless instituted new rules banning "pre-mixed drinks, punches or any other common source of alcohol" such as beer kegs and requiring "sober and lucid" fraternity members to monitor parties.[65] In April 2015, Rolling Stone fully retracted the article after the Columbia School of Journalism released a report of what went wrong with the article in a scathing and discrediting report.[66][67] Even before release of the Columbia University report, the Rolling Stone story was named "Error of the Year" by the Poynter Institute.[68]

UVA experienced significant triumphs of both academia and athletics in 2015 as Science found its faculty to have discovered two of the world's top ten scientific breakthroughs that year, and the athletics department was awarded the Capital One Cup for fielding the nation's top overall men's sports program.[8][17] In the same year, Charlottesville (largely because of UVA founders and funders) was named the No. 1 fastest growing U.S. metropolitan area for venture capital, and UVA won the 2015 Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization on the basis of its global citizen initiatives.[69][70]

Campus

The Grounds, a term commonly used to refer to the UVA campus,[71] is renowned for its Jeffersonian architecture and place in U.S. history as a model for college and university campuses throughout the country.

Academical Village

One of the serpentine walls
See also: The Lawn, The Rotunda, and The Range

Throughout its history, the University of Virginia has won praise for its unique Jeffersonian architecture. In January 1895, less than a year before the Great Rotunda Fire, The New York Times said that the design of the University of Virginia "was incomparably the most ambitious and monumental architectural project that had or has yet been conceived in this century."[72] In the United States Bicentennial issue of their AIA Journal, the American Institute of Architects called it "the proudest achievement of American architecture in the past 200 years."[73]

Jefferson's original architectural design revolves around the Academical Village, and that name remains in use today to describe both the specific area of the Lawn, a grand, terraced green space surrounded by residential and academic buildings, the gardens, the Range, and the larger university surrounding it. The principal building of the design, the Rotunda, stands at the north end of the Lawn, and is the most recognizable symbol of the university. It is half the height and width of the Pantheon in Rome, which was the primary inspiration for the building. The Lawn and the Rotunda were the model for many similar designs of "centralized green areas" at universities across the country. The space was designed for students and professors to live in the same area. The Rotunda, which symbolized knowledge, showed hierarchy. The south end of the lawn was left open to symbolize the view of cultivated fields to the south, as reflective of Jefferson's ideal for an agrarian-focused nation.

Most notably designed by inspiration of the Rotunda and Lawn are the expansive green spaces headed by similar buildings built at: Duke University in 1892; Columbia University in 1895; Johns Hopkins University in 1902; Rice University in 1910; Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in 1915; Killian Court at MIT in 1916; the Grand Auditorium of Tsinghua University built in 1917 in Beijing, China; the Sterling Quad of Yale Divinity School in 1932; and the university's own Darden School in 1996.

Flanking both sides of the Rotunda and extending down the length of the Lawn are ten Pavilions interspersed with student rooms. Each has its own classical architectural style, as well as its own walled garden separated by Jeffersonian Serpentine walls. These walls are called "serpentine" because they run a sinusoidal course, one that lends strength to the wall and allows for the wall to be only one brick thick, one of many innovations by which Jefferson attempted to combine aesthetics with utility. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr., a former scholar at the university, has written the definitive book on the original academic buildings at the university.[74]

Inside the Dome Room

On October 27, 1895, the Rotunda burned to a shell because of an electrical fire that started in the Rotunda Annex, a long multi-story structure built in 1853 to house additional classrooms. The electrical fire was no doubt assisted by the unfortunate help of overzealous faculty member William "Reddy" Echols, who attempted to save it by throwing roughly 100 pounds (45 kg) of dynamite into the main fire in the hopes that the blast would separate the burning Annex from Jefferson's own Rotunda. 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, disregarding Jefferson's design and 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, the remnants of which were used as fill and to create part of the modern-day Rotunda's northern-facing plaza. The classes formerly occupying the Annex were moved to the South Lawn in White's new buildings.

The White buildings have the effect of closing off the sweeping perspective, as originally conceived by Jefferson, down the Lawn across open countryside toward the distant mountains. The White buildings at the foot of the Lawn effectively create a huge "quadrangle", albeit one far grander than any traditional college quadrangle at the University of Cambridge or University of Oxford.

In concert with the United States Bicentennial in 1976, Stanford White's changes to the Rotunda were removed and the building was returned to Jefferson's original design. Renovated according to original sketches and historical photographs, a three-story Rotunda opened on Jefferson's birthday, April 13, 1976. Queen Elizabeth II came to visit the Rotunda in that same year for the Bicentennial, and had a well-publicized stroll of The Lawn.

The university, together with Jefferson's home at Monticello, is a World Heritage Site, one of only three modern man-made sites so listed in the U.S. with the Statue of Liberty and Independence Hall. The first collegiate World Heritage Site in the world, it was codified as such by UNESCO in 1987. The university was listed by Travel + Leisure in September 2011 as one of the most beautiful campuses in the United States and by MSN as one of the most beautiful college campuses in the world.[75][76]

Libraries

Inside the Law Library

The University of Virginia Library System holds 5 million volumes. Its Electronic Text Center, established in 1992, has put 70,000 books online as well as 350,000 images that go with them. These e-texts are open to anyone and, as of 2002, were receiving 37,000 daily visits (compared to 6,000 daily visitors to the physical libraries).[77] Alderman Library holds the most extensive Tibetan collection in the world, and holds ten floors of book "stacks" of varying ages and historical value. The renowned Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library features one of the premier collections of American Literature in the country as well as two copies of the original printing of the Declaration of Independence. It was in this library in 2006 that Robert Stilling, an English graduate student, discovered an unpublished Robert Frost poem from 1918.[78] Clark Hall is the library for SEAS (the engineering school), and one of its notable features is the Mural Room, decorated by two three-panel murals by Allyn Cox, depicting the Moral Law and the Civil Law. The murals were finished and set in place in 1934.[79] As of 2006, the university and Google were working on the digitization of selected collections from the library system.[80]

Since 1992, the University of Virginia also hosts the Rare Book School, a non-profit organization in study of historical books and the history of printing that began at Columbia University in 1983.

Other areas

Housing for first-year students, Brown College, the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the University of Virginia Medical School are located near the historic Lawn and Range area. The McIntire School of Commerce is situated on the actual Lawn, in Rouss Hall.

Recessed windows of the monolithic Hereford College

Away from the historic area, UVA's architecture and its allegiance to the Jeffersonian design are controversial. The 1990s saw the construction of two deeply contrasting visions: the Williams Tsien post-modernist Hereford College in 1992 and the unapologetically Jeffersonian Darden School of Business in 1996. Commentary on both was broad and partisan, as the University of Virginia School of Architecture and The New York Times lauded Hereford for its bold new lines, while some independent press and wealthy donors praised the traditional design of Darden.[81][82] The latter group appeared to have largely won the day when the South Lawn Project was designed in the early 2000s.[82][83]

Billionaire John Kluge donated 7,379 acres (29.86 km2) of additional lands to the university in 2001. Kluge desired the core of the land, the 2,913-acre Morven, to be developed by the university and the surrounding land to be sold to fund an endowment supporting the core. Five farms totaling 1,261 acres (510 ha) of the gift were soon sold to musician Dave Matthews, of the Dave Matthews Band, to be utilized in an organic farming project to complement his nearby Blenheim Vineyards.[84] Morven has since hosted the Morven Summer Institute, a rigorous immersion program of study in civil society, sustainability, and creativity.[85] As of 2014, the university is developing further plans for Morven and has hired an architecture firm for the nearly three thousand acre property.[85]

The Virginia Department of Transportation maintains the roads through the university grounds as State Route 302.[86]

Student housing

Fifty-four students are selected to live on The Lawn during their final year

The primary housing areas for first-year students are McCormick Road Dormitories, often called "Old Dorms," and Alderman Road Dormitories, often called "New Dorms." The New Dorms are in the process of being fully replaced with brand new dormitories that feature hall-style living arrangements with common areas and many modern amenities. Instead of being torn down and replaced like the original New Dorms, the Old Dorms will see a $105 million renovation project between 2017 and 2022.[87] They were constructed in 1950, and are also hall-style constructions but with fewer amenities. However, generally the Old Dorms are closer to the students' classes.

There are three residential colleges at the university: Brown College, Hereford College, and the International Residential College. These involve an application process to live there, and are filled with both upperclass and first year students. The application process can be extremely competitive, especially for Brown.

It is considered a great honor to be invited to live on The Lawn, and 54 fourth-year undergraduates do so each year, joining ten members of the faculty who permanently live and teach in the Pavilions there.[88] Similarly, graduate students may live on The Range. Edgar Allan Poe formerly lived in 13 West Range, and since 1904 the Raven Society has retrofitted and preserved his room much as it may have existed in the 1820s.

Organization and administration

The university has several affiliated centers including the Rare Book School, headquarters of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, University of Virginia Center for Politics, Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership, and Miller Center of Public Affairs. The Fralin Museum of Art is dedicated to creating an environment where both the university community and the general public can study and learn from directly experiencing works of art. The university has its own internal recruiting firm, the Executive Search Group and Strategic Resourcing. Since 2013, this department has been housed under the Office of the President.

College/school founding
College/school Year founded
School of Architecture 1954
College of Arts & Sciences 1824
Darden School of Business 1954
McIntire School of Commerce 1921
School of Continuing and Professional Studies
Curry School of Education 1905
School of Engineering and Applied Science 1836
School of Law 1819
School of Medicine 1819
School of Nursing 1901
Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy 2007

In 2006, then-President Casteen announced an ambitious $3 billion capital campaign to be completed by December 2011.[89] During the Great Recession, President Sullivan missed the 2011 deadline, and extended it indefinitely.[90] The $3 billion goal would be met a year and a half later, which President Sullivan announced at graduation ceremonies in May 2013.[91]

As of 2013, UVA's $1.4 billion academic budget is paid for primarily by tuition and fees (32%), research grants (23%), endowment and gifts (19%), and sales and services (12%).[92] A mere 10% of academic funds come from state appropriation from the Commonwealth of Virginia.[92] For the overall (including non-academic) university budget of $2.6 billion, 45% comes from medical patient revenue.[92] The Commonwealth contributes less than 6%.[92]

Though UVA is the flagship university of Virginia, state funding has decreased for several consecutive decades.[49] Financial support from the state dropped by half from 12 percent of total revenue in 2001-02 to six percent in 2013-14.[49] The portion of academic revenue coming from the state fell by even more in the same period, from 22 percent to just nine percent.[49] This nominal support from the state, contributing just $154 million of UVA's $2.6 billion budget in 2012-13, has led President Sullivan and others to contemplate the partial privatization of the University of Virginia.[9] A panel called the Public University Working Group concluded in 2013 that UVA should sever many of its ties with the Commonwealth of Virginia in order to further advance its academic standing vis-à-vis the Ivy League even as it has been found to be a "significant competitor to the top privates."[9] UVA's Darden School and Law School are already privatized, or "self-sufficient" in UVA parlance, and outcompete many (sometimes all[93][94]) private universities of the Ivy League.[1][2][3]

Hunter R. Rawlings III, President of the prominent Association of American Universities research group of universities to which UVA is an elected member, came to Charlottesville to make a speech to university faculty which included a statement about the proposal: "there's no possibility, as far as I can see, that any state will ever relinquish its ownership and governance of its public universities, much less of its flagship research university".[9] He encouraged university leaders to stop talking about privatization and instead push their state lawmakers to increase funding for higher education and research as a public good.[9]

The University of Virginia is one of only two public universities in the United States that has a Triple-A credit rating from all three major credit rating agencies, along with the University of Texas at Austin.[95]

Academics

Alderman Library

UVA offers 48 bachelor's degrees, 94 master's degrees, 55 doctoral degrees, 6 educational specialist degrees, and 2 first-professional degrees (Medicine and Law) to its students. It has never bestowed an honorary degree to any person.[96][97][98]

The Jefferson Scholars Foundation offers four-year full-tuition scholarships based on regional, international, and at-large competitions. Students are nominated by their high schools, interviewed, then invited to weekend-long series of tests of character, aptitude, and general suitability. Approximately 3% of those nominated successfully earn the scholarship. Echols Scholars (College of Arts and Sciences) and Rodman Scholars (School of Engineering and Applied Sciences), which include 6-7% of undergraduate students, receive no financial benefits, but are entitled to special advisors, priority course registration, residence in designated dorms and fewer curricular constraints than other students.[99]

Research

UVA was recently recognized by Science as leading two of the Top 10 scientific discoveries in the entire world in a single year (2015).[8]

Recent UVA research "redrew the map" of the human lymphatic system, shown here in the 1858 Gray's Anatomy.

The first breakthrough was when UVA School of Medicine researchers Jonathan Kipnis and Antoine Louveau discovered previously unknown vessels connecting the human brain directly to the lymphatic system.[8] The discovery "redrew the map" of the lymphatic system, rewrote medical textbooks, and struck down long-held beliefs about how the immune system functions in the brain.[8] The discovery may help greatly in combating neurological diseases from multiple sclerosis to Alzheimer’s disease.[8] The second globally recognized breakthrough of 2015 was when UVA psychology professor Brian Nosek examined the reproducibility of 100 psychology studies and found that fewer than half could be reproduced.[8] The discovery may have profound impacts on how psychological studies are performed and documented.[8] More than 270 researchers on five continents were involved, and twenty-two students and faculty from UVA were listed as co-authors on the scientific paper.[8]

UVA is home to globally recognized research on hypersonic flight.[100] The United States Air Force, NASA, National Science Foundation, and National Center for Hypersonic Combined Cycle Propulsion have given UVA researchers millions each in funding for the university's ongoing broad and deep research into ultra-high velocity flight.[100]

In the field of astrophysics, the university is a member of a consortium engaged in the construction and operation of the Large Binocular Telescope in the Mount Graham International Observatory of the Pinaleno Mountains of southeastern Arizona. It is also a member of both the Astrophysical Research Consortium, which operates telescopes at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, and the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy which operates the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, the Gemini Observatory and the Space Telescope Science Institute. The University of Virginia hosts the headquarters of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which operates the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia and the Very Large Array radio telescope made famous in the Carl Sagan television documentary Cosmos and film Contact. The North American Atacama Large Millimeter Array Science Center is also located at the Charlottesville NRAO site.

The University of Virginia has been an elected member of the Association of American Universities since 1904, and remains today the only Virginia-based member of this prestigious research organization of leading American universities. As of 2012, UVA received $218,499,000 in prestigious U.S. federal research grants, the most of any university in Virginia.[101]

Innovation

Reddit was founded by UVA roommates

The Charlottesville area has been named the No. 1 fastest growing metropolitan area for venture capital in the United States, with $27.7 million in annual funding as of 2015.[69] Similar, but on a smaller scale, to how Silicon Valley started in the area surrounding Stanford University, a majority of the many successful startups in the Charlottesville region have been started by or funded by UVA students and graduates.[69] One example of a startup launched by university students is Reddit, now one of the top 40 most viewed websites in the world with nearly 100 billion annual pageviews, founded by UVA dormitory roommates Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian in 2005. They were students at the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the McIntire School of Commerce, respectively. Having grown so large, Reddit is now headquartered in San Francisco.

In addition to McIntire and SEAS, the Darden School has spawned highly innovative graduates and entrepreneurs. For example, a wearable glove that helps to rehabilitate stroke patients was brought to market by a Darden graduate in South Korea during 2015.[102] According to a study by researchers at the Darden School and Stanford University, UVA alumni overall have founded over 65,000 companies which have employed 2.3 million people worldwide with annual global revenues of $1.6 trillion.[14]

Rankings

University rankings
National
ARWU[103] 52-65
Forbes[104] 36
U.S. News & World Report[105] 26
Washington Monthly[106] 63
Global
ARWU[107] 101-150
QS[108] 172
Times[109] 147

U.S. News & World Report ranks UVA 26th overall and 3rd among public universities in its 2016 report.[110] Among the professional schools of UVA, U.S. News & World Report's 2016 rankings placed its law school tied for 8th overall and tied for No. 1 among public universities, its graduate Darden School of Business 10th overall and 2nd among public universities, and its medical school tied for 40th in the "Primary Care" category, and 26th overall and 9th among public universities in the Research category.[110] The Economist ranked Darden 2nd worldwide and No. 1 among U.S. public universities in 2015.[94] Bloomberg BusinessWeek ranked the undergraduate McIntire School of Commerce 2nd overall and No. 1 among public universities in 2014.[93]

The Daily Caller ranks UVA the No. 1 overall U.S. university and the one that "blows away the competition" for the second consecutive year as of 2015, when additional factors such as cost, professor ratings, and "student hotness" are added to the more traditional data points.[111][112] Business Insider, striving to measure preparation for the professional workforce, ranks UVA 19th overall and 2nd among public universities.[113]

Recognition

A National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) study of "high-achieving" undergraduate applicants found UVA to be the highest preference for these students among public universities of the United States in December 2005, noting that "all of the top twenty, except for the University of Virginia, are private institutions."[114] "High-achieving" applicants were defined as those ranking at or near the top of their classes at 510 outstanding high schools across the country.[114]

The University of Virginia has been recognized for consistently having the highest African American graduation rate among national public universities.[115][116][117][118] According to the Fall 2005 issue of Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, UVA "has the highest black student graduation rate of the Public Ivies" and "by far the most impressive is the University of Virginia with its high black student graduation rate and its small racial difference in graduation rates."[119]

Wikisource has the text of a 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article about circa 1911 organization of the university.

Historically, UVA was recognized as a Class I university in the nation's first academic classification system published by the U.S. Bureau of Education in 1911.[120][121] It is the only university in Virginia, and the only modern Atlantic Coast Conference member, to have been recognized as such.[120]

Admissions and financial aid

For the undergraduate Class of 2018, the University of Virginia received 31,042 applications, admitting 28.9 percent.[122] The university has seen steady increases in the applicant pool throughout the past decade, and the number of applications has more than doubled since the Class of 2008 received 15,094 applications.[123] Interested applicants may arrange an overnight visit through the Monroe Society, a student-run organization.[20] In 2014, 93% of admitted applicants ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school classes.[20][122] Matriculated students come from all 50 states and 147 foreign countries.[18][20] The average LSAT score was 169 at the School of Law, while at the Darden School of Business the average GMAT score was 706.[124][125]

Financial aid is an area of focus at UVA, and its student composition is such that it was described in a feature article in the 2006 America's Best Colleges edition of U.S. News and World Report as being "chock full of academic stars who turn down private schools like Duke, Princeton, and Cornell for, they say, a better value."[126] UVA meets 100 percent of demonstrated need for all admitted undergraduate students, making it one of only two public universities in the U.S. to reach this level of financial aid for its students.[127][128] For 2014, the university ranked 4th overall by the Princeton Review for "Great Financial Aid".[129] In 2008 the Center for College Affordability and Productivity named UVA the top value among all national public colleges and universities; and in 2009, UVA was again named the "No. 1 Best Value" among public universities in the United States in a separate ranking by USA TODAY and the Princeton Review.[130][131][132] Kiplinger in 2014 ranked UVA 2nd out of the top 100 best-value public colleges and universities in the nation.[133]

Student life

Student life at the University of Virginia is marked by a number of unique traditions. The campus of the university is referred to as the "Grounds." Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors are instead called first-, second-, third-, and fourth-years in order to reflect Jefferson's belief that learning is a lifelong process, rather than one to be completed within four years.

William Faulkner once lived at UVA, discussing his works with students but with his only responsibility to write, not teach

Student-faculty interaction and connections

Professors are traditionally addressed as "Mr." or "Ms." at UVA instead of "Doctor" (although medical doctors are the exception) in deference to Jefferson's desire to have an equality of ideas, discriminated by merit and unburdened by title. UVA facilitates close interactions between students and professors in a number of ways.

First-year students have the opportunity to take two University Seminars, one per semester, which are later made available to other students as well. These small classes, numbering from 4 to 19 students each, provide opportunities to work closely with professors at the university from the outset of a student's academic career. The small groupings also help facilitate more frequent and intense discussions between students in this closer environment.

Select faculty live at Brown College at Monroe Hill, Hereford College, International Residential College, and in Pavilions on The Lawn. This gives more opportunities for professors to invite students to lunches and dinners, which regularly happens, and creates chances for impromptu meetings and interactions between faculty and students around Grounds.

So committed to close student-faculty interaction is UVA that it once welcomed Nobel Laureate William Faulkner to a position as "Writer-in-Residence" from February–June 1957 and again in 1958.[134] He had no teaching responsibilities, and was paid merely to live among the students and write. He was badly injured in a horse riding accident in 1959, and did not return to the state before his death in 1962.[134]

Global citizenship initiatives

UVA has several programs in place to make each of its students a citizen of the globe, not just of the United States.

The International Residential College is a residential college at UVA that attracts and celebrates students from across the globe who choose to attend the university. It is one of three major residential colleges at UVA. Students there come from 45 different countries, representing 40% of the student population; but U.S. students are encouraged to live at IRC as well to learn about the countries from which their classmates have journeyed to attend UVA.

The S.S. Universe Explorer docked in Vancouver, British Columbia, shortly before embarking on the Fall 1997 Semester at Sea voyage.

UVA has been the academic sponsor for Semester at Sea since 2006. Throughout the history of the program since 1963, nearly 55,000 undergraduate students[135] from more than 1,500 colleges and universities have participated in Semester at Sea. During the spring and fall semesters, the approximately 100-day program circumnavigates the globe, with up to 720 undergraduates[136] traveling from North America heading either east across the Atlantic or west across the Pacific, visiting from 8 to 11 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and South America, before ending the voyage in another North American port. The program previously had voyages that would sail through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal, but due to piracy concerns in the Gulf of Aden, voyages now typically travel around Africa. Past lecturers and guests of Semester at Sea include Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, and Mother Teresa.

UVA received the 2015 Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization, by the Association of International Educators.[70] This award confirms the university's success and commitment in educating its students on a global scale as well as nationally.[70]

Student leadership opportunities

There are a number of UVA undergraduate leadership opportunities that are offered in addition to the standard student government or fraternity and sororiety positions found at many universities. They include UVA's secret societies and debating societies, the student-run honor committees, and the chance to be recognized as a fourth-year student at the pinnacle of student leadership by being asked to live on The Lawn.

The Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, established in 2007, expands on these unique student leadership opportunities to study Leadership itself as a cross-disciplinary subject of focus and is closely aligned with many of the University's schools, including the Architecture, Education, Engineering, Law, Medical, and Darden schools, as well as with programs in politics, economics, and applied ethics.

Secret societies and debating societies

The mark of one out of many secret societies active on Grounds at the university

A number of secret societies at the university, most notably the Seven Society, Z Society, and IMP Society, have operated for decades or centuries, leaving their painted marks on university buildings. Other significant secret societies include Eli Banana, T.I.L.K.A., the Purple Shadows (who commemorate Jefferson's birthday shortly after dawn on the Lawn each April 13), The Sons of Liberty, and the 21 Society. Not all the secret societies keep their membership unknown, but even those who don't hide their identities generally keep most of their good works and activities far from the public eye.

Student societies have existed on grounds since the early 19th Century. The Jefferson Literary and Debating Society, founded in 1825, is the second oldest Greek-Lettered organization in the nation (the oldest being the Phi Beta Kappa honor fraternity). It continues to meet every Friday at 7:29 PM in Jefferson Hall. The Washington Literary Society and Debating Union also meets every week, and the two organizations often engage in a friendly rivalry. In the days before social fraternities existed and intercollegiate athletics became popular, these societies were often the focal point of social activity on grounds.[137]

Honor system

Honor Pledge[138]

On my honor, I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment.

The nation's first codified honor system was instituted by UVA law professor Henry St. George Tucker, Sr. in 1842, after a fellow professor was shot to death on The Lawn. There are three tenets to the system: students simply must not lie, cheat, or steal. It is a "single sanction system," meaning that committing any of these three offenses will result in expulsion from the university. If accused, students are tried before their peers – fellow students, never faculty, serve as counsel and jury.

The honor system is intended to be student-run and student-administered.[139] Although Honor Committee resources have been strained by mass cheating scandals such as a case in 2001 of 122 suspected cheaters over several years in a single large Physics survey course, and federal lawsuits have challenged the system, its verdicts are rarely overturned.[140][141][142] There is only one documented case of direct UVA administration interference in an honor system proceeding: the trial and subsequent retrial of Christopher Leggett.[143]

Student activities

Many events take place at the University of Virginia, on the Lawn and across grounds. One of the largest events at UVA is Springfest, hosted by the University Programs Council. It takes place every year in the spring, and features a large free concert, various inflatables and games. Another popular event is Foxfield, a steeplechase and social gathering that takes place nearby in Albemarle County in April, and which is annually attended by thousands of students from the University of Virginia and neighboring colleges.[144]

The University Amphitheater is often used for outdoor lectures and student gatherings

The student life building is called Newcomb Hall. It is home to the Student Activities Center (SAC) and the Media Activities Center (MAC), where student groups can get leadership consulting and use computing and copying resources, as well as several meeting rooms for student groups. Student Council, the student self-governing body, holds meetings Tuesdays at 6 p.m. in the Newcomb South Meeting Room. Student Council, or "StudCo", also holds office hours and regular committee meetings in the newly renovated Newcomb Programs and Council (PAC) Room. The PAC also houses the University Programs Council and Class Councils. Newcomb basement is home to both the office of the independent student newspaper The Declaration, The Cavalier Daily, and the Consortium of University Publications.

In 2005, the university was named "Hottest for Fitness" by Newsweek magazine,[145] due in part to 94% of its students using one of the four indoor athletics facilities. Particularly popular is the Aquatics and Fitness Center, situated across the street from the Alderman Dorms. The University of Virginia sent more workers to the Peace Corps in 2006[146] and 2008[147] than any other "medium-sized" university in the United States. Volunteerism at the university is centered in Madison House which offers numerous opportunities to serve others. Among the numerous programs offered are tutoring, housing improvement, and an organization called Hoos Against Hunger, which gives leftover food from restaurants to the homeless of Charlottesville, rather than allowing it to be discarded.

As at many universities, alcohol use is a part of the social life of many undergraduate students. Concerns particularly arose about a past trend of fourth-years consuming excessive alcohol during the day of the last home football game.[148] President Casteen announced a $2.5 million donation from Anheuser-Busch to fund a new UVA-based Social Norms Institute in September 2006.[149] A spokesman said: "the goal is to get students to emulate the positive behavior of the vast majority of students". On the other hand, the university was ranked first in Playboy's 2012 list of Top 10 Party Schools based on ratings of sex, sports, and nightlife.[150]

Greek life

Boyd Tinsley's "jam sessions" with both amateur and professional musicians would last for entire nights while he was a UVA student

The University of Virginia has a number of Greek organizations on campus, encompassing the traditional social fraternities and sororities as well as coeducational professional, service, and honor fraternities. Social life at the university was originally dominated by debating societies.[151] The first fraternity chapter founded at UVA was Delta Kappa Epsilon in 1852, and it was quickly followed by many more; the University of Virginia was the birthplace of two national fraternities, Kappa Sigma and Pi Kappa Alpha, which exist at the university to this day.[152][153][154] Through the twentieth century, the Greek system at UVA evolved to encompass social sororities, professional fraternities and sororities, service fraternities, honor societies, black fraternities and sororities, and multicultural fraternities and sororities. Roughly 30% of the student body are members of social Greek organizations, with additional students involved with service, professional, and honor fraternities.[155] Rush and pledging occur in the spring semester for most organizations. Three social fraternities hold reserved rooms on the Lawn.[156]

Transportation

Charlottesville Union Station is located just 0.6 miles (0.97 km) from the University of Virginia, and energy efficient Amtrak passenger trains serve Charlottesville on three routes: the Cardinal (Chicago to New York City), Crescent (New Orleans to New York City), and Northeast Regional (Virginia to Boston). The long-haul Cardinal operates three times a week, while the Crescent and Northeast Regional both run daily. Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport, 8 miles (13 km) away, has nonstop flights to Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Philadelphia. The larger Richmond International Airport is 77 miles (124 km) to the southeast, and the still larger Dulles International Airport is 99 miles (159 km) to the northeast. The Starlight Express offers direct express bus service from Charlottesville to New York City, and I-64 and U.S. 29, both major highways, are frequently trafficked.

Athletics

Main article: Virginia Cavaliers

The Cavaliers lead the 15-team Atlantic Coast Conference in NCAA championships for men's sports with 16, and are second in women's sports with 7.[157] They have been the Cavaliers since 1923, predating the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers by five decades, and have competed in the ACC since 1953. The Athletic Director is Craig Littlepage, the first African American to hold that position anywhere in the ACC when hired in August 2001. Since then, UVA has added many significant hires who have demonstrated success near the top of their respective sports, including Tony Bennett, Brian O'Connor, Bronco Mendenhall, Augie Busch, and Brian Boland, who led UVA men's tennis to an undefeated run of 140–0 in ACC matches spanning more than an entire decade (2006–2016), unprecedented in any sport.[158] Among coaches who have longer tenures, Hall of Fame coach Dom Starsia is the winningest Division I men's lacrosse coach in history. George Gelnovatch has won two NCAA men's soccer national titles since 2009. Steve Swanson has led women's soccer teams to six ACC titles and 24 consecutive winning seasons. Kevin Sauer has led UVA women's rowing to two NCAA titles since 2010 and nine consecutive Top 6 national finishes as of 2015.

UVA has ranked near the top of NCAA collegiate programs in recent years. In 2015, Virginia won the Capital One Cup for the best overall program in men's sports after its teams won the 2014 College Cup, the 2015 College World Series, and the 2015 NCAA Tennis Championships. UVA ranks similarly high nationally in the yearly NACDA Directors' Cup combined men's and women's standings: taking third place nationally in 2009–10, and finishing fourth in 2013–14.

UVA lacrosse has won 10 national championships, including 8 national titles since NCAA oversight began.

The Cavaliers often, but not always, finish first among ACC programs in each of these all-sports measures.

Championships

In the 21st century alone, UVA has won eleven NCAA team national championships. The men's teams have won recent NCAA titles in baseball (2015); soccer (2014 and 2009); lacrosse (2011, 2006, and 2003); and tennis (2015 and 2013). UVA women have won recent NCAA titles in lacrosse (2004) and rowing (2012 and 2010).

The ACC is particularly known for college basketball, often being called the nation's best basketball conference.[159][160][161] Under Tony Bennett the Cavaliers have experienced a renaissance, winning back-to-back ACC regular season titles in 2014 and 2015, and dispatching Duke for the 2014 ACC Tournament Championship. UVA has become just the third ACC program, after Duke and UNC, to win 30 games in two consecutive seasons.

The baseball team under Brian O'Connor has also experienced tremendous success. UVA finished as national Runners Up in the 2014 College World Series and came back to win the 2015 College World Series. His teams have made the NCAA Tournament in all twelve of his years coaching at Virginia as of 2015.

Rivalries

Official ACC designated rivalry games include the Virginia–Virginia Tech rivalry and the brand new Virginia–Louisville series. These two rivalries are guaranteed home-and-away games each year in all sports but football, in which there is a guaranteed annual game. The Cavaliers competed against the Hokies in the Commonwealth Challenge and more recently compete in the Commonwealth Clash, under new rules, for many sports in which they compete head-to-head. The Cavaliers were 2–0 against the Hokies in the Challenge and are also 2–0 in the Clash (4–0 overall) as of 2016.

Perhaps the most significant rivalry game ever played against the Hokies was on March 1, 2007. The two teams played a men's college basketball game in which the winner would clinch at least a share of the ACC regular season title. UVA won the game 69–56 and took their fifth (of seven) such ACC titles. Virginia Tech is, as of 2016, still searching for their first.

The stakes have never been so high, yet, for the annual football game to contest the rivalry's Commonwealth Cup. The Virginia football team also competes in what is called the South's Oldest Rivalry against North Carolina, a historic rivalry game which a sitting President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, once attended in Charlottesville. UVA currently trails in both these series, a lasting vestige of the period when Colgate Darden de-emphasized football in 1952 at a time when Art Guepe was regularly beating both of these rivals by scores such as 34–7 and 44–0. Darden turned down a bid to the 1952 Orange Bowl, and Guepe left. (After building back a winning program forty years later, UVA football was briefly ranked AP No. 1[162][163][164] for several weeks in October 1990 and won at least seven games each year for thirteen consecutive years between 1987 and 1999; however prior to the arrival of Bronco Mendenhall in 2016, UVA has again seen down times.)

Sponsorship

The Cavaliers are sponsored by Nike, from which the program receives $3.5 million per annum.[165]

People

Faculty

Kathryn C. Thornton, professor at the School of Engineering and Applied Science

Faculty were originally housed in the Academical Village among the students, serving as both instructors and advisors, continuing on to include the McCormick Road Old Dorms, though this has been phased out in favor of undergraduate student resident advisors (RAs). Several of the faculty, however, continue the university tradition of living on Grounds, either on the Lawn in the various Pavilions, or as fellows at one of three residential colleges (Brown College at Monroe Hill, Hereford College, and the International Residential College).

Science named three UVA professors (Jonathan Kipnis, Antoine Louveau, and Brian Nosek) as leading research breakthroughs that led to two of the top 10 scientific discoveries in the year 2015. They were in the fields of Medicine and Psychiatry. (More about this can be found in the Research section above.)

The university's faculty includes a National Humanities Medal and National Medal of Arts winner and former United States Poet Laureate, an awardee of the Order of Isabella the Catholic,[166] 25 Guggenheim fellows, 26 Fulbright fellows, six National Endowment for the Humanities fellows, two Presidential Young Investigator Award winners, three Sloan award winners, three Packard Foundation Award winners, and a winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.[167] Physics professor James McCarthy was the lead academic liaison to the government in the establishment of SURANET, and the university has also participated in ARPANET, Abilene, Internet2, and Lambda Rail. On March 19, 1986, the University's domain name, VIRGINIA.EDU, became the first registration under the .EDU top-level domain originating from the Commonwealth of Virginia on what would become the World Wide Web.[168]

English professor Rita Dove has been honored as the United States Poet Laureate and awarded the National Humanities Medal and National Medal of Arts.

Larry Sabato has, according to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, become the most-cited professor in the country by national and regional news organizations, both on the Internet and in print.[169] Civil rights activist Julian Bond, a professor in the Corcoran Department of History from 1990 to 2012, was the Chairman of the NAACP from 1998 to 2009 and was chosen to host the Nobel Laureates conference in 1998.

Alumni

As of December 2014, the University of Virginia has 221,000 living graduates.[14] According to a study by researchers at the Darden School and Stanford University, UVA alumni have founded over 65,000 companies which have employed 2.3 million people worldwide with annual global revenues of $1.6 trillion.[14] Extrapolated numbers show companies founded by UVA alumni have created 371,000 jobs in the state of Virginia alone.[14] The relatively small amount that the Commonwealth gives UVA for support was determined by the study to have a tremendous return on investment for the state.[14]

United States dollar coin[170] featuring Robert F. Kennedy, LAW 1951

Eight NASA astronauts and launch directors are UVA alumni: Karl Gordon Henize, Bill Nelson, Thomas Marshburn, Leland Melvin, Jeff Wisoff, Kathryn Thornton, Patrick Forrester; and Michael Leinbach.

The Pulitzer Prize has been awarded to eight UVA alumni: Edward P. Jones, Ron Suskind, Virginius Dabney, Claudia Emerson, Henry Taylor, Lane DeGregory, George Rodrigue, and Michael Vitez.

Fifty-one Rhodes Scholars have graduated from UVA. This is the most from any state-supported university, the most from any public or private university in the American South, and the eighth-most overall (placing UVA between Brown University at 55, and the University of Chicago at 50).[171]

Edward P. Jones, MFA 1982, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and a Genius Grant for The Known World, voted one of the top two novels of the 2000s by an expert panel.[172]

UVA's alumni ranks also include others who have achieved widespread fame: computer science pioneer John Backus; polar explorer Richard Byrd; scientists Walter Reed, Stuart Schreiber, Daniel Barringer, Richard Lutz, and Francis Collins; artists Edgar Allan Poe and Georgia O'Keefe; musicians Stephen Malkmus and Boyd Tinsley; self-made billionaire Paul Tudor Jones; national news anchors Katie Couric and Brit Hume; actors Tina Fey and Ben McKenzie; Team USA Olympic team captains John Harkes, Dawn Staley, and Claudio Reyna; and NBA All-Star MVP Ralph Sampson.

Famous government leaders include NATO Secretary General Javier Solana; United States President and Nobel Laureate Woodrow Wilson; U.S. Speaker of the House Robert M. T. Hunter; widely-known United States Senators Harry Byrd, Robert F. Kennedy, and Ted Kennedy; the first African American Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court, Leroy Hassell; and the United States Supreme Court Justices Howell Edmunds Jackson, James Clark McReynolds, and Stanley Forman Reed.

Fourteen Governors of Virginia are UVA alumni: Gerald Baliles, Jim Gilmore, Chuck Robb, George Allen, John Dalton, Albertis Harrison, James Almond, John Battle, Colgate Darden, Elbert Trinkle, Westmoreland Davis, Claude Swanson, Andrew Jackson Montague, and Frederick Holiday.

Fourteen Governors of other U.S. states and territories, as well: James Paul Clarke, William Meade Fishback, and Joseph Taylor Robinson (Arkansas), Janet Napolitano (Arizona), Lowell Weicker (Connecticut), Charles Terry (Delaware), Millard Caldwell (Florida), Evan Bayh (Indiana), Brereton Jones (Kentucky), Sam McEnery (Louisiana), William Preston Lane (Maryland), Mark Sanford (South Carolina), Henry Mathews (West Virginia), and Luis Fortuño (Puerto Rico).

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 UCLA Anderson Gives Up State Funding, accessed February 22, 2016. "Darden waived public dollars in 2002."
  2. 1 2 3 Giving Up State Funds, accessed February 22, 2016. "Being willing to give up [state] funds altogether is rare. The University of Virginia's business school did so, but has very much been considered an outlier."
  3. 1 2 3 "The Road to Financial Self-Suffiency, accessed February 22, 2016. "Financial self-sufficiency, as the arrangement between the University and the Law School is called, is unique at Virginia and without peer in American public education. The essential terms are that the Law School’s tuition tracks that of its competitors, and that increased tuition revenue puts the onus on the Law School to pay for itself."
  4. ↑ As of June 30, 2015. "University of Virginia Investment Management Company Annual Report, 2014-105". University of Virginia Investment Management Company. 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 http://www.virginia.edu/facts
  6. ↑ "Graphic Standards — University of Virginia". The Graphic Identity for the University of Virginia. March 14, 2015. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  7. ↑ UNESCO World Heritage Centre. "UNESCO World Heritage Centre - World Heritage List". Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Two UVA Findings in the Running for Year’s Biggest Scientific Breakthroughs, accessed February 17, 2016
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 U-Va. should break some ties with state, panel says in preliminary report, accessed September 8, 2014
  10. ↑ "Tuition and Fees at Flagship Universities over Time - Trends in Higher Education - The College Board". Trends.collegeboard.org. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  11. ↑ http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/publications/2012/nsb1245.pdf
  12. ↑ Moll, Richard (1985). Public Ivys: A Guide to America's best public undergraduate colleges and universities.
  13. ↑ Greene, Howard and Matthew (2001). The Public Ivies: America's Flagship Public Universities.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 U.Va. Darden School Survey Shows U.Va. Entrepreneurs' Significant Impact On Economy, accessed December 15, 2014
  15. ↑ "GDP and its breakdown at current prices in US Dollars". United Nations Statistics Division. December 2015.
  16. ↑ Departments and Schools of UVA, accessed February 21, 2016
  17. 1 2 UVa wins Capital One Cup for men's sports, retrieved June 16, 2015
  18. 1 2 "Current On-Grounds Enrollment". Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  19. ↑ Financing the University 101, retrieved August 31, 2014
  20. 1 2 3 4 "Cavalier Admissions Volunteer Handbook" (PDF). Office of Engagement, University of Virginia. 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
  21. ↑ Most Beautiful Colleges in America: UVA Again Named Most Beautiful, accessed May 5, 2016
  22. ↑ Morven, accessed February 19, 2016
  23. ↑ Alf J. Mapp, Jr., Thomas Jefferson: Passionate Pilgrim, p. 19.
  24. 1 2 New Englander and Yale Review, Volume 37, W. L. Kingsley, "Ought the State provide for Higher Education?", 1878, page 378.
  25. ↑ Phillips Russell, Jefferson, Champion of the Free Mind, p. 335.
  26. ↑ Circular of Information, State Board of Education, United States Bureau of Education. Washington (State) Superintendent of Public Instruction. Published by State Board of Education, 1888. p. 48.
  27. ↑ Higher Education in Transition: A History of American Colleges and Universities by John Seiler Brubacher, Willis Rudy. Published by Transaction Publishers, 1997. p. 148
  28. ↑ An Act to Establish A Normal School, 5 March 1888, accessed September 5, 2014
  29. ↑ ""Guide to SNP" - Turk Mountain Overlook to Rockfish Gap". guidetosnp.com. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
  30. ↑ Dabney, Virginius (1981). Mr. Jefferson's University: A History. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. p. 3. ISBN 0-8139-0904-X.
  31. ↑ Bruce, Philip Alexander (1920). History of the University of Virginia, vol. II. New York City: Macmillan.
  32. ↑ Popular Science, July 1905, "The Progress of Science"
  33. ↑ Joseph J. Ellis, American Sphinx, p. 283.
  34. 1 2 1911 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 28, retrieved September 1, 2014
  35. ↑ "Edgar Allan Poe at the university". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  36. ↑ Sampson, Zinie Chan (April 28, 2011). "Edgar Allan Poe's University of Virginia Room to Undergo Renovation". Huffington Post. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  37. ↑ Civil War Casualties by the Civil War Trust, accessed September 5, 2014
  38. ↑ Charlottesville During the Civil War, accessed September 5, 2014
  39. 1 2 University of Virginia Alumni News, Volume II, Issue 7, page 74, December 10, 1913. Accessed September 5, 2014
  40. 1 2 See wikisource link to the right
  41. 1 2 Encyclopedia Virginia President Edwin Alderman "By the turn of the 20th century the administrative affairs had grown to such an extent that the old form of government became too cumbersome. The appointment of Alderman brought a new era of progressivism to the university and service to Virginia." Retrieved January 25, 2012
  42. ↑ Popular Science, July 1905 Volume 67, "The Progress of Science"
  43. ↑ Bruce, Philip Alexander (1921). The History of the University of Virginia: The Lengthening Shadow of One Man V. New York: Macmillan. p. 61.
  44. 1 2 "Breaking and Making Tradition: Women at U VA". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  45. ↑ Priya N. Parker (2004). "Storming the Gates of Knowledge: A Documentary History of Desegregation and Coeducation in Jefferson's Academical Village". Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  46. ↑ University of Mary Washington: History and Development of the University.
  47. ↑ Historical Enrollment Data, accessed September 6, 2014
  48. 1 2 "The Road to Desegregation: Jackson, NAACP, and Swanson". Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  49. 1 2 3 4 University braces for likely cuts in state funds, accessed September 8, 2014
  50. ↑ "Legislation". Restructuring Higher Education. University of Virginia. Retrieved May 22, 2008.
  51. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)". Restructuring Higher Education. University of Virginia. Retrieved May 22, 2008.
  52. ↑ de Vise, Daniel, "Teresa Sullivan Is First Female President to Lead University of Virginia" Washington Post, January 19, 2010.
  53. ↑ Rice, Andrew (September 11, 2012). "Anatomy of a Campus Coup". New York Times. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  54. ↑ The Hook, a Charlottesville weekly, posted a series of articles detailing events as they occurred, collected at Hawes Spencer. "The Ousting of a President". The Hook. Retrieved November 13, 2014.(2012-13)
  55. ↑ Daily Progress Staff (June 14, 2012). "UVa Faculty Senate issues vote of no confidence in rector, Board of Visitors". The Daily Progress. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  56. ↑ Karin Kapsidelis (June 15, 2012). "U.Va. Student Council seeks full explanation of ouster". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  57. ↑ "Alumni Pledge Thousands in Donations Following Sullivan's Reinstatement". Newsplex.com. June 28, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  58. ↑ Anita Kumar and Jenna Johnson (June 22, 2012). "McDonnell tells U-Va. board to resolve leadership crisis, or he will remove members". Washington Post. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  59. ↑ Sara Hebel, Jack Stripling, and Robin Wilson (June 26, 2012). "U. of Virginia Board Votes to Reinstate Sullivan". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  60. ↑ Board to Vote on Rector Removal Clause, accessed September 8, 2014
  61. ↑ Phi Psi Files $25 million Lawsuit Against Rolling Stone, accessed February 19, 2016
  62. ↑ "SPECIAL: The UVA Story". On the Media. 6 December 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  63. ↑ The Lies of UVA's Jackie: Read All the Catfishing Texts, accessed February 19, 2016
  64. ↑ UVA Frat Sues Rolling Stone, accessed February 19, 2016
  65. ↑ Nick Anderson (January 7, 2015). "New safety rules announced for University of Virginia fraternity parties". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  66. ↑ Somaiya, Ravi (April 5, 2015). "Rolling Stone Retracts Article on Rape at University of Virginia". www.nytimes.com (New York Times). Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  67. ↑ A Rape on Campus: What Went Wrong, accessed April 8, 2015
  68. ↑ "The year in media errors and corrections 2014". Poynter.org. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
  69. 1 2 3 Charlottesville Named Fastest Growing Venture Capital Ecosystem in the US, accessed February 18, 2016
  70. 1 2 3 President Sullivan Says Benefits of UVA's Globalization Are Far Reaching, accessed February 19, 2016
  71. ↑ "Students and Traditions". University of Virginia. 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  72. ↑ Architectural Record," 4 (January–March 1895), pp. 351–353
  73. ↑ AIA Journal, 65 (July 1976), p. 91
  74. ↑ Keith Weimer. "Grizzard, Frank E.Documentary history of the construction of the buildings at the University of Virginia, 1817–1828. University of Virginia Libraries. 1996–2002.". Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  75. ↑ ""America's most beautiful college campuses" Travel+Leisure (September 2011)". Travel + Leisure. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  76. ↑ "Most beautiful universities". MSN.
  77. ↑ "Electronic Center at UVa Library". Digital Scholarship Services. Retrieved December 20, 2006.
  78. ↑ Lim, Melinda (September 29, 2006). "Grad student discovers unpublished Frost poem". Cavalier Daily. Retrieved December 11, 2006.
  79. ↑ "Clark Hall Named to Virginia Landmarks Registry," UVa Today, July 10, 2008
  80. ↑ "College Dean Search and Diversity Report Main Focus of Senate Meeting". University of Virginia. Retrieved December 11, 2006.
  81. ↑ Jefferson's Legacy: Dialogues with the Past, accessed September 5, 2014
  82. 1 2 Jeffersonian Quest, accessed September 5, 2014
  83. ↑ Going South: But where's the Lawn?, accessed September 9, 2014
  84. ↑ UVa Foundation sells five Kluge farms, accessed September 5, 2014
  85. 1 2 University to further develop Morven Farms, accessed September 5, 2014
  86. ↑ Virginia Route Index PDF (239 KB), revised July 1, 2003
  87. ↑ McCormick Road Dorms to See Massive Renovation Project, accessed September 8, 2014
  88. ↑ UVA Housing: Lawn, accessed September 5, 2014
  89. ↑ Kate Colwel (August 23, 2012). "Campaign Moves Past Difficulties". Cavalier Daily. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  90. ↑ Wiley, Kevin (January 5, 2012). "Oversized Check from Reality". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  91. ↑ Lee Gardner (May 21, 2013). "U. of Virginia Raises $3 Billion". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  92. 1 2 3 4 Financing the University 101, accessed December 14, 2014
  93. 1 2 The Complete Ranking: Best Undergraduate Business Schools 2014, accessed January 4, 2016
  94. 1 2 Full Time MBA Ranking, accessed January 4, 2016
  95. ↑ U.Va. poised to issue $300 million in bonds to finance campus construction projects – Richmond Times-Dispatch
  96. ↑ Rector and Visitors of The University of Virginia (1995). "Chapter 4: University Regulations: Honorary Degrees". Rector and Visitors of The University of Virginia. Retrieved May 7, 2006. "The University of Virginia does not award honorary degrees. In conjunction with the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, the University presents the Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture and the Thomas Jefferson Award in Law each spring. The awards, recognizing excellence in two fields of interest to Jefferson, constitute the University's highest recognition of scholars outside the University."
  97. ↑ "No honorary degrees is an MIT tradition going back to ... Thomas Jefferson". MIT News Office. June 8, 2001. Retrieved May 7, 2006.:"MIT's founder, William Barton Rogers, regarded the practice of giving honorary degrees as 'literary almsgiving ... of spurious merit and noisy popularity ...' Rogers was a geologist from the University of Virginia who believed in Thomas Jefferson's policy barring honorary degrees at the university, which was founded in 1819."
  98. ↑ Andrews, Elizabeth; Murphy, Nora; Rosko, Tom. "William Barton Rogers: MIT's Visionary Founder". Exhibits: Institute Archives & Special Collections: MIT Libraries. Retrieved May 16, 2008.
  99. ↑ "Benefits of the Echols Scholars Program". University of Virginia. Retrieved October 1, 2009.
  100. 1 2 Making Hypersonic Flight Reality, accessed February 17, 2016
  101. ↑ The Top American Research Universities, 2012 Annual Report, accessed December 14, 2014
  102. ↑ Innovation: Darden Savvy in Glove that Aids Recovery from Strokes, accessed February 18, 2016
  103. ↑ "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2015: USA". Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  104. ↑ "America's Top Colleges". Forbes. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  105. ↑ "Best Colleges". U.S. News & World Report LP. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  106. ↑ "2015 National Universities Rankings". Washington Monthly. n.d. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  107. ↑ "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2015". Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. 2015. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  108. ↑ "QS World University Rankings® 2015/16". Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  109. ↑ "World University Rankings 2015-16". THE Education Ltd. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  110. 1 2 "U.S. News Best Colleges Rankings - University of Virginia". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  111. ↑ The Best 53 Colleges in America, Period, When You Consider Absolutely Everything That Matters, accessed August 17, 2015
  112. ↑ The Best 52 Colleges in America, Period, When You Consider Absolutely Everything That Matters, accessed September 6, 2014
  113. ↑ The Top 25 Colleges In The US, accessed September 22, 2014
  114. 1 2 Avery, Christopher; Glickman, Mark E.; Hoxby, Caroline M; Metrick, Andrew (December 2005). "A Revealed Preference Ranking of U.S. Colleges and Universities, NBER Working Paper No. W10803". National Bureau of Economic Research. SSRN 601105.
  115. ↑ U.Va.'s Black Graduation Rate Remains No. 1 Nationally Among Public Universities Retrieved November 19, 2009
  116. ↑ U. Virginia's black grad rate tops among public universities Retrieved November 19, 2009 Archived March 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  117. ↑ University of Virginia Leads Public Universities with Highest African-American Graduation Rate for 12th Straight Year in 2006 Retrieved November 19, 2009
  118. ↑ Black Student Graduation Rates – Journal of Blacks in Higher Education Retrieved November 19, 2009
  119. ↑ "Comparing Black Enrollments at the Public Ivies. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. 2005". Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  120. 1 2 Babcock, Kendrick Charles (1911). A Classification of Universities and Colleges with Reference to Bachelor's Degrees.
  121. ↑ "How US college’s rankings have—and haven’t—changed over the past century". Quartz.
  122. 1 2 "U.Va. Unofficial Admissions Statistics, 2013-14". UVa Admissions Office. March 31, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  123. ↑ "Online Applications Speed Admissions Process University Of Virginia Receives More Than 15,000 Applications, Extends Offers To 4,724 Students For Class Of 2008". University of Virginia News Office. March 31, 2004. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
  124. ↑ Admissions Statistics| accessdate=September 4, 2014
  125. ↑ Darden Class Profile, accessdate=September 4, 2014
  126. ↑ Butler, Carolyn Kleiner (2005-08-19). "Jefferson's Public Ivy". America's Best Colleges 2006 (U.S. News & World Report). Archived from the original on March 10, 2007. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  127. ↑ AccessUVa Questions & Answers, retrieved September 4, 2014
  128. ↑ Best Values in Public Colleges, accessed September 8, 2014
  129. ↑ Princeton Review page on University of Virginia, accessed August 31, 2014
  130. ↑ "DNRonline". Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  131. ↑ "Princeton Review's 2009 Best Value Colleges".
  132. ↑ "Best Value Colleges for 2010 and how they were chosen". USA Today. January 12, 2010. Retrieved May 27, 2010.
  133. ↑ "Kiplinger's Best College Values". Kiplinger. March 2014.
  134. 1 2 Blotner, J. and Frederick L. Gwynn, (eds.) (1959) Faulkner in the University: Conferences at the University of Virginia, 1957–1958.
  135. ↑ http://www.semesteratsea.org/what-s-new-at-sas-/press-releases/sas-launches-the-c.y.-tung-program-in-sino-u.s.-relations.php
  136. ↑ "Ship FAQ". Semester at Sea. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  137. ↑ "Society History". Karl Saur. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  138. ↑ The Code of Honor, accessed December 15, 2014
  139. ↑ "The Honor Committee". University of Virginia. December 11, 2006. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
  140. ↑ Greta von Susteren (May 10, 2001). "University of Virginia Tackles Cheating Head On". CNN. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  141. ↑ Meg Scheu (June 22, 1999). "Judge Denies Call to Dismiss Lawsuit". Cavalier Daily. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  142. ↑ In 1983 the Fourth Circuit rejected a challenge brought by an expelled law student, the Henson case, concluding U VA's student-run honor system afforded sufficient due process to pass constitutional scrutiny.
  143. ↑ Robert O' Harrow Jr. (August 8, 1994). "Honor Case Causes Uproar at U-Va.; Some Angry Over Official Intervention, Student Panel's Unusual Reversal of Decision". Washington Post. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  144. ↑ Borden, Jeremy (April 27, 2008). "24,000-plus descend on Foxfield for annual steeplechase, social gathering". Daily Progress (Charlottesville).
  145. ↑ "America's 25 Hot Schools". Newsweek. August 2004.
  146. ↑ "Peace Corps – Top Producing Colleges and Universities" (PDF). Peace Corps. Retrieved December 8, 2006.
  147. ↑ "Peace Corps – Top Producing Colleges and Universities" (PDF). Peace Corps. Retrieved January 16, 2009.
  148. ↑ "High spirits: Wahoos tackle fourth-year fifth". Retrieved December 11, 2006.
  149. ↑ "Busch league: UVA gets big bucks to ban binging". Retrieved December 11, 2006.
  150. ↑ "Top 10 Party Schools". Playboy. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
  151. ↑ Patton, John. Jefferson, Cabell, and the University of Virginia. New York: Neale Publishing Company. p. 235.
  152. ↑ Dabney, Virginius (1981). Mr. Jefferson's University: A History. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press. p. 20.
  153. ↑ "Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities". Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  154. ↑ "Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities". Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  155. ↑ "Fraternity and Sorority Life at the University of Virginia, 2014-2015" (PDF). University of Virginia Office of the Dean of Students. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  156. ↑ "Lawn Application: Application FAQs". Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  157. ↑ See the list of NCAA schools with the most championships: UVA has 16, Syracuse has 13, Notre Dame and North Carolina have 11, and Duke has 9. Each of these schools has non-NCAA titles as well.
  158. ↑ UVA's 140 Match ACC Winning Streak May Never Be Equaled, accessed March 6, 2016
  159. ↑ Dick Vitale: ACC is the best basketball conference, accessed February 22, 2016
  160. ↑ College Basketball Caucus: Which is the Best Conference?, accessed February 22, 2016
  161. ↑ ACC Makes Its Case as Best Conference, accessed February 22, 2016
  162. ↑ AP Poll for October 16, 1990, accessed August 1, 2015
  163. ↑ AP Poll for October 23, 1990, accessed August 1, 2015
  164. ↑ AP Poll for October 30, 1990, accessed August 1, 2015
  165. ↑ UVA signs lucrative extension with Nike, accessed August 13, 2015
  166. ↑ "Spanish Professor David T. Gies is Awarded One of Spain's Highest Honors". UVA Today. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  167. ↑ "U.Va. Top News Daily". Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  168. ↑ "University of Virginia – virginia.edu". Alexa Internet, Inc. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
  169. ↑ Center For Politics website. Retrieved June 23, 2006.
  170. ↑ http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/commemoratives/index.cfm?action=RFKennedy
  171. ↑ Rhodes Scholarships by Institution, retrieved February 19, 2016.
  172. ↑ "The Millions : Best of the Millennium, Pros Versus Readers". The Millions.

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to University of Virginia.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, May 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.