People in Charlottesville like to talk about the UVA bubble. We can’t argue with that—between classes and clubs and activities and jobs, not all university students get off Grounds and out into the city. Some do, though, and plenty of faculty and staff are active members of the Charlottesville community, too. But after Friday, August […]
UVA
President Sullivan’s candid reply
In a Facebook Live video posted to the UVA Students United Facebook page Sunday evening, a student who was present at the Rotunda on Friday, August 11, approaches President Sullivan to ask a few questions about administrative inaction the night of the white supremacists’ torchlight march. “Where were you Friday night? And why were you […]
Hit the Grounds running: Behind the scenes at the launch of a new academic year
On the heels of the tragic events in Charlottesville August 11 and 12, the University of Virginia had to ready itself for another chaotic, but undeniably happier, weekend that began August 18: the arrival of several thousand excited and nervous students for move-in days (see page 29 for their reactions to the anticipated start of […]
Dispatches from the University of Virginia….
By Bonnie Gordon It’s getting really noisy here. In a few days local and national news cameras will capture pictures of a large Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. Right-wing spokesmen say they demonstrate against a City Council vote to move two statues of confederate generals. But [...]
Ring of freedom: UVA acknowledges its past with slave memorial
At the same time Charlottesville has faced controversy over its decision to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, the University of Virginia has approved a memorial—with nary a peep of protest—to the enslaved workers who built and maintained the school. “I don’t think it’s [...]
Power players: the ones making the biggest impact
It’s the time of year C-VILLE editorial staffers dread most: landing on the final names for our Power Issue, followed by the inevitable complaints that the list contains a bunch of white men. Sure, there are powerful women and people of color in Charlottesville. But when it comes down to it, [...]
ARTS Pick: Robert Dick, Stephen Nachmanovitch and Robert Jospé
A solo set by Robert Dick, Stephen Nachmanovitch or Robert Jospé is dazzling in its own right, but combine these talents into a trio and you’ll witness something musically supernatural. Presented by WTJU and the Charlottesville Jazz Society, the evening features Dick on the flute and bass [...]
In brief: Curated club, ‘miscreant lefties’ and more
Common sense Things looked dire for Common House last year, when the roof of the previous social club that occupied 206 W. Market St., the 1913 Mentor Lodge, collapsed. But like the “movers and doers” Common House hopes will call the club their home away from home, founders Ben Pfinsgraff, [...]
Out loud: Protesters and counterprotesters keep volume up at Garrett town hall
This is what democracy looked like March 31 outside UVA’s Garrett Hall, the scene of Congressman Tom Garrett’s first town hall: rowdy. Demonstrators armed with bullhorns both for and against Garrett pushed up against one another and made their positions known with shouts of “USA! USA! USA!” and [...]
ARTS Pick: Paul Lewis
As a child in a working-class English family with no musical background, Paul Lewis borrowed books from the library and taught himself to play classical piano while his father worked the docks in Liverpool. Now, at 44, Lewis is one of the leading musicians of his generation, known for his [...]
Faulkner left his mark on UVA
Sixty years ago, on February 15, 1957, Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner arrived at the University of Virginia to assume his role as the first Balch Writer In Residence. Strolling through the Academical Village in his patent overcoat and collegiate tweed suit, the Mississippi [...]
Kevin Everson looks to the night sky for comment on history
It’s a busy, blustery Tuesday on Grounds. Outside The Fralin Museum of Art, UVA students rush by in droves, pulling overcoats tight against the wind. Inside, I stand in darkness staring at craters on the moon. The air is hot and loud, filled by the whir and clank of unsteady projectors shining [...]
Junot Díaz visits Charlottesville as Kapnick Writer-in-Residence
At a reading on January 25, author Junot Díaz encouraged an open dialogue with the audience of mostly UVA faculty and students through two generous question-and-answer sessions. He advised students to read to become better writers, because “reading becomes your frame of reference that informs [...]
UVA students protest Trump
At the same time Donald J. Trump was being sworn in as the United States’ 45th president, University of Virginia students and faculty joined area leaders on Inauguration Day with a call to walk out of class, join a rally on the Rotunda steps and attend walkouts, seminars and teach-ins on [...]
Writer Sydney Blair lives on through her work and collective memory
University of Virginia professor and writer Sydney Blair was generous with her time. The author of Buffalo, winner of the Virginia Prize for Fiction in 1991, could often be found in her office having a one-on-one conference with a student—she was an integral part of UVA’s MFA program, first as [...]
Kaine campaigns for healthcare
Senator Tim Kaine, fresh on the heels of a losing run for vice president alongside Hillary Clinton, hosted a town hall event with UVA medical students Friday to discuss the Affordable Care Act. Kaine was recently appointed to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, alongside [...]
The Cavs’ deep bench will be a boon heading into conference play
London Perrantes was in middle school when a grown man threatened to fight him over basketball. He and his best friend, Maasai, were playing pick-up ball in Santa Monica, California, where the two grew up together. Maasai and Perrantes spent their afternoons on the local basketball courts, [...]
In brief: Payne, Ross outta here, Woodriff buying arena and more
Payne, Ross closing When politicians need flack assistance stat, there’s one number they call: Payne, Ross and Associates. And around the beginning of the new year, Charlottesville’s public relations institution will close its doors after almost 35 years. “It’s a new vision,” says principal [...]
West Grounds: More student apartments in Midtown
Another unremarkably named structure will soon be joining The Flats and The Uncommon student housing on West Main: The Standard. Located across the street from The Flats on the site of the soon-to-be demolished Republic Plaza, the six-story, 70′ structure has already raised concerns about [...]
ARTS Pick: Organized Delirium
In tribute to Pierre Boulez, Organized Delirium honors the French conductor, who may not be a household name, but joins a too-long list of musical pioneers who died in 2016. The 26-time Grammy Award-winner is respected for his role in the “electronic transformation of instrumental music,” as [...]
Civil discourse: Khizr Khan takes the stage at the Miller Center
Khizr Khan and his wife, Ghazala, emerged onto the political stage during the Democratic National Convention in July when Khizr told the story of their son, Captain Humayun Khan, a University of Virginia graduate, who served in the United States Army and was killed in a suicide attack in Iraq [...]
Judgment day: Jury rules in Eramo’s favor
As soon as the clerk in federal court read the first verdict finding actual malice in Nicole Eramo’s defamation lawsuit against Rolling Stone reporter Sabrina Erdely, the UVA administrator crumpled against her attorney. And as the clerk went on to read more than two dozen statements upon [...]
Jury deliberates for third day in Rolling Stone trial
The waiting game continues Friday for Nicole Eramo, Sabrina Erdely and Rolling Stone deputy managing editor Sean Woods, along with their lawyers, support staff and the media as Day 16 in Eramo’s defamation lawsuit trial against the magazine begins and the jury deliberates for a third day. [...]