Thursday, May 16, 2024

aDaire BUrNSeD & hONOr WOOD The Cavalier Daily

A week in-brief

CD News Staff

Police forcefully clear encampment near University Chapel, detain protesters

Over 50 police officers, including state troopers in riot gear, cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment near the University chapel the afternoon of May 4 and detained 27 protesters. The removal of the encampment marked the end of a days-long protest that called on the University to disclose its investment portfolio and divest from institutions benefiting from Israeli occupation in Palestine, among other demands.

Protesters — who included students, faculty and Charlottesville community members — first formed the “Liberated Zone 4 Gaza” four days prior. While protesters largely abided by the University’s policies limiting the use of megaphones and signage on trees, some began putting up tents May 3. Timothy Longo, chief of the University Police Department and vice president for security and safety, told faculty liaisons that evening that the tents were a violation of University policy.

When some University Police officers attempted to disassemble a tent shortly before noon May 4, they were met with resistance. A standoff between protestors and police officers in riot gear ensued, which lasted multiple hours.

A final ultimatum was given by an officer at around 2:30 p.m. — this warning told protestors to clear the encampment or be arrested for unlawful assembly. The University declared the encampment an unlawful assembly at 2:44 p.m. Shortly afterwards, Virginia State Police in riot gear advanced on the encampment, using chemical irritants and detaining several protestors.

Police pushed protestors and onlookers all the way to University Avenue, which had been closed to traffic. At that point, the crowd dispersed, and the situation was labeled stable at 4:05 p.m., though police remained present on the scene.

Last minute update to EHS tent regulations document creates confusion, frustration

In the days after police forcibly cleared a pro-Palestine encampment near the University Chapel, a last-minute edit to a list of guidelines — from the Office of Environmental Health and Safety — related to the use of tents on Grounds has been the subject of questions and debate. According to University administrators, a document on the office’s website outlining fire safety regulations for tents contained an inaccurate clause that exempted recreational tents from permit requirements. University officials said the document was updated for accuracy, as official University policy requires all tents to receive permits prior to their use on Grounds. Administrators said the encampment violated this policy.

Before 9:54 a.m. Saturday, May 4, a document on the University’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety website stated that while tents and other similar air-supported infrastructure must be checked by University Fire Safety personnel before usage, only air-supported structures greater than 400 square feet require a permit to remain on University property. An italicized line in the document also stated that recreational tents for camping were exempt from the requirement to receive permits.

However, during a virtual town hall meeting Tuesday, University President Jim Ryan said that official University policy already required permits for all tents even prior to the document change, making the exemption in the document from the Office of Environmental Health and Safety inaccurate. The town hall was held over Zoom, where Ryan and other University administrators selected questions from the audience regarding the logistics, decision-making process and aftermath of the event.

A University official deleted the exemption clause from the Office of Environmental Health and Safety’s document just a few hours before police detained and arrested 27 community members at the encampment. Ryan said the edit was a potentially misguided effort to ensure the document accurately represented the University’s rules.

“Someone on our team — and I’m not sure this was the right judgment — at 9:30 [a.m.] or so on Saturday decided to remove that [sentence from the document] so that those rules were consistent with policy,” Ryan said.

5.13 5.5

Administrators and faculty paint conflicting pictures of May 4 encampment clearing

At a University-run virtual town hall Tuesday and an independently organized faculty-led town hall Thursday, administrators and faculty presented differing accounts of the events of May 4, when police forcibly cleared a pro-Palestine encampment near the University Chapel. The details contested between the town halls included the clarity of the University’s tent policy, aggressiveness of protesters and the presence of suspicious individuals at the encampment.

Two days after the University administration’s town hall, some faculty who had been present at the encampment on or before May 4’s events hosted a virtual event of their own, titled “Eyewitness Perspectives on May 4, 2024: An Honest Town Hall.” At the event, speakers outlined their own timeline of the events leading up to and on May 4, parts of which conflicted with the University’s retelling, and fielded questions from attendees.

Speakers at the faculty-led town hall also challenged the idea that protesters were behaving aggressively toward officers who approached the encampment. At Tuesday’s town hall, Longo said that University and Charlottesville Police Department officers entered the encampment to issue no trespass orders — notifications that protesters did not have a legal right to be on University property — and make arrests if necessary.

Longo said that when officers did so, protesters wielded umbrellas “in an aggressive manner,” striking one officer. This incident led a captain on the scene to determine that officers without protective gear were at risk of injury should they attempt to engage with protesters further, prompting the University to call in Virginia State Police, according to Longo.

Conversely, Assoc. history Prof. Fahad Bishara said that protesters did not use umbrellas aggressively towards officers, but instead used them to protect themselves, which he said was understandable given that police ultimately deployed pepper spray on the protestors. He said that as far as he can tell, the incident Longo cited of an officer being struck with an umbrella was the only moment when an umbrella came into contact with a police officer.

BENVIN LOZADA THE CAVALIER DAILY

Some students and faculty have criticized the University’s response to the encampment as disproportionately forceful, regardless of whether or not tents violated University policy.

Graduating student leaders reflect on impact, legacy

Student leaders in the Class of 2024 helped shape clubs and student self-governance organizations after the pandemic

Jackie Bond and Brandon Kile | Staff Writers

During their time at the University, the Class of 2024 navigated several challenges, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the Nov. 13, 2022 shooting. Their class was the first to begin their time at the University amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, navigating a delayed move into University housing as well as a year with both virtual and in-person classes. Amidst these tumultuous events, students within the class rose to positions of leadership. As they created clubs and represented students through work in traditional student self-governance organizations, this graduating class demonstrated its resilience over the past four years.

Adjusting to life at the University amidst the pandemic meant that students had to forgo certain traditions and limit their contact with others to keep the community safe and healthy. Kyle Woodson, class president and fourth-year Commerce student, and Karina Reynolds, class vice president and fourth-year College student, said they felt a responsibility to cultivate a sense of community after the isolation that the Class of 2024 experienced during their first year due to the pandemic.

According to Woodson, many classic first-year traditions, such as first-year formal and first-year Rotunda dome dinners, were canceled due to pandemic restrictions in the Class of 2024’s first year on Grounds. As he entered his second year at the University, Woodson said he aimed to make up for some of these lost opportunities by holding similar events during the Class of 2024’s second year.

“To our knowledge, we hosted the first ever second-year formal … to try to reinvigorate that tradition as well as make up for most of us losing out on prom,” Woodson said. “We did a Rotunda dinner in our spring second year that allowed students to come and try to relive that [dome dinner] experience that we missed out on firstyear.”

Reynolds also said that she and Woodson aimed to create a sense of normalcy around the Class of 2024’s student experience by being transparent with their peers through bi-weekly class newsletters.

“I hope that we were able to facilitate the feeling of being a U.Va. student and having this as our home for the next four years,” Reynolds said. “We tried our best to be very open and transparent … so that we could work together to create that community and connection that we all know that we

needed.”

Kirstin O’Donoghue, fourthyear College Student and vice president of Students For Equity and Reform in Virginia, is another student leader who said that the challenges of pandemic restrictions inspired her to serve her fellow students and be an active member of the University community.

“[The pandemic] made us appreciate life at U.Va. because as soon as we were able to… we took advantage of every opportunity that came our way,” O’Donoghue said. “When things started to open back up again, and life started to reemerge, we all jumped at that with such excitement. It made us much more eager to spend time in community with one another because we lost that [opportunity].”

O’Donoghue said that she co-founded SERV while she was a first-year in response to the Black Lives Matter Movement as a way to promote equitable legislation involving criminal justice, education, healthcare and gun reform. According to O’Donoghue, her proudest accomplishment at the University was creating an organization that will outlast her time as a University student, and she hopes that other students will continue to engage with and improve the University she loves.

“I hope that people who come to U.Va. carry on the tradition of continuously trying to make it a better place that reflects the values of its students and of its leaders,” O’Donoghue said. “It’s not easy, and it requires a love of the place. But I hope that people love U.Va. enough to make it better and to continue that hard work.”

One engaged student leader who dedicates herself to bettering the University is Lillian Rojas, outgoing Board of Visitors student representative and fourth-year Batten student. According to Rojas, her role as the student representative to the Board consists of voicing and advocating for both majority and minority student opinions to the Board, which comprises representatives appointed by the Virginia governor and approves certain policies, as well as the University’s budget.

Rojas said that while the pandemic was one example of a challenge the Class of 2024 faced, it was not the only one. She said the Nov. 13th, 2022 shooting that resulted in the deaths of University students Lavel Davis Jr., D’Sean Perry and Devin Chandler, as well as the recent police clearing of a pro-Palestine encampment on Grounds,

have taken a toll on the student body and shaped the University experience for many graduating students. Rojas said she is grateful to be a voice and a resource to students during these difficult times.

“With everything that went on this year, meeting with students of different religious and cultural backgrounds, hearing their honest, unfiltered thoughts and opinions on the actions that the University has taken … and just knowing that they felt comfortable with me and that they really saw me as a resource was a true honor,” Rojas said. “I can’t imagine how hard this semester has been for some students so the fact that they felt as though they could come to me and they could rely on me, that’s what the role is.”

According to Rojas, the Class of 2024 is defined by its resilience. Rojas said that through the many challenges endured over the past four years, this year’s graduating class learned to come together and be a support system for each other.

“I really do think that my class has learned that relying on other people and finding space is the best way to move forward,” Rojas said. “I think that honestly equips us to be able to successfully engage with other challenges that may lie ahead.”

Another significant event the graduating fourth-year class wit-

nessed was the approval and implementation of a multi-sanction Honor system. The new system allows students found guilty of an honor offense to receive a variety of sanctions, which are assigned by Committee members based on the severity of a specific Honor violation. The switch to a multi-sanction system was the biggest change to the Honor system since its inception in 1842.

Overseeing this transition as chair of the Honor Committee was fourth-year College student Hamza Aziz. Aziz said he faced the large undertaking of creating procedures and sanctions for the multi-sanction system during the interval between when he assumed the role of chair in April 2023 and when the new system went into effect that July.

“We had about a three month period to actually make the system … so once my term as chair began, that was kind of the biggest and most pressing thing to do,” Aziz said. “There were no procedures at the time, so we had to think about what Honor’s new sanctioning phase was going to look like.”

New possible sanctions that the Honor Committee created for students found guilty of committing an honor offense include a seven week restorative ethics seminar and “XYZ case studies,” where students write anonymous reflections

on their honor case, which are then published to the Honor Committee’s website.

Aziz said that he hopes students see that they have the power to change the Honor system if they think something should look different, but also said that the Honor Committee must continue to take initiative to gain interest and foster trust amongst students in the future.

“I hope students can see that Honor is in their corner and exists to support students and promote a community of trust,” Aziz said. “If we consistently as a Committee push ourselves to always show up for students and support them, that’s what’s going to get buy-in and interest.”

The Class of 2024 will celebrate their graduation from May 17 to May 19. Retired Washington Nationals baseball player and University alumnus Ryan Zimmerman will deliver a speech to graduating fourth-years May 17 at John Paul Jones Arena. Final Exercises for the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, School of Education and Human Development and the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy will take place May 18 on the Lawn. All other schools will hold their Final Exercises May 19 on the Lawn.

AVA PROEHL THE CAVAILER DAILY

The Class of 2024 was the first to begin their time at the University amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, navigating a delayed move into University housing as well as a year with both virtual and in-person classes.

Ryan Zimmerman to deliver keynote Valedictory address

The World Series champion and Virginia baseball alumnus will speak at Valedictory Exercises May 17

Xander Tilock | Sports Editor

Ryan Zimmerman, decorated University baseball alumnus and Washington Nationals legend, will speak to the Class of 2024 during Valedictory Exercises — an event open to all graduating students that involves speeches from a valedictory speaker, the University President and the Class’s president and vice president, as well as the presentation of class awards — at John Paul Jones Arena at 3:30 p.m. Friday. Other speakers for the weekend include Psychology Prof. Daniel Willingham and Law School Dean Risa Goluboff, who will speak to graduates at commencement events Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Zimmerman’s baseball career has been centered around two cities, Charlottesville and Washington, D.C. After a successful career with the University’s baseball team, he was selected fourth overall in the 2005 MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals — becoming the franchise’s first ever draft pick from the amateur player draft for Major League Baseball organizations — and played with the team until his 2021 retirement. Famously nicknamed “Mr. National” for his many contributions to the Washington, D.C. franchise, Zimmerman is considered one

of the most successful alumni in Virginia baseball history.

Lela Trainer, Washington, D.C. native and fourth-year College student, said that she is excited to have Zimmerman speak at her graduation ceremony as a representative of excellence for both Virginia athletics and the greater Washington, D.C. area.

“Having him as my valedictory speaker feels like the perfect culmination to my U.Va. experience as a D.C. resident,” Trainer said. “As a born and raised Washingtionian and the daughter of two U.Va. alums — one of whom is also a lifelong D.C. resident — D.C. and Charlottesville have always been the two places I could call home.”

In addition to being the second player in University program history to have his jersey number retired, Zimmerman has also had his number retired by the Nationals — where he was the franchise’s all-time leader in hits, home runs and games played. He still often spends time over the course of the college baseball season at Disharoon Park in Charlottesville, where fans can see his No.11 on a plaque adorned on the concourse walls — a reminder of the winning legacy he left behind.

Fourth-year College student Kathleen McNerney said she was also excited to have Zimmerman speak at Valedictory Exercises. As a Northern Virginia native, McNerney agreed that Zimmerman’s impact in Washington, D.C. and its surrounding areas makes his Valedictory speech even more special for her.

“As somebody from Northern Virginia, it is cool to have someone who is so important to the greater DMV area and U.Va. and began his career at the University be the speaker,” McNerney said. “I think it is amazing to be proud of where you started, it is very inspirational.”

Though not a baseball fan herself, fourth-year College student Lauren Swain said that she still appreciates the fact that the speaker at Valedictory Exercises is an alumnus.

“I appreciate that the University has notable alumni coming to speak, [Zimmerman] means a lot to a lot of people,” Swain said. “I can say that even though I do not really watch a lot of baseball … having a famous person speak here who actually went here makes Final Exercises even more special. It feels personal, and I like that he has continued to stay involved with

this wonderful place we call home.”

According to University Deputy Spokesperson Bethanie Glover, speakers for Valedictory Exercises are selected by the Fourth Year Trustees — a group of fourth-year students tasked with organizing events for their class. Conversely, speakers for the commencement events for specific schools Saturday and Sunday are selected by the Committee on Public Occasions, which is composed of student leaders, faculty and staff. According to Glover, those speakers are generally esteemed and respected faculty or staff members.

The University is no stranger to having athletes as keynote speakers at Valedictory exercises. Football players Peyton Manning and Chris Long delivered remarks at graduation in 2014 and 2018 respectively, and University basketball legend Ralph Sampson spoke in 2022. According to Kyle Woodson, fourth-year class president and Commerce student, the University does not traditionally pay keynote Valedictory speakers, nor does it offer honorary degrees. Instead, speakers are often alumni and are given smaller gifts including flowers or Jefferson cups.

The Trustees have a unique task of coordinating several events during final exercises, including the keynote Valedictory speaker, while also being graduates themselves. Kyle Hudgins, Fourth Year Trustees marketing chair and fourth-year Commerce student, said that part of what made planning Valedictory Exercises important to him is that a lot of his classmates did not get a proper high school graduation, as many of them graduated high school in 2020 during the pandemic.

“We want to make sure that everyone is having as great of a time as possible,” Hudgins said. “And that they’re able to attend everything they want to and get that full graduation experience and really feel special, especially when a lot of them didn’t get to have that experience in high school.”

The Valedictory speech is just one part of the three-day graduation program — and Friday’s schedule also includes a class party with food, merchandise and other activities, according to Woodson. Safety measures for events throughout the weekend will be similar to major sporting events, including entrance screening, clear bag policies, metal detectors and designated demonstration areas, Glover said.

Alumni Association plans for new Alumni Hall building

The proposed new building would remain on the current lot on the corner of Emmett Street and Lewis Mountain Road

Caroline Hagood | Senior Associate

The University’s Alumni Association has submitted a preliminary site plan for a new Alumni Hall building. The proposed building will be a complete rebuild with a more contemporary interior and more public-use event spaces, and will be located on the current 3.15-acre lot where Emmet Street and Lewis Mountain Road intersect.

Centerbrook Architects and Planners, an architecture firm in Connecticut who has worked with schools including Yale University and Duke University, designed the proposed site plan. According to Lily West, Alumni Association president and CEO, support for the development will come from a fundraising campaign called “A Home for Every Hoo.” West said the Association is still in the early stages of planning this campaign, and that they have not yet begun large-scale fundraising efforts.

The Association operates as a separate entity from the University, meaning they must pay property taxes to the city and their building must follow the city’s land-use regulations. According to their website, the Association aims to use their independence

to represent the voices of alumni and to connect alumni to each other and to the University through events. The Association uses the current Alumni Hall building to host several events for students, University administrators and alumni, including bingo nights, reunions and football tailgates.

However, West said the Association’s work often involves hosting large groups, and that the rooms of the existing Alumni Hall building are not big enough to accommodate these gatherings. She also said the building, which the Association has operated out of since 1936, often impedes their work because of its outdated technology. West said the Association needs a building that has multi-use spaces able to hold large amounts of people and make use of new technologies, including interactive digital exhibits. West added that the proposed building’s increased flexibility would allow the Association to reimagine current events, provide more services to the Association’s 270,000 person-large alumni network worldwide and create additional partnerships across Grounds. Because of the age and deterioration of the current build-

ing — including water damage and outdated hardware — West said the Association often struggles to perform even its daily operations.

“Our new building will allow us to do the good work we’re already doing in addition to facilitating new forms of alumni engagement that will benefit the entire University community,” West said.

Charlottesville City Planner Dannan O’Connell said after the preliminary plan is approved after reviews by the City, the Association will submit a final site plan that will also be reviewed. O’Connell said the City reviews the first submission within 60 days and every edited submission sent in subsequently within 45 days. He said that the Association’s proposal appears straightforward to him and will likely not be difficult to push through the review process.

The City held a public review meeting April 30 for adjacent property owners to become familiar with the site plan and ask questions. O’Connell said those in attendance were in favor of the plan, but that there were questions regarding parking at the new building and the impact on roads dur-

ing construction. According to O’Connell, the Association will divert traffic from the residential streets of Lewis Mountain Road and Emmet Street to Sprigg Lane. O’Connell said this move means the new development would have less of an impact on nearby residents and those living off Lewis Mountain.

Similarly, West said the Alumni Association wants to continue to be considerate of its neighbors, and that it will prioritize having a minimal impact on the rest of the neighborhood during construction.

“Minimizing disruption to the neighborhood and those other properties that abut [Alumni Hall is] a top priority,” West said. “We want to be good neighbors — my hope is we’ve always been good neighbors — and we want to continue that through this process and be as mindful as we can about minimizing disruption.”

Thomas Boyd, Class of 1962 alumnus and resident in the Lewis Mountain neighborhood, said residents are experiencing traffic slowdowns presently due to various construction projects along Emmett Street and Alderman Road, including the

new Contemplative Commons, the Ivy Corridor projects and scoreboard renovations in Scott Stadium. Boyd said that though the current construction projects have disrupted traffic around his neighborhood, he thinks the Alumni Hall renovation is beneficial and that he is not particularly concerned by potential slowdown and traffic issues.

“I think that during that construction, [the Association] will do all they can to help mitigate problems,” Boyd said. “There will be some slowdown and probably some traffic issues that we’ll have to deal with, but hopefully some of the other [renovations] that are going on right now will be over.”

West said that despite the proposal moving through City Council’s review process, the project is still years away from becoming a reality, and the timeline for the development depends on when the Association is able to secure funding for it.

“We are really at the beginning of that process,” West said. “In many ways, there’s a lot more work to be done before we talk about breaking ground.”

A second chance to dress for graduation

A real graduation ceremony this year gives me the opportunity to look forward, not backward

Julianne Saunders | Life Columnist

Before taking my University graduation photos, I spent hours designing the perfect graduation cap and picking the perfect dress. Some students may view these items as nothing more than graduation attire — for me, they represent a decision to let go of my lingering grief over the cancelation of my high school graduation. Through these items, I have learned to see my college graduation not as a way to make up for the past but as an event worth celebrating on its own.

I am not ashamed of being a 2020 graduate who never totally got over my graduation being canceled. I loved high school, and I could not imagine life outside of it. I never really felt ready to graduate, and once the pandemic hit, it became clear that I might not walk the stage at all. I realized I was about to lose the graduation that I had spent 12 years anticipating, and I worried that I might never close that chapter of my life.

I wrote angsty teenage poetry comparing graduation to a kind of death, and I moped around my neighborhood like a ghost during the times when I would have been in class. Earlier in the year, I had imagined myself graduating in a white mini dress with puffy sleeves, and I spent hours on Pinterest finding the dresses that fit my vision.

But when I took high school graduation pictures with my friends, I donned a long black dress. It was fitting for a funeral, and I treated my high school graduation as such. More than missing out on the recognition of my hard work in high school, I was mourning the loss of the chance to celebrate with the people I loved. If nothing else, that anecdote shows just how melodramatic and depressed I was as a high school senior.

I also wanted to design my own graduation cap. I had envisioned writing a meaningful quote from a book and surrounding it with painted flowers. However, something about the boredom of quarantine and my heartbreaking, anticlimactic graduation from high school made it impossible for me to make something pretty for myself. The cap designs I made as a high school senior never made it out of my Canva drafts, and I ended up wearing a plain black cap.

Most of the feelings about the loss of my high school graduation resurfaced as I entered my fourth year. When the realization hit that my college graduation was actually happening, I felt pressured to make 2024 a makeup for 2020. I felt like I had to graduate for two separate versions of myself and erase the bad memories of the pandemic.

However, watching my fellow fourth-years celebrate the end of college helped me see graduation in a new light. My friends were looking forward to celebrating the end of an era and starting on new paths. They were not ruminating on the past, and I wanted to approach graduation with the same excitement.

I realized that this spring, I am not making up for something that was lost — rather, I am get -

ting another chance to celebrate my accomplishments with my friends. I began to look forward to college graduation as its own event opening a door to new opportunities.

With this new perspective, the first thing I did was design a graduation cap. It looks nothing like the one I would have made as a high school senior — it represents who I am now. I created a collage of patterned paper and magazine cut outs, with far fewer flowers than I would’ve had on my high school cap.

The next thing on my graduation checklist was acquiring a dress. It had to be short, it had to be stylish and, most critically, it had to be white. With a black dress, I had felt like a mourner. With a white dress, I would feel ready to celebrate my accom -

plishments and enter an exciting new phase of my life. This year, my dress is slightly off-white linen with billowy sleeves and a square neckline. It is mature and elegant, and wearing it makes me feel like I am graduating college and going out into the world.

So, with a cap and dress secured, I am ready to face my first official graduation ceremony. Some things are not all that different between 2020 and now. I still feel the same pangs of sadness when I think about leaving school and moving on to a new stage of my life. However, when I walk the Lawn later this week, it will be with excitement and hope for the future. I will be walking into the future in a way that I would not have — or could not have — four years ago.

Designing my graduation cap

and picking out my dress was not simply about recreating the exact things that my 17-year-old self would have wanted. Replicating those feelings would feel dishonest to the person I have become over my four years in college. I want to honor the things that I never got the chance to do but in a way that is true to the person I am now. It feels like I finally have the chance to celebrate four years of hard work surrounded by the people I love.

JULIANNE SAUNDERS is a Life Columnist for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at life@cavalierdaily.com.

JULIANNE SAUNDERS THE CAVALIER DAILY

My college graduation cap looks nothing like the one I would have made as a high school senior — it represents who I am now.

Fourth-year Bodo’s orders — creative or catastrophic?

Does “the older you get, the wiser you are” apply to Bodo’s orders, too?

Lizzy Goldstein | Food Writer

A pit stop at Bodo’s Bagels is a must-do at the University. Students swing by Bodo’s on the Corner to fuel study sessions, cure hangovers and catch up with friends over a weekend brunch. Though more conventional orders — like a bagel with cream cheese or an egg sandwich — are common, many students concoct more peculiar orders. This week, my friends and I called upon more seasoned patrons for Bodo’s inspiration, trying five of the most intriguing Bodo’s sandwiches recommended to us by our fourth-year friends. Some of these orders demonstrated the elderly wisdom of the eldest class, but others made us wonder whether these soon-to-be graduates — and their palates — are ready for adult life.

With 10 bagel varieties, 19 spreads and 35 toppings, the menu at Bodo’s yields nearly endless possible sandwich combinations. Developing a Bodo’s order has become somewhat of a local craft — students will try their hand at a number of different bagel creations, and once they

discover their favorite, they often never look back. Chances are that if you ask a student for their Bodo’s order, they will instantly have it on the tip of their tongue — and salivate at the thought. After just a handful of conversations with some fourth-year friends, we had assembled an eclectic selection of five sandwiches. The orders ranged from seemingly innovative to bizarre — and we couldn’t wait to sample them all.

We arrived at Bodo’s on a Friday morning. Over the lively din of chatter and kitchen activity, the man behind the counter called out our order number, and we grabbed the bag and scurried to a table. After filling our camera rolls with photos of the spread, we dug in.

We started with the most offensive-sounding order — turkey, American cheese and horseradish on a cinnamon raisin bagel. Our faces simultaneously soured as we bit into the incompatible flavor combinations. Though the pairing was not as repulsive as it sounded, it was still

largely unconvincing. The turkey and cheese paired well with the horseradish, but the cinnamon bagel and the strong, spicy horseradish horribly contradicted each other. My friends and I ranked this bagel a measly four out of 10. After years of bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches, we understand that some students are ready for a side quest bagel — but this one might be a little too strange.

The first bagel set the bar pretty low, so we naturally put faith in the next suggestion — a salt bagel with fig jam, ham and provolone. This bagel was immediately met with praise — we agreed that it tasted like charcuterie in bagel form. The smoky meat and sugary fruit spread beautifully complemented each other, and the flaky salt on the bagel provided a crunch among the chewy contents. It reminded us of the delicious Chicken Cheddar Fig Panini from Feast, a cafe located just down the road on West Main Street. The bagel is perfect for anyone craving a sandwich earlier in the day that

is both sweet and savory. The creative combination earned this pick a nine out of 10.

Next was a classic PB&J with a twist — peanut butter, bacon and jelly on a cinnamon raisin bagel. The flavor dynamic among the sweet and salty layers reminded us of the childhood lunch staple, and we could imagine why a nostalgic fourth-year finishing college might crave the comfort of a PB&J. Though the sandwich successfully struck a cord of sentimentality, we agreed that there was too much peanut butter and not enough bacon and jam. We also agreed that a salt bagel might have brought out the saltiness of the bacon, making its flavor profile more apparent. If you are looking for a PB&J, you’ll likely want to make it yourself or stick with an Uncrustable instead. This bagel came in at a five and a half out of 10.

After getting a sip of water to reset our palates, we braced ourselves for a bagel that we knew would bring the heat — jalapeño lime cream cheese and sausage on a plain bagel. Often repelled

by spicy foods, I was skeptical of the pale green spread on the surface of the dough. However, the bagel pleasantly surprised me. It was not too spicy, and the tangy sausage and velvety cream cheese was a welcome combination — my friends and I said that it would create a versatile base for any sandwich. This bagel was simple and tasty, and we agreed it deserved an eight out of 10. At this point, the charcuterie bagel was securely in first place, and we doubted the last bagel could take the cake. But we were wrong. What our fourth-year friend called the “PPP” — pastrami, pesto and provolone on a poppy seed bagel — boasted a hearty blend of flavors. The aroma of smoky beef filled the air as we bit into the sandwich. To our delight, the combination tasted even better than it smelled, with the dense pastrami and provolone oozing together atop the oily basil spread. It was perfectly savory, and everyone was content with the ratio of the contents. When — not if — we order this again, we will enhance the sandwich with a thin layer of plain cream cheese to balance the garlicky, herby pesto. This bagel is sufficiently more filling and satisfying than the charcuterie bagel, making it a perfect post-graduation meal to kick off the festivities. The PPP bagel outshined all of the others, earning a 10 out of 10.

While this selection of bagels had winners and losers, it is safe to say that the Class of 2024 has taken full advantage of the Bodo’s menu over the years. Their orders — whether brilliant or questionable — are a reflection of their inventiveness and individuality. It was inspiring to taste even the wackiest of these sandwiches, and I hope our newest graduates will return to Charlottesville to place their orders at the Bodo’s counter again soon.

JESSICA LIANG THE CAVALIER DAILY

In a university steeped in old traditions, few students witness the rise of a new one during their time on Grounds. From Lighting of the Lawn to Block Party, many students adopt University traditions that have been passed down from one generation to the next. But, for the past five semesters, some students have experienced the creation of a new tradition — the naked party.

On the last day of classes, students crowd into a dimly lit house behind the Corner as organizers check their names off a guest list. After signing a tablecloth agreeing to the party’s guidelines, students enter the kitchen where they stuff their clothes into bags, grab hold of their friends and hit the dance floor in nothing but their underwear.

The naked party, founded by fourth-year Architecture student Wells Woolcott, is the first of its kind at the University in recent memory. An enthusiastic creator, a nightlife in need of a revival and a willing crowd created the perfect storm for the naked party to enter student life. Yet, alongside the party’s fresh twist, a step back reveals how Woolcott’s creation is also rooted in decades-old University traditions.

A few months before he hosted the first naked party, Woolcott was contemplating ways to get over a breakup. His ex-boyfriend had a notable history of streaking across Grounds, and Woolcott, a first-year at the time, was determined to go tit for tat.

“I was in kind of a nudist era,” Woolcott said. “It was, in many ways, in protest to a self-identified nudist who had broken up with me. I was like, ‘I’m going to get him back by just getting naked in places.’”

As Woolcott further developed this “nudist philosophy” during his second year, he began seeking more unorthodox parties when the normal night out was not cutting it. He found himself brainstorming party ideas with a friend one night and, having heard about a naked party at Yale University, saw an opportunity to host a similar gathering for University students.

“I just started asking people in my life who I thought would be interested,” Woolcott said. “No one really knew what was going to happen.”

Woolcott and his friend invited around 35 interested peers to the first naked party. Before then, nudism had been largely an individual experience for Wool -

The naked party uncovered

The unorthodox party shows that new traditions still follow established patterns of student life

Mia Tan | Life Editor

cott. But, by the end of the night, a new philosophy had emerged — Woolcott said that nudity became a shared experience among partygoers.

“So many people came up to me afterward and either [said], ‘This is the best time [I’ve had] in college’ or ‘I feel so much more comfortable in my body now,’” Woolcott said.

The seemingly outlandish concept struck gold. At the naked party, students found a fresh take on socializing and gained more confidence in their bodies. Their receptiveness to Woolcott’s vision may signal a new period in student life focused on intentional interactions and cultivating a positive relationship with their own bodies.

“Being in a public atmosphere and being naked and being in my body — it’s like, I’m allowed to be naked in front of other people,” said a student who agreed to talk anonymously to The Cavalier Daily. “There’s no self-criticism in that space.”

Students may have initially entered the naked party for the thrill of it, but many return each semester for its encouragement of body positivity. Their favorable reception of the naked party highlights changing attitudes

among the student body about self-image, as well as marks a shift toward more deliberate, open-minded socializing intended to foster community and mutual respect.

But, in many ways, the naked party is also an old tune. From the thrill of nudity to the stealthy dispatch of the party’s invitations, naked party draws on elements from long-established patterns in student life.

The naked party’s guest list — a screening measure implemented to prevent strangers from entering the crowd — has given the party an element of mystery, according to Woolcott. He said he and his co-organizers work through networks of friends, gauging interest among trusted individuals as opposed to posting a mass invitation online.

“It’s kind of an odd balance to strike,” Woolcott said. “I continuously want anyone who wants to go for the right reasons to be able to go, but I also want it to be a safe environment.”

The act of using a guest list, while a safety measure for the naked party, mirrors the traditional exclusivity of older social organizations, such as Greek Life and secret societies. The effort it takes to get on the list may have

ironically given the naked party some appeal, according to Woolcott.

“It’s funny — I’ll hear from other people these rumors that they’ve heard about the naked party, and I’ve heard that it’s run by a certain frat or that it’s a secret society thing,” Woolcott said. “We have the whole secret society element where people [send] a sneaky invite.”

Perhaps the naked party’s most obvious connection to University traditions is with streaking the Lawn. A time-honored tradition among students, nude sprints from the Rotunda to the Homer statue and back have proven that nudity is nothing new among students. The naked party may, in turn, offer a continuation of this tradition for thrill-seeking students.

“Streaking is such a core activity that everyone wants to do before they graduate — the nudity element is there [in the naked party],” Woolcott said.

Even Woolcott’s story itself may sound familiar to many students — that of a first-year venturing out of his comfort zone in college and adopting the customs of older students.

“I was living up to some kind of perceived image of who

I should be,” Woolcott said. “I was a first-year and pretty much stepping into myself, and I was adopting that nudist philosophy but also a general era of impulsiveness.”

Woolcott is now continuing that cycle, passing down the hosting responsibilities of the naked party to younger students. He said he trusts the next generation of University students to carry on the tradition after he walks down the Lawn for Final Exercises this weekend.

“I do think it’s going to live on,” Woolcott said. “I’ve talked to two people about it, and they both [said], ‘I would love to carry this on, and I feel like it’s something that’s needed at U.Va.’ So I feel quite confident that it’s going to keep going.”

ALBERT TANG THE CAVALIER DAILY

Students may have initially gone to the naked party for the thrill of it, but many return each semester for its encouragement of body positivity.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Drama department classes facilitate hands-on creation

These classes in film, dance and theater technology give students the tools to shine in any discipline

Delaney Hammond | Arts & Entertainment Editor

Finals season saw University students across Grounds turn in essays, finish final projects or cram for exams. For many taking classes on Arts Grounds, however, their finals looked slightly different, as students showcased short films, performed dazzling dances and built larger-than-life theatrical puppets. With these creative assignments, students get the chance to dive into new disciplines, hone their crafts and demonstrate their learning in an entirely new way.

While the University’s department of drama offers many traditional classroom-based courses, several classes take students outside of the classroom setting, giving them a hands-on space to experiment with new media.

One such course is the two-semester filmmaking series taught by Assoc. Prof. of Drama Doug Grissom and adjunct instructor and filmmaker Paul Wagner listed officially as DRAM 4750 and DRAM 4760, but known more commonly by its student-given nickname, Overcranked. In the course, students write several screenplays in the fall, then direct and produce one of these films in the spring.

Overcranked is a term that describes a film that appears to be in slow motion because it is shot at a higher frame rate than

normal. While its name may make the class sound slow-moving, Wagner says it is anything but.

“In the fall, creatively, it’s intense,” Wagner said. “And in the spring, it’s intense creatively … there’s a certain amount of pressure on the students — it’s not an easy thing. But it’s fun.”

According to Wagner, the co-instructors are not interested in producing cinematic masterpieces. Instead, the class gives students the space to craft and tell a story that is entirely their own.

“The whole focus of the class is on not becoming like a professional filmmaker — you can’t really do that in one year,” Wagner said. “But what’s important is that it’s the vision of each student as a filmmaker. It’s their idea, their script that they write and [the fact] that they personally have creative control in the writing and directing of it.”

While Grissom and Wagner provide guidance and instruction, Grissom said they avoid dictating what students can and cannot create. Instead, they try to encourage students to pursue ideas and stories that interest them most, giving student filmmakers total creative control over their projects.

“We don’t cram a film down

their throat, because [students] have to be enthusiastic about it,” Grissom said. “Even though we might not care for it that much as a script, it has to be something they’re passionate about — they’re not gonna make a better film just because we forced them to do it.”

At the end of the spring semester, students showcase their work onscreen in the Ruth Caplin Theatre at the Overcranked Student Film Festival — a culmination of all the hard work and dedication the students poured into their films.

Elsewhere in the Drama Building, students taking dance classes embody their course material physically — they complete assignments by showcasing their movement and choreography. The Dance program — a subset of the Drama Department with its own minor program — offers classes based on theory of performance, dance composition, movement practice and studio classes like ballet.

In addition to studio classes, interested students can also audition for the Spring Dance Concert, an annual recital that showcases a variety of dance styles. Once accepted, students attend rehearsals and earn class credit under DANC 2430.

Second year College student

Jeremiah Clyburn is a drama and dance major who has taken several elective classes in dance. Clyburn said he appreciates the dance program because it opens up a novel way of learning in which students transform material into their own physical process.

“Once we’ve learned the ‘content,’ the next step of the learning process isn’t just regurgitation,” Clyburn said. “It’s the creation of your own process, which, to me, teaches expansive thinking. It’s allowing students to take information that they’ve learned and then put their own spin on it and add their own subjectivity to it, too, which to me creates knowledge.”

Clyburn also said the unique value of artistic classes lies in their ability to translate learning into a bodily experience.

“[For] a lot of artistic classes, you have the added element of being able to use this content through your body and change the way that you move through the world, or change the way that you present to the world,” Clyburn said. “To me, it’s both mentally and literally physically transformative.”

Another class that facilitates physical transformation is DRAM 4597, Art of the Moving Creature. Taught by instructors Melissa Goldman and Annie Temmink, the class is cross-listed under drama and architecture departments and takes students through the process of crafting creative and visually stunning creature puppets.

The three-credit course was introduced around the same time as the first Festival of the Moving Creature, a 2013 event started by drama department technical director Steven Warner. The festival was a collaboration between several University departments and the Stan Winston School of Character Arts — an online school named after Stan Winston, Hollywood special effects artist and class of 1968 alumnus. Warner also taught the Creatures class for nine years, but after Warner’s death in 2022, Goldman said that the faculty decided to reintroduce the class in 2024 as a way of honoring him.

At the beginning of the semester, students met twice a week to brainstorm what kinds of creatures they wanted to cre -

ate — not only what the characters could look like, but also what powers they would possess or the kind of personality they might have. They then spent the rest of the semester building two enormous creatures — Kiki, a curious crustacean, and Celeste, a cosmic dragon that grants wishes. Along with being imagined and built by students, members of the class also puppeteered the animals.

The students showcased their creations at the latest iteration of the Festival of the Moving Creature — a parade in which students and community members alike were invited to interact with the enormous creatures as they roamed across Grounds — April 26. Goldman said that the performance aspect was a large component of the class, as she wanted students not only to be able to conceptualize and create creatures but also to embody them as puppeteers.

“I think that [something] Annie and I really wanted students to take away is how to creatively collaborate,” Goldman said.

“Because it’s something that we practice when we work together, and with others, and that was really important and is, professionally, something that all of these students are going to do when they leave U.Va.”

Goldman also said the collaborative aspect of the course is crucial to its mission. According to Goldman, the entire course is based on teamwork — since they all work together on the same projects, cooperation is necessary to bring the creatures to life.

“Ideas can be so much more amazing when you bring a whole team together,” Goldman said.

“I really enjoy bringing teams of people — especially coming from different disciplines — together and say, ‘Hey, you’re the expert coming from here. You’re the expert coming from here. How do we work together in a team and be creative?’”

Classes like Overcranked, Art of the Moving Creature and the catalog of dance classes demonstrate that learning should not be limited to a traditional classroom. Instead, new ideas flourish on the screen, on the stage and even inside a giant feathered puppet.

SARAH ST. JOHN THE CAVALIER DAILY

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Critiquing the U.Va. arts scene to paint a brighter future

Four Miller Arts Scholars provide perspective and feedback to enhance the University’s arts scene

Leila Mohajer | Staff Writer

Art is a driving force for student expression at the University. It is — sometimes literally — a canvas for students to tap into their artistic sides and express themselves in new and meaningful ways. From student-formed bands that elevate nightlife, to individual art exhibits on display at the University’s Ruffin Gallery, the arts community at the University is filled with a plethora of passionate creatives.

As the academic year winds down, these creatives have the time to reflect on the University’s arts scene and recognize that while it is vibrant, there is much room for improvement. Four heavily involved Miller Arts Scholars — a collective of student artists supported by grants to pursue the arts at the University — spoke with The Cavalier Daily and painted a detailed landscape of what a better future for the arts may look like based on what they have experienced as artists on Grounds.

With nearly 130 arts-related Contracted Independent Organizations at the University, students have plenty of opportunities to get involved with the arts around Grounds. Will Conrad, first-year Engineering student and Miller Arts Scholar, said CIOs like the Virginia Players and First Year Players allowed him to discover his love for lighting design rather quickly.

Conrad said the opportunity to work on theater tech for those organizations, as well as The New Works Festival and Lighting of the Lawn, in just his first two semesters at the University exposed him to the welcoming community of student artists on Grounds.

“There is just so much to do … and everyone I have worked with has been more than eager to work with the incoming students to get them involved,” Conrad said.

Despite this outpouring of support from the arts community itself, Conrad said he has noticed a lack of adequate performance spaces and funding from the University for independent student arts initiatives.

Conrad said that department theaters are typically reserved for class productions and are too expensive to rent out even when they are available to the larger student body. This lack of space leaves most theater CIOs with the Student Activities Building, a warehouse-like building located by Scott Stadium, as the only other performance venue option, according to Conrad.

“I know for the past several years, [student theater organizations] have been asking for an actual performance space instead of a concrete box,” Conrad said.

According to Conrad, students

involved with theater at the University not having adequate performance spaces to rehearse or perform is akin to football players not having access to a field for games. He explained that lackluster performance spaces rob students interested in the performing arts of a professional learning experience and significantly limit audience attendance.

Mary Hall, third-year College student and Miller Arts Scholar, has similarly spent much of her time at the University involved in the Drama scene. Wanting to make this community more equitable, she said that she advocates for more inclusivity for students of color within the arts, along with more access to funding for low-income or first generation students.

“There is definitely a disparity in funding and access to funding in U.Va. arts,” Hall said. “It is especially not fair to first generation or low-income students because they have to work so much harder to search for these things than students who do have the funds accessible to them.”

Wanting to be part of the change she wants to see implemented, Hall said she has taken the initiative to start conversations about revamping

the Paul Robeson Players – an allBlack performance ensemble that has been on hiatus since 2021. The revitalization of this theater group is part of Hall’s overall goal of gaining more publicity and funding for arts organizations for students of color.

“Theater is a predominantly white field, and I feel like there could still be more to support those who are non-white in Drama because we are still trying to figure out how we can best have a place there,” Hall said.

The Drama department is not the only one that struggles to alleviate financial barriers for its students. Jolinna Li, third-year College Student and Miller Arts Scholar, expresses a similar sentiment about taking studio art classes at the University. According to Li, students need to pay for all of their own arts materials — something the Arts Students Society is working toward fixing.

“Arts supplies are really expensive. I wish there was more support for that,” Li said.

Meg Kosefeski, third-year College student and Miller Arts Scholar, suggests a solution to this cost barrier — a communal pantry of arts supplies that can be recycled and reused by students. According to Kosefeski, the

studio art community at the University would largely benefit from this sustainable and cost-efficient innovation.

Kosefeski was involved with a number of projects this past year to enhance the overall arts experience at the University. They worked on a team made of Miller Arts Scholars that petitioned for the University to provide all undergraduate students full personal access to Adobe Creative Cloud — the petition had generated nearly 300 signatures at the time of this article’s publication. This group of Miller Arts Scholars also helped introduce an open mic night through the WXTJ Student Radio that gave smaller student artists from different genre backgrounds a platform to perform their music.

“[WXTJ] did a good job addressing the desires of the community, incorporating feedback and understanding that [musicians] had this need for us to expand our inclusivity and access,” Kosefeski said.

On top of more inclusivity, accessibility and funding for arts at the University, something each of these students expressed is a strong desire for more visibility of the arts on Grounds. Moving forward, Li said she

would like for the broader University community to be more involved with the arts at the University.

“I feel like everybody has something to gain from looking at art and talking about it,” Li said.

One suggestion from Li was that the University should hold more arts-related events on Central Grounds where the general student body can easily witness them. This suggestion underscores a commitment amongst the Miller Arts Scholars to making the arts scene at the University the best that it can be.

These Miller Arts Scholars see the potential for the arts at the University to be a supportive sphere that allows its students to thrive. With the efforts they have already spearheaded to make arts organizations and resources more accessible, and their proposed adjustments to make the arts more front-facing on Grounds, the University can look to them for the blueprint of an improved arts scene — one where arts students can explore their passions to the fullest.

KATE MACARTHUR THE CAVALIER DAILY

A time of bittersweet endings for Natalie Blue

The student and alumni band reminisces on their musical journey as their time on Grounds comes to a close

Amelia Preble | Staff Writer

After over a year of performing and writing music as a group, student and alumni band Natalie blue is taking in their final few days together on Grounds — their time playing at house shows and bars on the Corner has come to an end. While this alternative rock group has made their mark on the local music scene after playing countless shows and releasing original music, with graduation on the horizon and multiple members planning to move away from Charlottesville, the band is preparing to say their goodbyes.

Natalie Blue currently consists of vocalist, guitarist and class of 2023 alumna Jamie Vandenheede, bassist and class of 2023 alumnus Liam Keough, drummer and fourth-year College student CJ Chidlow, and vocalist, guitarist and third-year Engineering student Sean Dunn. Despite the range of ages, the band members were drawn to each other because of their similar tastes in music and love for live performance.

The band formed in the spring of 2023 when Vandenheede and Keough met in a bar and began to discuss their tastes in music. Having recently taken up guitar, Vandenheede was seeking a group with which to play.

“Every new person I talked to, I was just like, ‘let’s start a band,’” Vandenheede said. “Then me and [Keough] were talking about

some of my favorite artists, and we were like ‘You know what? we can make it work.’”

Each member came to the band with vastly different amounts of experience playing music, ranging from only a few weeks to more than a decade playing their respective instruments. Chidlow, for example, has been playing the drums since he was only 10 years old, while Vandenheede did not learn guitar until the spring semester of her third year. These differences have not stopped the group from building an undeniably strong connection, united by their shared passion for music in any form.

As a band and as individuals, each member is motivated by an intrinsic need to become a better musician. This is especially the case for Vandenheede, who said that when she began playing guitar, she refused to stop practicing until she met her own high standard of becoming a skilled guitar player. Vandenheede said that this standard pushed her to practice until she was confident in her guitar playing abilities.

“I was just mad that I wasn’t good at guitar,” Vandenheede said. “I’ve gotten good by playing a lot. I would play up to the point where my fingers would be bleeding.”

As a songwriter, Dunn said he also feels committed to his craft but has found his biggest creative

successes when he stops trying to write the perfect song.

“I would just try out random stuff,” Dunn said. “And a lot of it is terrible, but you have to write a lot of bad music to find something interesting.”

According to band members, the band is primarily interested in playing the music they all consider the most fun to perform, which mainly consists of alternative rock. Natalie Blue primarily covers and takes inspiration from 80s and 90s rock music, as well as some contemporary indie and punk rock tunes.

Beyond the joy they get from playing the music they love, the band members agreed that seeing their audience members enthusiastically engage with their performances has been a highlight at their shows.

“I just want people to have fun,” Chidlow said. “It’s more fun when you feed off the energy of the crowd.”

Since their formation, the group has played at local house shows and venues including The Southern, The Whiskey Jar and Dürty Nelly’s. Members of Natalie Blue said that the numerous unique shows the group has had the opportunity to play have been fulfilling. Each member fondly recounted a different favorite memory where the energy, audience or environment inspired them.

In addition to their frequent live performances, the group released their very first single titled “Half My Mind” in April, the first installment in their soon to be released three-song EP. The members said that the experience of writing and recording original alternative rock music has been both challenging and rewarding, and they attribute their success largely to their cohesion as a group and willingness to hear each others’ ideas and opinions.

“A big part of the songwriting process in general is just criticism,” Keough said. “Like self-criticism, killing your babies, but also letting other people kill your babies.”

According to Vandenheede and Dunn, while they have primarily led the songwriting efforts, they both credit their songs’ developments and evolutions to the entire band.

“One of us will have an idea … and we’ll play it a bunch of times and inevitably move stuff around and change stuff,” Dunn said. “I think that’s really where [Keough and Chidlow] have really made a big impact on the stuff that we’ve made, just because we play it so many times.”

Beyond their EP, the group also plans to release several live recordings of their original songs, offering listeners the opportunity to experience a digital version of the live performanc -

es that are so core to the band’s identity and hear how their new songs have evolved since their initial recording.

As the group’s time playing local gigs together as an official band is coming to an end, Vandenheede said that the bonds they have built through their music will never truly be broken.

“I don’t think the four of us are ever gonna just call it quits,” Vandenheede said. “We haven’t really talked about this, but if anyone’s in the area, there’s no reason why we wouldn’t keep jamming.”

Natalie Blue has already played their final few planned shows in Charlottesville. However, listeners can continue to engage with the band’s music on Spotify and can look for more information about upcoming releases and performances on their Instagram.

COURTESY NATALIE BLUE

Since their formation, the group has played at local house shows and venues including The Southern, The Whiskey Jar and Dürty Nelly’s.

On behalf of the UVA Parents Program, we would like to extend a big CONGRATULATIONS to all of our 2024 graduates. What an amazing milestone! We are in awe of your achievements, perseverance, and boundless potential.

We would also like to give a heartfelt THANK YOU to the 2024 parents and families who have supported you along the way.

We are so proud of the class of 2024 and have no doubt that you will make a profound impact on the world.

Wahoowa,

The UVA Parents Program

Moving to a new city after graduation? Let us know!

Update your contact information to connect with local Hoos! Stay informed and involved in the areas of the University that mean the most to you.

I’m going to be honest here — I don’t know where to start. Every writing professor I’ve ever had has told me not to start essays this way.

But this is my parting shot. These are my words. They are the last words I’ll write for this paper. So really, it is hard to figure out where to start when it comes to distilling my fourish years with The Cavalier Daily into 900 pithy, thoughtful words.

I could start at the very beginning, July of 2020, when I was accepted to the News Desk. I could start with the first article I ever had published. I could start with the first piece I remember being really nervous to write but ultimately really proud of, a piece about a queer student leader on Grounds. I could start when I was elected as the Managing Editor or my first print edition as the Editor-in-Chief.

Or I could start with today, a sunny day in my final semester of college, retired from my tenure as editor. I’m listening to the birds chirp and watching a brilliant golden retriever barrel after a tennis ball. Later I’ll meet up with some friends, most of whom I met during my time on The Cavalier Daily, for our weekly trip to

PARTING SHOTS

No man is an island

Asado for wings and tacos. Maybe I’ll pick up a print copy of the paper. I’ll do the crossword and catch up on all the news around Grounds.

Retirement, as you can tell, has been treating me well. When people ask me now if I “miss it,” I laugh and tell them some things I definitely don’t miss — the constant stream of emails, Tweets and Slack messages, the hours spent in the windowless basement office of Newcomb, the late nights.

But I don’t always get to tell them about the things I really do miss. I miss waking up every morning and being one of the first people to read articles about everything from the latest Board of Visitors meeting to a review of the “Barbie” movie, and all before most people have had their first cup of coffee. I miss seeing if the photo editors can show me a font that’s just a little more serif than sans-serif. I even — sometimes! — miss being surrounded by wired college students at 2 a.m. on Wednesday print nights, full of Oreos and popcorn and delirious with lack of sleep.

I miss working with some of the most creative, driven and talented people I have ever had the privilege

THE CAVALIER DAILY

The Cavalier Daily is a financially and editorially independent news organization staffed and managed entirely by students of the University of Virginia. The opinions expressed in The Cavalier Daily are not necessarily those of the students, faculty, staff or administration of the University of Virginia. Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the editorial board. Cartoons and columns represent the views of the authors. The managing board of The Cavalier Daily has sole authority over and responsibility for all content.

No part of The Cavalier Daily or The Cavalier Daily online edition may be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the editor-in-chief. The Cavalier Daily is published Thursdays in print and daily online at cavalierdaily. com. It is printed on at least 40 percent recycled paper. 2022 The Cavalier Daily Inc.

HAVE AN OPINION?

The Cavalier Daily welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns. Writers must provide full name, telephone number and University affiliation, if appropriate. Letters should not exceed 250 words in length and columns should not exceed 700. The Cavalier Daily does not guarantee publication of submissions and may edit all material for content and grammar. Submit to opinion@cavalierdaily.com or P.O. Box 400703, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4703

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS

To better serve readers, The Cavalier Daily has a public editor to respond to questions and concerns regarding its practices. The public editor writes a column published every week on the opinion pages based on reader feedback and his independent observations. He also welcomes queries pertaining to journalism and the newspaper industry in general. The public editor is available at publiceditor@cavalierdaily.com.

of being around. I miss seeing them everyday, being inspired by and learning from them. But even amidst all those people, the role of Editor-in-Chief itself can feel isolating. You are the person responsible for the failures and successes of the entire paper. I remember long days crammed full of classes and meetings. I’d come home bone tired and still have to be a functioning human, do my homework, feed myself and remember to call my mom back.

A lot of people rely on you to do your job well and with integrity. It’s a lot of weight for a young person, and it’s hard to understand exactly what that’s like unless you’ve done the job. There were times when I felt alone, even surrounded by friends.

But the truth is — no man is an island. I owe so much to the Junior Board, who put up with my silly PowerPoint themes and Comic Sans emails. There are hundreds of writers, photographers and other staffers who attended hundreds of events, who poured so much of themselves into this paper. There are my wonderful friends who were patient with me when I needed “just three more minutes” to finish editing an article before

THE CAVALIER DAILY

MANAGING BOARD

Editor-in-Chief

Nathan Onibudo

Managing Editor

Grace Thrush

Executive Editor

Naima Sawaya

Operations Manager

Honor Wood

Chief Financial Officer

Charlie Healy

EDITORIAL BOARD

Nathan Onibudo

Naima Sawaya

Songhan Pang

Dan Freed

Scarlett Sullivan

Paul Kurtzweil

Wylie Brunman

JUNIOR BOARD

Assistant Managing Editors

Hailey Chung

Blaine Hutchens

(SA) Catherine Kuryla

(SA) Vera Woody

(SA) Olivia Nammo

(SA) Ella Kotok

(SA) Mikayla Wolf

(SA) Emma Carpet

Assistant Operations Manager

Olivia Winesett

News Editors

Finn Trainer

Thomas Baxter

(SA) Caroline Hagood

we grabbed dinner. In the usual tradition of taking a moment to acknowledge those friends — Jenn, Khuyen, Zack and Ankit, thank you for being mentors and friends when I had no idea what I was doing. To Eva, there is too much to possibly thank you for in this, and you know it all anyway, but thank you nonetheless. To Charlie, whose patience and breadth of knowledge astounds me, thank you for being on top of it and explaining the budget to me every month. To Ava and Lexi, you guys kept me afloat in this ocean of madness — simply thank you for everything. And to Nate, I’m so proud of you. Thank you for doing this job with such integrity and kindness.

There are of course countless other friends, editors, writers and mentors who surrounded me with love and patience. There are so many members of this community who shared their voices and stories with us. I owe you all a huge gratitude.

I’ve learned a lot of lessons during my four years on The Cavalier Daily. I learned how important it is to throw yourself into the things you love and give them your all. I learned that everything is better after a good

Sports Editors

Ben Istvan

Xander Tilock (SA) Grace Gould (SA) Michael Liebermann

Arts & Entertainment Editors

Delores Cyrus

Delaney Hammond (SA) Caroline Lee

Life Editors

Mia Tan

Kate Johnson

Podcast Editor

Evelyn Lewis

Focus Editor

Avery Donmoyer

Opinion Editors

Dan Freed

Songhan Pang

(SA) Scarlett Sullivan (SA) Paul Kurtzweil

Humor Editor

Wardah Kamran (SA) Adair Reid

Cartoon Editor

Sarah Elder (SA) Ada Malpani

Photo Editors

Leon Arceo

Adaire Burnsed

(SA) Alison Pike (SA) Albert Tang

(SA) Tess Ginsberg (SA) Kate MacArthur

night’s sleep. I learned so much about the importance of student journalism and access to free and fair information about the world. And I learned secrets about the Newcomb basement that would horrify you.

But the biggest lesson I learned during my time with The Cavalier Daily is that it is always about the people. At the end of those 18-hour days when I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore, I knew I could text Eva or Lexi or Ava to vent. I knew at least one of my roommates would be awake and watching something dumb on the TV.

I hope that lesson resonates — surround yourself with people who support you through the good, the bad and the ugly. Accept help when it is offered and ask when you need it. And don’t be an island. Life’s better when you’re floating through the whole mess of it with people you love.

AVA MACBLANE was the Editor-in-Chief of the 134th term of The Cavalier Daily, the Managing Editor of the 133rd term and the News Editor for part of the 132nd term.

Design Editors

Lexie Gagnon

Sarah St. John

Mariam Seshan

Chinese Translation Editor

Huijing Zhu

Social Media Managers

Covonna Bynum

Bianca Blancaflor

(SA) Halle MCCormack

(SA) Cody Scarce

Finance Manager

Wilson Simmons

Advertising Manager

Will Peres

Analytics Managers

Elisabeth Bass

Bella Binder

Andy Lin

Archivist

Grace Franklin

DEI Chair

Leena Fraihat

PARTING

You never know unless you try

After arriving at the University in the fall of 2020, I watched The Cavalier Daily from afar, liking Instagram posts, reading news articles and lurking on X, formerly known as Twitter. I had been interested in journalism throughout highschool, but I never had the courage to get involved because of an irrational fear of failure. That all changed when spring rolled around, and I found myself increasingly enamored by the fast paced world of news reporting. Unable to resist my curiosity about journalism anymore, I gathered the courage to attend both info sessions.

Since attending those info sessions, I have taken numerous steps outside of my comfort zone — the first and most important when I applied to the News desk, second when I accepted the News Editor position and third when I ran for and accepted the Managing Editor position.

As a news reporter, I learned how to ask questions about the world around me, as well as more information about the inner workings of the Honor Committee than I think I ever needed — or perhaps wanted — to know. As News Editor, I found my own voice and learned how to listen and adapt on the fly. As Managing Editor, I learned how to work in a team and how to uplift the voices of those around me.

What I am about to say is not to discount these lessons and skills in any way, as they are incredibly valuable. But most importantly, I learned that sometimes the most valuable step, and the most difficult, is the first one. This is not to say that everything falls into place after that first step. Rather, as my parents have always told me, life is a marathon, not a sprint. Serving as News Editor and Managing Editor was tough and the vast majority of the time it was not glamorous.

facts as they have been uncovered and presented. Rather, it is dynamic, ever-evolving and changing, and sharing that with my community became the driving force of my time at The Cavalier Daily.

When I questioned whether that first step I took by applying to be a news reporter was the right one, I thought back to Eva’s question and my beliefs about the meaning of truth. I learned, as I served in different positions on The Cavalier Daily, that I was

shaped by these people who showed me grace and kindness and by those who had confidence in me even when I struggled to have it in myself.

Nate — or should I say, Nathan — I hope you know that I admire your intelligence and kindness greatly. I am lucky enough to not only know you but also to call you a friend. APro, my confidant and closest of friends, thank you for standing by my side through it all.

Ava and Eva, you were my biggest

Most importantly, I learned that the most valuable step, and the most difficult, is the first one.”

I often found myself questioning my qualifications and feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work that the jobs entailed. When I was running for Managing Editor in the fall of 2022, Eva — then Editor-in-Chief — asked me what truth meant to me. She wasn’t looking for an answer but instead to encourage me to think deeply about the role this paper plays in the community and what my own inner drive was going to be in order to get through the year to come. I came to decide that truth is more substantial than a list of

leaving my community better than I found it, namely by sharing the truth to the best of my ability. Looking back on those moments of frustration and triumph, I can say that the reward for taking that first step of applying to The Cavalier Daily and sticking with it through the ups and downs was greater than I expected.

Beyond the lessons I have learned about myself, journalism and the broader world, I count myself grateful every day for the passionate and driven community I found at The Cavalier Daily. My time at the University was

supporters from the beginning to the end and a large portion of the reason that I stuck with journalism. I can’t thank you enough for your encouragement, patience and faith in me. I look up to you both a great deal and am thankful to have had the opportunity to work alongside you.

In full transparency, I am scared to leave these people, this place and this paper behind. The Cavalier Daily was a very large part of my daily life for three years and, even though my term ended months ago, leaving it behind feels like losing a safety net and a home.

But looking back at the girl who applied for the News desk in 2021, I am so excited for everything that is in store for her and wish I could tell her just how worth it that step would be. The leap of faith I took that snowy January day by submitting the application shaped me as a person, my time at the University and my outlook on the world.

I am proud of myself for taking that first leap in 2021 and finding my voice, and I am proud of the people I was lucky enough to work with and the positive impact we had on the University community. The Cavalier Daily is a very special place, one that will always hold a dear place in my heart. I am beyond grateful to have helped tell the history of now, even if it was for just a short while. Now, as I stand on the precipice of another leap, I hope to embody that same faith. I may not know much about what the next few years or even next few months hold. But what I do know is that as I prepare for this next big first step, Grounds is bathed in beautiful spring sun, and I am incredibly excited to walk the Lawn one last time with my best friends.

With all of my love,

LEXI BAKER was the Managing Editor for the 134th term of The Cavalier Daily and News Editor for the 133rd term.

A love letter to Cav Daily and Connection

It all started with nothing more than a camera and a dream. I arrived on Grounds in 2020 starry-eyed with one goal in mind — making connections in a time full of distance. I had been a photographer for my high school newspaper, so when I saw that The Cavalier Daily had a photo desk, I thought it seemed like a good fit. What I didn’t know was how much I would learn from my time at The Cavalier Daily — it would have a drastic impact in developing my leadership skills and changing the way that I view the little moments of life. What I didn’t know was how quickly a group of people could go from strangers to best friends, much less how these people would come to feel like home.

As a former Operations Manager, Assistant Operations Manager and Photo Editor, I’ve learned how to lead teams, send off print editions at 2 a.m., edit social media captions, onboard over 250 staffers and more, and yet, I still have literally no idea how to structure an article. So, here — in place of trying to do some background or find 3 sources — I’ll leave you with some thoughts, some things I’ll take with me beyond my journalism career.

The Cavalier Daily teaches you

a lot of things, like how many bags of Chex Mix you can finish during print night or how much anger one can feel when building a Notion page. But most of all it taught me about the importance of connection. There are few feelings like walking out onto the packed court at JPJ and smiling at your fellow media friends,

for the genuine, human connection in every moment, and I truly believe I will carry that with me for many years to come. I hope I can encourage everyone at the paper and in the community to look for those little moments of connection too. Look for the moments in your everyday life that make being alive — being human

never speak to each other” phase. Knowing you — and shooting looks over Mac’s head with you — is a gift.

Charlie, my Block 1 king, it’s been an honor getting to know you and see you grow. I can’t wait to see all you do.

Nate, Honor, Grace and Naima, you all are an incredible team, and I know that you will lead The Cavalier

I hope I can encourage everyone to look for the moments in your everyday life that make being alive — being human — special.”

all while knowing you might witness history as a player takes the court for the first time. It’s even more fun getting to sit next to your photography mentors as you share the joy of the game. It’s one thing to know that Final Exercises happen, but it’s another to photograph the graduates walking down the Lawn. It’s devastating to be at a school that faces a gun violence tragedy, but watching roommates hold hands and teammates hug each other at vigils as flowers and murals and posters appear around Grounds, restores one’s faith in the community. My time here taught me to look

-– special.

Never take an opportunity for granted, and never forget the people who helped you get there. And speaking of connection with some special people, I would be remiss not to mention the people who helped me get here.

MacBlane, I am so lucky to have led with and learned so much from you. There’s no one I would rather share a first and middle name with. Here’s to many more fire nights and Diet Cokes in our future.

Lexi, I’m so glad we got past the “News Editor and Photo Editor who

Daily to great places. I’m so thankful for all of our chaotic transition meetings, lawn room interactions and all the laughs, and I wish you all the best.

Khuyen, Torchy’s queso soon?

Eva, thanks for getting me addicted to Diet Coke, you rock. Ankit, you slay. And Ethan, I’m so glad I got to witness your enlightenment on long exposures.

To everyone I’ve ever worked with on an Operations desk, thank you for putting up with my constant chaotic yapping, my inability to sit still and my obsession with Liquid Death. I quite literally wouldn’t be where I

am without you all, especially those who endured late nights assembling print editions with me the last few years. While I’m glad I’ll never have to choose a cover font again, I miss it already.

I am so proud of everything the 134th Managing Board accomplished, but I am even more proud of the connections built by everyone from individual staffers to the Editor-in-Chief. I still smile when I walk past Newcomb and see Life desk writers gathered together, happily working through new content. I still see friends I met on the paper out together at bars. I still lurk in the photo Slack channel for the 135th term, and it warms my heart to see the photographers I onboarded years ago leading the section and giving new gig opportunities to staffers that maybe one day, they’ll repay in turn. So with all that, here’s one last thank you Cav Daily. Apro out!

AVA PROEHL was the Operations Manager for the 134th term of The Cavalier Daily, Assistant Operations Manager for the 133rd term and Photo Editor for the 133rd and 132nd terms of The Cavalier Daily.

If you search me up on The Cavalier Daily website, you will not find much. After all, it’s not often that you get to hear from a member of the Copy desk — we operate entirely behind-thescenes. And since you don’t hear from us often, I want to brag about us a little — for every single piece of content that appears on The Cavalier Daily’s website, in print issues and on social media pages, at least one copy staff member has thoroughly read, fact-checked and edited it before publication. We read through every interview transcript, confirm every statistic, double-check every link and point out every stray Oxford comma. In short, an article cannot get published without us.

When I first met The Cavalier Daily, I didn’t anticipate what it would come to mean to me. My journey to The Cavalier Daily was incredibly simple — it was one of the only student-run organizations that was still operating through the pandemic. Desperate for any opportunity to get involved with anything on Grounds, I put in my application, despite having absolutely no experience in journalism to speak of. Ever the slow decision-maker, I applied to the Copy desk because I couldn’t decide what section I wanted

Sometimes it’s okay to fake a smile

to write for, and the copy desk would allow me to read content from all literary desks. I wanted the chance to understand more about journalism and The Cavalier Daily’s style before actually writing for the paper myself.

In the interest of transparency, I was also a little terrified to write for a desk. The Cavalier Daily prides itself on writing about the unique circumstances facing University students and Char -

were all copy-edited by me. I had joined the Copy desk to connect to the University and Charlottesville, and ultimately, this is why I couldn’t leave. Anyone involved in journalism knows that news moves so fast, and I quickly realized that there would always be more to learn about the University that I now call home. It felt like every other week there was a large or historic event happening on or around Grounds, and

between.

Fittingly, in my search to learn more about the community around me, I also found a community of my own on the Copy desk. I cannot leave without thanking them for giving me a place where I felt at home. I want to thank Ellie, Eva and Hanna for validating my work on the paper — I don’t think I would’ve continued to pursue a higher level of involvement in The Cavalier Daily without you

It’s not often that you hear from a member of the Copy desk — we operate entirely behind-the-scenes.”

lottesville residents, but I thought I simply didn’t know enough as a first-year during a very atypical semester to write on those topics. It was fully my intention to switch desks after one semester, after I felt more settled at the University. Somehow, I ended up staying on Copy for all four years of my undergraduate life. As a Copy editor, then a Copy Senior associate and finally Assistant Managing Editor, there were times that every headlining story and more than half our print articles and back-to-back social media posts

staying on copy was the only way to keep up with the ever-changing local landscape. Though I did eventually write a few articles of my own, I could never shake the desire to read more, edit more and learn more. And, as a result, I know more than I ever thought possible on everything from the University’s Honor system, to obscure statistics on every single Virginia sports team, to the exact distribution of the Student Council budget, to the latest new restaurant on the Downtown Mall and quite literally everything in

all. I want to thank Claire, my co-editor for the 134th term and more importantly one of my best friends and Lexi, for her compassion and flexibility during a tough time in my life. To the members of the Friday copy shift — Blaine, Issy, Evelyn, Delores and Matthew — thank you for all the laughs and honest conversations. And to the current 135th Junior Board — you all are truly some of the best people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. While I know roundthe-clock publication is not easy, don’t take this opportunity for

Does this even matter?

Four years ago, on move in day, I arrived at the University. As my parents finished helping me unpack and left, I sat back and pondered. Could I actually live on my own? Yes! Could I find a community and navigate learning amid COVID-19? Yes! Would the men’s basketball team build on the momentum of the 2019 National Championship and continue to shine in March while I’m here? Um …

My time at the University answered all of my queries, whether I liked the answers or not. But the question that gave me the most trouble was simple — does what I’m doing here even matter?

Early in my second year, I scheduled an advising meeting to map out my academic future and discuss where exactly my newly declared Media Studies major could take me professionally.

When my advisor at the time asked me about my extracurriculars, I excitedly told him about my year of experience on The Cavalier Daily as a sports beat writer. I explained I was considering sports media as a career path and asked for his thoughts.

He was not particularly impressed. I was told that if I was serious about a career in media, the best move for me was to switch over to The Cava-

lier Daily’s news desk or find another news-centric publication. The words that stuck with me most were that I should “try covering something that matters.”

I wrestled with this notion for a while after the meeting. The sports media industry is a rather insular community and opportunities in the field

alier Daily. With the help of my co-editor Ben and our extremely talented staffers, we worked hard to tell the story of Virginia’s athletics programs and its student-athletes. By listening to my gut and chasing what I decided mattered to me, I started to see my question answered — I saw the importance of sports and storytelling to this

community on Nov.13, 2022. Charlottesville was mourning and searching for answers. While the Virginia athletics community was devastated, I didn’t see a proper way to address things in a frivolous sports newsletter.

The Sabre Scoop screeched to a halt.

As I processed the horror of what had happened, I stopped believing that

If nothing else, sports offer structure, routines and rules. They are something to believe in or lean on when not much else makes sense.”

are shrinking even at historic publications. Maybe I’d be better off pivoting to strictly news. Maybe I should switch my whole major. My advisor’s words bothered me, not just because he diminished my hopes for my future, but because of his rationale for doing so. Why can’t sports “matter?”

Without really knowing why at the time, I decided to ignore him completely. Stubbornly, I doubled down on sports, writing recaps, features, columns and newsletters. A year after that advising meeting, I reached the position of Sports Editor for The Cav-

community.

In the fall semester of 2022, I was proud to launch The Cavalier Daily’s sports newsletter, the Sabre Scoop. The biweekly digital newsletter offers bite-sized recaps and previews for all Cavalier sports games, as well as a variety spot which frequently hosted athletes of the week. For the first few weeks, I enjoyed building up a modest readership. While it took time, I began to connect with a few readers through trivia, sharing predictions and general sports chatter.

Then, tragedy struck Grounds. A senseless act of violence rocked our

granted because it ends too soon. Most everyone has heard about that interesting phenomenon that happens when you smile — just the pure act of smiling releases dopamine and serotonin, thus lowering stress and improving mood. This applies even if the smile is fake — the specific contraction of the numerous facial muscles that allow us to smile can convince our brain that we are happy even if we are not. I like to think that the same thing happened when I joined The Cavalier Daily. Day in and day out, I surrounded myself with people who were so enthusiastic about the University and its potential, that after a while, it was impossible not to feel their passion and their convictions rub off on me. I didn’t come to the University with an innate sense of belonging. However, just like smiling, the pure act of being with so many people so passionate about this place convinced me that I loved it, too, flaws and all.

ALEXANDRA HOLMES was Assistant Managing Editor for the 134th term of The Cavalier Daily, copy senior associate for the 133rd term and copy editor for the 131st and 132nd terms.

what I was doing was important. Perhaps my advisor had been right. Maybe, in the grand scheme of life, this didn’t matter.

Slowly, Virginia sports resumed play. Then, after a few weeks, several emails rolled in asking, “Is the Sabre Scoop coming back?” I was profoundly moved to hear that my small side project was missed. To people hurting and mourning just like me, it still mattered. For whatever unquantifiable reason, a few words on sports still meant something to them.

If nothing else, sports offer structure, routines and rules. They are

something to believe in or lean on when not much else makes sense.

In a vacuum, it’d be easy to find sports to be a nuisance or, at best, a distraction. However, in my experiences, I have seen people elevate them into far more. Individuals and communities can use sports to inspire, to hold space, to heal, to break molds, to change narratives, to honor faith or to come home. Through the subjects of my stories, the writers I worked alongside and the readers, I got the answer to the question that loomed over me since my advising meeting — yes, this work can and does matter.

I have cherished every moment I got to spend with Virginia athletics — even the all too frequent heartbreaks. I live for the sports-related banter among friends, the calls home to break down games with my dad and sitting down with a blank document not knowing what tonight’s game has in store.

It has been my honor to bring you stories on Virginia sports for the past four years. I can’t wait to see what sports have in store for me next.

JACOB TISDALE was Sports Editor for the 134th term of The Cavalier Daily.

Editor’s Note: This article is a humor column.

Ah, college — the best four years of your life. Am I ready for this adventure of a lifetime to be over? Of course not. So as I say goodbye, I want to celebrate what I will miss most about the University.

Writing for The Cavalier Daily

I will miss writing for The Cavalier Daily’s humor section, of course. In the future, I can only hope to find an equally fulfilling way to make jokes into an empty void.

Learning

I will really miss learning. Just in general. Apparently, Thomas Jefferson was a big proponent of lifelong learning. Nice idea, but I think I’m done now. It was nice while it lasted. So long, brain.

My Friends at Parking and Transportation

As I alluded to in a previous arti-

What I will miss most about U.Va.

cle, the Department of Parking and Transportation is one of my favorite parts of the University. The people at Parking and Transportation are so thoughtful — they leave me personalized notes every day on my windshield. Most of them say, “Parking Citation Notice” or something cute like that. I could always count on them to notice me. Sometimes they would even play a little game where they would move my car to a mystery location. We had fun.

Credit Culture

University students love asking everyone they encounter, “How many credits are you taking?” I will miss being asked this question. Inquirers were always delighted when I pretended not to know — “Oh, I don’t check the number.” I always tried to match people’s enthusiasm about enrollment with an equivalent level of apathy. Disrupting the stress bunny mindset was one of my favorite hobbies.

HUMOR CARTOON

Spot the Difference

Being Crushed by Bureaucracy

Every place has bureaucracy, but I can’t help feeling that the University’s bureaucracy is unique. For example, during my first year, I scheduled an appointment with my dean to challenge the fact that no computer science classes fulfill the “Quantification, Computation and Data Analysis” requirement. In case you weren’t aware, computers do all three of those things. My dean basically said, “Bureaucracy, am I right?” Cool. Thanks, dean. I have since come to appreciate the rigidity of course requirements — it ensures that everyone receives a thorough education that teaches them how little power they have. Through bureaucracy, the University does a wonderful job of preparing its students to understand that their voice will not make a difference.

Strolling Around Grounds

The bustling traffic jams of students rushing in between classes always filled me with energy and

hope. That is, the energy to punch something and the hope of escaping. I cherished the thrill of dodging that electric scooter coming from behind me at full speed. I grew to love the feeling of later tripping over an electric scooter tossed across the sidewalk. It kept me on my toes. Or off of them, I guess. I will also miss walking back from my car to my dorm at night. There’s nothing like that peaceful feeling of clutching onto pepper spray in one hand and dialing 911 in the other.

Group Projects

I remember learning the importance of teamwork when one group member did not contribute anything to the project but attempted to bribe us with pizza. We all bring unique skills to the table. Some just happen to bring pizza. Thanks to group projects, I developed a wonderful policy in college — “Don’t trust nobody.”

The People What I’ll truly miss most about the University is the people. Shout out to the kid who has come into lecture with a different sickness each week. Shout out to the professor who waited to grade all our assignments until after the course feedback form deadline. And shout out to all the people who tried getting homework answers — how am I to find meaning in my work if others don’t take credit for it?

As I move into the next phase of my life, it is difficult to say goodbye to all of the wonderful memories I’ve made at the University. I will try to seek out the same joys in my next destination, but I know it will never be the same. I am going to miss this place.

KATE MCCARTHY is a humor columnist for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at humor@cavalierdaily.com

Hoo’s Spelling

Sarah Elder | Cartoon Editor

Isabelle Tindall | Puzzle Master

U.Va. Class of 2024

Four fantastic years at Uva! Congratulations on moving through college with grace, wit, perseverance, excellent time management skills, and a few no’s. Love, Mom, Phillip, Anna Kate

Congratulations on your accomplishments over the years and at UVA. We are proud of you and excited for your bright future. Love, Mom & Dad

U.Va. Class of 2024

Ava MacBlane

U.Va. Class of 2024

Kylie Nagel

SPORTS

Thank you, Reece Beekman

Virginia’s dynamic guard is departing Charlottesville after four tremendous years with the program

There are certain college athletes that, upon graduating or departing from their school, require a level of appreciation so large that the school’s fans will feel guilty no matter how many plaudits they provide. As Reece Beekman readies himself for graduation from the University and an entrance into professional basketball, Virginia men’s basketball fans are in that situation. While Beekman may never get the thank you he deserves, it is worth trying to encapsulate all that the program has to be thankful for during his time with the Cavaliers.

The 6-foot-3 guard out of Milwaukee arrived on Grounds in August 2020 as a heralded four-star recruit, picking Coach Tony Bennett and Virginia over Alabama, Houston and other top schools. Though he was respected as a prospect, what he achieved across the next four years exceeded every expectation.

Beekman appeared in all 25 of Virginia’s games during his freshman year, starting 20 of them — a rarity for a first-year player in Bennett’s system. His extraordinary defensive talent was on display immediately as he snared eight steals in his first five career games, proving to be an invaluable piece that Bennett could not keep on the sidelines any longer.

The stellar play continued after his insertion into the starting five, culminating when the Cavaliers took on Syracuse in the ACC Tournament Quarterfinal. Beekman missed his first five shots in the game, but with the score tied at 69 and Virginia holding for the last shot in the final seconds, his story changed in an instant. Then-junior guard Kihei Clark drove into the Orange’s zone defense and found Beekman all alone on the right wing, and his ensuing three-pointer — just the ninth of his career — hit all net with the clock at zero.

Beekman did not yet know that a positive COVID-19 test within the team would prematurely end Virginia’s tournament run the next day, but as he sprinted around the court being chased by a sea of white jerseys, the moment meant more than just three points and a win. The freshman had announced himself to the college basketball world.

Less than 11 months later — in the midst of his breakout sophomore campaign that garnered ACC All-Defensive Team honors and a selection as an All-ACC Honorable

Mention — Beekman did it again. The unranked Cavaliers were trailing No. 7 Duke by two points with seven seconds remaining at Cameron Indoor Stadium, having won only one game in their previous 20 road trips to Durham, N.C.

It felt inevitable that the perennially dominant Blue Devils would escape with a win. But as Beekman stood under Virginia’s basket, inbounded the ball to Clark, made a cut to the left wing and received the ball back with space to shoot, shades of Syracuse returned. In front of Duke’s “Cameron Crazies,” the sophomore drained a dagger of a three-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining. When the Blue Devils’ last gasp failed, the Cavalier bench flooded onto the court. It was a sea of navy blue jerseys this time, but the player being celebrated was the same — a jubilant, man-of-the-moment Beekman.

His legend only grew during junior and senior seasons that featured a pair of ACC Defensive Player of the Year awards — Beek-

Ben Istvan | Sports

Editor

man was the first player to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons since 2012 — as well as two selections each on All-ACC teams and ACC-All Tournament teams. There were no more game-winning, buzzer-beating shots after the one at Duke, but Beekman’s consistency on both ends of the floor constantly propelled Virginia to victories in less newsworthy ways.

Often tasked with defending the opposing team’s best guard and leading the Cavaliers’ offensive charge, Beekman expended an incredible level of energy in every game he played for Virginia. Some of his notable defensive masterclasses included a pair of five-steal games in wins against North Carolina as a junior, four steals and two blocks in a victory over Clemson the same year and most recently, a stalwart display in holding the Tar Heels’ senior guard RJ Davis — the 2024 ACC Player of the Year — to one-for-14 shooting in February.

Beekman’s defensive efforts were impressive enough to warrant

a special honor during home games — whenever he recorded a steal or a block in John Paul Jones Arena, the student section collectively clapped their hands together in an up-anddown motion to emulate a beak. It fit Beekman and Virginia’s brand of basketball perfectly, displaying a unique love for a generally less appreciated side of the game.

Beekman finished his Cavalier career as the program’s all-time steals leader, and if he was not so gifted defensively, his offensive capabilities would have gotten more shine. He was the steadiest guard presence in the ACC during his career, leading the conference in assists twice and assist-to-turnover ratio three times. He also found a new knack for scoring the basketball as a senior, leading the team in scoring at 14.3 points per game and posting five 20-point performances that all resulted in wins for Virginia.

During a darker period for the program relative to previous successes — the Cavaliers did not win

an NCAA Tournament game in his career — Beekman carried Virginia wherever they went. A top-four ACC finish and an NCAA Tournament berth in 2024 would have seemed impossible had he chosen to leave for the NBA last offseason, but with Beekman’s services, it was hardly a surprise.

Most notably, in an era of college basketball where players are more inclined to transfer than ever, Beekman stayed and poured four years of unrelenting effort into Cavalier basketball. Thus, it is perhaps oddly fitting that he never lifted an ACC or NCAA Championship trophy for Virginia — Beekman’s contributions to the program meant so much more than a piece of hardware ever could. His impending absence will leave a gaping hole during the starting lineup introductions at JPJ next season, but for now, a moment of appreciation is in order — thank you, Reece Beekman.

BETHANY BAZEMORE THE CAVALIER DAILY

Reece Beekman and Coach Tony Bennett embrace on Senior Day, Beekman’s final game at John Paul Jones Arena.

Class of 2024 reflects on four years of Virginia athletics

From women’s swim and dive to men’s lacrosse, this year’s senior class has seen it all

Katie Costin, Max Jensen and Will Krehmyer | Senior Writers

On the heels of an incredible seven championships over the past four years, three graduating sports writers from The Cavalier Daily share their thoughts on what it means to be a Cavalier.

What was the most memorable moment of the past four years of Virginia athletics?

Katie Costin:

The 2021 men’s lacrosse championship capped off a pandemic-plagued first year for the Class of 2024. The No. 4 Cavaliers defeated No. 3 Maryland 17-16 for their ninth national title. The Terrapins had been on the road to an undefeated season until Virginia spoiled it, making the victory that much sweeter. A phenomenal offensive effort from then-redshirt freshman attack Connor Shellenberger, senior attackman Matt Moore, junior midfielder Jeff Conner and then-sophomore attackman Payton Cormier secured Virginia’s victory. These standout performances set the standard for what to expect from men’s lacrosse in the following seasons.

Max Jensen:

The 2023 season for Virginia baseball was one of ups and downs. The team started the season winning 14 straight games but hit a tough stretch in the middle of the season. However, despite dropping the first game in their super-regional matchup against Duke, graduate pitcher Brian Edgington put on a legendary performance versus the Blue Devils to send the Cavaliers to Omaha for the College World Series. Edgington struck out 11 in a complete game outing and was helped by then-sophomore utility player Ethan Anderson and then-sophomore outfielder Anthony Stephan, who both sent balls into the bleachers. With the win, Virginia baseball cemented itself as a force to be reckoned with, making two of the last three College World Series.

Will Krehmeyer:

It is relatively recent, but women’s basketball’s thrilling 80-75 win over Virginia Tech March 3 looks to springboard the program into the future. The Cavaliers took down their No. 5 ranked rivals in front of the largest recorded women’s basketball crowd in the state of Virginia. It was an extremely high-level game, and both fan bases were well represented in John Paul Jones Arena. While Virginia’s season did not go on to end how they had hoped, this win proved what the program

is capable of under second-year Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, and it showed Cavalier fans that there is a lot to look forward to with this team.

Which program has had the most impactful senior class?

KC: With defender Aidan O’Connor and forward Leo Afonso being drafted 12th and 32nd in the Major League Soccer SuperDraft, the men’s soccer senior class is arguably one of the best that Virginia athletics has seen in recent years. While O’Connor and Afonso contributed uniquely to the success of the team this year, goalkeeper Holden Brown, midfielder Mouhameth Thiam, mifielder Axel Ahlander and defender William Citron will also be sorely missed on the field next season. Though this elite talent never resulted in a championship, this group had an exciting journey as Cavaliers highlighted by five top10 wins over the past four seasons.

MJ: When a program has won four consecutive NCAA Championships, it is hard to credit anything

else than the senior class that has been along for every step of the way. Women’s swimming and diving has established itself as a dynasty, and they could not have done it without these seniors. Alex Walsh has led the way with 19 NCAA championship wins during her four years and will likely find her way to the Paris Olympics this summer. Additionally, Maxine Parker has also racked up six championship wins, and Anna Keating and Abby Harter were both All-Americans. It just does not get any better than winning a championship every year of your collegiate career.

WK: The men’s tennis Class of 2024 are winners in every sense of the word. Two NCAA Championships, three ACC Tournament titles and zero regular season conference losses across four years comprise their incredible resume. These seniors have played a role in building a dynasty, not only by their ability on the court, but also by the leadership that they have demonstrated off of it as well. Regardless of whether they are able to bring home their third consecutive National Championship May 19, this senior class has reestablished the standard for

Virginia tennis, and they have certainly left the program in a better place than where they found it.

Which athlete has meant the most to the University community?

KC:

Alex Walsh has embodied every aspect of what it means to be a Cavalier in her time at Virginia. With 19 national titles and 26 ACC championship wins — the most in history — Walsh has given everything she has to this community and helped continue a legacy of excellence in the program. Before the conclusion of the 2024 NCAA Championship, Walsh thanked her teammates for her time with the team. Her statement, “It’s just my greatest joy in life to be a Virginia Cavalier,” perfectly encapsulates how lucky we are to have had Walsh represent Virginia on the conference and national level.

MJ: Without a doubt, the heroic Mike Hollins has meant the most to the University community. Unspeakable tragedy struck Charlottesville in November of 2022, when the lives of Devin Chandler,

Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry were taken. While the community will never move on, Hollins brought the strength and resilience needed to move forward and carry on each of these men’s legacies. Hollins’s recovery and determination to get back to the football field was nothing short of inspiring and played a central role in uplifting the Charlottesville community.

WK:

I have to go with Connor Shellenberger. Coming out of high school as the No. 1 ranked recruit by Inside Lacrosse, the Charlottesville native has represented his hometown Cavaliers with a winning pedigree. Along with playing a key role in the 2021 National Championship, Shellenberger is the program’s all time career assist leader, which is indicative of his selflessness as a teammate. Off the field, he has taken a reduced scholarship this season to support those of his teammates and is always looking to pass first on the field. Shellenberger is the ultimate role model for unselfishness and a winning culture, and he has had an incredible impact on Virginia men’s lacrosse.

MARIAM SESHAN THE CAVALIER DAILY

Virginia wrestler Justin McCoy’s career reaches twilight

McCoy was a role model for Cavalier wrestlers for five years, and the standard he set will be followed for even longer

Ryan Weiner | Staff Writer

During one of the most decorated careers in Virginia wrestling history, graduate student Justin McCoy embodied everything about a top athlete. He displayed an elite work ethic that propelled him from a redshirt freshman to an ACC champion four years later. He carried a passion for the sport that pushed him through grueling practices and heartbreaking defeats — McCoy was the runner-up at the ACC Championships twice — and these struggles made his eventual victories even sweeter. But one trait set McCoy apart from the rest of the college wrestling world — a natural, jaw-dropping athletic ability.

Coach Steve Garland could hardly describe him as human when asked what made McCoy a special talent.

“He ran like a deer,” Garland said. “He was very, very agile and he was fast. He had very quick feet. “[Justin] had those intangibles, he had those things you can’t teach.”

Despite having a lean build for a 174-lbs class wrestler, McCoy has always been dominant — even against bigger competition. He dominated in baseball, football and wrestling in high school and was a runner-up at FloNationals — a nationwide wrestling tournament — in 2018 during his senior year. He was also a team captain for three seasons of his high school wrestling career, a state champion his junior year and made the Pennsylvania state tournament every year. By all accounts, he was a top athlete right away — Garland saw that after seeing McCoy wrestle for the

first time at FloNationals.

“I thought [Justin] was gonna be really good,” Garland said. “I just was blown away by his wrestling skills. He’s very, very athletic … he’s just really good.”

When it came time to commit to a college, there were many schools that approached McCoy. He was sold on Virginia and Garland’s development philosophies.

“I chose U.Va. because when I did my official visit here, I saw something different,” McCoy said. “I could tell that the coaches really cared about the athletes. They weren’t just caring for us as wrestlers, but also as men.”

From his first day in Charlottesville, McCoy was destined for success. He went 25-3 in his first season, a stretch that included a 16-match winning streak. However, McCoy ended up getting redshirted after the non-conference part of the season was done — he cited the coaching staff’s belief that he was still too small as the key factor in the decision. Despite the sudden disappointment that followed this successful start to college wrestling, McCoy was largely consistent in his approach, keeping a calm mind and faith in his coaches.

“I just tried to trust my coaches, strength coaches, wrestling coaches and like all the people helping me and just rely on them and remember that they know what they’re doing,” McCoy said. “It helped me wrestle free that first year and I had a lot of success. So that gave me a lot of confidence going into this next couple of years.”

As the years moved on and

McCoy continued to develop, he moved up weight classes twice. These transitions are difficult for wrestlers, as they have to learn how to wrestle bigger opponents while also adapting to their growing bodies. Despite this, McCoy was practically flawless in transitioning and found it easy to make the jump.

“I went up to 165 [lbs] and I loved it,” McCoy said. “I loved getting bigger. I think I did well going up, and then again with 174 [lbs] I loved it too. Anytime I got to lift more and eat more I was all for it.”

While McCoy’s dominance on the mat is his most notable trait to the naked eye, he applies his work ethic to all aspects of his life. He is currently finishing up a Master’s degree in kinesiology, serves as a counselor at youth wrestling camps and devotes time to his faith. While balancing this can be hard, McCoy appears to pull it off seamlessly. Garland views him as the model of what a Virginia wrestler should be.

“He leads by example,” Garland said. “He has a 4.0 [GPA] and has had the highest GPA on our team for the past two years … this past season there were no off the mat issues, and he was the guy that you could point to. This is the way that you treat people. This is the way that you behave, this is the way that you eat. This is the way that you sleep. This is the way that you study.”

Before his career with the Cavaliers began, McCoy longed to become an ACC Champion. He fell in the semifinals of the 157lbs class as a sophomore in 2020. In 2021, he got closer — a loss to

NC State’s five-time All-American Hayden Hidlay in the 157-lbs finals brought devastation. However, he rebounded and got to the finals again the following year, but the heartbreak only grew as McCoy — now a senior — fell to Pittsburgh’s All-American and three-time ACC Champion Jake Wentzel.

Still searching for the peak, McCoy opted to return for a fifth season in 2023 as a graduate student. It paid off, as he was able to seal the deal and win the tournament in the 165-lbs class. For McCoy, it was pure elation to finally reach the mountaintop in his final year of college wrestling.

“It was amazing,” McCoy said. “It felt like a long time coming, just being in the finals a couple times and then finally getting it done. It was a great feeling, especially to come off the mat, hug coaches, hug my teammates — they all swarmed me right away.”

McCoy’s title win might stick out as the crowning moment of his college career, but when the graduate student looks back on his time with the program, there are plenty of memories that he cherishes just as much. He is leaving Charlottesville with a trophy but also a slew of lifelong companions.

“Ultimately, the biggest thing I’ll look back on is everything,” McCoy said. “The teammates, the coaches, the people I’ve gotten close to, the friends I’ve made for life, that’s the thing I’m so grateful for.”

While McCoy is moving on, the cogs of the Virginia wrestling wheel must keep going. His departure will leave a hole on and

off the mat, but Garland does not see his presence disappearing — future Cavaliers will strive to work and act like McCoy did for years to come.

“The biggest impact is going to be all the stuff he did off the mat,” Garland said. “The fact that he was such a successful student … the fact that his faith means a lot to him … [and] he cared about people, he cared about the coaches, he cared about his teammates.”

McCoy’s future is slightly more certain than that of the Cavaliers — he plans to finish up his Master’s degree and then move into the workforce. His wrestling career may be over, but he is confident that his new career will allow him to continue having a positive impact on the world.

“I’m looking to go into medical sales,” McCoy said. “I’ve had a lot of help with my trainer and … doctors and everything through my career with the injuries I’ve had, specifically with neck and back injuries. So I hope to be helpful in having people heal from injuries by selling medical devices that surgeons can use.”

Based on McCoy’s reasoning for choosing Virginia and his blossoming into a role model for the team years later, it comes as no surprise that his focus is on helping people. If he puts as much dedication into his next career as he did wrestling for the Cavaliers, McCoy should have no problem making the transition.

COURTESY VIRGINIA ATHLETICS

McCoy finished as the runner-up at the ACC Tournament twice before reaching the mountaintop in his final season.

FROM THE DIVISION OF STUDENT AFFAIRS...

Friday, May 17

20:24

MESSAGES today

Congratulations, Class of 2024! We are so proud of you!

MESSAGES today

Don't forget about the FREE breakfast with Ms. Kathy at 1515! 6-7:30am, Saturday and Sunday!

–Philip E. Bourne, Founding Dean