Thursday, May 1, 2025

leiGh Bailey, BeNviN lOZaDa Kayla MOOre & CaT WhiTe The Cavalier Daily

This week in-brief

CD News Staff

U.Va. declines to share update regarding Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Following a vote by the University’s Board of Visitors March 7 to dissolve the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, the University declined to share information surrounding the changes made with the community.

At the time of publication, The Cavalier Daily had made several requests for an update on these changes. University Spokesperson Brian Coy said that the University did not have information to share at this time.

The resolution passed by the Board in March required that the University immediately transfer permissible programs to a new organizational home, and included a clause requiring University President Jim Ryan to update the Board on compliance within 30 days.

The University did not confirm whether this meant 30 days or 30 business days. April 6 marked the passing of 30 days, and April 18 marked the passing of 30 business days.

The Cavalier Daily also contacted Kevin McDonald, vice president for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Partnerships, who asked that requests for comment be directed to Coy.

The University has not issued any other public statements sharing what actions have been taken, but the Office’s website has been taken down and now redirects to the main University website.

This dissolution of the Office was in compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order issued Jan. 21, which directed institutions of higher education receiving federal funding to end DEI programs.

Dean

4.22 4.18 4.23

President Ryan signs statement condemning Trump administration

The American Association of Colleges and Universities released a public statement Tuesday which condemned President Donald Trump’s “unprecedented government overreach” in higher education across the country. University President Jim Ryan was one of over 180 signees, which included college and university presidents as well as other leaders within higher education.

“As leaders of America’s colleges, universities and scholarly societies, we speak with one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education,” the statement reads.

The University was the only Virginia public university whose president signed.

This statement came following a series of federal funding cuts to several higher education institutions across the nation, and one day after Harvard University filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for its threats to cut research funding.

While the statement claims that signees are willing to enact reforms and cooperate with government supervision, it disagrees with the current administration’s decision to withdraw funding from institutions.

“We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight,” the statement reads. “However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses. We will always seek effective and fair financial practices, but we must reject the coercive use of public research funding.”

Rucker honored with Z Society’s highest honor, Pale Z Award

Former interim Dean of Students Cedric Rucker is being honored with the Z Society’s highest award — the Pale Z Award. The award is given to leaders who have made significant contributions to the University community.

In an anonymous statement to The Cavalier Daily, the Zs called Rucker a “trailblazer,” citing his return to the University to support students after a time of tragedy — the Nov. 13, 2022 shooting.

“In just two years, Dean Rucker has become a vital, trusted and beloved advocate for students, exemplifying the deep care for our community that he has demonstrated,” the Zs wrote. “He receives this award not just for his work over the last two years, but for his lifelong commitment to serving and uplifting generations of students, with full confidence in their ability to make a positive impact on the world.”

After more than four decades in higher education — including six years at the University in the 1980s and two years serving in the University administration most recently — Rucker stepped down from his role in March.

As dean of students, Rucker’s job was to lead the Division of Student Affairs, the entire student body and the greater University community. Many students note that Rucker has transformed the role of dean of students to be rooted in student empowerment and connectedness, including making student self-governance and community engagement a priority.

In his time at the University, Rucker became a consistent presence not just in an administrative capacity, but in the everyday experiences of students across Grounds. His open-door policy demonstrates a willingness to engage with students from all backgrounds and steady commitment to empowering student leadership.

According to both the Zs and students, Rucker has left a legacy of championing student self-governance and student engagement by working closely with student leaders in Student Council and other self-governance organizations.

Valentina Mendoza Gonzalez, former Student Council president and fourth-year College student, says that during her time on Student Council, Rucker was always supportive of not only what the Council was doing, but how she was doing as a leader.

COURTESY ERIN EDGERTON, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Students have federal internship offers rescinded

Dean of Students Nicole Hall recommends that students network and utilize Career Center resources to find experience-building opportunities in a time crunch

Nina Broderick | Senior Writer

Several University students have had federal internship offers rescinded, leaving them scrambling last-minute to determine summer plans. This is a result of the hiring freeze of federal civilian employees President Donald Trump ordered in a presidential memorandum Jan. 20. Another memorandum April 17 extended the freeze through July 15.

Until July 15, no presently vacant federal civilian positions may be filled and no new positions may be created. Because summer federal government interns are not currently employed, and some had received offers during the previous administration, some internship positions were affected.

According to a statement to The Cavalier Daily from Nicole Hall, senior associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students, Charlottesville’s relative proximity to Washington makes federal internships a common path taken by University students. With many students hailing from Northern Virginia and Washington, family federal government connections also contribute to the trend.

“We regularly see students intern with numerous federal agencies including the Department of Energy, State Department, Department of Justice, the Office of Personnel Management, Health and Human Services, the Smithsonian and internships on [Capitol] Hill,” Hall said.

Hall stepped into the role of senior associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students March 24. She started at the University in 2023 as associate vice president for career and professional development.

In addition to students interning directly with the federal government, many University students work at federal contractors such as Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm, and Leidos — an innovation company that provides technology and engineering solutions in national security and health — according to Hall. While Trump’s order does not directly affect federal contractors, trickle down effects may alter the status of these positions.

Third-year Batten student Lacey Wortzel planned to intern for the U.S. Department of Defense in Washington this summer. She received an offer last summer, while former President Joe Biden was still in office and his administration incharge of federal hiring. Wortzel has already put down a deposit to live in the city during the program.

Wortzel received notification via email that her internship offer had been rescinded April 17. According to Wortzel, this came as a surprise as

she had received assurance multiple times from her employer that her internship was not at risk of being canceled.

“They had sent me at least three emails and called me unprompted … in the time since November to basically be like, ‘Hey, I know that there’s a lot going on in the government. Don’t worry. The Department of Defense is exempted from the hiring freeze. Your job isn’t in jeopardy,’” Wortzel said. “And then on Thursday, they were like, ‘Oh, actually, never mind.’”

The hiring freeze applies to all executive departments and agencies, with a few exceptions outlined in the April 17 memorandum — including the hiring of military personnel of the Armed Forces, as well as immigration enforcement, national security or public safety positions. The order also does not apply to the Executive Office of the President. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management has the ability to grant exemptions from the freeze “where those exemptions are otherwise necessary.”

“In carrying out this memorandum, the heads of agencies shall seek efficient use of existing personnel and funds to improve public services and the delivery of those services,” the memorandum reads. “Accordingly, this memorandum does not prohibit making reallocations or reassignments to meet the highest priority needs; maintain essential services; and protect national security, homeland security, and public safety.”

The email notification told Wortzel that they were unable to continue with the onboarding process. It also said that they were “pleased to inform” her that she “may be eligible to participate in the 2026 summer internship,” but did not specify whether she would receive priority.

The last-minute notification has left Wortzel scrambling for work this summer, especially given that she has already put down a deposit to live in Washington.

“It’s very late in the semester to change what I’m doing. In the past week, I’ve submitted a million applications, but obviously nothing has gotten back to me yet,” Wortzel said. “It’s the kind of thing where if they had canceled it earlier, it also would have sucked, but I would have had more time to pivot.”

While Wortzel was notified very late, some students received a much more immediate notice about their status. Second-year Commerce student Rani Bhura received notification of the cancellation of her internship via email in January, a few days after she had initially received

the offer Jan. 13 — before Trump took office. She planned to work for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as a risk management intern in Catonsville, Md.

“It was a pretty big shock to me. I just didn’t expect it. I wouldn’t have thought [the hiring freeze] would affect me,” Bhura said. “At first it was very shocking, but I figured out other plans.”

Bhura decided to not pursue another internship, and to instead study abroad at the London School of Economics.

The email Bhura received thanked her for her interest, and informed her that they were no longer hiring for the role.

“This is due to the Federal Civilian Hiring Freeze dated January 20, 2025, which is effective immediately. We wish you success in your future employment endeavors,” the email read.

Second-year Commerce student Sam Schultz also planned to work for the FDIC this summer. He began the application process for their bank audit internship program in fall 2024. After starting interviews in early January but before having the chance to receive an offer, he received an email Jan. 22 that notified him of the cancellation of the program. The cancellation was directly attributed to the hiring freeze.

“I regret to inform you we are unable to move forward with our internship program while the federal government is under a civilian hiring freeze … Thank you so much for expressing any interest in the FDIC and our internship program. Please stay in touch,” the email read, according to Schultz.

“Once I got that [email], I was kind of on the jump again to go figure out what I was doing for the summer… It definitely did add on to the stress,” Schultz said. “I think I would have felt better about it if they said ‘Sorry, we’re going with other candidates,’ or something like that.”

After last-minute networking with people from his hometown of Pittsburgh, Schultz accepted an offer for an internship with a venture capital firm specializing in software April 18.

“It was a pretty hard process, because I wasn’t too familiar with what [the company] did, but I kind of had to be,” Schultz said. “Because I needed an internship this summer.

For students who have been affected with last minute changes, Hall said that the Career Center has been working with students in their process of changing plans after getting offers rescinded or their intern

programs getting canceled.

“We’ve been working with students to pivot to other industry options in government (state and local especially), non-profits and private sector,” Hall said. “We also are working with students to think about skill development and networking to allow them to continue to explore these industries outside of an internship.”

Hall recommended in her statement that students who have lost federal internships look to other industries and disciplines to gain experience and new skills, including looking at micro-internships, or short-term internships which offer the ability to gain basic experience.

“We support students through skills development and technology training programs, and we share these as options,” Hall said. “Micro-internships and internships in other industries and disciplines are great ways to build experience.”

Hall also mentioned the importance of networking in finding internship opportunities, especially when needing to find work in a short amount of time.

“Our alumni working in these fields are more than happy to talk to students about these careers and what they know about their field,” Hall said.

Hall gave the example of creating these connections at events such as the Career Center’s Public Service and Government Day in Washing-

ton, which was hosted in March. Wortzel interned in Washington last summer, so she has been utilizing the connections she made to help her find last-minute work opportunities.

“I reached out to a lot of the people I networked with last summer,” Wortzel said. “A lot of them have been super helpful and have been trying to put me in contact with people and help me figure something out.”

Wortzel also contacted a few University professors she has worked closely with in the past for ideas on who may still be hiring or advice about where to look that she has not already.

Bhura similarly utilized her connections with professors, as well as career counselors, to relieve the stress that came after the cancellation of her program.

“I talked to my accounting professor and the Career Center, and they helped me kind of calm down,” Bhura said.

In her statement, Hall also highlighted the importance of leveraging the Career Center’s resources if faced with a similar situation as Wortzel, Bhura and Schultz.

“Come talk to a career counselor — we can be a support system and help you outline a strategy as well as connect within the U.Va. network,” Hall said.

CALEB REGAN THE CAVALIER DAILY Hall recommended that students who have lost federal internships look to other industries and disciplines to gain experience and new skills

Spanberger shares hope of victory to Albemarle Democrats

The former representative holds a slight edge in this year’s gubernatorial election

Ford McCracken | News Editor

Former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger made a tour of the Charlottesville area Sunday, speaking to students at an event hosted by University Democrats before heading out west to speak to local Democrats about this year’s gubernatorial election. The event at the Greencroft Club, a fundraiser for the Albemarle County Democratic Party, was filled with supporters and local politicians.

Spanberger will face Republican Lt. Gov Winsome Earle-Sears Nov. 4 for a chance to become the Commonwealth of Virginia’s first female governor. Democrats will also have a chance to expand their slim, 51-49 majority in the House of Delegates.

There was no lack of optimism at the event for Democrats, who begin this year’s elections as the favorites based on pure historical standards. The president’s party has only won the Virginia gubernatorial race one time since 1973.

In her short remarks, Spanberger made it clear that this election is not only about Virginia, but about sending a message to the Trump administration.

“The rest of the country, and in

some ways the world, will pay attention to what it is that we do here in Virginia in 2025,” Spanberger said.

Spanberger discussed the Trump administration’s current efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce through Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying that these efforts directly harm Virginia’s economy. The Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads regions of the Commonwealth have especially high concentrations of the around 145,000 federal workers in Virginia.

“When there are assaults after assaults on the federal workforce, we deserve a governor who will stand up and say, not only is this so harmful to those families and to our federal workforce, but this is so bad for Virginia’s economy,” Spanberger said.

Spanberger did not dive into much detail on policy, but emphasized that funding public education would be a priority. She also shared her motivations for entering the race, citing hopes to improve Virginia’s quality of life.

The former undercover CIA agent and congresswoman has experience winning tough races, having defeated

an incumbent Republican in Virginia’s 7th congressional district in 2018. Spanberger narrowly won reelection for two more terms before deciding to run for governor.

And while Spanberger may start out as an early favorite, she made it clear that she is not seeking a narrow win, but a sweeping one.

“I don’t just want to win. I want to crush it,” Spanberger said.

A large win for the candidate could have consequences down-the-ballot as well. There are currently eight Republican-held seats in the House of Delegates that were won by Kamala Harris last November. Meanwhile, there is not a single Democratic-held seat that was carried by Donald Trump.

After the event, Spanberger spoke to The Cavalier Daily about the role students play in her campaign, noting that they were significant in helping to get her on the ballot.

“We had students across the Commonwealth … who have been collecting petition signatures to get me on the ballot in the first place,” Spanberger said. “The requirement was 10,000, we got more than 40,000, a lot of that is because of the help of different stu-

dent groups.”

As for winning the votes of students, Spanberger said there is not one specific issue she has identified in her conversations with students that will be key to how they vote. Instead, she said, there are many issues, including the job market, housing availability and threats to social security.

“I think that what I have witnessed from students is a wide breadth of things that, yes, might impact their life, that also impact the community that they want to see strengthened now and into the future,” Spanberger said.

Second-year Batten student Riley Munson, who attended the event, said that Spanberger’s strategy of using Democrats’ anger toward Trump and his policies to energize them for the election is effective enough, but that Spanberger needs a stronger message going forward, especially to win over young voters.

“Democrats can only talk about Trump and how bad he is for so long before they have to come up with their own platform,” Munson said. “I think young voters want … some kind of clear vision for the future, beyond

Donald Trump.”

Outside of her discussion of Trump, Spanberger dwelt on funding for public education in her speech as an important part of her platform. Her opponent, Earle-Sears, also spoke in an event at the University April 22 about the importance of education. At the event, Earle-Sears emphasized her support for public education. Spanberger said Earle-Sears has an interest in pulling money from public education.

Spanberger also alluded to EarleSears in the context of standing up to the Trump administration, which Spanberger suggested Earle-Sears has not done adequately.

“I think there’s foundational differences between my opponent and me,” Spanberger said. “The contrast is very clear, and so hopefully students will [see that], whatever the issue is that motivates them.”

Voters will head to the polls June 17 for the primary election, though neither Spanberger nor Earle-Sears will face any challengers from their parties.

Earle-Sears talks higher education in first U.Va. event

The lieutenant governor expressed confidence in her odds of victory in this year’s gubernatorial election

Ford McCracken | News Editor

Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears spoke about the importance of higher education for life success in her campaign for governor of Virginia in an event at the Rotunda Tuesday. The event, co-sponsored by the Center for Politics and the Jefferson Council, was the lieutenant governor’s first public appearance of the 2025 campaign at the University.

A Jamaican immigrant and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Earle-Sears is the first female lieutenant governor of Virginia, and is hoping to become Virginia’s first female governor. She will face Democrat and former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger Nov. 4.

As the Republican nominee for governor, Earle-Sears is beginning to ramp up her campaign, starting with an event directed at University students. At the event, Earle-Sears said if Virginia was a car, the four wheels would be the key parts of her campaign — jobs, energy, safety and security and, of course, education.

Calling education the key to future success, she said that higher education was her and her father’s path out of poverty. Education was the primary

focus of her speech, which frequently drew on her own experience as a Jamaican American.

She was six years old in 1970 when she and her father immigrated to the United States, a time when she said education for Black Americans was contentious. The Brown v. Board of Education decision, which guaranteed integration in schooling, was still being ignored by some Southern states and schools.

“These were serious times. I asked my father, ‘Why would you come here?’ It was a bad time for us,” EarleSears said. “He said, ‘Because America is where the jobs and the opportunities were.’”

Once her family settled in the U.S. and education was secured as a right, she said that attending school was transformative for her success.

Now, after a campaign that prioritized parental rights in education as a significant part of his 2021 campaign, Earle-Sears serves as lieutenant governor under Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Earle-Sears said that Virginians approve of investments she and Youngkin have made into education.

“Education is the key to the future. Once it’s here, it cannot be taken from you,” Earle-Sears said.

But she said that today, education is in a tough spot. She singled out debates over free speech on college campuses and the prevalence of antisemitism as issues facing higher education today. A recent survey conducted by the Anti-Defamation League and Hillel International found that 83 percent of Jewish college students have experienced or witnessed antisemitism since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

“We cannot reject the truth in order to advance political agendas. It will not work. We cannot suppress free speech,” Earle-Sears said. “The rise and spread of antisemitism must not continue.”

Second-year College student James Pilot said that he was moved by the lieutenant governor’s comments about free speech protections, as it is his top issue when choosing who to vote for.

“The biggest thing for me is promoting free speech and exchange of dialogue on college campuses … being able to express your opinion freely

without the worries of having backlash,” Pilot said.

Though Pilot is the rising chair of the University’s chapter of the Young America’s Foundation — an organization which aims to help conservative students express their voices on college campuses — he said he hopes to hear Spanberger speak in her next visit to the University. He said he plans to vote for Earle-Sears but wants to hear both sides.

Earle-Sears did take a moment to acknowledge the race she is in against Spanberger, one that could be a tough race for a Republican. With the exception of 2013, the president’s party has lost the Virginia gubernatorial election every year since 1973.

While the event had no opportunity for questions from students, other than three pre-selected Center for Politics interns with pre-written questions, one student asked Earle-Sears about the historic nature of this year’s election. Earle-Sears acknowledged but downplayed the significance of identity in this campaign.

“So I do acknowledge that it is a historic election, but I think for me, I

never really ever stood on the history of anything that I’ve ever done,” EarleSears said. “Because once it’s done, it’s done, and other people want to know — ‘now what?’’’

Second-year College student Joshua Rodriguez Cruz said he attended Earle-Sears’ speech simply to learn more as an undecided voter in this race — one who voted for Kamala Harris last November.

“I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think it was nice to see different perspectives,” Rodriguez Cruz said. “I came here with the sole purpose of learning and not having any preconceived notions.”

In the campaign, Earle-Sears will attempt to win over voters with the four key policy wheels she mentioned in the metaphor of Virginia as a car — one that she said she will be the driver of.

“I am going to drive Virginia’s car so that we continue the great success that we have had,” Earle-Sears said. “We haven’t come this far to only go this far. There’s a lot more to be done, and I am the one to do it.”

Bert Ellis reflects on time as member of Board of Visitors

Following his removal from the Board, Ellis discussed his goals entering the position

Cecilia Mould | News Editor

The Cavalier Daily spoke with former Board of Visitors member Bert Ellis, who was fired by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin March 26, about the goals he had hoped to accomplish as a member, many of which he believes remain unachieved. These goals included key priorities of removing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, firing President Jim Ryan, lowering costs and reducing the University’s operating budget and rejuvenating the Honor system.

Class of ‘75 alumnus Ellis was appointed to the Board in 2022 amid objections from students and community members — following his appointment, his texts, in which he threatened to “raise hell with the BOV,” were obtained from the University via a Freedom of Information Act request in 2023 and published by the Washington Post.

In an interview, Ellis spoke about Youngkin’s recent decision to remove him from the Board, which according to Ellis, Youngkin said was based not on Ellis’s views but his methods of expressing these views. According to Ellis, the governor supported his work on the Board, but said Ellis’s style was too “caustic.” While Youngkin initially asked him to resign for personal reasons, Ellis explained that he felt doing so would not be honest, and instead allowed the governor to fire him from his position on the Board.

While Ellis entered the Board with certain priorities in mind, he said that most had not been accomplished during his term, without a majority of Youngkin appointees on the Board.

“Quite frankly, none of our goals have played out yet because we didn’t have the votes on our side of the ledger to make any changes until really about the last three months,” Ellis said. “It was a Democratic Board for basically the last 10 years … and they had the votes. So we could talk about it, but we couldn’t change much.”

Members are appointed each year, for four-year terms, by Virginia’s governor — Youngkin appointees have only held a majority on the Board since mid-2024. Previously, the majority of members had been appointed by former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam.

Although Ellis said that he had not had as much of an impact as he wished, third-year College student Keoni Vega said that Ellis had led the Board to take actions which have negatively impacted students.

“I think the Board’s actions, especially this past year, have been particularly heinous, especially under the vocal leadership of Bert Ellis,” Vega said.

Despite the challenges posed by what he perceived as a partisan divide on the Board, one of Ellis’s main priorities as a member was to remove

DEI infrastructure from the University — in early March, just before Ellis’s removal, the Board voted unanimously to dissolve the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Partnerships despite objections from students. This decision was made in compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order to end DEI programs at public institutions.

“I did not think [DEI] was a positive influence on the University,” Ellis said. “I think it’s an unnecessary expense that has had no positive value and [has not] moved the needle on anything that it was set up to do.”

While Ellis said that the Office should be removed to reduce costs, Vega also spoke on the impact of the Board’s decision, arguing that the dissolution would have negative longterm effects for the community.

“[I think] that a lot of the anti-DEI stuff is just hidden racism. It’s a way to rebrand hatred towards other people,” Vega said. “… I think it’s a really ugly and dangerous path that we’re currently on.”

Although the Board did vote to dissolve the Office, the resolution also had a statement affirming the value of diversity at the University. Ellis said that DEI initiatives have not fully been removed from the University noting that University President Jim Ryan had sent the Board a report in early April, but claimed that Ryan had refused to carry out the Board’s orders.

The Cavalier Daily requested Ryan’s report from University Communications and later submitted a request via FOIA, but these requests were denied on both occasions. University Communications did not share a reason, but the University’s FOIA Office denied the request under an exemption in Virginia Code Section 2.2-3705., which allows presidential communications to be kept private.

Referring to DEI and other issues which have been kept out of the public eye — such as the delayed release of the reports on the November 2022 shooting and the currently unreleased report on investigations into allegations against leadership at U.Va. Health — Ellis called for greater transparency from the University and Ryan.

“It has been the modus operandi of Jim Ryan to not talk about anything. With rare exceptions, he talks about what he wants to talk about, but then he won’t talk about anything he doesn’t want [to],” Ellis said.

Ellis shared broader thoughts about Ryan’s leadership — particularly in regards to a collective statement the president signed which called for an end to “political interference” at universities by the Trump administration. According to Ellis, this threatens the $435 million that the University receives each year from the federal

government.

“In terms of Jim Ryan’s leadership, he’s a very capable leader,” Ellis said. “He’s just leading the University in the wrong direction, and I think he’s therefore the wrong leader.”

Third-year College student Sabriya Sheikh spoke on the nature of recent actions by University leadership, noting that at times, differing statements and resolutions from the Board and President Ryan can create confusion for students.

“When they’re not all presenting a united front, it gets really confusing as a student here, especially if you’re a first generation student, or a low income student, and you know that sometimes your presence here relies on initiatives like DEI,” Sheikh said.

Ellis said that his plan as a member of the Board was to fire Ryan, although he could not speak to the governor’s or other Board members’ plans. To remove a University president, 12 out of the 17 Board members would have to vote to do so. Currently, 13 members are Youngkin appointees. However, Ellis said that since his own removal from the Board, he does not know what Youngkin’s plan for the University will be.

According to Ellis, Ryan is moving the University toward the left-leaning side of the political scale, a shift which he believes is influencing the administrators and faculty the University hires. He said that while he does not expect that community members always agree, he does hope that the University can foster more respectful discourse than what he currently sees.

“I’m interested in having a greater diversity of thought, more faculty members that represent a moderate point of view, as opposed to just a liberal point of view,” Ellis said. “[Then] we could have much more open and diverse discussions on all matters.”

While Ellis said that the president is moving the University too far left, Sheikh said that she feels Ryan has been neutral on many current issues — which she believes causes tensions between Ryan and the majority-conservative Board.

“I don’t know of anything that he’s done besides being neutral. But I think that’s the issue for [the Board], is they want partisanship,” Sheikh said. “They want a president who’s going to carry out these anti-DEI initiatives.”

Ellis said another of his main priorities as a member was reducing administrative and “unnecessary” costs. According to Ellis, this would allow the University to lower tuition rates for students.

“I think college has gotten way too expensive, because universities have never had to rein in cost,” Ellis said. “They’ve had either unlimited funding and or unlimited student loan access

to continually raise tuition and expenses. So that was number one issue on my agenda, to reduce the cost of attending the university for all students.”

Ellis said that he believes the University could cut $500 million out of its current $5.8 million total operating budget and that while on the Board his ultimate goal was to lower tuition by at least $15,000 each year. In December, Ellis opposed every item on the agenda at a Buildings and Grounds Committee meeting, calling for significant cuts in administrative expenses.

Despite Ellis’s objections, in June 2024 the Board approved a 7.14 percent increase in the University’s operating budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year. At its December meeting, the Board also approved varying tuition increases for the 2025-26 academic year.

Ellis also said that he aimed to strengthen the honor system at the University — an effort which he said he had not been successful in. While he believes that the Honor Committee should remain under student governance, Ellis said that University administration should take a more involved role in educating the student body about the honor system and its values.

Speaking on Ellis’s term as a member, Vega said that he was relieved to hear the news of Ellis’s removal but remained concerned about the University’s future under a Board which holds a majority of conservative members.

“I think there’s a real danger in having a political board for an apolitical institution, especially right now, when [we] have a board that doesn’t reflect

the student population’s views on so many things,” Vega said. “I think rethinking how the most powerful body of the University is formed would be very appropriate, because right now, we’re seeing real consequences [under] this fully Youngkin-appointed Board.”

The Board is not yet fully appointed by Youngkin, but in June, the final four Northam-appointed members’ terms will end and the current governor will be allowed to choose new appointees.

After firing Ellis, Youngkin announced that he would appoint Class of 1991 alumnus Ken Cuccinelli to fill the empty seat on the Board. Ellis said the former Virginia attorney general was a good pick, although he does not see many differences in their styles or conducts and did not exactly understand the governor’s decision.

As he steps out of his role on the Board, Ellis said he will continue to attend Board meetings and collaborate with Board members, maintaining his involvement at the University. He emphasized the importance of addressing what he sees as the most pressing issues for the University, calling again for lowered tuition costs.

“U.Va. is the best, or one of the best, schools — by anybody’s measurement — in the country,” Ellis said. “It is, and has the chance to be, the light on that hill for all schools to emulate, if we can manage these various issues, and particularly if we can show the rest of the university world that you can reduce the cost of college.”

DOMENICK FINI THE CAVALIER DAILY

Ellis said that his plan as a member of the Board was to fire Ryan, although he could not speak to the governor’s or other Board members’ plans.

Students react to Ryan letter condemning Trump admin

While some students praised the move as a stand for academic freedom, others questioned its impact amid recent DEI rollbacks and safety concerns

Brendon Bordwine | Staff Writer

University President Jim Ryan joined over 500 higher education leaders in signing a national statement released April 22, which opposed President Donald Trump’s “political interference” in colleges and universities. As of noon EDT on April 30, 568 university leaders had signed onto the statement. While some students saw the move as a meaningful step, others questioned its impact.

For many students, recent national and local developments have created a climate of fear on Grounds, particularly among marginalized communities. Concerns about Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity, the rollback of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives and threats to protest rights have led some to question whether the University remains a safe place.

The American Association of Colleges and Universities released the statement, saying that while their universities are open to constructive reform, they oppose “undue” government intrusion into university life. Signees also called for an end to federal funding cuts, which the Trump administration has used against universities which do not adhere to federal executive orders.

“We must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live and work on our campuses,” the statement read.

Some students believe that this move by Ryan is a step away from the more conservative direction of the Board of Visitors — where Youngkin-appointed members currently compose 13 out of the Board’s 17 seats.

Fourth-year College student Salimah Hagmagid expressed appreciation for Ryan’s decision to sign the joint statement, which she believes emphasizes the importance of independent leadership within the University administration.

“The fact that President Ryan signed the letter comforted me to know that the president’s office still holds its own identity and an opinion that can be independent from the Board of Visitors.” Hagmagid said.

But some students found the letter to lack actions to back it up. Fourth-year College student Samuel Amos found the move by Ryan to be simply performative due to Ryan’s complicity with the dissolution of the University’s Office of DEI and Community Partnerships. The Board

voted unanimously to dissolve the Office of DEI at the University March 9 in compliance with Trump’s executive order.

“Personally, it feels performative because Ryan did not make any attempt to fight the Board of Visitors or resist the closing of the DEI department at the University,” Amos said. “I think that he had good intentions and he wants to be a part of the liberal enterprise that is trying to fight back with Harvard. But, I feel like signing the letter, but still dissolving your DEI department is like trying to have your cake and eat it too.”

Harvard University received a list of demands from the Trump administration related to the university’s international student population. Harvard refused, resulting in the administration withholding more than $2 billion in federal grants and led to Harvard suing the administration to block its actions.

Brianna Sharpe, president of the University Democrats and third-year College student, echoed a similar sentiment to Amos, saying that actions speak louder than words, but still feels that this letter is a step in the right direction.

“I am ultimately happy he signed on,” Sharpe said. “I do just have a little concern that, will his actions, our administration’s actions, match the words of this letter? He can sign on to this letter, but there’s still concerns about students being protected and I just hope he follows up on that promise.”

Students recognized that Ryan’s choice to sign onto the letter does not come without the risk of facing the same repercussions as Harvard. Hagmagid acknowledged the potential risks of Ryan’s decision — namely having its federal funding withheld — but said that signing the letter despite such risks signaled a bold stance by the University against passive acceptance of federal directives.

“This felt like a very risky decision, but it felt like a necessary one,” Hagmagid said. “It felt like it put U.Va. in the conversation of universities that are thinking critically about this and are not just accepting these orders as simply just the new status quo.”

Third-year College student Jorge Solorzano agreed, expressing concerns about the issues that could arise from signing onto this letter. While he praised Ryan for his leadership of the

University, Solorzano said that Ryan should consider how his viewpoint reflects the University community as a whole.

The statement from AAC&U directly mentions the partnership between universities and the government, one that could be complicated by the Trump administration and Ryan’s actions.

“Because of these freedoms, American institutions of higher learning are essential to American prosperity and serve as productive partners with the government in promoting the common good,” the statement reads.

Moving forward, some students say they want to see stronger action from University leadership in response to nationwide ICE activity with a focus on protecting free speech and the right to protest on campus. The letter signed by Ryan does urge institutions to stand firm in protecting open inquiry, institutional autonomy and the rights of students and faculty to express diverse views without fear of censorship or retaliation.

Hagmagid still urged the University to speak out and act more strongly in support of international and noncitizen students and called for firm backing of faculty facing pressure from recent attacks on DEI.

“I would really like to see a stronger response to the ICE arrests that have been going on campuses all around the country,” Hagmagid said. “I think that this is a huge threat to free speech ... and that universities should be the safest place to be able to exercise your First Amendment rights.”

Amos agreed, expressing frustration with what they viewed as a symbolic gesture and emphasized the urgent role university leadership must play in protecting democratic values.

“University leadership is the last line of defense that we have for liberal democracy,” Amos said. “Whenever we have universities that aren’t afraid to capitulate to fascist actions, then somebody signing a letter is more of an insult to me as a student.”

Sharpe also noted that recent national developments, including efforts to dismantle DEI initiatives and revoke student visas, make it even more critical for University leaders to make changes which will protect students.

“What we’re seeing right now is completely unprecedented. At-

tacks on DEI, the Department of Education, student visas being revoked, is just not okay,” Sharpe said. “It’s come to the point where it’s not even political anymore. It’s just [about] protect-

ing your students. So, I think it’s definitely important for leaders of schools and administrations to step up or speak up.”

RUMESA ALI THE CAVALIER DAILY Some students believe that this move by Ryan is a step away from the more conservative direction of the Board of Visitors

SPORTS

Men’s lacrosse, after final loss, faces offseason angst

Saturday’s loss to No. 9 Duke, another tally in a bewildering losing streak and the cap on a bewildering season, dumped Virginia into the offseason

Michael Lieberman | Sports Editor

The lacrosse stick’s end dangled from its other three quarters. How, precisely, it had reached its snapped state seemed unclear. The act had been hidden by a torrent of blue jerseys and their ensuing dog pile.

Senior defenseman Ben Wayer, eyeblack smudged and eyes burning, walked away. His stick seemed an apt microcosm, moments after Virginia’s crushing overtime loss Saturday to No. 9 Duke, of the state of the team. Snapped. Broken.

“This is certainly a dark year and a dark day for Virginia lacrosse,” senior defenseman George Fulton said. “For myself, my teammates. For our alumni, our fans. There’s not many happy campers here.”

How dark? Saturday’s loss added another tally to Duke’s 20-game regular-season winning streak in the series, a rogue streak extended at the end of an anomalous season. Virginia finished 6-8, its worst record since 2004. It ended 0-4 in the ACC, its first time going winless in conference play since doing so three times in a row from 2015-2017.

One year removed from its latest Championship Weekend appearance, four years removed from one national championship and six years removed from another, Virginia will miss the postseason entirely.

“6-8 is not acceptable,” Coach Lars Tiffany said. “I didn’t do my job well.”

Rebuilding is next season’s undertaking. Virginia will try to restore itself, starting now, to its usual standard.

All season, Virginia looked thin offensively, scrabbling for footing in its first season without its two anchors, Connor Shellenberger and Payton Cormier. That left its stars shouldering heavy burdens.

Things will likely improve offensively next season. Juniors Ryan Colsey and Truitt Sunderland, Millon’s associates at attack, have more eligibility. The top attackman and top player in the Class of 2025, Brendan Millon, McCabe’s brother, will enter as additional reinforcement. Freshmen Ryan Duenkel, Kyle Colsey and Sean Browne, three top-

20 recruits who missed the season with injury, will begin their college careers.

Injuries stung this year at other areas of the field, too. Virginia grasped for more, all season, out of its attacking midfield. Part of those struggles came because junior Joey Terenzi, an indefatigable workhorse, was limited to four games. He, too, will return.

“The 2025 season will go down as an injury-riddled year,” Tiffany said last week. “But I’ll stop there because nobody wants to hear me talk about that.”

Perhaps that is true. And perhaps things will change with the injuries rehabilitated, the new players installed, maybe even a few more players added through the transfer portal.

One thing, though, does not have to change — Virginia never stopped believing this season, Tiffany always said. It is something the coaches and players talked about, from the beginning, something you could see on the field.

“The mindset, the culture,” Tiffany said. “Sometimes you want to say, ‘Hey, we’ve got to make a lot of changes.’ But the wisdom is what you don’t change, that is consistent, and what the seniors and the legacy that they’ve left, we gotta maintain that.”

Four games into the season, blunted by a 13-10 loss to Richmond and a 14-5 pounding by Ohio State, there the players were, in the indoor football practice facility, stationed around a trash can. No coaches, just players. Kicking a soccer ball to each other, keeping it up, trying to pass it among each other and make it in the bucket. Trying, but never succeeding. Laughing all the while. A few days removed from suffering an absolute pummelling.

Things stayed loose, all season.

“We were not short on love, and that’s something I’ll remember for a long time,” Fulton said. “And this team is the most fun I’ve had my entire life, and that is part of why this is so sad that it’s over.”

The team believed. They were “gung ho,” Tiffany said, convinced

they were going to win on the weekend despite struggling heading in.

But they kept losing.

Then that all faded Saturday, for two hours. Team against team. A lot on the line, including the postseason and that rogue losing streak.

Duke took an early lead, and Virginia worked back into it. Then came overtime, and Wayer turning the ball over at midfield, frozen momentarily, and Duke scoring. The stick snapping. Broken.

The players who sank to the ground at the end eventually stood up and looped arms across each others’ shoulders. They walked into the locker room and listened to Tiffany. They emerged and sat on the bench. The team recovered after that final goal, but it will have a long offseason to recover from a brutal year.

“We did a lot of things well,” Fulton said of the season. “We did a lot of things not well. It’s very clear the things we didn’t do well, but I think we did some things well that hopefully will pay dividends in the future.”

After 72 years, men’s golf’s first ACC title comes in epic fashion

Virginia needed long putts, chip-ins and improbable comebacks, but it would not be denied a historic victory in match play

Casey Reims | Staff Writer

Virginia’s men’s golfers missed their initial attempt at a celebratory water dump onto their coach. The second time, they found their mark, unloading the entire cooler onto his head.

It took them two tries to drench their coach. It took them 72 years to win a conference title.

But for the first time in program history, Virginia men’s golf won the ACC Championship Monday. The Cavaliers defeated North Carolina 3-2 in the match play final, two days after winning the stroke play tournament for the first time ever. It is a monumental breakthrough for a program that has been on the cusp of triumph so many times over the event’s 72-year history.

The victory was especially sweet for Coach Bowen Sargent, who has served in the role for over two decades. He has taken the program to unprecedented success during his career, reaching 17 consecutive postseasons, ascending to the No. 1 national spot at various times and producing three current PGA Tour members.

Despite the relative highs of his

tenure, Sargent and the team needed a championship to cement their place as one of the top programs in the nation. The Cavaliers were no stranger to reaching ACC match play, having done so in the two previous seasons.

However, both times, they fell to the eventual champions. Now Sargent has finally achieved that goal.

“It was surreal,” Sargent said. “When they handed the trophy to me, I had a little tear in my eye. It’s been 72 years. We’ve never won one. It’s been 21 years since I’ve been here. It’s been a long time.”

The Cavaliers broke through after an incredible five-day run. Virginia headed into the championship match following an exhausting battle Sunday with Clemson. During that round, the Cavaliers found themselves on the ropes. Senior Deven Patel, with the team’s championship hopes on the line, fell three holes behind with just four to play. The Tigers would have clinched the victory with a win, simply needing to win one hole or tie two of the final four to advance.

“We were dead,” Sargent said. “We were beat.”

Patel disagreed and went on to win the 15th and 16th holes to close the deficit to one. On the 17th, he stood over a 30-foot, right-to-left birdie putt, a putt he would normally look to just hit close and tap in for par. But Sunday was anything but a normal day, and Patel confidently struck the ball and watched it drop into the back of the cup, topped with a resounding fist pump.

The match was all square heading into the 18th. Patel’s opponent, Clemson senior Andrew Swanson, proceeded to hit a wayward tee shot and had to concede. Patel’s comeback was complete, and the Cavaliers’ shot at the championship was still alive.

The final victory came thanks to Cavalier junior Bryan Lee, who battled for 21 holes against Clemson junior Lucas Augustsson. After Lee tied the match on 16 with a clutch birdie, the two remained all square throughout the next four holes. On the third playoff hole, Augustsson missed his bogey putt and conceded the hole and match to Lee, clinching Virginia’s trip to the championship.

The final match did not prove to be any easier than the previous one. Virginia and North Carolina played a tight match from start to finish.

Three matchups required all 18 holes to decide, including the final pairing between Lee and Tar Heel senior Maxwell Ford.

Senior Paul Chang got the ball rolling, literally and figuratively, for the Cavaliers, claiming the first points of the match against freshman Sihan Sandhu, 2&1. Patel followed with a victory of his own, converting on long putts throughout and never trailing. The score eventually sat at 2-2, with all eyes on Lee and Ford in the deciding match.

Heading into the 14th, Lee sat two holes down and was running out of time. Needing to create an opportunity, he launched a drive for the green on a short par 4. It was a good shot but came up slightly short, leaving him with a chip from just off the fringe. Lee opted for a bump-and-run, and the shot was perfect. He landed it roughly 10 feet onto the green and watched it

trickle the rest of the way toward the hole, where it eventually dropped.

That won Lee the hole and gave him all the momentum, and he went on to win the next two holes as well, taking the lead going into the 17th. Ford could not muster the same heroics, and after a missed putt on the 18th, the match was over. Lee had pulled it off, and the Cavaliers were champions.

“These are the things we work on in our program,” Sargent said. “Being tough in tough situations. And it’s good to see them come through.”

Virginia will aim to carry that resilience into the NCAA Championships, which begin with regionals May 12-14. The Cavaliers lost in the match play quarterfinals last season to eventual champion Auburn. They are looking for another chance at a deep run.

They showed their resilience Monday, first on the course and then in the celebratory shower. They are hoping to do so again in the coming weeks.

Behind the scoreboard of Virginia softball

For more than 20 years, Patrick Scharf has had a front-row seat to an evolving program

Cierra Lyles | Staff Writer

Growing up in Syracuse, N.Y., playing baseball was a rite of passage. Patrick Scharf was no exception. In his home just 90 minutes away from the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., baseball was everywhere. So, it was perfectly fitting that Scharf rounded up his friends and took on the local neighborhood boys. Scharf and his team, the Castlenova Cougars, were dressed in their baby yellow t-shirts with cursive navy blue writing. They gallivanted across the city conquering whoever they could. This was Scharf’s first exposure to the baseball world, but it would be far from his last.

For nearly 20 years, Scharf has sat near home plate and operated the scoreboard for Virginia softball. He does it with passion and care, buoying gameday operations from behind the scenes. Scharf plots every number for the program’s games and has seen the program evolve from its former struggles to its current prominence. He has also seen countless Cavaliers grow into stars and thousands of runs added to Virginia’s scoreboard.

He seldom gets the spotlight with Virginia softball. He sits in the press area. He observes, his experienced eyes always noting how the Cavaliers progress. And this year, there has certainly been a great deal of progress.

Coach Joanna Hardin and the coaching staff have the Cavaliers sitting at No. 24 in the national D1 Softball poll heading into the ACC Tournament, which begins May 7 in Chestnut Hill, Mass. For the first time, Scharf is part of a team that is a genuine ACC contender — and, perhaps, could advance deeper in the postseason than ever before. Things are going well for the program right now.

But what Scharf most admires about Virginia’s progress is the family mindset that Hardin has instilled — a family he gets to be a part of.

“Coach has done a great job,” Scharf said. “More and more talent keeps coming here.”

Interestingly enough, Scharf’s first foray into Virginia Athletics was not with softball, or even baseball. It was with wrestling.

In 2007, former Associate Athletic Director Dennis Womack asked Scharf to help the wrestling team track ride time. Scharf had met Womack through baseball camps they were running together, and the two became friends. Scharf expressed interest in helping out, so Womack brought him on. Scharf did his job well. After

that winter, Womack asked him if he would be interested in helping with softball, as previously, scorekeepers were unpaid student volunteers who often made mistakes.

Scharf took the scorekeeping gig. Unlike the Palmer Park press box he works in now, his early days were far from glamorous.

“We were over at The Park, and the setup they had was directly behind the plate, in the stands,” Scharf said. “They had all of us jammed up there. We were in the elements. They didn’t have any cover, so if it rained, you had to put plastic over the top of your papers.”

The Park was softball’s old home field, located at North Grounds by the School of Law until the spring of 2020 when Palmer Park opened for Cavalier fans. The opening of Palmer was not only exciting for the fans, but also for Scharf — he was able to witness the first women’s sports team at Virginia get their own stadium. Plus, his view got upgraded.

Over his life, Scharf has always had a bright softball mind — espe-

cially for hitting. He gives private hitting lessons and brings his eye for hitting to Virginia softball as well — watching the Cavaliers refine their swings, develop a better eye for pitches and have more confident at-bats is one of his favorite parts of his job. For Scharf, witnessing this growth has been very entertaining and exciting.

But beyond the upgraded view and amenities, what has meant the most to Scharf is watching the program transform. Over the years, Scharf has had a front row seat to watching different coaches take over the team. He has seen stars come in and out, such as his favorite early 2010s pitcher, Melanie Mitchell, or current junior infielder Jade Hylton.

“I’ve watched the program grow,” Scharf said. “So it’s exciting to watch and be a part of it — or at least feel like I’m a part of it.”

And for Scharf, being a “part of it” goes far beyond operating the scoreboard. He keeps a detailed scorebook for fun, recording anything from pinch runners to pitching mound visits, always ready to

catch what someone else in the press box might miss. He even created his own brand of scorekeeping books, fittingly called “Stat Nut,” a nickname he proudly gave himself.

Still, there is more to Scharf than just being a self-proclaimed stat nut. Off the field, his life is just as sporty — and just as dedicated. Throughout the course of his life, Scharf has coached teams from T-ball all the way to high school varsity, even hosting pitching and hitting lessons.

Considering that Scharf was constantly on the field, it was inevitable that his three sons would play as well — one of whom followed in his dad’s footsteps, now coaching a varsity team up in New York.

“When I was visiting, I got to work with the hitters,” Scharf said. “That was my thing — I loved working with the hitters. I had one of the big cages in my backyard, so I used to do private lessons.”

When Scharf reached his mid-fifties, he decided to hang up his playing cleats. He is no longer swinging a bat every day, but he

still works for Virginia — and he also focuses his time on teaching high-school level Biology to seventh graders at Louisa County Middle School. Instead of a love for the game, he brings his love for cell structure. And just like for his players, he has an undying passion for his students.

“I tell my students I love them every day,” Scharf said. “I’m even walking one of my past students down the aisle when she gets married.”

Through the decades of seasons, the transition from The Park to Palmer, and the stat books, Scharf still shows up with the same energy and joy he had when Womack asked him to start.

Looking back on it all — the games, the players, the lifelong connections — Scharf knows he’s very lucky. To him, having played even a small part in so many people’s stories is more than just fulfilling, it is a privilege he carries with immense pride.

“It’s not work if you love it,” Scharf said.

CAT WHITE THE CAVALIER DAILY

Scharf chats with Coach Joanna Hardin postgame.

A Hoo’s journey from social media to real estate

Rajan Chidambaram is turning views into ventures and content into capital

Malaika Rehman | Senior Associate

While most college students are solely focused on excelling in their classes and securing jobs for after graduation, fourth-year Commerce student Rajan Chidambaram has been laying the foundation — literally — for something greater. From reselling sneakers out of an office unit to breaking ground on his land development project and gaining over 92,000 followers on his Instagram account, he has channeled his entrepreneurial spirit into a serious real estate ambition.

Chidambaram, a Reston, Va. native, is known around Grounds for his viral fraternity and sorority house tours on Instagram. But behind the scenes, he has been building a unique real estate venture, combining his interests in business and property.

Chidambaram’s entrepreneurial journey began during his junior year of high school amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when he launched a sneaker resale business. The young entrepreneur was inspired by content creators he had followed for years, namely “Gary Vee” — Gary Vaynerchuk — whose early videos about flipping items from garage sales planted the seed for Chidambaram’s high school sneaker hustle.

“I watched a Gary Vee video, and he was showing [how] you can just go to garage sales and thrift stores and find stuff on the low and start flipping,” Chidambaram said. “And that’s how I started my sneaker business.”

Through the profits from this business — which he has been accumulating since his second year at the University — Chidambaram took his first step into the real estate space by putting a house under contract on his 21st birthday. Though this first deal did not go through, it marked a milestone that helped him break further into the field with his friend, Renzo Sanio, who is a senior at Virginia Tech. Stepping away from purchasing real estate, the two friends decided to embark on a more creative project — development.

“In November of 2024, my friend Renzo came to me with the [idea] of [a] land development [project],” Chidambaram said. “It was a two and half acre [property] in Shenandoah Valley.”

Their idea for their land development, called Royal Oak Retreat, takes inspiration from Live Oak Lake, a luxury micro-resort in Waco, Texas. Created by entrepreneur Isaac French in 2021, the seven-cabin retreat was built for $2.1 million and sold 18 months later for a whopping $7 million. Chidambaram and Sanio are following French’s blueprint nearly exactly.

While Chidambaram had some experience with buying property, real estate development was entirely new

territory — but he did not let that become a block in the road.

“I kind of locked myself in the Commerce [School] for like two days [and] studied real estate development,” Chidambaram said. “At the end I was just like, ‘Screw it, let’s just go ahead and do it.’”

Just months later, they have now broken ground on their project, using funds from a substantial bank loan to work on the base of the foundation for their first cabin. Real estate investments are a weighty risk for any young entrepreneur, let alone a college student still finishing their degree. While they plan to eventually build four units on the subdivided land, Chidambaram said they are starting with just one cabin to test the waters. For all of the polish and planning behind his brand, Chidambaram admits that none of it guarantees a formula for success.

“I haven’t made a single dime from this,” Chidambaram said. “Me and my friend just took out a $276,000 loan under our names … like, we could be screwed.”

But for Chidambaram, the risk is

part of the process. He knows that real estate is not just about what you build, but how you sell it — which is where social media comes in. He began his social media journey by posting content related to his sneaker business earlier in this school year, starting with unscripted videos he filmed in his office. His first major burst of traction came when he started a challenge to hit $15,000 in eBay sales in one month. While hitting this goal marked a great milestone, the real turning point came in November 2024 when he posted an Instagram reel about the land deal, which gained over 678,000 views.

“I made a video right when I got the land under contract… it’s like ‘[We] got this land under contract for $37,000, here’s our vision,’” Chidambaram said. “That’s when I kind of knew, like I really want to pivot into real estate and I already knew that social media was going to be part of it.”

As his real estate content began to gain traction online, Chidambaram realized that if he wanted to grow his platform, he needed to diversify his content. That is when the idea to tour

fraternity and sorority houses came to him — a concept he knew would appeal to both current University students and curious onlookers.

“[The house tours are] mainly just like more exposure [for] people in Virginia to know who I am,” Chidambaram said. “[The] end goal with every video is to get more exposure so that whenever we start looking at our cabins, most everyone in Virginia knows [about them].”

The process behind the tours is quite deliberate. Chidambaram typically reaches out through friends in the fraternity or sorority, gets in touch with the house president and sends over a draft script before filming. He scopes out the layout ahead of time so he can plan the flow of the video, and he always makes an effort to highlight each house’s most unique or eye-catching features.

“I feel like I have an eye for it now,” Chidambaram said. “I can kind of tell, like ‘This room is gonna pop.’” Everything he posts — whether a fraternity house walkthrough, a behind-the-scenes look at construction

or a vlog about his sneakers — ties back to a broader vision of not only growing a personal brand, but also building his customer base.

As graduation approaches and as his peers scramble to solidify their post-grad plans, Chidambaram is not searching for his next step. Instead, he is continuing to build his future — one cabin, video and idea at a time. Whether Royal Oak Retreat becomes the next viral micro-resort or simply a costly, but valuable, learning experience, Chidambaram is betting on himself — and grateful to have the support of his family that encourages him every step of the way.

“The funny story is … [to my dad] I was like, ‘Renzo came to me with this … I don’t know, do you think I should do it?,’” Chidambaram said. “He didn’t even understand what I was doing, he doesn’t know stuff about development … and he’s like ‘Just do it, you’ll learn a lot.’”

MALAIKA REHMAN THE CAVALIER DAILY

Chidambaram, a Reston, Va. native, is known around Grounds for his viral fraternity and sorority house tours on Instagram.

“Dog-eater.”

Embracing who I am at my home away from home

How being at the University has allowed me to fully immerse myself in my Japanese culture, heritage and identity — without shame

“Ching chong.”

These were the nicknames pressed upon me throughout my formative years, and upon those who looked like me — insults that sunk into my being and remained there for years. Yet, entering the University, the hyper-awareness I had developed about having a “different” upbringing and background started to fade, and it was replaced by a stronger, more emboldened sense of belonging and pride about my culture as an Asian American.

Throughout my childhood, I was always highly cognizant of my identity and how it clearly exuded from me, with my pin-straight dark hair, short stature and stereotypically narrow eyes. In the suburban county of Pennsylvania where I grew up and specifically in the realm of classical ballet — a historically Eurocentric art form — I was clearly a minority, often the only East Asian student in ballet classes, auditions and summer intensive dance programs.

In the summer of 2021, I was invited to take part in Ballet West’s summer intensive program in Salt Lake City,

Utah, and quickly learned that I was one of two East Asian students in my level out of a group of nearly 30. While I had experienced my fair share of microaggressions back home — cashiers condescendingly talking extra slowly to my parents and I, getting bowed at when I revealed my Japanese background and so on — the environment I experienced in Utah made me feel exponentially smaller in comparison. Right off the bat, the director of the program asked whether I spoke English, and a white student pulled her eyes back in mockery of my own. It was clear that the so-called melting pot of America had yet to truly emulsify.

Perpetuated by centuries of stereotypes and society’s more recent fetishization of Asian culture, America’s stereotypical concept of Japan has seemed to revolve around anime, sushi — namely, the California roll — and an air of “foreignness.” Being Japanese was weird and different, and therefore, felt shameful. As a result, throughout my childhood, I subconsciously distanced myself from my “Japaneseness” and tried my best to emulate the practices of my white peers. I selfishly begged

Mai Hukuoka | Senior Associate

my parents to speak English instead of Japanese while in public, and as a result, found myself distanced from a large part of what makes me “me.”

Coming into the University in the fall of 2023, I was unsure of the demographic of students — I had never deigned to check the statistics, and coming from the Northeast, my mind imagined Virginia to be as Southern as it could get.

Contrary to my fears, I’ve found myself enveloped in community and diversity here. There were several Japanese students on my dorm floor as well as in my newly-created friend groups — something I had never expected — and Asian organizations that boasted hundreds of active members. At the University, pride and joy in one’s heritage was abundant, and moreover, the openness and genuine curiosity that my white peers had in other cultures warmed my heart.

I joined the Japanese Student Association in the beginning of my first year, and this marked the first time that I was a part of a chosen family full of other students who shared my background, culture and traditions. They understood my references, experiences

and tastes in food and popular culture and, even further, were celebrating it. I became deeply involved, going to karaoke nights, house parties and making actually authentic Japanese food.

This community played a large role in alleviating my homesickness that would ensue after arriving on Grounds. Due to being restricted to a mini fridge, microwave and the limited O’Hill menu, I rarely was able to experience the tastes of home. In these moments, it was my JSA “bigs” and upperclassmen family who would pack me tupperware full of rice, make hayashi rice and give me the warmth of familiarity while miles away from my parents.

It wasn’t just this one club that further deepened my comfort with my Japanese identity — it has also been the overall culture of acceptance at the University itself and the faces I see daily when walking around Grounds. I no longer sit in a classroom, a meeting or a dining hall feeling like the “other.” Instead, I have found myself mirrored in a myriad of peers, teachers and workers who model holding executive positions whilst embracing their heritage. They speak about their trips back to

their home countries, openly use their different languages across Grounds and exude a love for, and pride in, their history.

To see my experiences reflected throughout so many avenues at the University is empowering. I can display my ethnicity, wave it around and feel at home — not ostracized or ashamed as I have in the past.

Yes, what I look like and my background shouldn’t be the single factor that defines me. But, it remains a large part of my character nonetheless, and I have a lot of pride in who I am and who I am becoming. Beyond the stereotypical elements of anime and sushi lie the traditions, beauty and stories that have grown with me and continue to shape me today. I find strength in each of my own facets — as an American, a University student and as a Japanese person.

This AAPISA heritage month, I hope to wear my identity on my sleeve, to remain proud of who I am no matter where I may be and to be a representative for everyone feeling like 15-year-old Mai.

Sustainability in the lecture hall and beyond

A closer look at three courses of study in the College giving students an earthly education

Ingrid Gay | Feature Writer

For some students, the environment means more than just a hike in the woods. With the Environmental Science, Global Environments and Sustainability and Environmental Thought and Practice programs, students at the University are able to discover and tackle environmental issues within their classes. Despite looking at the subject through different lenses, students in all three of these programs stress that now, more than ever, it is important to be learning about our environment.

The College of Arts & Sciences offers three majors centered on the environment — Environmental Thought and Practice, Environmental Science and Global Environments and Sustainability. Ranging from full-on science classes to coursework that is highly interdisciplinary, these programs have different ways of talking about the issues the environment faces today.

An interest in the science behind environmental issues is what drew second-year College student Marty Dwyer to their major — Environmental Science. Focused on ecology,

geosciences, hydrology and atmospheric sciences, the B.A. and B.S. in Environmental Science are grounded in scientific research. For Dwyer, the ability to be outside and partake in labs is a highlight of the program.

“For all the Environmental Science labs, you have actual outside components,” Dwyer said. “For my ecology lab a couple weeks ago, we went outside and dug for worms and measured worms, and that was super sick.”

The other environment-related majors at the University, however, are rooted in the humanities. One of these is Global Environments and Sustainability, a track within the interdisciplinary Global Studies department. The program explores sustainability concepts, challenges and strategies, with core classes focused on the intersection of the environment and policy, economics and culture.

KC Christman, Global Environments and Sustainability major and fourth-year Commerce student, said they knew they wanted to study the environment but were unsure what

program would be the right fit. In the end, out of the large spectrum of environmental academic programs, Global Sustainability offered the interdisciplinary approach that Christman was looking for.

“When I got here … I didn’t know that Global Sustainability existed. I knew that I didn’t want to do Environmental Science because it’s a little too sciencey for me,” Christman said. “I don’t want to be a scientist, and so I found Global Sustainability in my first semester.”

Like Global Environments and Sustainability, the Environmental Thought and Practice major is also interdisciplinary. The goal of the department is to prepare its students with the challenges of the environment, such as an ever growing world population and rising temperatures.

Second-year College student Kattalin Bennett found the ETP program after thinking about switching out of biology due to burnout during her first year. Her advisor at the time recommended ETP as a possible new major.

“He said it was better because the

professors were more involved with the students in the major,” Bennett said.

For Bennett, like Christman with Global Sustainability, the academic freedom in the ETP program has been a highlight. The major only has two required classes — ETP 2030, “Politics, Science and Values” and ETP 4010, “Environmental Decisions. The remaining courses may be chosen from over 60 classes, spanning from biology to music.

Throughout all of these major programs, there is one common thread — climate change. 2024 was the warmest year on record, and the presidential administration has taken steps to stifle climate-related progress, such as pulling out of the Paris Agreement and increasing fossil fuel production. Bennett, Christman and Dwyer all echoed a feeling of frustration with the lack of climate action being taken within the United States.

“[Climate change] isn’t being taken seriously… we’re entering the sixth mass extinction that is almost entirely caused by people,” Dwyer said. “My concern is that these facts aren’t be-

ing acknowledged or addressed.”

Bennett echoed Dwyer’s sentiment. As someone interested in global environmental policy, she said she is worried about how politicians are downplaying the severity of climate change.

“My biggest concern is the effect that political polarization is playing on climate change and how people are not acknowledging its existence,” Bennett said.

For the students in the Environmental Thought and Practice, Environmental Science and Global Environments and Sustainability programs, the threats of climate change are too serious to ignore. From the lecture hall to the lab bench, these students are confronting the issue head on, hoping to make a difference beyond the classroom.

“At the end of the day, not to be cheesy… but there is no Planet B.” Dwyer said. “This is our one chance, and we have to understand it in order to get it right.”

U.Va. Dine announces Rotunda Royale Games

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

In one of the most unprecedented moves in collegiate dining history, U.Va. Dine announced Monday the launch of the Rotunda Royale Games — students will be fighting for Flex Dollars, meal exchanges and edible food.

According to University officials, due to the mounting costs of feeding thousands of students on an ever-shrinking budget, the only fair solution is a battle — pitting roommate against roommate, frat bro against frat bro and people-watcher against people-watcher.

The prize for the champion of these games will be access to the “Super All Access Mega Dining Plan” — a gold star dining experience rumored to have food that actually tastes good, as well as a 24/7 pancake bar, exotic fruit-like strawberries and Newcomb’s backroom poker nights with Ms. Kathy. The plan still only allows for 10 guest swipes and two meal ex-

changes a day, but gives its holders unlimited access to the new Flex Dollar Casino.

Students can sign up to participate in the games through Student Information System, making sure to enroll in the “Are you READY TO ROYALE?” class. The four-digit course ID “PHAT 4555” can be used to find the class, with registration starting May 2 at 4:64 a.m.

Some students have expressed interest in signing up for the games. Chuck McGriddle, thirdyear Engineering student, has already added the course to his shopping cart and is eager to secure his spot.

“I forgot about enrollment during my time slot, but I’m fixing my part-time student status so I can lock in for these games. I have six alarms set for Royale enrollment day,” McGriddle said.

Once enrolled, students will participate in a series of daring challenges. The University has contracted Dystopian Solutions LLC to facilitate and craft the

games. Dystopian’s spokesperson Tye Rant, assistant consultant for Wipeout, shared his excitement on Instagram.

“totally excited to run the rotundy royale games for virginia. can’t wait to start. can someone tell me if the rotunda is moveable, its lowkey in the way,” Rant said.

So far, the games themselves are set to include a laundry run from the trenches of the Courtenay, Dunglison and Fitzhugh dorms to the Cauthen basement carrying 20-pound loads of stained jeans and socks, a relay from the Lawn to Runk and back and a Jeopardy game to win Flex Dollars.

Critics have been debating whether or not these games will unfairly benefit student-athletes over regular students. However, some individuals like Patty Melt, president of U.Va. Dine, have different opinions.

“Nerds get everything. Athletes need to get more. Life is too unfair to them,” Melt said.

Administration has settled on

the Rotunda Royale Games being the perfect solution to student versus student-athlete discrepancies after big-money donors told them it was. But in the spirit of fair competition, Melt has given University faculty and students an inside scoop into what they can expect.

“To begin, all spectators will have to pay a fee. Unfortunately, the University’s funds are running low, and commercializing sports is the best solution. We take inspiration from the Virginia men’s basketball team and how they have made money by replacing our team’s talent with player sponsored merch!” Melt said.

Additionally, the University is set to unveil their all new FlexBets parlay system to get increased funding for the games and for dining across Grounds. Chance Wager, founder of Flex-Bets and third-year computer science student in the College, shared his plans for the app.

“I plan to use a portion of the money I earn from the parlay sys-

PUZZLE

ACROSS 1 Corrosive compound

5 Still breathing 6 Sasha Obama’s big sister

7 Wept

8 More, in Mexico DOWN 1 “Sound the _____”

2 Tiny hairs

3 U.Va. is considered a public version of these prestigious schools

4 Not 5-Across

5 Movie theater company with iconic Nicole Kidman commercial

tem to open ‘TJ’s Smoothie Cafe’ on Grounds,” Wager said. “No student should have to pay $35.99 for a three-ounce smoothie from Juice Laundry.”

When asked for his thoughts on the Rotunda Royale Games, second-year College student Chadwick “Chad” Flexington explained his excitement.

“I have been ready for this since the first time I swiped into O’Hill. Plus, my brain can’t tell the difference between being in an emergency and not having enough Flex Dollars to get into Gaston’s Market … so I’m motivated, don’t worry.” Lexington said.

As the Rotunda Royale Games continue to be planned, it’s clear that only the most cunning, strategic and desperate students will be successful in this race for food.

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

ACROSS

1 U.Va. secret society founded in 1902

4 “_____ Gay” (WWII plane)

6 U.Va. secret society founded in 1905

7 Three-note chord

8 Organization whose “Talks” have the tagline “Ideas change everything” DOWN

1 Motionless

2 “Avatar” is the highest-grossing one

3 Say “not guilty,” perhaps

4 Superlative ending

5 Furthermore

Mariam Grigorian | Puzzlist

Shreyas Agnihotri | Puzzlist

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Visible Records is not your typical art gallery

The Charlottesville for-artists, by-artists studio is a crossroads between art, politics and community

Amelia

Lucien | Staff Writer

Tucked away in the Belmont neighborhood of Charlottesville, a former data warehouse has been transformed into an affordable artist-run gallery and studio space. Opened in 2021, Visible Records was created with the goal of providing both central Virginians and global artists with 24-hour studio access, community programming and artist residencies.

Visible Records acknowledges the way in which the development of previously industrial spaces into expensive housing, retail and restaurants has contributed to the affordable housing crisis. To address this, the studio aims to center the intersection of visual art and social justice movements in a variety of affordable, diverse spaces.

These spaces include a community garden and a Little Free Fridge — a 24/7 fridge and pantry space where everyone is welcome to take what they need and leave what they do not. The fridge is stocked with produce from Common Field and Solitary Gardens, along with food donated from community members. Visible Records also hosts events like film screenings, grill-outs and a bi-weekly community potluck.

Morgan Ashcom, founder and director of Visible Records, also leads the Exhibitions Committee for Visible

Records in an effort to build an important third space for Charlottesville residents and nurture a sense of local community and longevity.

“People who have met in the community garden [can] go on to participate in letter writing nights, then collaborate on creating an exhibition,” Ashcom said. “Going through longterm projects together helps everyone grow. It’s not always easy, there is rupture and repair along the way, but ultimately it makes our community stronger. Building that strength is the best form of resistance.”

Visible Records is an important part of the greater Charlottesville community in many other ways, offering plenty of opportunities for anyone who would like to come and visit the space, including University field trips. First-year College student Noah Gibson visited the space with his AMST 4210 “Refugee Aesthetics” class and was impressed with the studio’s unique approach to storytelling that shines light on subjects often overlooked.

“One thing that stood out to me about my time at Visible Records was seeing a community interest in preserving history in a nontraditional way,” Gibson said. “All throughout the space there are artifacts of historical events and community movements

that tell a history that is not projected by mainstream media.”

Artist and costume designer Annie Temmink has worked in Visible Records studios for multiple years, and the experience of creating in a community-engaged space has enhanced her work by giving her the opportunity to connect and collaborate with other artists.

“I’m continually given opportunities to engage with new people and to hear new perspectives. It’s refreshing and human to exist and create in a space like this. It makes me feel very lucky,” Temmink said.

Another example of this emphasis on community is Visible Records’ collaboration with jackie sumell, an artist who has been educating the public for decades on prison abolition by working on projects that help give incarcerated people agency. sumell installed four Solitary Gardens in their Common Field community garden, each the shape and scale of a standard solitary confinement cell commonly used all over the United States.

The plants, flowers and herbs grown in the Solitary Garden Beds are curated by prisoners who are currently serving their sentences in isolation. The gardens are intended to link the solitary prisoners to the outside world, allowing them to create a space of their own outside of the prison through written communication.

“The use of these cells constitutes a moral atrocity that we all have a duty to end,” Ashcom said. “This project has been taken on by the community here for years and remains a defining

project.”

As a complement to the Solitary Gardens Project, Melissa Gilrain and the Rivanna Anarchist Black Cross — a political prisoner support group — run letter writing nights that occur on the second Thursday of the month at Visible Records, where anyone is welcome to write a letter to one of the Solitary Gardeners or other political prisoners. This project, like many of the others at Visible Records, uses art to build community and compassion while fighting for social justice.

“Art and movement work can invite us to imagine and build new futures. Sometimes the exhibitions, workshops or residencies we host explicitly blend movement work and art, and sometimes they occur alongside one another,” Ashcom said. “So much of this programming is community driven and we see abundant possibilities in creating an environment where all of this mixes together.”

Other community building programming includes poetry critiques, gardening, music events and film screenings, alongside special events that can be found on the Visible Records website. Upcoming events include an open mic style abortion storytelling, a Solidarity Screening of “The Prison in Twelve Landscapes” and a grill out in The Common Fields Garden.

Additionally, their new immersive exhibition, “seeds of connection: dreams of freedom,” invites audiences to listen closely to the voices and dreams of those impacted by the criminal legal system, in collaboration with

the Philadelphia-based multidisciplinary abolitionist project The People’s Paper Co-op. “the seeds of connection” exhibit will be running until May 31.

On top of the community programming and affordable studio space for local artists available at Visible Records, they also host a recommendation-based residency program that invites artists from around the world to join Visible Records in Charlottesville for up to a month. They provide residents with a private studio and cozy airstream living space on-site, as well as covering travel, food, a small material budget and weekly stipend and have had over 20 artists participate in the program so far.

Joumana Altallal, a past resident at Visible Records, curated a solo exhibition of artwork by Iraqi visual artist Ali Eyal, complete with paintings, performances and conceptual pieces that tied into a broader story.

“He’s a serious artist with a lot going on in his career, but after being in residence at Visible Records for a month, he told us he wanted to grill fish for everyone at the opening of his exhibition,” Ashcom said.

Eyal’s interest in building community reflects how Visible Records is focused on a complete integration of art and social justice into daily life — benefiting both artists and Charlottesville residents to create a completely unique space.

“That’s not something you’ll find at a typical gallery,” Ashcom said.

But of course, Visible Records is not a typical gallery.

COURTESY MORGAN ASHCOM

Visible Records also hosts events like film screenings, grill-outs and a bi-weekly community potluck.

“Just me and my guitar”: Sela Campbell’s

musical journey

The Virginia native arrived in Charlottesville having released two singles and has since used her time at the University to bolster her musical talents

Fiona Goo | Staff Writer

From picking up a guitar at 5 years old to winning a Golden Ticket on “American Idol” at 17, Sela Campbell was bound for musical success from the beginning. Now a first-year College student, Campbell has continued her music journey, but this time on Grounds as a singer-songwriter whose instrumental talents span from guitar, piano, violin and vocal performance in a cappella.

Originally from Northern Virginia, Campbell grew up in a household full of music, drawing inspiration from powerhouses like Dolly Parton and The Chicks. She attributes her early start to her parents who started her in guitar lessons at age 5, noting that they passed down a country influence to her.

“The first song I ever learned to play on guitar was ‘Jolene’ by Dolly Parton, because my mom was always listening to her. So I feel like it was just such a natural thing to me from a young age,” Campbell said. Campbell noted that her passion and devotion to music growing up often led her to miss out on a typical teenage experience. Starting at just 12

years old, she played up to 200 paid shows a year, performing covers at three hour-long sets which sometimes consisted of three gigs in just one weekend.

Her years of dedication and early professional experience culminated in the first month of her senior year of high school, when she auditioned for “American Idol” and won a Golden Ticket to Hollywood. This awarded her the opportunity to perform for a set of judges which included Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, an experience she described as unreal.

“It was a really surreal experience, you know, being in front of those iconic musicians and getting to sing for them and hear what they have to say about you,” Campbell said.

“Tin Man” by Miranda Lambert was Campbell’s chosen song for the performance, and all three judges granted her a yes. She also received high praise, the judges noting her “Appalachian soul” and “incredible poise.”

Campbell kept pushing towards her dream and released two singles, “One Track Mind” and “Yellow Flowers” in 2024 before coming to the

University. The former is about the experience of putting so much time and energy into her dream of pursuing music and the latter a classic country love song. Campbell noted that although it took her a while to get into songwriting, she gained confidence in her ability after the songs’ releases.

“Once I knocked those two out, that was like the foot in the door, and then ever since then, I’ve been writing like crazy,” Campbell said.

On her journey to Grounds, Campbell said that it was a childhood dream of hers to attend the University, which is her parents’ alma mater. Campbell expressed that since coming to school, she’s been able to fulfil this dream while also keeping up with her love of music.

Joining the Virginia Belles and being exposed to new types of music through a cappella has been a highlight of Campbell’s experience at the University. The Virginia Belles are the University’s oldest all female-identifying a cappella group and being a part of the group has allowed Campbell to expand her musical boundaries.

“I’m a country musician and that’s

what I’ve always done, but a capella is cool because it’s introduced me to a bunch of different genres, and it’s just a different type of singing,” Campbell said.

Campbell mentioned that her technical knowledge of music has also expanded since she got to Grounds. Growing up, she had only ever taken guitar lessons, but as a music major at the University she is now also taking music theory classes as well as private vocal lessons in order to further develop her voice.

Looking ahead, Campbell said her next step is to continue to write songs, which she has done increasingly since she came to the University. She plans to attend more recording and songwriting sessions in Nashville, Tenn., where she has been traveling regularly to collaborate with other writers and make industry connections.

As a country singer and songwriter, storytelling is a large part of Campbell’s connection with music. She expressed that the ability of a song to tell someone’s story, whether that be her own or someone else’s, is her way of feeling that connection.

“I love those songs that paint pictures in your mind and tell a story,” Campbell said. “That’s what I love so much about country music, you can tell so many stories through the lyrics.”

Balancing academics with a musical career might seem daunting, but to Campbell, it is more rewarding than it is tiring. She explained that time management is key, and when she is not studying or doing homework, she is playing guitar or songwriting.

This dedication combined with her confidence has allowed Campbell to make it this far, and she has no plans to stop now. While the competitiveness of the industry is often a struggle, Campbell has found that trust in herself is crucial.

“It’s really easy to feel lost or stuck in the shadows, but you just have to remind yourself that you have something important to say, and if this is what you want to do, you got to do it,” Campbell said.

Joan Mitchell Fralin exhibit uncovers art restoration

On display at the Fralin Museum of Art through July, the exhibit uses Joan Mitchell’s works to illuminate the process behind restoring paintings

Darya

Bartol | Staff Writer

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the American artist Joan Mitchell’s birth, museums all over — such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the Seattle Art Museum — are displaying collections of her work. However, along with celebrating the artistry of Joan Mitchell, the Fralin Museum of Art exhibit centers the process of restoring the artwork itself.

Unveiled 10 days before Mitchell’s birthday Feb. 2, the multimedia exhibit displays five pieces of her work — two that have been restored, and three that have not — along with a video showing the process of art restoration.

Known best for her abstract expressionism, Joan Mitchell is one of the most influential contemporary artists, with her career spanning from the 1950s to the 1990s. M. Jordan Love, Carol R. Angle academic curator at the Fralin Museum of Art, explained that due to the way in which the Fralin highlighted abstract artists in its 2023 exhibit “Processing Abstraction,” the museum wanted to take a different approach to Joan Mitchell’s works. They asked Scott W. Nolley, Head Conservator at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn

Museum, to restore several Mitchell paintings already in the Fralin’s collection.

“We had talked about her as an artist and her work as part of the abstract painting movement,” Love said. “We hadn’t told the conservation story.”

The exhibit utilizes a mix of Mitchell’s painting from the late 1950s that Nolley has restored and pieces that have accumulated grime from general daily life. Most of the pieces displayed in this exhibit were donations from Alan Groh, an alum of the University and close friend of Mitchell. The paintings had been found to have traces of cigarette smoke, wine and soot from chimneys.

Saba Nasseri, second-year College student, noted the environmental decay aspect during her walkthrough of the exhibit.

“I thought the whole exhibit was pretty cool,” Nasseri said. “How certain particles in the surrounding area can kind of impact or degrade the artwork and how that could possibly alter how people view it in 10 years.”

The paintings are displayed along the wall of the second floor of the Fralin. Facing directly across from the entrance and situated next to one of the

larger paintings, there is a large block of white text which describes the exhibit while also presenting questions for the viewer to consider.

One question asks if the restoration of these pieces affects how they are perceived. By posing these questions, the viewer is drawn towards the conservation story of how these paintings have undergone changes. These questions led Nasseri to take a new perspective.

“If the art of preserving a piece of art itself, if that is technically altering the artwork from its original state — should it continue to be done, even if it is changing the artwork?” Nasseri said.

Ainsley McGowan, president of the Fralin Student Docent Program and third-year College student, said that the student docent program was able to speak to Nolley about this process, delving into the complex nature of the work.

“Every little piece of the painting can use a different chemical for cleaning,” McGowan said. “How far [do] you go with conserving?”

According to Love, the Fralin’s smaller size organizationally means that while the exhibit is limited, the

Fralin was able to explore the more intricate details that go into the restoration of these paintings.

“Universities and colleges are kind of uniquely positioned to be able to do kind of pop-up exhibitions like this,” Love said. “It’s great for us to do that, and to be able to have these small focused shows.”

Love went on to explain that the process of restoring paintings works on a case by case basis. She said that some paintings only require minor tweaks to stop them from deteriorating. But some curators want restorations to restore paintings to their original visual look.

“It’s kind of usually some sort of combination, conservation and restoration, you have to find that happy middle ground,” Love said. “So it really depends on what your goal is, what the damage is, and then you find that middle ground that makes sense.”

Paired with a video that portrays Nolley discussing the intricacies of restoring a piece of art, the exhibit highlights how restorations to these works happen on a molecular level. In the case of “Untitled” (1953), Nolley utilized a surfactant system by using a chelator — an organic cleaner — to

clean the painting, which had been covered in a layer of cigarette smoke. Through this technique, Nolley revitalized the integrity of the painting without compromising the paints originally used.

In taking this perspective on Mitchell’s work, the Fralin is opening up new avenues of learning about conservation. Love hopes that one day more interdisciplinary classes come to view these exhibits and learn about these processes.

“My goal someday would be to get more chemistry classes [to visit],” Love said. “We can make professors and students realize there’s a lot of intersections.”

According to McGowan the intersection of art and science is not a new idea within museum spaces.

“I think a lot of museums are moving more and more towards that art can connect with the hard sciences,” McGowan said. “You don’t have to choose one or the other, and you never really have had to choose.”

“Joan Mitchell: Uncovering 100 Years” is at the Fralin until July 20. The Fralin Museum is always free and open daily except Monday.

OPINION

LEAD EDITORIAL

We can demand more of our university presidents

Forced by political attacks on academic freedom, President Jim Ryan has admirably forgone political neutrality for solidarity

In the war that President Donald Trump is waging against higher education, the role of a university president has become increasingly embattled — do they resist the unprecedented attacks against higher education, and if yes, how? Responding to this question, 150 university presidents, including our own, recognized the Trump administration’s threat to academic freedom and condemned political interference.

Standing up for higher education’s autonomy defends the interests of students, faculty and other stakeholders. The Cavalier Daily Editorial Board wholly commends President Jim Ryan for standing in solidarity with these other institutions and speaking out against government overreach. We also hope that this letter is the first step in a series of initiatives which not only rhetorically opposes federal overreach, but also tangibly resists attempts at censorship.

As the statement establishes, the Trump administration has attacked academia in a way which fundamentally compromises academic freedom.

In recent weeks, the federal government cut funding from universities under the pretense of antisemitism. Moreover, many universities have been instructed to abandon diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Numerous students, living legally in the United States, have been detained by ICE and face potential deportation. In short, Trump has attacked the core of our nation’s academic sphere, using fear to bully universities into conformity.

In signing onto this statement, President Ryan condemned the nature of “undue government intrusion” into this University. The letter calls for constructive engagement with higher education, which is free from coercive financial mandates. Ryan successfully recognized the threat that the University is under and decided to speak out — rather than acquiesce to demands which threaten the mission of a University. What remains unclear, however, is how the University will tangibly commit to the principles of the statement. The practical nature of this let-

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 daily online at cavalierdaily.com. It is printed on at least 40 percent recycled paper. 2025 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 800. 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

The Cavalier Daily welcomes feedback from community members (quetions and/or comments) in addition to broader queries pertaining to journalism. Additonally, we are happy to solicit story ideas from readers but do not guarantee that we will be able to pursue them. Please visit our website for desk specific email addresses or email editor@ cavalierdaily.com directly.

ter remains unclear because no actions beyond symbolic solidarity have been taken. Certainly, the stance against the Trump administration signals a significant step for the University which should not be underrated. Yet, what does such a statement mean in conversation with President Ryan’s silence for the past weeks — weeks of unprecedented changes at this University?

As the political climate shifts daily, University students have been left in the dark. The University’s “Federal Information” web page provides little more than brief descriptions of how federal policies have impacted the University. And attempts by media sources to contact University leadership about federal threats have been ignored. University leaders have refused to reveal what they are tangibly doing to defend academic freedom. With this record, this statement hopefully signals an important step to greater transparency in the future.

We hope for greater transparency because for the principles of solidarity to be effective, stakeholders must be treated as partners in resistance. For

THE CAVALIER DAILY

MANAGING BOARD

Editor-in-Chief

Naima Sawaya

Managing Editor

Hailey Chung

Executive Editor

Scarlett Sullivan

Operations Manager

Leigh Bailey

Chief Financial Officer

Will Peres

EDITORIAL BOARD

Naima Sawaya

Scarlett Sullivan

Farah Eljazzar

Wylie Brunman

Nathaniel Carter

Paul Kurtzweil

JUNIOR BOARD

Assistant Operations Manager

Aarnav Jalan

Assistant Literary Editor

Blaine Hutchens

Assistant Managing Editor

Vera Woody

(SA) Elizabeth Adams

(SA) Annabelle Gristina

(SA) Mia Hansen

(SA) Calla Mischen

(SA) Sophia Puype

(SA) Brooke Tayman

(SA) Maddie Weinstein

News Editors

Ford McCracken

Cecilia Mould

example, when Harvard University announced their decision to sue the Trump administration, its administration faced the concerns of their student and faculty community. Harvard president Alan Garber hosted town hall meetings which placed community voices and administrative transparency as a top priority. In the wake of this admirable statement, it is imperative that President Ryan similarly renews focus on institutional transparency. Actions like the closure of the DEI office should be justified and explained in great detail. After all, only once students and faculty understand the motives of administrative actions can they collaborate with University leadership on solutions to the community’s uncertainties.

One year ago, amid student protests about the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Editorial Board evaluated the role of university presidents in times of political conflict. The Editorial Board concluded that presidents should prioritize an environment of factually informed speech, rather than take a side in a conflict which does not have

(SA) Jackie Bond

Sports Editors

Michael Liebermann

Xander Tilock

(SA) Emory Huffman

(SA) Peter Kratz

Arts & Entertainment Editors

Leila Mohajer

Grace Traxler

(SA) Zach Geller

Life Editors

Dana Douglas

Kate Johnson

(SA) Malaika Rehman

(SA) Mai Hukuoka

Podcast Editor

Evelyn Lewis

Opinion Editors

Farah Eljazzar

Wylie Brunman

(SA) Nathaniel Carter

(SA) Muhammad Ali Rashid

Humor Editor

Adair Reid

(SA) Owen Andrews

Cartoon Editor

Ada Malpani

(SA) Blake Maguire

Puzzle Editors

Quinn Connor

Isabelle Tindall

Photo Editors

Kayla Moore

Cat White

(SA) Albert Tang

(SA) Benvin Lozada

a clear and tangible connection to the operations of the University. The Editorial Board called this approach “critical neutrality.” Today, we believe that this same approach — albeit, applied to a vastly different political situation — necessitates a powerful stance against the Trump administration’s education policies.

With this most recent statement, President Ryan is successfully protecting the fundamental principles for which this institution stands, principles which include the unimpeded pursuit of knowledge wherever it may lead. The next step is to bring in stakeholder voices and transform a principled, rhetorical stand into a tangible act of resistance.

THE CAVALIER DAILY EDITORIAL BOARD is composed of the Executive Editor, the Editor-in-Chief, the two Opinion Editors, their Senior Associate and an Opinion Columnist. The board can be reached at eb@cavalierdaily.com.

Design Editors

Sarah St. John

Mariam Seshan

Noelle Valdinoto

Chinese Translation Editor

Dailin Li

Spanish Translation Editor

Madelyn Paz Castillo

Social Media Managers

Lahari Kunapaneni

Anika Loper

Video Editors

Issy Denevan

Pria Dua

Finance Manager

Ava Tolin

Advertising Manager

Spence Doherty

Website Manager

Taylor Petrofski

Kyle Song

Analytics Manager

Irene Si

Newsletter Editor

Catherine Kuryla

Archivists

Clara Franklin

Finn Trainer

DEI Chair

Malaika Rehman

Social Chair

Jackie Bond

Virginia’s new whippets law is laughable

Laughing gas is no laughing matter. Despite its clear dangers, nitrous oxide could be freely purchased on the Corner to customers of any age. Still-evolving research surrounding laughing gas already shows the substance’s harmful and even lethal effects. Lawmakers in Richmond have finally rallied to stamp out this growing public health issue. The result? An ineffective piece of legislation reminiscent of the war on drugs. Signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, this bill’s ban on nitrous oxide is an approach that has been tried before — and one that continues to fail. What is required instead is an approach that addresses the underlying issues contributing to harmful substance use in the first place.

The actions taken by the General Assembly can likely be attributed to the health risks of using nitrous oxide. Heavy use of the drug has been linked to permanent damage to the body’s nervous system and abnormalities in the chemical composition of the blood. Despite these risks, nitrous oxide has experienced a recent surge in popularity, especially among young people. This drug’s recent rise in popularity can be attributed to both its virality on social media and nefar-

The General Assembly needs different measures to keep Virginians safe

ious advertising techniques. This increasing popularity, coupled with the serious health concerns, make this drug a troubling prospect for public health in Virginia, especially for young people.

The Virginia legislature has correctly identified that this is a public health crisis. Its response to this public health crisis, however, leaves much to be desired. The

bill’s first provision adds nitrous oxide to the list of substances that are illegal “deliberately to smell or inhale… with the intent to become intoxicated” under the Code of Virginia. The outright banning of harmful drugs has proven disastrous in the past — despite the fact that Virginia already incarcerates more of its citizens per capita than all but two countries in the world, overdose deaths have increased threefold in the last decade. There is no reason to believe that this new law would not fail in the same way as countless drug bans before it.

What has proven to be the most effective strategy in tackling substance abuse, particularly among young people, is prevention. Resistance skills training programs and normative education initiatives, which endeavor to reeducate youth about the actual, lower rates of usage in social circles, can be useful measures to prevent drug

same category as domestic abusers — who face up to a year in jail if convicted. A prevention-based approach offers a long-term path towards addressing addiction that a punishment-based approach is simply incapable of following. Addressing the social factors to prevent nitrous oxide use must go hand-in-hand with increasing public knowledge about the drug.

A prevention-based approach offers a long-term path towards addressing addiction that a punishment-based approach is simply incapable of following.”

usage from spiralling. By first addressing the underlying social ills that are often predictors of harmful substance use, the personal and community harms of nitrous oxide are reduced from the very start.

Nitrous oxide abuse is usually the result of long-term influences rather than sudden impulse, practically none of which can be adequately addressed as simple criminal justice issues. It is unacceptable that the General Assembly recently implemented a law to treat those who use nitrous oxide as Class 1 misdemeanants — the

Even in places most impacted, knowledge of the substance and its effects remain staggeringly low. Virginia could adopt a rigorous awareness campaign, perhaps by leveraging the same sort of online interactions that contributed to its rise in the first place. Recent studies have suggested that a system of peer-to-peer advocacy has been effective in reducing substance use intentions among high schoolers. Striking this balance between scientific authority and familiarity is a proven approach that lawmakers should consider.

A prevention-based and education-based approach can and should be implemented alongside sensible, focused regulation. Canisters so large that they have no legitimate use could be banned for consumer purchase. Virginia should also crack down on selling nitrous oxide canisters with flavors and packaging designs appealing to the youth. These focused regulations can directly lower recreational nitrous oxide use without the problematic and largely ineffective enforcement of blanket bans.

The lawmakers in Richmond might argue that a basic prohibition is a step in the right direction. But this only deludes people into thinking that something meaningful is actually being done. As people continue to be harmed by nitrous oxide abuse, Virginians will see this new law as the ineffective, ultimately harmful policy that it is.

VIET HUYNH is an opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily. com.

Federal budget cuts harm working-class Virginians

The state government needs to do more to do more to protect the Virginians who are being disproportionately affected by DOGE policies

Currently, over 230,000 Virginians are employed by the federal government. But that number is rapidly decreasing as President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Elon Musk, seeks to eliminate “waste” within the government. Under this guide of eliminating waste, the Trump administration has recently fired a large number of probationary employees.

Due to these new policies, federal workers in Virginia face the threat of unemployment, putting them and their families in jeopardy. Youngkin recently stated that Virginia has already seen over 1,000 new unemployment claims related to such cuts. In reaction to these policies, state officials must take legal and local actions to assist those struggling.

Trump’s vision for DOGE has been rightfully denounced by the Virginia delegation because it threatens to disrupt the lives of federal workers and economy in the state. In response to challenges, the Trump administration has given federal agencies a deadline with quick turnaround to create plans to move their offices to cheaper parts of the country. Given that Virginia’s economy depends heavily on federal

jobs, making cuts is a direct threat to families, businesses and state tax revenue. Forcing employees to choose between uprooting their families or losing their livelihoods is not just callous — it is economically reckless. The long-term impact of these policies will not be felt by workers alone.

benefits and healthcare, which further disadvantage a group that already struggles to access these services.

The administration’s cuts will also affect the University and other higher education institutions. For instance, there is concern that the cuts may interfere with the Free Application for

nizes the severe damage these policies will cause for Virginians. He has recently announced a new job-finding resource, “Virginia Has Jobs,” a website that works to connect workers to “over 250,000 jobs.” Yes, it holds information including resume tips on how to translate governmental expe-

Forcing employees to choose between uprooting their families or losing their livelihoods is not just callous — it is economically reckless.”

Additionally, Virginia is among the states with the highest percentages of veterans. The government is obligated to provide them with protection for the sacrifices they have made for their country. However, these cuts undermine that commitment. Among personnel that have been laid off are 2,400 workers from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, which works to provide health, financial and education services for veterans. In some cases, this has left the agency unable to hire medical personnel needed. The over 600,000 veterans living in Virginia face serious threats to their jobs,

Student Aid or Pell Grants, which provide funding for students in need. Additionally, the research done at the University and other Virginia institutions creates advancements in medicine, environmentalism, technology and more. These developments help families and communities all over Virginia and also now face the chopping block.

Even while cuts are negatively affecting Virginians, Gov. Glenn Youngkin has praised the Trump Administration’s efforts to cut back on spending and increase efficiency. Paradoxically, Youngkin also recog-

rience to non-government terms, but for employment opportunities, all it has are links to Indeed and LinkedIn. It is clear that efforts are band-aid solutions to the otherwise contradictory rhetoric that Youngkin has maintained regarding the Trump administration. Youngkin’s measures are performative and cannot sufficiently eliminate the instability that now intrudes into many Virginians’ lives.

State-level officials do not have the power to completely protect Virginians from the effects of Trump’s policies. However, the state is not completely helpless. A California

judge partially blocked the firings of workers from specific agencies, including the National Park Service, the National Science Foundation and the VA. Moreover, several states are suing Trump over his decision to cut the Department of Education staff in half. While still in the early stages, this lawsuit is a concrete action of defiance that shows that states do have the power to take a stand against Trump.

The Virginia state government needs to step up and provide more for the people suffering from the budget cuts. Specifically, local officials should take a firm position in support of their communities, addressing the problem at the source. This may look like protecting access to healthcare more tangibly, opening up various opportunities in their own offices or other similarly concrete actions. During this time of instability and apprehension, local and state officials must work to protect the interests of the people living in Virginia and ultimately, its economic backbone.

CARLY BURSTEIN is a viewpoint writer for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily.com.

ACROSS

1 Furious

6 Fictional movie franchise in the “Scream” movie franchise

10 It’s often decorated with Sharpie signatures

14 Wear away

15 Locale of the doomed Balloonfest ‘86

16 Breakfast-bowl berry base

17 “I don’t want to hear a thing”

19 Tilt-A-Whirl or The Zipper

20 Quick quips

21 Milk it?

22 Home security co. with blue lawn signs

23 Frat party theme that often involves goggles

24 Most beautiful woman at an event

32 Brunch cocktail

33 Many “My Chemical Romance” fans

34 Vegetable that kept a fabled princess awake

35 Overly meticulous

PUZZLE

Quinn Connor | Puzzle Editor

Answers are available on the digital version of this puzzle which is published at www.cavalierdaily.com.

36 Vice president with alleged couch relations

38 15-Across is the only U.S. state with a non-rectangular one

39 CIO founded in 2024 with a mission of “breaking barriers to dialogue at U.Va.”

40 Mil. program whose naval branch is housed at Warner Hall

41 Easy buckets

43 Person who goes number two?

46 Paid sponsorships that often displace crosswords from the back page of The Cavalier Daily newspapers

47 Mo. when the “Great Rotumpkin” appears

48 Many soccer falls

51 “Fortnite” or “Papa’s Freezeria”

57 Automaker with a fourringed logo

58 Stevie Nicks for Fleetwood Mac ... or a literal description of 17-, 24- and 43-Across at U.Va.

59 Sabrina Carpenter hit that

was a direct response to Olivia Rodrigo’s “Driver’s License”

60 Poker buy-in

61 Alternative to truths?

62 Zesty flavor

63 “Take a long walk off a short ____!”

64 Horseshoes target

DOWN

1 Fallon’s predecessor on “The Tonight Show”

2 It’s “pumped” at the AFC

3 What typically 15 percent of U.Va. students do during Student Council elections

4 “Survivor” immunity object

5 Unwanted proposal responses

6 Location of a 1976 uprising in South Africa

7 Chris Hemsworth’s Marvel role

8 Shows, on television

9 Physique, informally

10 Rapper who was rejected a trademark to “okurrr”

11 Coffee, per the pH scale

12 “Smooth Operator” singer

13 Level

18 Tries

21 Instruments played by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole and Grace VanderWaal, for short

23 They end in aglets

24 Forehead adornment

25 “I hope this _____ finds you well!”

26 Texter’s “what a hilarious meme”

27 It’s usually around a yard

28 TV station for cinephiles

29 Grade equal in GPA value to the one below it at U.Va.

30 Vaulted

31 Falls behind

32 Apples you shouldn’t eat

37 PIN requester

38 “Just to let you know” letters

40 Cincinnati MLB team

42 Mints in tins

44 Activity banned in many middle school bathrooms

45 Move unsteadily

CARTOON

New Study Strategies

Ada Malpani | Cartoon Editor

48 Forgo food

49 Basketballer Dončić involved in a notable 2025 trade

50 Father of 7-Down

51 Start of a Caesarean boast

52 “killed that.”

53 Biting pest

54 Where Mumtaz Mahal is buried

55 Overly docile

56 Gaelic language

58 One of three in a Mario Kart race

Hired

Education

Conwell Morris | Cartoonist