People in Charlottesville like to talk about the UVA bubble. We can’t argue with that—between classes and clubs and activities and jobs, not all university students get off Grounds and out into the city. Some do, though, and plenty of faculty and staff are active members of the Charlottesville community, too.
But after Friday, August 11, when white supremacists, neo-Nazis and KKK members marched on UVA Grounds the night before they marched through the city, threatening students just as they did locals, that bubble started leaking some air.
From those who stood their ground near the Rotunda, looking out for each other and distracting torch-wielding white supremacists from marching on a nearby church, to a young journalist who spent a week covering the events at UVA so her fellow students could stay informed, UVA students, faculty and staff are lending their voices to the conversation in a major way.
Although UVA and Charlottesville are different, in many ways—particularly in the challenges both communities face going forward as they confront the past and rebuild together—they have an awful lot in common.