Turning the page
The University of Virginia Board of Visitors voted March 1 to rename the school’s main library. Now known as Edgar Shannon Library, the recently renovated building’s new name honors UVA’s fourth president and removes the name of its first president, Edwin Alderman.
The decision to rename the library comes after years of debate surrounding the legacy of Alderman, who was a proponent of the racist pseudoscience of eugenics.
“I’ve definitely heard that there’s a push because he was connected with the eugenics movement,” says Mary Grace, a UVA law student. “I definitely support renaming a building if someone is affiliated with that.”
When C-VILLE visited Shannon Library during the university’s spring break, a few students shared their thoughts on the renaming. While not everyone was aware of the controversy surrounding Alderman, all mentioned his ties to eugenics.
“It’s been a very contentious battle over the last several years to get it renamed,” says third-year Em Gunter. “The Board of Visitors tabled the motion back in December, leading many of us, including myself, to believe that they were tabling it indefinitely. … When I saw the news on Friday that they had voted to rename it, I was shocked.”
Students were generally enthusiastic about naming the building after Edgar Shannon, who instituted coeducation and racial integration during his tenure, though several mentioned their limited knowledge of the man who led UVA from 1959-1974.
“I don’t know much about [Shannon]. I assume they checked him on the obvious stuff like eugenics,” says fourth-year grad student Jack Warfield. “I think it’s good to keep the name in line with important figures in the university’s history.”
“I’ve heard some people grumbling that, oh, there’s a dorm named Shannon,” says Gunter. “It’s like, whatever, I don’t care. It’s someone that’s not shitty.”
The renaming of Shannon Library comes a few weeks ahead of the university’s grand reopening ceremony on April 4. Though the library opened its doors in January after years of construction, several areas remain cordoned off due to ongoing renovations and book relocations.
A library representative did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Exposé
Carver Recreation Center was unwittingly host to a sexually explicit broadcast during a February 29 community forum on jailhouse renovations. The hybrid virtual and in-person meeting was interrupted by the moans of a naked Zoom participant who initially could not be seen by the in-house audience. But when Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail Superintendent Martin Kumer’s PowerPoint presentation was paused and minimized to address the disruptions, every guest was exposed to the moaning man, who appeared to be masturbating. The Zoom meeting was swiftly closed, which booted virtual attendees from the forum. A makeup meeting has not been announced.
Big win
The UVA women’s basketball team upset fifth-ranked Virginia Tech on March 3 with a 80-75 victory at the John Paul Jones Arena. In the final home game of the season, the Hoos broke multiple records, including attendance—11,975, the most to ever watch a women’s basketball game in Virginia—and scoring—a team-high 21 points from freshman guard Kymora Johnson. The Cavs’ next game is against Wake Forest at 6:30pm on March 6, in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Closed for crash
Orange County Public Schools closed both Locust Grove Primary and Locust Grove Elementary on March 4 after a two-vehicle crash shut down part of Constitution Highway. According to Virginia State Police, the crash occurred around 5:50am. A 23-year-old driver, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown from his vehicle. He is being treated at UVA Medical Center for life-threatening injuries. Five others involved in the crash are being treated for minor injuries at Mary Washington Hospital.