Tag: university of virginia

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The fight continues: Downtown rally amplifies voices of Black women despite threats

Organizers Zaneyah Bryant and Ang Conn honor the Black women who’ve died at the hands of police with a moment of silence. PC: Eze Amos

It’s been nearly two months since the murder of George Floyd, but protests against police violence continue around the country, including here in Charlottesville. Over a hundred protesters took to the streets July 17 to amplify Black women’s voices and struggles, and demand justice for those who’ve been killed by police, including Breonna Taylor and Sandra Bland.

Hosted by Defund Cville Police, the demonstration started in front of the Albemarle County Office building, where organizer Ang Conn welcomed the (masked) crowd and led several chants, including “No justice, no peace, defund the police,” and “Black women matter.”

Youth organizers (and twin sisters) Zaneyah and Zeniah Bryant, who are 14, also took turns shouting chants into their megaphone, alongside local activist and friend Trinity Hughes. Drivers passing by honked their horns in support.

While the group gathered on East High Street, a white woman drove around the public works truck blocking the road, and twice told the protesters they would “make good speed bumps,” according to tweets from the event and a Medium post from Defund Cville Police. The threat is especially chilling and violent given that Heather Heyer was murdered by a driver just a few blocks from where the protest took place.

The woman was soon identified as UVA undergraduate Morgan Bettinger. Her stepfather, Wayne Bettinger, was a Charlottesville police officer until he passed away in 2014.

When asked, the Charlottesville Police Department said it is “respectively declining comment” about the family member of a former member of the force.

Defund Cville Police called for Bettinger’s expulsion from UVA, but activist Zyahna Bryant says the group will not press charges. “We cannot and will not use/expect systems and institutions that disproportionately harm and criminalize Black people, to protect us at this time. They won’t. We protect us,” Bryant tweeted.

UVA released a statement via social media saying, “We are aware of the allegations on social media about a student’s conduct with respect to a protest in the city and are actively investigating the matter.”

The protesters walked down the mall before stopping in front of the Charlottesville Albemarle Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, where Conn asked everyone to take a knee and a moment of silence to honor the Black women who have lost their lives at the hands of police.

In front of the courthouse, Conn spoke about why money needs to be reallocated from the Charlottesville Police Department—which currently has a budget of $18 million—to different social departments and programs, especially the city’s foster care system.

Reading from last year’s Charlottesville Foster Care Study, she emphasized the disproportionate amount of Black and multiracial children who are referred to child welfare services, compared to their white peers in the city. These children are also less likely to be reunified with their families upon exiting foster care.

Conn, who spent time in foster care, invited Black people in the crowd who’ve been affected by the system to share their stories.

Sisters Harli and Kyra Saxon detailed the trauma inflicted on them after their parents split up, and their mother was no longer able to keep up with the bills. The family was evicted from their home, and CPS eventually got involved. Kyra was forced to live with the girls’ abusive father, while Harli was sent to a group home and later lived with several foster families. The pair said they begged to live with their mother, but the social workers assigned to their case—as well as a “racist” judge—did little to help them, even as they faced serious mental health crises.

After five years of battling CPS, the sisters were reunited with their mother.

“That’s what defunding the police is about—channeling those funds into assistance,” said Harli. “If somebody had come up to my mom and said here is some rent money, this never would have happened.”

Following several more speakers, Conn wrapped up the protest by encouraging attendees to call on City Council to slash the police department budget and invest in “real solutions,” such as an emergency response division, which could have prevented the violent arrest of an intoxicated unhoused man on the Downtown Mall earlier this month.

“We shouldn’t be criminalized for being human,” she said.

Updated 7/20

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Coronavirus News

In brief: Tiki terror, teacher trouble, and more

Work crews removed the statue of General Stonewall Jackson from its concrete pedestal on Richmond’s Monument Avenue earlier this month. PC: Eze Amos

Statue disposal

Many of Richmond’s Monument Avenue Confederate statues are gone, but debate over their removal continues, and people have wondered where the toppled statues are being stored. This week, some sharp-eyed Richmonders noticed a large collection of monument-shaped tarps standing around the city’s wastewater treatment plant. It’s about as close as you can get to literally flushing the things down the toilet.

PC: Castle Hill Gaming

Prime real estate

It looks like a slot machine. It plays like a slot machine. But actually, it’s a “skill game.” Now, these games are legal in Virginia—and there are more than a dozen lined up in a glamorous former bank building downtown. The space is currently home to high-end steakhouse Prime 109, which was shuttered by the economic crash. The new scene inside the building has left some in town wondering if there’s a swanky casino in Charlottesville’s future.

Prime 109 boss Loren Mendosa insists that “right now there’s not much to talk about.” Sure, it could be a casino eventually, but Mendosa says things are happening fast, and he has “no idea what the actual thing would look like.” Still, he’s rolling the dice on the idea.

The Prime team hurriedly carted the machines into the space at the 11th hour. On July 1, all previously installed skill game machines became legal, though the law change doesn’t allow new machines to be installed. “If we don’t have the machines installed by June 30th, there’s no chance of even talking about it,” Mendosa says.

“It’s definitely not [a casino] right now. Who knows?…It might be a lot of different things,” he says about his restaurant full of quasi-gambling machines.

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Quote of the week

“When you go outside and say, ‘I can’t breathe with this mask on; I’m gonna take it off,’ try breathing with COVID.”

—area resident Stacey Washington, who contracted the virus after taking her mask off at a family Fourth of July celebration.

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In brief

Teacher troubles

On July 9, Albemarle County schools laid out plans for in-person reopening this fall. It quickly came to light, though, that the plan had been created without getting feedback from ACPS teachers, reports The Daily Progress. Teachers and staff have since circulated an open letter advocating against in-person instruction, calling the proposal “unequivocally unsafe for Albemarle County staff and families.”

Party’s over

As coronavirus cases increase every day, Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker urged local residents to wear masks, practice social distancing, and stay home as much as possible, among other safety precautions, in a press conference on Monday afternoon. Walker also denounced the large gatherings being held around town—including parties on UVA’s frat row.

Mayor Nikuyah Walker reminded residents to wear masks, practice social distancing, and stay home. PC: Eze Amos

New faces

Norfolk Delegate Jay Jones and Alexandria Delegate Hala Ayala have announced 2021 campaigns for lieutenant governor of Virginia, joining Jennifer Carroll Foy and Jennifer McClellan—both running for governor—as the third and fourth people of color under the age of 50 to announce a Democratic run at statewide office. Meanwhile, Terry McAuliffe still lurks in the wings, having pulled almost $2 million into his PAC this spring.

Tiki terror

Early Monday morning, two local activists awoke to find blazing tiki torches in their yards—an eerie reminder of the KKK rally held nearly three years ago at the University of Virginia. (Another activist found an unlit, discarded torch.) The act was “without a doubt intentional,” according to a Medium post by Showing Up for Racial Justice.

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News

In brief: No pipeline, name game, and more

Activists in Buckingham have been fighting the pipeline since 2014. On Sunday, they won. PC: Friends of Buckingham

Pipeline defeated

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is history. In a surprise announcement on Sunday afternoon, Dominion Power called off the 600-mile natural gas pipeline that would have run from West Virginia to North Carolina. “VICTORY!” declared the website of the Southern Environmental Law Center.

The news is a major win for a wide variety of environmental advocacy groups and grassroots activists, who have been fighting the pipeline on all fronts since the project was started in 2014. The pipeline would have required a 50-yard-wide clear-cut path through protected Appalachian forest, and also disrupted a historically black community in rural Buckingham County.

Dominion won a Supreme Court case earlier this month, but that wasn’t enough to outweigh the “increasing legal uncertainty that overhangs large-scale energy and industrial infrastructure development in the United States,” says the energy giant’s press release.

Litigation from the Southern Environmental Law Center dragged the pipeline’s construction to a halt. Gas was supposed to be flowing by 2019, but less than 6 percent of the pipe ever made it in the ground.

The ACP had the backing of the Trump administration, and U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette blamed the “obstructionist environmental lobby” for the pipeline’s demise.

“I felt like it was the best day of my life,” says Ella Rose, a Friends of Buckingham member, in a celebratory email. “I feel that all the hard work that all of us have done was finally for good. I feel like I have my life back. I can now sleep better without the worries that threatened my life for so long.”

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Quote of the week

“It is past time. As the capital city of Virginia, we have needed to turn this page for decades. And today, we will.”

—Richmond mayor Levar Stoney on the city’s removal of its Stonewall Jackson and Matthew Fontaine Maury statues

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In brief

Loan-ly at the top

On Monday, the government released a list of companies that accepted loans through the federal Paycheck Protection Program, designed to keep workers employed during COVID’s economic slowdown. A variety of Charlottesville businesses accepted loans of $2-5 million, including Red Light Management, St. Anne’s-Belfield, and Tiger Fuel.

Renaming re-do

An advisory committee recommended last week that recently merged Murray High and Community Charter schools be renamed Rose Hill Community School, but this suggestion immediately raised eyebrows: Rose Hill was the name of a plantation that later became a neighborhood. The committee will reconvene to discuss options for a new moniker.     

City hangs back

Charlottesville is one of a handful of localities that have pushed back against Governor Ralph Northam’s order to move to Phase 3 of reopening. While some of the state has moved forward,  City Manager Tarron Richardson has decided to keep the city government’s facilities operating in accordance with Phase 2 requirements and restrictions. As stated on its website, this decision was made in order to “ensure the health and safety of staff and the public.”

Soldier shut in

Since at least the beginning of July, the gates of UVA’s Confederate cemetery, where a statue of a Confederate soldier stands, have been barricaded, reports the Cavalier Daily. A university spokesman says the school locked the cemetery because protesters elsewhere in the state have been injured by falling statues. Or maybe, as UVA professor Jalane Schmidt suggested on Twitter, “they’re tryna keep the dead from escaping.” 

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UVA sexual assault advocacy groups push for change after Twitter account spurs controversy

PC: Patrick Neil

Two weeks ago, when Kate (who asked that we not use her real name) learned that there was a Twitter account exposing sexual predators at the University of Virginia, she was “really glad.”

“A lot of the initial names, specifically men, we had already been talking about, within the survivor community, to stay away from. These [people] were well-known within our own whisper networks,” says Kate, who is a member of the student advocacy and support group UVA Survivors. “For these names, often, this wasn’t the first time they were spoken of.”

On June 16, an anonymous Twitter account began outing dozens of people accused of sexual harassment, assault, and other forms of interpersonal violence at UVA—including student-athletes, university faculty, fraternity members, and even leaders of sexual assault prevention groups. When the person behind the initial account deleted it after receiving threats, two more accounts appeared, and began anonymously sharing stories sent by survivors.

“Conversations about sexual assault and how little is done to prevent it on Grounds, are long overdue,” said one account, which has not been suspended or deleted. “We need to pressure those in leadership positions at UVA to do everything in their power to protect and provide justice for victims of rape/sexual assault. I will not stay quiet.”

But after the accounts amassed thousands of followers, spurring a significant amount of discussion and controversy, something changed for Kate and other members of UVA Survivors. By sharing their stories online, survivors are also putting themselves in immediate danger, she says. Even though the posts appear anonymous, their abuser knows who they are, and can retaliate against them for speaking out—physically, emotionally, and legally.

“Once [UVA Survivors] got out of the state of mind like this is the ultimate justice, [we saw] at the end of the day, this is centering violence once again—making it seem like our lives as survivors are just violence, and are defined by just that one moment or moments of deep harm and hurt,” she says.

And while UVA Survivors was pleased to see more than 1,600 new people sign its petition (which was created in April), calling for the “immediate, structural, and transformative change” of the university’s sexual violence prevention and support services, the timing sent a troubling message.

“It was only 160 [signatures] for like two months. And now it’s skyrocketed to around 2,000. We were really happy about that, but at the same time we [asked], why now are you all caring? Why didn’t you care two months ago?” says Emily (not her real name), another member of the group. “You saw these really intense, violent assaults that they had on Twitter, [which] I couldn’t even read through all of them…But that’s only when people listen.”

Despite these critiques, UVA Survivors, along with other student advocacy organizations like CORE and Take Back The Night, is using the renewed spotlight on the prevalence of sexual violence on Grounds to push even harder for change. Since UVA Survivors submitted its petition to UVA in April (and the administration took no immediate action), these organizations have been working together to review and refine their recommendations, as part of Student Council’s Prevention and Survivor Support Ad-Hoc Committee.

Before fall classes begin, UVA Survivors will meet with Title IX staff, university legal counsel, and other stakeholders. Their demands include an external review of the Title IX office; survivor-created and informed education on sexual violence and consent; additional confidential employees; and increased mental health resources and health services, such as a medical center for survivors on Grounds.

UVA Survivors hopes to see physical changes too. They want the Title IX office moved out of O’Neil Hall, which is located near fraternity houses on Rugby Road.

And in addition to getting suspended or expelled—a punishment currently used sparingly within the Title IX system—perpetrators of sexual violence should have to do “educational work,” says Emily. “If you’re just going to suspend someone, that could make them even more vindictive and vengeful, and they can just go back to do it again and again. They’re not actually learning anything.”

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In brief: Protestors push on, police donors exposed, victims speak out, and more

Activists stand outside the police station during a protest this weekend. PC: Eze Amos

Tenure trouble

UVA’s “Great and Good” strategic plan lists “recruiting and retaining excellent and diverse faculty” as a central goal. But this year, two black scholars who have been denied tenure claim the decision process was significantly flawed, possibly due to racial bias.

Paul Harris PC: Virginia.edu

Paul Harris has worked at UVA’s Curry School of Education since 2011, studying identity development in black male student-athletes and underrepresented students’ college readiness. For the past six years, Harris’ annual reviews indicated that he was meeting or exceeding expectations. So he was shocked to learn in January that an all-white, college-wide promotion and tenure committee had recommended against giving him tenure. Instead, he was offered a promotion—for a non-tenure-track position.

Harris says the committee claimed his research in the Journal of African American Males in Education in 2016 was “self-published.” (In fact, the peer-reviewed journal has a 23 percent acceptance rate.) The committee also got his citation counts wrong—they’re five times higher than the committee claimed.

Tolu Odumosu PC: Virginia.edu

Sociologist Tolu Odumosu has been on the tenure track at UVA’s School of Engineering and Applied Science since 2013. He’s co-written and co-edited two books, and helped write a $3 million National Science Foundation grant. After his third-year review suggested he expand his editing experience, he also became an associate editor of two journals.

But the engineering school’s tenure committee did not grant him tenure this year. It claimed that Odumosu hadn’t written enough work by himself, and was not the principal investigator named on the NSF grant. Like Harris, Odumosu had not been warned that his work was not up to par.

Both men appealed the decisions to UVA’s provost, but the appeals were rejected. The scholars are now appealing to the Faculty Senate’s grievance committee—their last option.

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Quote of the week

“This is a moment to step boldly into our future…We have to work together to decide what kind of Virginia we’re going to be. I’m ready for the challenge.”

—State Senator Jennifer McClellan, announcing her campaign for Virginia governor

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In brief

Still on the march

Charlottesville activists continue to mobilize the community to protest police brutality. Large marches and demonstrations have taken place in town at least once a week since the death of George Floyd in late May. Last weekend, protesters marching downtown also directed some of their energy toward patrons of the mall’s outdoor restaurants: The demonstrators chanted “Shame” at diners who were sipping beer and chewing on burgers.

Convention contagion?

Denver Riggleman’s campaign claims that several delegates who participated in the recent drive-thru Republican convention have contracted coronavirus, reports CBS19. The local Republican Party denies the accusation. Riggleman continues to criticize the drive-thru convention format that saw him lose the congressional nomination to challenger Bob Good. “Voter fraud has been a hallmark of this process,” Riggleman tweeted on election night.

Donor debate

Community members have noticed that the Charlottesville Police Foundation—dedicated to fundraising for the “advanced training, new technologies and equipment, [and] housing assistance” that isn’t covered by the department’s $18 million budget—posted a list of donors on its website. The list featured several local restaurants and other businesses, as well as individuals, including City Council members Lloyd Snook and Heather Hill.

Heather Hill PC: Eze Amos

Exposing abuse

Tweets about allegations of sexual assault and harassment directed at dozens of UVA students and staff appeared on an anonymous Twitter account last week. The alleged incidents once again drew attention to students’ calls for reform—in April, student advocacy group UVA Survivors created a list of demands for institutional change in sexual assault policy, reports The Cavalier Daily. The list has garnered around 1,700 new signatures in the past week.

Lloyd Snook PC: Supplied

 

Immigration action

UVA will now allow students to enroll and graduate “regardless of citizenship or immigration status,” the university announced last week. Previously, only DACA recipients—not other “undocu+” students—had not been allowed to matriculate. The decision represents a long-sought victory for activists around the school community.

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Coronavirus News

Medical field grads face uncertainty

PC: Dan Addison/UVA Communications

By Claudia Gohn

UVA sent its Class of 2020 off into the world (virtually) on May 16. Graduating during a pandemic, with record levels of unemployment and an economic depression likely to last for a long time, means an uncertain future for all of them. But young people entering the medical field are facing unique challenges—from disrupted training to health concerns.

Preparation is an integral part of becoming a nurse or doctor, and many fourth-year med students around the country got a head start, graduating early so they could jump in and help at overwhelmed ERs during the coronavirus crisis. But UVA students who were just completing their undergraduate studies, or still in medical school, have missed out on training opportunities.

Michelle Eckstein, who graduated this spring with a degree in nursing, will begin her job as a nurse at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital later this summer. With the continuing pressures on health systems due to the coronavirus, though, she’s afraid the orientation—which usually lasts three months—will not be as robust as usual. “I’m just concerned that I won’t get the one-on-one help, or focus on what I feel like I need in order to feel responsible and ready to be on my own as a nurse,” Eckstein says.

Her practicum, which would have given her more hands-on experience, was also canceled this spring. But Eckstein recognizes she will still be able to do her job. “I know that I am able and competent to continue to learn how to be a nurse, and I’ll be fine,” she says. But she feels the loss of “that extra cushion of your personal confidence.”

Medical students at UVA also missed practice in the field. Clinical rotations, normally an integral part of training for third- and fourth-year med students, were suspended during the crisis. The training was replaced with an online curriculum, including a course on the history of pandemics. Rising fourth-year Nico Aldredge says that, while these were great courses, “obviously it’s always better to be in the hospital learning.”

COVID-19 also put a hold on hospital employment opportunities, as Charlottesville hospitals restricted non-essential workers during the crisis. Mariam Gbadamosi, who recently earned her bachelor’s degree in human biology from UVA, was working as a scribe at the university medical center’s emergency department, where she was responsible for managing documents for physicians. She was furloughed in March, and has not only missed out on hospital work experience, but also the money for her medical school applications. Between the application fee, buying materials to study, and traveling for interviews, Gbadamosi says the process can add up to thousands of dollars. “[I’m] definitely hoping to… return to work soon so that I can cover those costs for just the application cycle,” she says.

In addition to worries over job insecurity and preparation for the workforce, recent grads entering the medical sector also face health concerns. Summer Rice, who just graduated from UVA with a nursing degree, has a job lined up as an operating room nurse. But with Type 1 diabetes, she is at a higher risk for coronavirus infection. “There’s not a huge risk,” Rice says. “But in general, yeah, I’m worried for my own health.”

Aldredge acknowledges that there is always a risk, even for young and healthy workers. “I’m 20 years old, but who knows if I were to get the coronavirus—if I would be that one-half percent of people that get critically ill and get intubated and potentially die,” he says. “You don’t know if you’re going to be that person.”

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Coronavirus News

In brief: Win for workers, dorm drama, and more

Many local grocery stores have taken steps to protect customers from contracting COVID-19, but some have been more aggressive than others. PC: Staff Photo

Shielding up

While many businesses have been forced to close due to the coronavirus, grocery stores are busier than ever—and their employees have had to continue showing up for work, potentially putting themselves at risk. On March 31, some Whole Foods workers stayed home in a nationwide “sick out” to protest a lack of protections, and call for benefits like paid leave and hazard pay.

In response, the company has made some changes, but conditions for both employees and shoppers still vary widely among grocery chains. We checked in over the weekend to see how Charlottesville’s stores stack up.

Plexiglass shields have been installed in front of the registers at most stores (Wegmans and Reid Super-Save Market say they are coming soon).

Cashiers wear masks and gloves at Whole Foods, while those at Trader Joe’s, the Barracks Road Kroger, and Reid’s currently wear only gloves. Employees at Wegmans and the Food Lion on Pantops have neither.

Social distancing markers have been installed to keep customers six feet apart in check-out lines in all stores, and most cashiers wipe down registers between transactions.

Of the places we visited, Trader Joe’s seemed to be taking the most stringent precautions, limiting customers to 20 at a time in the store. Employees wearing face masks and gloves sanitize each cart before handing it off to a customer, and cashiers have no physical contact with customers.

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For the record

As the virus has shuttered the economy, a record-breaking number of Americans and Virginians have filed unemployment claims. For one on-the-nose example of how bad things have gotten, head to the Virginia Employment Commission’s website—or don’t, because it has shut down, overwhelmed by the amount of new traffic. 

Number of unemployment claims last week nationwide: 6.6 million

Number of unemployment claims last week in Virginia: 112,497 

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Quote of the Week

“Voters should not be forced to choose between exercising their Constitutional rights and preserving their own health and that of their community.”

­—Allison Robbins, president of the Voter Registrars Association of Virginia, in a letter urging the state to cancel in-person voting in favor of mail-in ballots for upcoming elections

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In Brief

Better late than never?

UVA announced on Monday that it will create a $2 million emergency fund for contract employees laid off during the university’s closure. The decision comes after student activists circulated a petition demanding action and C-VILLE Weekly published a cover story about workers laid off by Aramark, UVA’s dining services contractor. The article prompted two GoFundMe campaigns, which raised a combined $71,000 for the employees in a matter of days. UVA is also donating $1 million to the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation.

Booze news

The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority has begun allowing Virginia-based distilleries to deliver their products directly to customers. The state claims the new rule is aimed at helping distilleries maintain some income during the current economic freeze. While the policy will surely help the distilleries, it’ll likely be even more beneficial for the thousands of Virginians currently trapped inside with their families.

Spring (break) into action

This week would have been spring break for Charlottesville City Schools, so the district didn’t plan to offer grab-and-go breakfast and lunch for its neediest students. But City Schoolyard Garden and The Chris Long Foundation have picked up the slack by partnering with local restaurants Pearl Island and Mochiko Cville to provide 4,000 meals throughout the week.

Moving out
UVA will clear out three student residential buildings to make space for temporary housing for health care workers, the university announced this week. Students who left belongings when they were told not to return to school will have their things shipped and stored off-site by UVA. Students objected to the plan because anyone who wants to retrieve items before the end of the Virginia-wide state of emergency will be charged up to $100.

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Coronavirus News

‘It could suck so much more’: A fourth-year’s attempt at positivity

PC: Dan Addison/UVA Communications

By Dan Goff

“Remember when I said I doubted the university would move classes online because it would be a logistical nightmare? Well, I was only half right. UVA will and has moved classes online. And it’s a logistical nightmare.”

This quote, from an email sent by one of my professors, nicely sums up the sentiment of UVA faculty and students. I’ve heard and read a lot of grumbling about the university-mandated switch to Zoom, and I’ve done a fair bit of it myself. We fourth-years are especially bummed, since it’s more than just a “logistical nightmare” for us. It looks like the rest of our time at UVA isn’t going to be at UVA at all.

The latest update from President Jim Ryan, letting us know that final exercises as we know them are officially canceled, was a particularly upsetting blow. Graduation ceremonies were the one school-related part of being a fourth-year I really didn’t want to miss. We’ve been told that UVA is “developing creative alternatives,” but I’m skeptical. I shudder to think of the Zoom call that would accommodate a crowd of 4,000.

Charlottesville is not unique here, of course. This is a trend happening at universities across the country and the world, and it’s a necessary one. We can whine all we want about how much the rest of this semester is going to suck (and admittedly, it’ll probably suck), but these are prudent precautions. 

What I’ve been trying to do these past few days is keep in mind how relatively fortunate I am. I’m still in Charlottesville (sorry, President Ryan) because of my job as delivery boy at New Dominion Bookshop. My parents live outside Richmond, an easy drive in case I need to return home. I’m an English major in the creative writing program whose thesis is being written in isolation anyways—my degree doesn’t depend on student teaching or hands-on lab work.

I’ve heard stories of other students faring worse—like my friend Aline Dolinh, a fellow fourth-year who recently returned from Germany. Her trip should’ve ended days earlier, but thanks to what she calls a “comedy of errors,” involving a stolen backpack that contained her laptop and passport, she was stranded. Things were looking grim as Germany continued to close its borders and restrict travel, but she (incredibly) got at least her passport returned to her and made it back to the States earlier this week, where she’s now hanging out in her parents’ basement “like a medieval plague victim.”

Aside from such ill-fated trips abroad, what about the students whose actual homes are overseas? According to recent data, UVA has nearly 2,500 nonresident alien students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs. What percentage of these students is trying but unable to return home? How long might they be stuck here? Questions like these make me remember how lucky I am to be an in-state student with a car, and my right to complain shrinks that much more. 

Of course, there’s the social side of this to consider too. We’ll find creative ways to graduate, but what about creative ways to remain in touch? When I chatted with Aline the other day, she agreed that “it’s the small things that are hitting the most. I won’t be able to do x or y with my friends, and I don’t know the next time I’ll get to see some of these people.”

Charlottesville—particularly the university side of Charlottesville—is starting to feel like a ghost town. Two of my three roommates are still here, but from what I’ve seen, this is pretty unusual. My Instagram and Facebook feeds are stuffed with fourth-years posting bittersweet photos of the Lawn with captions commemorating their “3.75 years” and giving an emotional goodbye to Charlottesville.  

As far as I know, the majority of my fourth- year friends have already packed up and headed back to their family homes. This includes Veronica Sirotic, who was the first friend I made at UVA—though I’m sure I wasn’t hers. Veronica is one of the most social people I’ve ever met. It seems like she can make friends with someone as effortlessly as shaking their hand—two activities which I guess are prohibited for the time being. 

When I FaceTimed Veronica to check in, she answered the call wearing her cap and gown—graduation photos, she explained. She had a mini ceremony with her roommates (from a socially safe distance, of course), after which she drove to her parents’ place in Arlington. 

She was understandably upset about the situation, but was also trying to keep a fair perspective. “I’m not dead, and my family is safe,” she said. “I have a lot to be grateful for.” 

We both acknowledged that while being a fourth-year sucked right now, “it could suck so much more.” I referenced a post I had seen her share on Facebook from Take Back the Night, UVA’s sexual assault prevention group that she co-chairs. The post said that “people currently experiencing sexual harm or survivors of that harm may be particularly affected” by the pandemic—for a variety of reasons, including lack of access to in-person counseling and an exacerbated sense of isolation. The post was a wake-up call, another reality of this that I hadn’t even considered. 

Talking with Veronica was a bit of a wake-up call, too, and it helped put things further into perspective. Sure, what’s ahead is concerning, and not just in the context of public health. This is a less-than-ideal time to be entering the job market—I have no idea what the economy will look like when I graduate in two months. 

I’ve been trying not to worry about hypotheticals like that, though, and take things day-by-day. It’s easy to feel helpless in a situation like this, but we still have some agency. Veronica’s photo shoot inspired me—come May 16, if President Ryan’s “creative alternatives” don’t pan out, I might have a personal graduation ceremony in the safety of my apartment. I can wear the honors of Honors in my bedroom and hand off a diploma to myself. I won’t have a Lawn to march across and my ceilings are a little low for cap-throwing, but it’s better than nothing.

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Coronavirus News

In brief: City changes, missing masks, budget burdens, and more

Due to the coronavirus, Trader Joe’s is limiting customers to 30 at a time inside the store. PC: Eze Amos

Suddenly, a new normal

Just two weeks ago—two weeks ago!—our schools were open, our basketball team was eyeing a tournament run, and our restaurants were dusting off the patio furniture for long evenings of springtime outdoor dining.

But thanks to the spread of the infectious and dangerous novel coronavirus, Charlottesville has had to quickly adjust to a new normal. 

Parents are scrambling to keep their kids entertained for hours on end, and they can’t just throw them outside, because even the playgrounds are closed. Grocery stores have been cleaned out, as people stock up for a long period of social distancing (Trader Joe’s is limiting customers to 30 at a time inside the store). And on Monday, Governor Ralph Northam announced the closure of non-essential businesses—including gyms, barber shops, and salons—and banned gatherings of more than 10 people.

The town’s health care infrastructure has braced itself for what appears to be an imminent rush of new patients. UVA hospital, which made drastic changes to its visitor policy March 22, has set up a screening station at its entrance, and health care providers are short on personal protective gear, including masks, gloves, and goggles.

Restaurants have shifted to take-out only, including Bodo’s, which for so long resisted the tantalizing potential of the Emmet Street and Preston Avenue stores’ already installed drive-through windows. In times like these, it’s good to accentuate the positive: Yes, we’re in the thick of a global pandemic and a total economic collapse, but at least we’ve got drive-through bagels.

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Quote of the Week

“The sooner we can get this health crisis under control, the sooner our economy will recover… We must put aside what we want and replace it with what we need.”

—Virginia Governor Ralph Northam on his directive, issued March 23, to close non-essential businesses for 30 days 

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More masks, please!

Local health care workers are soliciting donations of masks, gloves, goggles, and other household goods in the face of a national shortage of protective gear. Paige Perriello, an area pediatrician, tweeted a picture of herself wearing a mask made of styrofoam and a piece of clear plastic with the caption “Charlottesville’s innovators are coming to our aid!” The initiative is called Equip Cville, and donations can be left at Champion brewery from 11am-1pm every day—see supportcville.com for details.

Pediatrician Paige Perriello PC: Twitter

Budget burdens

This year’s city budget discussions were contentious even before the added stress of a worldwide public health crisis. Now, with COVID-19 shutting down the restaurant and tourism industries, and meals and lodging tax revenues falling accordingly, the city has announced it will need to cut an additional $5 million from the final budget. The budget was supposed to be finalized in April, but for obvious reasons it will not be finished on schedule.

Community cares

The Charlottesville Area Community Foundation has raised more than $2 million for its emergency response fund, thanks to Dave Matthews Band’s Bama Works Fund, the Batten Family Fund, the City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County, and more than 150 other donors. In partnership with Cville Community Cares and United Way, as well the city and county, CACF will distribute the money to area households impacted by COVID-19 and community-based organizations that provide food, housing, and other forms of basic assistance. 

Taking a stand

A group of UVA student activists has created a petition demanding greater resources and support from the university, particularly for students who are low-income, first-generation, and immunocompromised. The petition asks UVA to provide non-student workers (such as Aramark employees) and non-federal work study student workers with paid sick leave; refund housing, meals plans, and tuition/fees (or provide a prorated credit for next semester); offer housing to housing-insecure students and community members; and establish a mutual aid fund for students and low-wage workers with unexpected expenses, among other demands. It has been signed by more than 750 other students, alumni, faculty, staff, and community members. 

Categories
Culture

Many angles: Lisa Speidel’s new book talks about happy sex and more

In her book The Edge of Sex, UVA’s Lisa Speidel hopes to encourage more comfortable conversations about sex. Photo by Dan Addison

When Lisa Speidel joined the Sexual Assault Resource Agency in the early 1990s, she had no idea her work in sexual assault prevention would lead to a career in sex education. But one graduate program, one assistant professorship, and 27 years teaching women’s self-defense later, she’s become an advocate for sexual awareness as a path to agency. 

“Sex is such a big part of who we are, but we’re socialized with so much shame, and not understanding that pleasure can be okay,” says Speidel, who is C-VILLE Weekly’s new sex columnist. “If we can’t talk about happy sex, how are we supposed to talk about sexual violation?”

As an assistant professor in the women, gender and sexuality department at the University of Virginia, Speidel’s background in sexual assault education lends a unique perspective to her work in the classroom.

“[At SARA], I started examining the role of masculinity and how that plays a role in violence against women in particular,” she says. “We’ve expanded in that language (now we call it gender-based violence) because it’s not just about violence against women.” 

Since then, Speidel says there’s been a movement to talk about sexual assault prevention not only through reactionary measures like self-defense and bystander intervention, but also through primary prevention—promoting healthy sexuality and healthy masculinity to stop assault from happening to begin with. 

“I really feel strongly that if we were able to have conversations around this more openly, a lot of damage could be avoided,” she says.

Today, Speidel teaches four courses at UVA: human sexualities, men and masculinities, gender-based violence, and gender and sexuality studies. She sees each subject as interconnected, a necessary educational offering for students who’ve been failed by traditional sex education.

“There’s no consistency for how sex education happens in this country, she says. “We don’t have a national curriculum, it’s really state-based, and a large percentage of the federal funding goes towards abstinence-only. So a lot of people aren’t getting any information at all, but then they go to college and start becoming sexually active, and it’s not a particularly great experience for a lot of people.”

Speidel hears it directly from her students. “I do a lot of reflective writing in my classes, and people are very open and honest,” she says. 

Ultimately, her students were the reason she began teaching about the pleasurable side of sex. During one of her intro classes on gender and sexuality studies, she remembers a student who raised his hand after she shared the statistic that only 25 percent of women can have an orgasm with penetrative intercourse. “He asked, ‘But I don’t understand why that would happen for someone with a vagina.’ For me, that was a pivotal moment. I realized I needed to be teaching a human sexuality class.”

Speidel points out that most people are terrified of having these conversations. In a dynamic where “people feel isolated based on sexual orientations or gender identities, women feel like they don’t have a voice, [and] men feel socialized that they’re supposed to have all the answers,” our lack of safe spaces to have open conversations about sex is a real problem. 

The world of academia offers a solution, she says, if educators work to create brave spaces for people to be courageous. “If you can create an environment where it’s like, ‘Okay, I have to read about this,’ and there’s research and books written about it, it’s a tool to get those conversations going. You know, the conversations we don’t do very well in our everyday lives.”

To help facilitate these conversations both in and outside the classroom, Speidel and her former student Micah Jones have co-authored a book titled The Edge of Sex: Navigating a Sexually Confusing Culture From the Margins. The anthology includes work from 37 writers, half of whom are former students of Speidel’s, as they discuss their experiences of sex and sex education in America. 

The Edge of Sex appeals not only to clinicians working on issues of gender identity and sexuality, but also to casual readers who want to immerse themselves in education outside the classroom. 

“It’s all about marginalized or unheard voices, and how exclusion, and exclusionary practices in sex education, really affects people’s identity and developing,” Speidel says. “If you’re going to have conversations with your own children, or if you’re having conversations with each other, there’s some skill building and understanding available.”

As Speidel has experienced firsthand in her career, exposure to a variety of voices and perspectives is the first step in creating positive change. The Edge of Sex not only sheds light for readers, it empowers them to realize they’re not alone, and community and resources exist to help them.

“I think a lot of people will find themselves in this book,” she says. “The first chapter is [by someone writing] about faking orgasms for 30 years. The next is about someone who’s trans. It’s just a huge spectrum of voices.”

Speidel says that it’s important to celebrate all the choices that people make in ways that are safe, happy, and consensual. “It’s such a cliché, but knowledge is power,” she says. “Learning how to communicate and how to decrease dynamics that make people feel shameful and bad about themselves—there’s a domino effect.”