Tag: UVA

C-VILLE Weekly’s coverage of the University of Virginia.

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Jump start: Looking ahead at the UVA basketball season

New transfer Sam Hauser should serve as the men's basketball team's primary offensive threat this year. Photo: UVA Athletics

By Julia Stumbaugh

Hope springs eternal in the hearts of Wahoo faithful. First, there’s the hope that the season will be carried out safely, with basketball not endangering the health of players, fans, and the rest of the community. 

Then, of course, is the hope that the teams will soar. 

The women are looking to outperform early projections of a bottom-conference finish with a new, untested roster. The men, led by a star transfer, will battle to live up to championship expectations.

Last season’s tournaments were canceled by the coronavirus. This year, with precautions in place, we’re hoping a season can be carried out safely. It’s been a turbulent off-season of viral disease, professional drafts, and surprise transfers. But with college basketball finally on the horizon, it’s time to take a look at the familiar faces and new talent seeking to push Virginia’s teams to the top of the rankings this winter.

Freshman guard Kaydan Lawson, handling the ball above, is among the many new faces on the Cavaliers’ roster. Photo: UVA Athletics

Building for the future 

Virginia women’s basketball will rely on fresh faces this year. The team lost the only three players who averaged over 30 minutes per game last season to graduation, with guard Dominique Toussaint, forward Lisa Jablonowski and 2020 10th-overall WNBA draft pick Jocelyn Willoughby saying so long last spring. 

Those three graduating seniors represented over 60 percent of the Cavaliers’ 2019-20 offensive production. But even team captain Willoughby’s ACC-leading 577 points weren’t enough to drag the Cavaliers up the  standings, as the team struggled to a 13-17 record. They scored just 61.4 points per game and finished bottom-three in the ACC in scoring for the second consecutive season.

Other key players from last season are fleeing in the transfer portal. Guard Shemera Williams, who ranked third in team scoring and appeared in 21 games after joining as one of the country’s top recruits in 2019, is headed to the University of Southern California. Kylie Kornegay-Lucas, who averaged five points over her 29 appearances last season, is expected to transfer as well. Both played over 20 minutes per game.

Those departures leave redshirt sophomore guard Amandine Toi and sophomore guard Carole Miller as the only 2019 starters left on the team. 

Miller averaged six points and 3.6 rebounds per game, making her the most consistent scorer remaining. Toi’s 26 three-pointers ranked her behind only Willoughby and Toussaint from beyond the arc. 

The starting roster desperately needs reliable double-digit scoring, and where that will come from in 2020-21 remains to be seen. 

Dani Lawson only made five starts last year and struggled to regularly mark the scoresheet, but she did show flashes of potential with a five-game stretch in which she averaged 13 points per game. Meg Jefferson and Tihana Stojsavljevic both played off the bench and could see increased playing time this year, although they’ll be fighting with six new players for a regular roster spot. Covenant School alum Emily Maupin, a graduate transfer from Elon, averaged 11.7 points and six rebounds in her last season for the Phoenix and could help around the rim. 

Virginia was one of the conference’s worst rebounding teams in 2019-20, when the team placed 11th in the ACC in defensive rebounds and 15th on the offensive glass. There are plenty of new faces who could help pick up the slack: The Cavs added five freshmen who are all six feet or taller. Zaria Johnson averaged 13 points and 5.9 rebounds in her senior season at High­tower High School in Texas. Dani Lawson’s younger sister Kaydan Lawson notched 18 points and 3.1 steals per game at Orange High School in Ohio. And Aaliyah Pitts was named the Class 6A Player of the Year as a junior at Woodbridge High School in 2018-19. The team also added Nycerra Minnis, who averaged 17 rebounds per game in her senior season at Herndon High School, and Deja Bristol, who averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds at Maryland’s New Hope Academy last season. 

Tina Thompson has her work cut out for her in her third season as head coach. An 8-10 conference record in 2019-20 was an improvement over a tough 2018-19 season, when the team went 5-11 in the ACC. But with a conference coach preseason poll placing Virginia 15th out of 15 in the ACC, Thompson will have to make sure her inexperienced squad doesn’t take a step backwards.

The team needs leaders after the loss of its team captain, and scorers after the departure of the only two double-digit producers in Willoughby and Toussaint. Toi and Miller must make the jump from freshmen role players to veteran leaders, and the returning bench players and new freshmen front court will have to be creative in how they fulfill Thompson’s high-energy offensive approach. There will be plenty of competition for starting roles on this brand new Cavalier team.

Senior guard Tomas Woldetensae lines up a jumper in practice this off-season. Photo: UVA Athletics

High hopes

Virginia’s men’s team, as fans have been happy to point out, remains the nation’s defending champion. This year, it has championship dreams once again, and was ranked No. 4 in the nation in the AP preseason poll. 

The leaders of that gravity-defying 2019 title squad are long gone—of the seven players who averaged 10 or more minutes per game during the championship season, only junior guard Kihei Clark remains. But a new class is ready to take over.

Redshirt senior Sam Hauser made a name for himself in his junior season at Marquette University, where he averaged nearly 15 points a game and showed off his lethal shot on January 15, 2019, with a memorable 31-point outing against Georgetown. 

On April 8, 2019, Hauser watched the Cavaliers win their first NCAA championship. Exactly one week later, he made public his intention to transfer from Marquette; in May, he announced he would be spending his senior year in Charlottesville.

Now that his NCAA-mandated sit-out season is over, the 6’8″ power forward is ready to don the blue and orange. That couldn’t come at a better time for a Virginia team looking to cover the gaps left in the roster by graduating seniors Braxton Key and Mamadi Diakite.

The key parts of the 2019-20 defense, which held opponents to an ACC-best 52.4 points per game, are returning. Redshirt senior Jay Huff ranked fourth in the conference with two blocks per game—including an unforgettable 10-block showing in a 52-50 victory over Duke—while junior Kihei Clark ranked in the top 20 by averaging 1.2 steals.

To return to the Final Four and beyond, Virginia needs scorers. The Cavaliers ranked last in the ACC last year in offense with an average of 57 points per game. The 2020-21 roster offers scoring in spades. Clark grew as a scorer between his freshman and sophomore seasons, going from 4.5 to 10.8 points per game and ranking second in team scoring only to Diakite in 2019-20. Senior Tomas Woldetensae honed his long-range shots with 52 three-pointers and earned starts in 22 of 29 games.

In addition to those two returning guards comes Huff, a 7’1″ center who increased his 2018 4.4-point average to 6.6 points per game in 2019-20 in 18 starts. His height and intimidating wingspan might make him one of the premier centers in the ACC.

Cavalier fans are likely to see Hauser, dangerous at both close range and from a distance, take over at power forward. After those four starters, the roster could fluctuate. Sophomore Casey Morsell made 13 starts last season but didn’t quite establish himself, shooting an abysmal 18 percent from three. He’ll compete for minutes at guard with four-star freshman Reece Beekman. Freshman Jabri Abdur-Rahim, another four-star prospect and gifted scorer, could get the start as small forward. Redshirt freshman Kadin Shedrick learned Virginia’s system from the bench during his redshirt season last year, and may see some time on the court this season, while freshman Carson McCorkle will likely take his turn as a redshirt.

Coach Tony Bennett ran a relatively tight rotation last year. Only seven Cavaliers averaged more than 10 minutes of playing time per game in 2020. That could change as Bennett tests this year’s deep roster for chemistry and commitment to his system.

With tenacious players like Clark and Huff holding down Bennett’s trademark pack-line defense, and clever scorers like Hauser and Abdur-Rahim arriving to create a dynamic offensive punch, this Virginia team has every reason to dream big. 

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In brief: Turkey time, planner peace out, and more

Volunteers hand out birds at the We Code, Too turkey drive on Saturday. PC: Zack Wajsgras

Turkey time

Community is hard to come by these days, especially as we’re all hunkering down for a long winter indoors. But at the Jefferson School on Saturday, the community put on an impressive show. During the annual We Code, Too turkey drive, 200 birds were handed out to those in need ahead of the holiday. Some of the turkeys were contributed by retailers, and many more were purchased using money from individual donations. Cars snaked through the parking lot, as recipients remained socially distant during distribution. It’s the seventh year in a row that the drive has taken place, proving that even in difficult times, some things remain constant.

Planner says peace out 

Charlottesville city government’s staffing woes continue. On November 4, the city announced that Parag Agrawal had been hired as the Director of Neighborhood Development Services. Agrawal even made an introductory appearance at a press conference the next day. But less than two weeks later, Agrawal is gone, after announcing last week that he’s taken a job as the planning director in Prince William County instead. There’s been a lot of turnover at City Hall recently, but this is a new record.

Looking on the bright side, at least the city won’t have to pay Agrawal a severance package. Mike Murphy got nine months of additional pay after spending a year as interim city manager, and former city manager Tarron Richardson got a $205,000 lump sum after less than a year and a half at the helm. Maybe it would’ve been in Agrawal’s best interest to stick around for another week or two—who knows what he might have walked away with.

After 16 months on the job, former city manager Tarron Richardson walked away with $205,000 in severance pay. PC: Eze Amos

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Quote of the week

“Quite honestly, I just don’t have the time to address every crazy thing she says. It would be a full-time job.”

—Virginia Senate Republican Mark Obenshain, when asked to respond to Republican gubernatorial candidate Amanda Chase’s latest remarks

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In brief

White House bound?

After just two years as UVA president, Jim Ryan may be moving on to the White House—at least, if Nicholas Kristof has his way. The New York Times columnist floated Ryan as a secretary of education pick for Joe Biden’s cabinet last week, praising his “strong moral compass” and more than a decade of experience in higher education. Ryan was “flattered” by the mention, but said, “My focus has been and will continue to be leading the University of Virginia.”

Durty deal

You can get anything on Craigslist—even a much-loved Charlottesville bar. Durty Nelly’s Pub is for sale, and last week the whole shebang was briefly posted on the online classified board with a price tag of $75,000. Durty Nelly’s is still open and doesn’t plan on closing, but the post suggested that the owner is looking to move on.

Pass it around

After Governor Ralph Northam’s recent announcement that he would support marijuana legalization in next year’s General Assembly session, State Delegate Lee Carter proposed that money generated from pot sales be spent on reparations for Black and Indigenous Virginians. It’s “a moral commitment our history demands of us and a necessary first step in Virginia,” Carter wrote in a press release.

Bottom lines up

It’ll come as no surprise that one business in particular is thriving during the pandemic: Virginia ABC stores have reported record sales through the last few months, turning in $22 million more in revenue in October 2020 than during October 2019. Usually, restaurants make up roughly 20 percent of the ABC stores’ businesses, but the liquor shops are having no trouble making ends meet even with that flow interrupted.

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Arts Culture

Kites bring attention to locally detained migrant children’s plight

Image courtesy of Gallery

In Latin America, kites are serious business, flown, depending on region, on Easter and the Day of the Dead. They’re also widely used for sport. With his “Papalotes en Resistencia” (Kites in Resistance), Federico Cuatlacuatl, an assistant professor of new media in UVA’s art department, uses the culture, heritage, and traditions of that region as tools of activism. Originally from Puebla, Mexico, Cuatlacuatl immigrated to the U.S. in 1999.

Two of Cuatlacuatl’s large gold foil kites are currently on view in Second Street’s Dové Gallery. Sparkling gaily under the gallery spots, they seem joyful and light in both weight and connotation. But the kites contain a deeper, more urgent message: Asylum- seeking children continue to be detained in centers across the U.S.

Cuatlacuatl makes the kites personal to a Charlottesville audience by repurposing tiki lights, like the ones used by neo-Nazis during their August 11, 2017, assault on UVA, to construct the framework.

Generally, in this country, kites are seen as an innocent child’s toys, so there’s a dark irony that these objects of play are used to draw attention to
an appalling human rights crisis.

Originally scheduled for April, Cuatlacuatl’s show included a field trip to Washington, D.C., where UVA students planned to fly the kites in a peaceful protest on the National Mall to showcase the migrant children’s plight. Because of COVID-19, the exhibition was postponed and the kite-flying protest canceled. The project was not lost, though, because Cuatlacuatl’s kites offer the perfect complement in content and form to the “Bearing Witness” work on view in the main gallery.

Many will be shocked, as was I, that one of the migrant children detention centers, the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center (which houses seven of these children), is located just over Afton Mountain in Staunton. Visitors to the Second Street show are invited to write letters to the children. (They will be delivered through a contact of the artist’s.) The gallery is also collecting supplies for the migrant children detained in Staunton. Please contact Second Street (secondstreetgallery.org; 977-7284) if you are interested in donating.

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Still here: Public health experts urge caution as holidays approach

With cold weather and the flu season upon us, the Charlottesville community should brace itself for a serious uptick in COVID-19 cases. PC: Thomas Jefferson Health District

Nationwide, nearly 100,000 new COVID cases were reported last Friday—the most in a single day to this point. And with COVID-19 spreading across the country faster than ever, that number will almost certainly rise.

Locally, positivity rate has remained low, currently at just 2.4 percent, said Thomas Jefferson Health District medical director Denise Bonds at Monday’s City Council meeting. Bonds attributes that rate to the “very large number of tests that UVA is doing on an almost daily basis.”

Even so, the health district urges caution as the winter months and holiday season approach.

“The more people gathering—whether it’s at work sites or community events—it’s more of a risk for people to get exposed to COVID-19, and spread it to others,” says TJHD spokesperson Kathryn Goodman.

The return of students to UVA Grounds contributed to case spikes in Charlottesville and Albemarle in September and early October. Since the fall semester began in late August, students have been spotted crowding into bars on the Corner, and attending off-Grounds parties—typically standing close to each other and not wearing masks.

As of November 3, the university has reported 1,108 cases among students, faculty, staff, and contract employees since August 17. The spike receded in the later part of October, and 26 cases are currently active.

“A majority of what we’ve seen [with] UVA cases is that it’s been spread amongst UVA, and not far out into the community,” says Goodman. “It’s hard to know that always though—we can’t say for sure there hasn’t been [any] community spread from UVA cases.”

The health district continues to focus on educating area residents about proper safety precautions through social media, testing events, and other outreach measures.

“We know that everybody is tired of hearing about it…[but] COVID is still here unfortunately,” adds Goodman. “We have to continue to be extra cautious by wearing face masks, washing our hands, keeping six feet apart, [and] staying home when sick to help prevent further spread.”

The health district will offer free testing every day the week before Thanksgiving, and set up additional testing sites the week afterward.

Families should celebrate Thanksgiving—along with other upcoming holidays—with their own household, and include family and friends virtually, says Goodman.

“One of the highest-risk decisions people can make for Thanksgiving is having multiple households gather indoors together,” she adds. “It’s important people recognize that this year, we have to do things differently.”

People who do visit family or friends for the holidays should quarantine for two weeks before their trip, gather outside, and make sure each household is seated at separate tables, spaced at least six feet apart.

The health district is also worried about chilly fall weather—the beginning of cold and flu season—and its potential impact on cases.

“A lot of our concern is around people not being able to get together outdoors. The cold weather brings people inside,” says Goodman. “We [also] don’t know what the effects could be if someone gets the flu and COVID-19 together.”

To prevent the spread of the flu in the community, the TJHD is currently offering free flu shots. Its next drive-through clinic will be November 7 from 2 to 5pm at Charlottesville High School.

Correction 11/5: TJHD will be offering free COVID testing every day the week before Thanksgiving, not every day before Thanksgiving.

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In brief: UVA returns in spring, COVID hits Wintergreen, and more

PC: Rick Stillings

Back again?

After a semester that featured dorm lockdowns, gathering limits, maskless masses flooding bars, and more than a thousand positive tests among students, staff, and contract employees since August, UVA announced last week that students will return to Grounds in person for the spring semester.

The university will essentially replicate its fall reopening plans next semester. Most classes will be held online, but there will be a limited number of in-person offerings. Students will continue to be required to wear masks, practice social distancing, and comply with testing requirements while on Grounds.

The school’s January term will take place online. And while these courses usually cost extra, this year students can take one class for free.

To reduce the threat during peak flu season, the first day of spring classes has been pushed back from January 20 to February 1. The semester will still end at the beginning of May.

And to discourage students from traveling in and out of Charlottesville, the typically weeklong spring break—originally scheduled for March 6 through 14—will be replaced with multiple shorter breaks.

Before students leave for Thanksgiving and finish out the rest of the semester from home, they will all be required to take and submit a COVID test, like they did before returning to Grounds this fall. No word yet if they will be tested again before the start of the spring semester.

By March 15, the university will announce its plans for Final Exercises, for both the classes of 2020 and 2021. The Class of 2020 is currently scheduled to have its delayed celebration from May 21 to 23. The Class of 2021 is slated to walk the Lawn the following weekend.

Follow the money

In elections for the House of Representatives, the candidate who spends more money wins 90 percent of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight.

There are multiple reasons for that correlation: Large war chests help candidates put together effective campaigns, and candidates with winning pedigrees attract more donations. In any case, it bodes well
for Cameron Webb, who has run rings around Bob Good in
the money race. As of October 25, Webb has raised $4.6 million; Good, a former fundraiser for Liberty University athletics, has raised just $1.1 million. The difference in small-dollar donations is even starker: Webb has earned $1.3 million to Good’s $180,000 from donations of $200 or less.

Across the state, Democrats have thumped Republicans in fundraising. U.S. Senator Mark Warner has raised $16.6 million, compared to opponent Daniel Gade’s $3.9 million, according to OpenSecrets. Warner’s senate seat was a tossup six years ago, but now the Dem, seeking a third term, is a comfortable favorite. Warner’s 2014 opponent, Ed Gillespie, raised $7.9 mil, but Gade hasn’t been able to come anywhere near that amount this year. Virginia Republicans haven’t won a statewide race since 2009.

In this cycle, Virginians have given $23.2 million to Joe Biden and $11.1 million to Donald Trump, according to the Federal Election Commission. Nationally, Biden has far outraised what Hillary Clinton did in 2016, and Trump has almost doubled his totals from last time around. That dynamic is visible on the state level too—in 2016, Virginians gave $16 million to Hillary Clinton and just $3.7 million to Trump.

CC License: Mark Warner Flickr

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Quote of the week

“I strain to recall ever before witnessing such disdain for precedent, such disrespect for the legacy of an American giant, such disregard for the will of the voters.”

—Senator Tim Kaine on Monday’s confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett

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In brief

You’ve Piqua’d my interest

High rates of turnover in Charlottesville city government continue. Former public works director and Deputy City Manager Paul Oberdorfer is leaving for the greener pastures of Piqua, Ohio, where he’s been offered the job of city manager, reports The Daily Progress. Oberdorfer, an Ohio native, will finish in Charlottesville on December 31.

Snowball effect

Multiple staffers at Wintergreen Resort have tested positive for COVID, and 20 have been asked to quarantine, after an October 10 wedding party introduced the disease to the ski resort. Wintergreen currently limits its events to 50 guests at a time, and has assured the public that it’s been adhering closely to all relevant guidelines. Still, once the virus takes hold, things can go downhill quickly.

The horror continues

As if the world wasn’t scary enough, Halloween is just around the corner. Trick-or-treating isn’t officially canceled this year, but the city is encouraging hosts to “avoid direct contact with trick-or-treaters and give treats away outdoors if possible.” Hopefully, for one night at least, no one will mind walking around in a mask.

Carson unmasked

Bob Good keeps popping up in headlines for the wrong reasons—this time, he hosted a private fundraiser in Fauquier County where doctor and high-ranking Trump official Ben Carson was caught sauntering about without a mask. Carson’s appearance continues a pattern of inconsistent mask use from Trump’s inner circle, despite the repeated assertion from medical experts that masks save lives.

Ben Carson PC: Gage Skidmore
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In brief: Keeping the pressure, breaking the law, and more

Activists call for defunding the police at a rally outside the police station in June. PC: Eze Amos

Defunders keep fighting

“Does abolition really mean ending the police? Yes.”

So said community organizer Ang Conn, as she spearheaded last Wednesday’s Zoom conversation on policing, hosted by Defund Cville Police. Over 80 community members joined in on the call.

The group hopes to keep the pressure on as the summer of protests moves into autumn. Though Charlottesville City Council has proposed a mental health crisis response task force, it has yet to take any action toward reducing CPD’s budget.

Defund Cville Police wants City Council to cut the police budget by 60 percent and invest those funds in housing, education, mental health and substance abuse treatment, and other low-barrier community services.

The group has also called for a freeze on police hiring, and the creation of a community crisis hotline, which would dispatch responders trained in de-escalation, trauma-informed care, and transformative and restorative justice.

According to Conn, defunding will help the community work toward police abolition. “We’ll take that budget yearly until it’s zero,” she said.

Several other activists—including UVA students—joined Conn in leading a presentation on policing, starting with its racist origins. While slave patrols surveilled and captured enslaved Black people in the South, police forces emerged to maintain race and class hierarchy in the North.

The activists discussed how Black and brown communities—along with other marginalized groups, like organized labor and houseless people—have been systemically harmed by law enforcement at every level.

UVA student Donavon Lea described police reforms, like body cameras and additional training, as a “band-aid for a bigger issue”—they only feed more money into the prison industrial complex, and away from communities.

“Society has the idea of hiding folks away in prisons…when we have the ability and resources to address these issues in society,” added Conn.

Pumping funding into police departments has not helped victims, particularly those of sexual and interpersonal violence, the activists emphasized. About 99 percent of sexual assault perpetrators walk free, while more than 90 percent of domestic violence cases reported to the police do not result in jail time, and may cause more problems for the victim.

The activists will continue to pressure the city, but in the meantime, Conn encouraged all the event attendees to get involved in mutual aid and support, which she said will help to build a police-free community.

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Quote of the week

“The majority of the rallies, demonstrations, and marches here are primarily people [who] don’t look very diverse.”

—Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney, implying that this year’s Black Lives Matter protests have included too many white people

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In brief

Bar none

A quick drive around the Corner on a weekend night reveals that some UVA students are partying on, undeterred by the virus or the school’s 10-person limit on gatherings. Lines to get into bars often wrap around the block. Under Virginia’s Phase 3 guidelines, restaurants are allowed to open for indoor dining but “bar seats and congregating areas of restaurants must be closed to patrons except for through-traffic.”

Shelter skelter

Last year, Hinton Avenue Methodist Church was shocked to find that a group of Belmont residents opposed the church’s plan to set up Rachel’s Haven, a 15-unit apartment building including several units reserved for those with intellectual disabilities. Now, the group that started a petition against the project is trying to abandon its own cause, scared off by “an outright attack on our group” on social media, reports The Daily Progress.

Safety first

Albemarle teachers—along with parents, students, and other supporters—gathered in front of the Albemarle County Office Building on Fifth Street last week to protest the district’s move to Stage 3, which will put up to 5,000 preschoolers through third graders in the classroom.

Dining out

After months of pandemic losses, Charlottesville restaurants will no longer have to pay the city’s deferred outdoor space rental fee for the months of March and April, and only need to cover half of the fee for the following months, according to an ordinance passed by City Council on Monday. Restaurants seeking to rent more outdoor space will also get a 50 percent discount.

PC: Staff photo
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Arts Culture

Look again: Sanjay Suchak finds new views of the Old Dominion

Photographer Sanjay Suchak gained new perspectives in his work after adding a drone to his toolkit. His exhibition “From Richmond to the Blue Ridge: New Takes on “Familiar Landscapes” runs through October 31 at the Crozet Artisan Depot. 

In a year defined by wild new perspectives—on health, on risk, on human separation and connectedness—images have played a central role. Photos of people in crowds or isolation are newly fraught, and as we gather virtually, the visual appearance of other humans on-screen has become a startling, imperfect social lifeline. Sanjay Suchak’s photography show at the Crozet Artisan Depot isn’t limited to images from this year, but the way it cultivates space for alternate perspectives feels very apropos for 2020.

Take, for example, his shots of the Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond—an object that stands for so much pain and, graffitied or not, is usually pictured from below. Indeed, it was designed to loom over the viewer, expressing white supremacy and dominance in its presentation of the Confederate general as a towering figure upheld by a permanent-seeming pedestal.

That permanence is less assured these days, even though the statue for the moment stands. Suchak’s take on the monument turns the usual perspective upside down, using a drone camera to position the viewer directly above the statue.

Not only does this offer poetic justice (now who’s being looked down at?), it reminds us that the statue is an object, not a person, and that its power derives from nothing more substantial than convention. Lee and his horse become just frozen metal, their position suddenly awkward, their antique patina belied by the lively quilt of spray-painted color that artist-protesters spontaneously created all around the statue’s base.

Suchak is UVA’s senior photographer and works independently for clients like National Geographic, but he’s exceedingly modest about his presentation of these images at the Depot. “I never really considered the fine art space,” he says. “These are just beautiful photos of the region.” True, there are familiar Virginia icons here, but there’s nearly always a twist: He shows the Rotunda with lightning forking through the sky above it. (“That would be a terrible image for UVA to use,” Suchak acknowledges dryly.)

His view of the Blue Ridge Parkway is a long-exposure image of stars wheeling through the night, a hint of immense time spans and distances that dwarf the human world. And, standing in a 7-11 parking lot off I-64 near Williamsburg, he used a drone to hover above private land where a flock of decommissioned presidential busts, 15 or 20 feet tall, huddle surreally in a field.

Suchak says he got into drone photography “just to have another tool in the toolkit of being a photographer.” He realized, though, that the drone offered not only the possibility of a kind of omniscience—seeing everything—but the chance to show things from angles most people have never considered. “I try to go for simplicity: addition by subtraction,” he says. “All drone cameras are pretty much like your iPhone—very wide. You have to compose your scene simply.”

Suchak doesn’t shy away from the social struggles that have made this year such a searing one in Virginia and elsewhere; many of the images concern the rewriting and removal of Confederate monuments, including the Johnny Reb statue in Charlottesville. “I never thought I would see this in my lifetime. I think it’s the start of a very important conversation,” he says.

Interestingly, there are photos of a Gordonsville rodeo here too: plaid shirts, rippling hides, and all. It’s tempting to make assumptions about how mismatched the nostalgic realm of the rodeo might be with the urban, future-looking world represented by some of Suchak’s other images—say, the one of a young female graduate in cap and gown raising a fist in front of a graffiti-enhanced monument.

But if there’s one thing 2020 asks us to do, it’s to reconsider what we think we know. As Suchak’s collection proves, this is a complex region, state, and world, with room for infinite perspectives.

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News

Credit where it’s due: Activists push UVA to go easy on grades during the pandemic

UVA activists successfully lobbied for a credit/no credit grading system during a pandemic-altered semester. PC: Jack Looney

By Sydney Halleman

Very little at UVA resembles normal academic life these days. Many students are taking their classes entirely online, and those who returned to Grounds wear masks outdoors and are not allowed to congregate in groups of more than five people. Recruiting events for clubs and Greek life are held via Zoom.

Last spring, when COVID-19 forced all classes to go online, the university adjusted its grading system, giving students the option of taking their courses “credit/no credit.” (CR/NC is different from traditional pass/fail because classes for which credit is earned can qualify toward major requirements.)

Heading into the fall, however, the traditional A-F system returned.

That policy prompted students like Abel Liu and Ellen Yates, the Student Council president, to campaign for a return to the CR/NC grading system, which they say is beneficial for student mental health, especially those with higher barriers to education.

Last week, the university administration acceded to the organizers’ demands, announcing that the semester would be graded on a credit/no credit scale. Student activists are hailing the move as a significant victory for activism at UVA.

Student Council began by circulating a survey to gauge interest in the proposed new system. Two thousand five hundred people responded, with an overwhelming number favoring the CR/NC option.

Yates explains that this semester is the hardest yet because the pandemic wiped out more jobs in the summer and confined students inside for online classes.

“The lack of peer-to-peer contact is difficult, and it wears on you in ways that are insidious,” Yates says. “You wouldn’t recognize how impactful it is to be alone in a room for potentially eight hours.”

For lower-income students, the burden has been even heavier. Liu and Yates collected 14 pages of student testimonials in support of a CR/NC option. Many of the testimonials come from low-income students who are struggling to achieve good grades and juggle other responsibilities.

“I am a fourth-year full-time architecture student who has to work to pay my bills. I had three jobs in the spring semester and was laid off of all three due to the pandemic,” wrote one student.

“Keeping up enough money to pay bills while maintaining a full course load (as my scholarships all require) is incredibly difficult…I was considering dropping out,” wrote another.

The testimony goes on: “I used to be an attentive student but with online school it is asking the impossible.”

“I am currently in a mental health crisis and have struggled to actively participate in class over Zoom.”

“I live with younger siblings and an autistic brother, the combination of the two makes my studying extremely difficult.”

Keeping the traditional grading system, however, is important to the university and some students: UVA often touts grades and related metrics to lure prospective students and maintain its status as an elite academic institution. And a high GPA is also fundamental to those whose grades are major selling points in graduate school applications.

Yates thinks these counterpoints aren’t a concern (under the new system, students can still opt to receive grades), and she urges the university to be more empathetic toward its students.

“We have a lot of vulnerable people in our community right now who need help,” Yates says. “They need the university to prioritize their well-being and their health over academic competitiveness or national academics.”

Liu thinks the alternative grading policy is a natural extension of progress the university has already made. At the beginning of the semester, UVA announced that it would suspend the coveted Dean’s List in light of the pandemic.

“We take that as an implicit admission from UVA that normal measures of success are not valid or adequate right now,” Liu says.

On Friday, the student activists got their wish when Provost Liz Magill sent a school-wide email announcing a CR/NC option for all students. Magill directly cites student organizing in her email, writing that the admin “decided to revisit our grading decision after many exchanges with students, student leaders, and faculty and staff who work most closely with students. They reported high levels of stress, anxiety, and personal and family challenges among large numbers of students, and all encouraged both the deans and me to consider flexible grading options this semester.”

Students have until November 6 to opt in to the alternative grading system.

“The fact that we had changed their minds is, in my opinion, a sign that student self governance is fundamentally about the collective bargaining power of students,” Liu says.“That’s really what it boils down to.”

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News

Generational ties: UVA first-gen students pass down lessons learned

Fourth-year Savannah Page founded The College Scoop to ease the transition between high school and college for incoming first-gen UVA students. PC: Courtesy subject

When Andjelika Milicic began looking at colleges, she felt like a lab rat. Her parents, originally from Serbia and Bosnia, did not go to college, and she was the oldest of her siblings, leaving her with no one to guide her through the application process.

“I did not know what I was doing whatsoever,” says Milicic, who is from Milwaukee. “I watched YouTube videos on how to do everything…All the [help] I had from my guidance counselor was very general.”

Milicic’s struggles as a first-generation, low-income student continued well into her first year at the University of Virginia, and beyond. She not only had to adjust to a new environment, but she had to figure out how to navigate the different facets of college, from courses to internships.

“I didn’t really have a set schedule for everything. I had to figure it out as I went, whereas other people knew what they needed to [do]…based off of what experiences their parents or siblings have had,” she says. “It was difficult to find the right people to contact for all my questions.”

So when Milicic, now a fourth-year, first learned about The College Scoop, she knew she wanted to get involved.

The College Scoop is a new student-led initiative—founded this March—that offers mentorship and resources to incoming first-years during the transition from high school to college, with a specific focus on FGLI students.

Throughout the spring semester, the group connected with more than 200 admitted students over social media, leading around 150 of them to enroll at UVA.

“We wanted to provide them with a sense of understanding about what the UVA community is like—without having to come here and visit,” says founder and president Savannah Page, now a fourth-year.

To reach more of the FGLI community, the group has begun building partnerships with the university administration, as well as student groups like the First Generation/Low Income Partnership and Rise Together.

“We want to provide a place for these students to come to with all of their questions,” says Milicic, vice president of the group. “All of the partnerships we’re forming will help create a strong resource for these students, so we can connect them with people who may specialize in whatever question they have.”

When third-year Alessia Randazzo arrived at UVA, she also felt very lost and out of place—until she found a mentor. Now she hopes to prevent other FGLI students from going through the same struggles she did.

“It was definitely a challenge, just in that I felt like I didn’t belong here. How can I compete with all of these people who have had this help and support from the very start?” says Randazzo, who is also the group’s co-chair of leadership and development.

Randazzo says she hopes to serve as an older sibling for incoming FGLI students. “Yes, you can ask us about the best course to take for a subject [or] the best place to eat on the Corner, but also we are a resource for help, when you’re having difficulties with XYZ.”

The group is also working to expand its mentorship to high schoolers interested in applying to UVA, by reaching out to guidance counselors at local high schools.

In the near future, the group plans to offer other types of services specifically tailored to FGLI students. It is currently applying for over $100,000 in grant funds to create a free textbook library inside Newcomb Hall. Textbooks can be brutally expensive, and the group hopes to ease that burden.

“We’re hoping to be able to purchase anywhere from around 300 to 400 books for students…[mainly] for first-year classes” says Page. “The goal is to have the university incorporate it into their services, and keep it going that way. And negotiate with the bookstore to get a good discount.”

Page says they should be able to purchase at least 20 to 50 textbooks by the spring.

The grant would also go toward expanding accommodation services for low-income students with disabilities, as well as the Next Steps Fund at Student Health, which pays for two sessions with a community therapist outside of CAPS.

Both Milicic and Randazzo hope The College Scoop’s advocacy will ultimately push UVA to make a greater effort to destigmatize the hardships FGLI students face.

“When I was a first year, it was difficult to put that label on yourself as first gen, low income—it just kind of makes you feel other,” says Milicic. “There can be less negative stigma [around] being FGLI just by talking about it more, and making it known that there are these resources to help you and there are other people here like you.”

UVA needs to do a better job of promoting FGLI resources to first years, “so they don’t feel like outliers…and want to transfer out,” adds Randazzo. “Feeling like you don’t fit in at your own university is just a really tragic feeling to experience.”

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Arts Culture

Travel companion: UVA alum’s trivia app serves as a virtual escape during lockdown

A lifelong love of trivia and a few game show appearances inspired Donnie Edgemon to develop Triviappolis Treasures, a city-based game that goes deep on a locality’s details. Publicity photo

Who is the city of Leesburg, Virginia, named after?

If you answered Robert E. Lee, you may need to study up. If, however, you said the city is named for Thomas Lee, an ancestor of the well-known Confederate general, you’d be a good candidate to play Triviappolis Treasures, a travel-based trivia app created by University of Virginia alum Donnie Edgemon.

An idea born out of a lifelong love of trivia—and a game show run that included appearances on “Jeopardy!” and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”—led Edgemon to begin developing the app in March. The goal was to create a city-based trivia game, designed to allow tourists to test their knowledge along their trip route.

“The day I don’t remember playing on ‘Jeopardy!’ anymore is the day you can put me down.” Donnie Edgemon (Publicity photo/Jeopardy!)

But even as Edgemon was reaching out to fellow trivia-loving UVA graduates and professional trivia writers for help crafting locally based questions that would inspire users to travel, the United States was closing its airports and borders.

As the app got closer to its June launch, it became clear the world into which it was launching was not the same one Edgemon had once envisioned.

“We knew the world was different in terms of travel and that it might still be different when we launched, it might still be different for months afterwards,” Edgemon says. “But we always knew there would be two stories to tell.”

Ideally, the app would serve as a travel companion. But the second story, which the app’s marketing has focused on, is even more relevant in our COVID-struck reality: The game itself can serve as a substitute for travel. Now more than ever, selecting a new category is far more feasible than booking a flight.

“In the long run, I’m not sure it really matters,” Edgemon says. “I think curiosity is curiosity, and if you want to learn things, if you’re stuck at home, you can learn. If you’re stimulated to learn because you’re changing planes at O’Hare, that’s great too. I think we have a solution whether you’re on the road or not, because everybody likes to at least think about being on the road.”

Edgemon has loved trivia since he watched Alex Trebek’s “Jeopardy!” debut in 1984. His own appearance on “Jeopardy!” introduced him to the tight-knit world of trivia’s elite, a network of show alumni that opened the door for future game show appearances and helped him find backers for his own trivia game. Listing “Jeopardy!” on a resume is the gold standard for quiz show enthusiasts.

“The day I don’t remember playing on ‘Jeopardy!’ anymore is the day you can put me down,” Edgemon laughs. “Drive me out into the woods and just leave me there, because I’m done. This is so important to me.”

It’s not surprising that an app that challenges players to know the difference between generations of the Lee family was created by an American history buff. Drawing on that knowledge helped Edgemon collect money during both of his game show appearances. It also shaped the first sets of questions he wrote for his app, based on the history of Washington, D.C., and his mom’s hometown of St. Louis, Missouri.

Inspired by “Jeopardy!,” which can pack 61 clues into a 30-minute episode, he stuffed  as much information into his game as possible. Thirteen-thousand questions later, a combination of user-submitted and expert-generated trivia has expanded Triviappolis Treasures to include 51 cities. The team behind the app, Edgemon, Steve Nerheim, Brad Lucas, Brian King, Jack Miller, and Laura Miller, are all UVA alumni. But Edgemon hopes to use the game’s wide scope to push the app further than Charlottesville.

“This has kind of spun off as a Charlottesville or UVA thing, and if we can get out of Charlottesville, that would be even better,” Edgemon says. “The best thing we can do to grow is create a product that people like enough to tell their friends about, and I think that’s happening.”—Julia Stumbaugh