June 7, 2024: UVA Board of Visitors' committee learns that major fundraising campaign exceeds $5.2 billion
Plus: UVA Foundation buys three properties on Arlington Boulevard
At one point, I said there would not be a newsletter for June 7, 2024, but then at another point I decided differently. So here is Charlottesville Community Engagement for the 159th day of 2024, a year so successful that each day appears to have a sequel. I’m Sean Tubbs, on more of a croissant than a roll.
In today’s installment:
The University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors begins its meeting for June 2024 and learns of fundraising success, naming of football operations center
The University of Virginia Foundation purchases three key properties on Arlington Boulevard for $10.5 million
The Virginia Department of Health is investigating an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness that appears to be traced to Lake Anna
A local talk-show host has his show extended to a second hour
First shout-out: Plant Virginia Natives
There are just two weeks left in spring, and time may be running out to consider transforming your outdoor spaces for this year. But even if you’re already looking ahead to next year, one resource to guide your planning is Plant Virginia Natives!
Plant Virginia Natives is part of a partnership with ten regional campaigns for ten different ecosystems across Virginia, from the Northern Piedmont to the Eastern Shore. Take a look at the full map below for the campaign for native species where you are in the Commonwealth. For the Charlottesville area, download a free copy of the handbook: Piedmont Native Plants: A Guide for Landscapes and Gardens. As I plan for spring, I’m going to take a look because after almost four years of one Patreon supporter selecting this as his shout-out, I’m excited to get to work myself!
UVA Board of Visitors discuss belonging, athletics, at first day of June 2024 meeting
The University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors began their June meeting Thursday afternoon with a meeting of the Academic and Student Life Committee, but first Rector Robert Hardie explained why the schedule for this particular meeting has been changed.
“The reason for the altered schedule this afternoon and tomorrow is that I have an unavoidable conflict tomorrow morning until 11:30 a.m. so [Vice Rector Carlos M. Brown] will be sitting in on my behalf and Jim Ryan has a conflict that will cause him to miss a couple of hours tomorrow afternoon,” Hardie said. “His daughter Phoebe has a semi-final in the state soccer championship so I thought that was a good enough excuse.”
Hardie said another board member’s schedule was adjusted due to a meeting with Governor Glenn Youngkin, but did not identify which one. Provost Ian Baucom was also not at the meeting but Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Brie Gertler presented information instead.
Gertler acknowledged that it has been a difficult year for universities across the United States, but pointed out that one good thing was that Final Exercises took place despite the rain.
“It was especially memorable because most members of the undergraduate class of 2024 did not get to celebrate their high school graduation with their classmates in the early months of the pandemic,” Gerter said.
Another highlight mentioned by Gertler is that 13 UVa graduates and alumni were awarded Fulbright scholarships in the last year.
The Academic and Student Life Committee also heard from the chair of the Task Force on Religious Diversity and Belonging. The group was set up to study the presence of anti-semitism and anti-Islam at UVA.
“The current moment of crisis that we’re in is marked by some very strong feelings that impact individuals and shared experiences of belonging and respect,” said Christa Acampora, the Dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. “And members of the UVA community highly value maximizing free expression while also longing for clear understandings of limits and seeing that reflected in institutional action.”
Acampora said the “moment of crisis” gives UVA some opportunities to try to do things better. There is no written report but here are some highlights:
Religious identification and related cultural connections could be “explicitly integrated” into UVA’s practice and academic offers
Jewish and Muslim students might perceive UVA differently and more efforts should be taken to explore why outside of moments of crisis
UVA could provide more support, courses, and academic events
There could be more review of reporting policies when someone experiences prejudice
“The good news from my perspective is that I think we’ve learned a lot from this process and undertaking the work of the task force has had the effect of creating forums for people to share their experiences and to share their aspirations for the type of community they want,” Acampora said.
There was no time for questions at the end of the Academic and Student Life Committee.
The Advancement Committee went next and after hearing a presentation on the Clark Scholars Program, President Jim Ryan acknowledged Hardie and his wife Molly Hardie for their major gift connected to the new football operations center. The Buildings and Grounds Committee and the full Board of Visitors are expected to vote to name the center after them today.
“We thought it was important to share this news now given that we are headed over to the ground-opening of the football operations center,” Ryan said. “As I’m sure many of you all know, Molly and Robert have been extremely kind and generous with their time and their resources for more than three decades.”
Ryan said the Hardies have also been involved with several projects across multiple departments at UVA.
“It’s amazing to see how much we have been able to accomplish over the last seven years including the incredible and unbelievable transformation of the athletics complex and we could not have done it without Robert and Molly Hardy,” Ryan said.
That transformation includes the demolition in May 2019 of University Hall.
Hardie said he and his wife believe in the future of UVA.
“We believe that great universities need great athletic programs and so we’re going to do everything we can in this changing landscape to support athletics programs to ensure that we continue to compete at the highest level,” Hardie said.
Hardie also expressed support for Ryan as UVA president.
“We think he’s the best president in the country, especially as it pertains to athletics,” Hardie said. “We’re fortunate to have him right now in this changing landscape. Jim understands that athletics is the front porch of the University.”
There was also an update on fundraising from Mark Luellen, UVa’s Vice President for Advancement. UVA has already met a major fundraising goal.
“We have a month to go in the fiscal year but we are already $570 million in this fiscal year in total commitments since July 1 of last year,” Luellen said. “That is a 14 point year over year increase so if we thought we were slowing down at all once we hit the $5 billion number, we are not.”
Luellen said fundraising for the campaign is now over $5.2 billion and added that an organization called the Council for Advancement and Support of Education will name UVA as its 2024 Circle of Excellence Award for North America. President Ryan will collect the award.
“There was a lot of conversation and points in the nomination about how important the 2030 Strategic Plan was to helping our donor base understand what the priorities were for the University and driving their inspiration for philanthropy,” Luellen said. “The second point that was highlighted was how much time he spends not only in large group settings but also individually meeting with donors and prospective donors around the country.”
The UVA Board of Visitors meeting continues today and if you want to watch it, you’ll have to watch live because the archive is not kept open to the public. (click here)
The terms of Mark T. Bowles, Elizabeth M. Cranwell, Thomas A. DePasquale, and Babur B. Lateef, M.D. expire at the end of June. None are eligible for reappointment and Governor Youngkin will select new members. before the end of the month.
UVA Foundation purchases three properties on Arlington Boulevard
If you want to know where the University of Virginia might grow in the future, take a look at real estate purchases made by the University of Virginia Foundation.
On May 31, an entity tied to the foundation called Arlington Boulevard of Charlottesville LLC purchased 1928, 1932, and 1936 Boulevard for $10.5 million. That’s a total of 1.42 parcels and includes three office buildings.
The seller is the University of Virginia Community Credit Union. The sales price is 38.27 percent over the combined 2024 assessment of $7,593,900 for the three properties.
The UVA Foundation already owns 1982 Arlington Boulevard and 2102-2016 Arlington Boulevard. All of the properties are zoned Node Mixed Use 10 under the city’s new Development Code. None of these properties are shown in the University of Virginia’s master plan known as the Grounds Plan: A Framework for Campus Planning. (view the document)
The UVA Foundation pays property taxes to the City of Charlottesville but UVA does not as state institutions are exempt from local governance.
Arlington Boulevard connects Emmet Street to Massie Road which leads to UVA’s North Grounds. Nearby, UVA has recently put out a request for qualifications for firms to develop student housing for second-years across Emmet Street just to the south at the site of the former University Garden. (read that story)
Second-shout out: Design Develop
In today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out, architectural firm Design Develop is offering a new service aimed at the development community that the rest of us might want to know about , too — 3D point cloud scanning! This technique uses specialized equipment, such as 3D scanner systems, to gather a large amount of data points that represent the surface of the scanned object or scene. This really comes in handy when working with historic structures, as the firm knows from its experience in Baltimore and Charlottesville. Read their blog post for more information!
The applications of 3D point cloud scanning are extensive and cover various fields, including architecture, construction, cultural heritage preservation, virtual reality, industrial design, manufacturing, and more. These applications require accurate 3D spatial information, and Design Develop’s workflow provides precise and comprehensive results, all while being more cost-effective than traditional methods.
Design Develop has expertise in this workflow for their own needs and now has a dedicated team offering this service in the Charlottesville and Albemarle Area. If you're involved in the real estate, design, or construction industry, contact them for more information or a free quote.
Visit their website for an introductory video that captures the 3D point cloud scanning of the Downtown Transit Center and a booklet that will explain more!
VDH investigating reports of digestive illness at Lake Anna
The Virginia Department of Health is investigating reports of gastrointestinal illnesses clustered around Lake Anna that appear to trace back to exposure to the water on Memorial Day weekend.
“Some of the ill people have been diagnosed with Escherichia coli (E. coli) infections,” reads a press release sent out yesterday afternoon.
“We hope that those hospitalized continue to recover and can return home to their families soon,” the release quotes Rappahannock Health District Health Director Olugbenga O. Obasanjo, MD. “This is an ongoing investigation with the health department, and we will likely continue to learn about the situation in the coming days.”
The release goes on to state that not enough evidence has been gathered to determine conclusively that water at Lake Anna is responsible. The VDH is also ruling out harmful algae as the culprit, though an update on the status of potential blooms is expected next week.
Some of the cases involved hospitalization.
As a precaution, Dr. Obasanjo recommends people shower before and after entering Lake Anna, wash hands before eating, and avoiding any intake of the water. Anyone with diarrhea is asked not to swim. For more information, visit Swim Healthy Virginia.
WINA grants extra hour for former City Councilor’s talk show
A long-running talk show hosted by former City Councilor Rob Schilling will be given an extra hour by radio station WINA. The trade publication Radio Ink reports that the Schilling Show will now air from noon to 2 p.m., replacing the first hour of a nationally-distributed show.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to spend more time daily with my loyal listening audience as we further explore and examine pressing issues of the day,” Schilling is quoted in a story. “This additional hour will allow for more compelling guests, more in-depth analysis, and most importantly, more time for WINA listeners to engage with their community.”
Schilling was elected to City Council in May 2002 and got the second most of votes in a year when two seats on Charlottesville’s legislature were up for grabs. Democrat Blake Caravati places first. Four years later, Schilling ran for reelection and placed third behind Dave Norris and Julian Taliaferro.
Schilling was the last non-Democrat to be on Charlottesville City Council until Independent Nikuyah Walker was elected in 2019. The last person to run as a Republican for City Council was Anson Parker in 2015.
WINA is owned by Saga Communications.
A disclaimer. I occasionally appear on a different WINA program and do not receive compensation for my participation nor do I ever expect to do so.
Reading material:
Lager made in Hanover coming to Amtrak trains in Virginia, Will Gonzalez, June 6, 2024
GOP officials in Rep. Bob Good’s district call on Trump to reconsider endorsement of his opponent, Alex Miller, Washington Times, June 6, 2024
How Hampton Roads leaders are looking at transit to help boost the region’s economy, Ryan Murphy, WHRO, June 6, 2024
FOIA Friday: UVA withholds police body cam footage, more possible MVP problems, Virginia Mercury, June 7, 2024
Goodbye, #686!
This edition wasn’t supposed to happen, but I wanted to get some of what happened at the UVA Board of Visitors. In the Week Ahead, I noted a schedule change at the June meeting this week, and was contacted by the UVA spokesperson and asked to make a correction. I made a clarification instead, but also thought I would cover as much of the first day as possible.
Other than living in the flight path of the helicopters that alight at the University of Virginia Medical Center, I do not have any connection to UVA. I don’t even have a connection to Virginia Tech, really. But for 17 years now I’ve reported on the community as up close as possible, and feel it is important for there to be coverage of the details of the biggest institution.
I’m grateful for the five people who have subscribed this week. Every single time I get a new paid subscriber, I feel I must work that much harder to do whatever it is I’m doing. I work hard for community members who want this style of community journalism.
This newsletter now has close to a total of 3,000 subscribers and a fifth are paying. That’s a pretty good ratio. I don’t want to put anything behind a paywall, and believe that paying subscribers understand their contributions allow other people to know things, too. I don’t think information in a democracy should be exclusive. That’s why I work so hard. We’re all in this together.
If you’d like to join those paid subscribers, Ting will match your initial subscription, whether it be at $5 a month, $50 a year, or $200 a year. It is quite generous of them to do so, and I appreciate their investment in this style of community journalism.
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