THE CAVALIER DAILY
LEON ARCEO, ADAIRE BURNSED, CATHERINE WHITE & HONOR WOOD THE CAVALIER DAILY
This week in-brief
CD News Staff
University modifies capacity restrictions for the Hill ahead of Saturday game
The University announced changes to the existing policy for fans allowed on the Hill at Scott Stadium in a statement Wednesday. The new policies, which will take effect at the football game against Boston College Saturday, now exclude the use of stickers which were briefly required to indicate Hill eligibility and enforce crowd capacity. Instead, access to the Hill will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis for eligible fans until the space reaches capacity, and re-entry to the Hill will not be guaranteed.
The change in Hill access policy comes after student and fan dissatisfaction following a change to the Hill policy at the start of this season. The University originally announced new rules for the upcoming season in a statement Aug. 8, citing needs to manage capacity and improve safety in the area during games.
Under the restrictions first implemented at the beginning of this season, fans eligible to access the Hill included University students, Virginia Athletics Foundation membership card holders, season ticket holders, mini-plan ticket holders and Cavman’s Crew members — select children in middle and elementary school.
The University enforced the new policies at the first two home games of the season, requiring fans to obtain a sticker before entering the Hill to prove eligibility. Once stickers ran out, however, no new fans were allowed in, regardless of how many people exited the space.
Wednesday morning the University announced an updated set of policies which modifies how Hill access will be restricted. According to the new policy, students and fans will no longer be required to show a sticker for entry. Access to the Hill will be granted on a first-come, firstserve basis for eligible fans until the space reaches capacity.
The University did not specify exactly how capacity limits would be measured throughout the game, but in a joint statement to The Cavalier Daily, Pritzer and Deputy Chief of Police Bryant Hall said they have a number of different methods and have resources deployed to ensure safety for those on the Hill.
University Police Department reports increase in bicycle and scooter thefts
The University Police Department has seen an increase in the theft of bicycles, electric scooters and electric bicycles on and around Grounds in the first weeks of the fall semester. UPD Sergeant Beckett Thelen said that an increase in these types of thefts is typical for the start of the fall semester, but that the number of thefts has increased by an unusually large amount — between 30 and 35 percent — as compared to this time last year.
As the academic year continues, Thelen said it is still too early to tell if these thefts will decrease on their own. UPD urges students to register their bicycle or scooter with them, which can be done through a form on their website. Thelen noted that while having a lock is not completely preventative, using multiple locks and putting a cover over the item can help make property more challenging to steal.
Thelen said that recent thefts have targeted not only bicycles and scooters that have been left unlocked, but ones that are locked properly as well, with locks being tampered with or destroyed. According to Thelen, these thefts have occurred across all of Grounds, but the UPD has seen a higher concentration in the area near Treehouse Drive and the Alderman Road dorms.
With the number of scooters and bicycles having increased when students returned to Grounds at the start of the semester, there is more opportunity for theft of these items. Thelen noted that because they are typically parked outside, bicycles and scooters are more exposed to theft than personal items left unattended indoors, such as a laptop in a university library.
First years feel pressure as next year’s housing search is underway
The housing search for the 2025-26 school year has kicked off, with many students already in the midst of signing leases for next year. After just two months of attending the University, first years are under time constraints to choose between a plethora of both on-Grounds and off-Grounds housing options, while considering factors like potential roommates, cost and availability.
For many first-year students, this choice can be a source of anxiety and stress piled on top of their ongoing transition to life at the University. Housing and Residence Life tries to alleviate some of these stressors by offering a few resources to aid first-year students in their housing search. For example, the University hosted an Upperclass Housing Information Session Sept. 17 where students could learn about their on and off-Grounds housing options for the 2025-26 school year.
Countess Hughes, associate director of housing assignments, gave the presentation to a crowd of around 400 students, the vast majority of which were current first years, which exceeded the seating capacity of Newcomb Theatre where the event took place. Hughes first spoke to the audience about on-Grounds options, listing each choice that students will be able to request should they opt to live in University housing next year.
The University offers seven apartment style upperclassman housing options — Bice, Bond, Gaston, Ramazani, Copeley and Faulkner. Gaston and Ramazani are the two newest buildings, having just opened for the 2024-25 school year. They are unique in that they house groups of seven to eight people in each suite, as opposed to a maximum of four or six in all of the other upperclassmen buildings.
Despite these numerous on-Grounds options, almost two-thirds of students live offGrounds according to the U.S. News and World Report.
Hughes talked about these off-Grounds housing options as well, listing some of the common areas that students typically live off-Grounds — behind the Corner, along JPA, along Rugby Road and near Scott Stadium, among others.
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Hughes also told students to pay attention to details — such as the length of their lease, the cost of Wi-Fi and other utilities and how rent will be divided among roommates — when searching for a property off-Grounds.
Is Grounds a food desert?
Some students struggle to find affordable and nutritious meals due to difficulty getting to grocery stores
Thomas Baxter | News Editor
Across communities in the United States, millions of Americans struggle with access to affordable, nutritious food, and the University is no exception. Long distances to supermarkets, coupled with unaffordable options on and around Grounds, make healthy eating a difficult task for some students.
A Food Access Atlas curated by the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service marked areas surrounding Jefferson Park Avenue, areas north of University Avenue and some parts of Grounds near Scott Stadium as “low-income and low-access using vehicle access.” This description has replaced the term “food desert,” which refers to an area where over 100 households both do not have a personal vehicle and are more than 0.5 miles from the nearest supermarket or large grocery store.
For a student living on or near Grounds, the nearest grocery stores are at the Barracks Road Shopping Center, which houses two — a Harris Teeter and a Kroger. For students with a car, Google Maps estimates that the 1.1 mile drive takes only five minutes. However, students without personal vehicles — including the vast majority of first years — need to find different ways to get to the grocery store.
According to Google Maps, walking to the Barracks Road Shopping Center takes 25 minutes and cycling takes nine. This trip involves traveling down Emmett Street, a four-lane arterial road that starts at Jefferson Park Avenue and runs all the way to Seminole Trail. Buses are also an option, but that alternative comes with another set of variables that can impact travel time and convenience.
Though the distance to walk or bike on the road to get to Barracks is minimal, according to Andrew Mondschein — associate professor of Urban and Environmental Planning and associate dean of research at the School of Architecture — the length of the route is not the only factor that determines accessibility. Other important aspects in access include how easy and comfortable the trip is.
“It’s not all about distance and time,” Mondschein said. “It’s still [a long trip], but even if you get past that, there’s still a lot of friction in terms of the comfort. When we plan for walking — or biking for that matter — we have to think about more than just raw distance or raw time, we also have to think about if it is something people are going to feel comfortable doing [a second time].”
Mondschein also said that travel down Emmet Street is dangerous for pedestrians and bikers alike. For pedestrians, he said the road’s crosswalks feel unsafe, the sidewalks do
not provide ample shade and street lights point towards the road rather than on the sidewalks, making it inconvenient and uncomfortable to be a pedestrian. Further, Mondschein said Emmet Street is not built for bikers, as it has no bike lanes.
Third-year Architecture student Adam Stievater said that concerns over safety and comfort make the options of walking or biking functionally impossible.
“You can’t walk and you definitely can’t bike,” Stievater said. “Which makes it very challenging, especially because first years cannot have a car, and then many upperclassmen who live on Grounds still avoid getting one because of how inconvenient it is.”
For students without personal vehicles, another option beyond walking or biking is taking University or Charlottesville public transit systems. While both the University Transit Service and Charlottesville Area Transit connect the shopping center to Grounds, taking transit comes with a new set of concerns around reliability and consistency — notably whether or not it makes running errands any quicker.
Only two routes can take a student from Grounds to Barracks — CAT’s Seven Route and the UTS Gold Line. Both would significantly reduce the effort to get to Barracks, but they might not reduce the time needed to get there and back.
“By the time you walk to a bus stop, get on a bus to Barracks Road and then shop and then get back, that could be a two hour trip,” Mondschein said. “That could be a huge amount of time that you could be doing schoolwork or working or whatever else. And so it’s a big time sink right now — transit is not really geared towards access for students, especially around U.Va.”
Third-year Engineering student Brennen Muller also said that the time required to get to Barracks via public transit can be too long, noting that buses do not always arrive on time. Muller, who tries to take the bus to get groceries at Barracks every two weeks, said that in his opinion, buses need to be more reliable and predictable to avoid having a long journey.
“I don’t think the bus itself is a bad option, but I do think that something that would make it more appealing is if the bus was more consistent,” Muller said. “I don’t mean to say that the bus is particularly inconsistent, but as with anything where you’re using public transportation, the more I can count on it, the more I can decrease the time I spend [getting groceries].”
The USDA food atlas that classifies certain areas on and around
Grounds as having low access to food only measures distance from supermarkets and large grocery stores, so dining halls, restaurants and convenience stores are not taken into account.
The University has three dining halls and a number of other food options on Grounds, including convenience stores and fast food options. The Corner on University Avenue also has multiple convenience stores and several restaurants providing quick meals and snacks for students.
However, Muller said these options are often more limited and expensive than surrounding grocery stores.
“Anything on Grounds, or close to Grounds, is more expensive,” Muller said. “I would love for that not to be the case. I think that’s part of the reason that Bodo’s [Bagels] is so popular. Not only is it good, but it’s actually quite affordable.”
While many students do have a meal plan, Muller said that the lack of diverse healthy options at dining halls, as well as smaller portion sizes for meal exchanges, are other reasons that food access can be a concern on Grounds. Muller also noted that no location on Grounds sells fresh produce.
Stievater agreed with Muller that dining options on Grounds do not
necessarily address the issue of access to healthy and affordable food, and that the lack of options at dining halls can disincentivize healthy eating.
However, while Monschein expressed concern over food access for students on Grounds, he was hesitant to fully classify the University as a food desert for all students.
While he said that food access is a legitimate issue for many people, he also said that many students who technically qualify as low-income by virtue of not having a job, might not be financially limited due to still being dependent on their parents.
“Is it a classic food desert?” Mondschein said. “Not for everyone, but I think there are people living in these neighborhoods, including some students, for whom it really is.”
So, what needs to change in order to make food access less of a concern?
Stievater and Mondschein both said that a grocery store on or in close proximity to Grounds, even if not a full-sized supermarket, would immediately address many problems with food access that students face. Mondschein said that as more apartment buildings are constructed down West Main Street, it would be nice to see one that makes space for a grocery store on its street level, instead of another restaurant or a large lobby area.
Stievater also said that the new
Gaston House dining locations that opened earlier this semester, which include four restaurants and a selfserve checkout retail store, would have been a strong location for a grocery store.
“I think the new meal service in Gaston house was a missed opportunity,” Stievater said. “Sure, they have that self-serve convenience store, but there was an opportunity to expand that and make it a full grocery store.”
Improving Emmet Street’s accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as the convenience of taking transit to Barracks would also help make getting groceries a more reasonable time commitment that more students would feel comfortable doing, according to Mondschein. He listed a series of smaller fixes that would make the trip more convenient, saying that shading the sidewalks with trees, adding bike lanes and improving Emmet Street’s intersections with Massie Road would all help make the trip safer and more comfortable.
“If we make those improvements, the idea would be [that] those are improvements for everyone,” Mondschein said. “Whether you’re a student, whether you have access to a car or whether you don’t, those improvements should be beneficial to everyone across the income spectrum.”
ISABEL HAMILTON THE CAVALIER DAILY
For a student living on or near Grounds, the nearest grocery stores are at the Barracks Road Shopping Center, which houses two — a Harris Teeter and a Kroger.
College lays groundwork for pre-major advising changes
While the College has already partially implemented this new system, it will be completely enacted in Fall 2025
Cecilia Mould, Lauren Seeliger and Lidia Zur Muhlen | Staff Writers
In an effort to improve its advising system, the University’s College of Arts and Sciences is shifting to a pre-major advising model that will pair all incoming first-year students with trained advisors based on students’ expressed interests. The College is presently hiring new advisors known as Advising Fellows for this program and plans to launch the new model in full during the Fall 2025 semester, according to Director of Undergraduate Advising Meira Kensky.
The shift to the new system is already partially underway, as this fall’s first-year students are paired with a variety of different advisors — either COLA instructors, volunteer faculty who have received the same training as Advising Fellows or one of the 13 Advising Fellows that have been hired — who support them in selecting classes and making the transition from high school to the University. After students select a major, typically by the end of their second year, they will be paired with a faculty advisor in their major department.
As of this summer, all advising fellows and related faculty regularly attend workshops and advising trainings. Advising fellows and faculty completed two workshops focused on case studies and small group discussion in preparation for this semester, and the College will continue to host monthly workshops for advisors throughout the academic year.
The initiative to improve advising in the College has been in the works since spring 2023, led by Christa Acampora, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. The College worked with management consulting firm Huron Consulting to survey and interview students and faculty on where pre-major advising could be improved. Administrators began to form an advising model April 2024 that connected pre-major advising with the first-year Engagements program.
Currently, as part of the general education requirements in the College, first-year students participate in the Engagements program, which requires students to take four small, seminar style classes focused on giving an introduction to liberal arts education. In the new advising framework, every first-year will be assigned to the instructor teaching their first quarter Engagement class, allowing advisors and advisees to see each other face to face on a weekly basis.
Kensky said that the College will fully shift to the new advising framework in fall 2025, at which point they plan to have hired about 13 more Advising Fellows. Beginning that fall, all first quarter Engagement courses will be taught by either the Advising Fellows, who will also serve as advisors
for students, or a group of faculty with the same training who volunteer to advise.
Other professors known as Non-Advising College Fellows, who will not serve as advisors, will teach Engagement courses during the other three quarters of the academic year.
According to Kensky, up until this year, incoming first-years were assigned a faculty advisor whose department required them to advise.
Second-year College student Meredith Kershisnik said that under this previous advising model, she felt her first-year academic advisor, who works in the Department of Art, was not able to give her advice in her specific academic focus.
Kershisnik said that while her advisor provided specific help relating to her interest in adding a studio art minor, he has been unable to give the same level of support for her major as someone interested in STEM.
“[My advisor] is in the art department, and so as a STEM major, it’s been difficult for him to answer the questions that I’ve had,” Kershisnik said. “I know that he’s had other students come in who are in the same position that I am, so he’s relayed advice and information to me from hearing their side of things, but he specifically hasn’t been able to give me STEM-specific advising.”
First-year students in the College also currently have the option to choose their own advisor through
COLAs — one-credit seminars on a variety of topics offered to all first years during their first semester. When a first-year is enrolled in a COLA, their teacher in the class is also their advisor — similar to how the new advising model will work.
Second-year College student Natalie Dike, who took a COLA class during her first-year, said she appreciated being able to speak with and see her advisor more frequently, but that her COLA professor was not in her academic area and was not able to provide intended major-specific support.
“[U.Va.] said it would help with getting a closer relationship with your advisor, which I do think happened.” Dike said. “It was nice to actually be able to talk to him face to face. [I have] friends I know that only met with [their advisor] once or twice a semester when it was time to pick their schedule. But I don’t think [taking a COLA] necessarily helped me get an advisor more in my [academic] area.”
Where advisees in the old system were sometimes matched with advisors who could not provide specific guidance related to their academic interests, the new system takes new measures to connect students with advisors familiar with their areas of academic focus. According to an August update about the advising system, all first-years will be paired with advising professionals and receive
advice designed to prepare them for their majors.
According to Kensky, another aspect of the new advising model that benefits students is having advisors teach classes, as it lets them interact with advisees regularly. Kensky said she has seen this type of advising model work in her previous position as Director of Advising at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“The goal for this is that advisees get to see their advisor several times a week … they make connections,” Kensky said. “When I was teaching a first-year seminar [at my previous institution], that was incredibly valuable because I could see my students in class and [learn] what they were interested in, and then we could have real conversations based on my knowledge of them from the classroom.”
The College’s new advising framework is similar to the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s current advising model, which the school implemented in the fall of 2023. First-year Engineering students take a series of “Engineering Foundations” courses throughout their first year, and much like in the College’s new model, these courses are taught by students’ own academic advisors. Furthermore, these Engineering advisors are members of a specific group of recently hired faculty whose main responsibility is advising, rather than a randomly assigned faculty member who teaches other courses in addition
to advising students.
Leyf Starling, director of the First Year Engineering Center — which runs the first-year curriculum for Engineering students — said the School of Engineering’s first-year advising model allows students and advisors to build closer relationships. He also said the Office of the Dean has received increasingly positive feedback on the new advising model from students as compared to survey data from 2016.
“It’s a great opportunity to build those relationships, but more importantly, build that understanding of students’ [strengths and weaknesses].” Starling said. “And when they come in saying they’re stressed out about X, Y or Z, I’m much more equipped to advise them, because I know them better. The more you know someone, the more you can help them.”
Kensky said she hopes to make students’ experiences at the University stronger through the new framework. She also said she believes this initiative will bring more attention to how important quality advising is.
“Advising is teaching, and it’s a critical part of student growth [and] student development,” Kensky said.
“It’s where a lot of planning for the future happens, where students really can think through how to make plans for the future [and] how to turn those plans into reality.”
ISABEL HAMILTON THE CAVALIER DAILY
The College is presently hiring new advisors known as Advising Fellows for this program and plans to launch the new model in full during the Fall 2025 semester, according to Director of Undergraduate Advising Meira Kensky.
Local organizations mobilize to register student voters
Efforts are ramping up with less than one month until the election
Brandon Kile and Grace Little | Senior Writer
and
Staff Writer
With the presidential election arriving in less than 30 days, voter registration efforts have been ramping up among both Contracted Independent Organizations on Grounds and organizations off Grounds. University students in an election year are faced with many choices prior to casting their ballot, including where and how to register as well as whether to vote in-person or absentee. In response, both partisan and nonpartisan groups are engaging with students and Charlottesville residents to register them to vote prior to the Oct. 15 deadline in Virginia.
With presidential election years typically experiencing higher voter turnout and registration rates — Charlottesville saw a surge of new registrants in September — the groups engaged with promoting voter registration and political involvement have also seen increased political engagement among students and residents. An estimated over eight million people have reached voting age since the 2022 midterm elections, bringing the total number of eligible Gen Z voters to 41 million.
NextGen America — a non-partisan youth voting organization that seeks to increase youth participation in elections — is one CIO on Grounds that has capitalized on political engagement during this election season to encourage students to register to vote. With branches at several universities around the country, this year the organization has mobilized in nearly twenty states, including Virginia.
Abigail Van Eerden, president of the University’s chapter of NextGen and fourth-year College student, spoke about some of the organization’s efforts in recent weeks to get students registered and more politically involved. Van Eerden said that she believes the most effective event NextGen has done this semester was tabling to register voters the morning after the presidential debate, when they were able to register twenty-seven people while tabling, higher than the usual average of 10 at other tabling events.
Van Eerden said tabling is especially fun during this presidential election year because students seem excited to register, asking the organizers questions while they are tabling such as how to request an absentee ballot and how to reregister to vote in Charlottesville.
“I think one of the most important things that NextGen does is … it gives people a way to feel like they are doing something politically effective,” Van Eerden said. “I think that’s a really empowering effect that NextGen has, just in enabling students to express their opinions through their votes.”
Van Eerden said that NextGen has
also found success hosting registration events alongside the University. She said that they have recently had the opportunity to partner with University President Jim Ryan’s office to table to register voters at the “Run with Jim” event — a regular event where students have the opportunity to go for a morning run with Ryan. NextGen also previously partnered with Housing and Residence Life to host an event at the Lile-Maupin and Tuttle-Dunnington first-year dorms Oct. 4 to get firstyears registered to vote.
Because NextGen is a nonpartisan organization, it is able to partner with universities to host events. Public universities may not partner with partisan organizations or politicians, per campaign finance law.
“One of my favorite things about NextGen being nonpartisan is that we’re able to connect with U.Va. as an institution,” Van Eerden said. “They can co-host events with us without looking like they’re supporting a specific party or specific set of issues.”
Van Eerden also discussed events where NextGen would be starting to engage with organizations off Grounds for the first time. She said she was excited for an upcoming informational presentation at the local chapter of the NAACP about voter registration and voting in Charlottesville.
“I’m really excited for that because that’ll be our first event where we’re reaching outside of Grounds to work with another organization,” Van Eerden said. “I do think there’s unequal access to information between [Charlottesville] locals and students at the University, and I want to do my part to minimize that gap.”
Beyond nonpartisan organizations like NextGen, politically-affiliated organizations on Grounds are also taking steps to register and turn-out voters.
Ella Nelsen, University Democrats president and fourth-year College student, spoke about some of the initiatives that her organization has been taking part in this semester. According to Nelsen, UDems not only works to register people to vote but also to campaign for Democratic candidates.
“In the fall, our main purpose is to campaign for Democratic candidates and get students registered to vote and excited to vote,” Nelsen said. “We like to get out into the Charlottesville community and knock on doors, and then also travel to swing districts because we like to go where we can have the most impact.”
Nelsen said the organization normally does voter registration drives two to three times a week in the fall, but that these drives are increasing in frequency as the Virginia voter registration deadline approaches. Nelson also said UDems will be
holding events every day starting the Friday before the election, including painting Beta Bridge and working at polling sites.
On the other side of the aisle, College Republicans have also been active in organizing phone banks and door knocking. According to their Instagram, the University chapter mobilized the most volunteers of any CR chapter in the country at one of their door-knocking events in Albemarle County.
But voter registration is a bipartisan endeavor, and the CRs participated in a joint tabling session with UDems Oct. 8 on South Lawn. The event was organized by Hoos Vote — an organization under the Center for Politics that focuses on registering student voters.
Keshav Vermani, student lead for voter registration at Hoos Vote and third-year College student who was at the tabling event, said that there is bipartisan support for increasing voter registration and that everybody should exercise their right to vote.
“It kind of shows this level of unity on campus, that even those differing ideologies can still get along and promote the idea of civic engagement,” Vermani said.
After registering to vote, students still must choose how to cast their ballot. Most first-year students are voting for the first time this year. For these students and for many others, navigating the different ways to vote in their home area can be a challenge.
First-year Education student Sara
Roman said she will be voting by mail for her home district in Atlanta. Roman said she has voted before in a local election, but that this will be her first time voting in a national election, and her first time using a mail-in ballot.
She voiced her enthusiasm to vote and said she has seen a variety of different resources at the University, such as people coming to her classes to explain the voting process.
“I get asked several times a day if I am registered to vote, so I think if I really needed help, I could 100 percent get it,” Roman said. “I’m excited to vote, I’m glad to be part of something [where] I get to have input.”
Students are faced with differing laws and requirements for voting absentee, depending on their home state. States such as Texas and Louisiana require voters to present a valid reason to be eligible to receive a mail-in ballot. Qualifications in these states include being 65 years or older and being temporarily absent from your precinct, such as due to attending school elsewhere. In Louisiana, students must submit a copy of their student ID with their application to prove their eligibility.
Because of these eligibility requirements that some states implement, other students are finding difficulties translating their voter registration into an actual vote. First-year College student Halston Fedorowicz said she was also planning on voting absentee, but that Texas, her home state, rejected her application to vote by mail. She will not be able to vote early
in-person when she returns home over fall break because early voting does not begin until Oct. 21 in Texas.
Fedorowicz said she filled out an application for an absentee ballot in the summer, and that she had believed she had completed it properly. She said that in-person voting is relatively easy where she is from, compared to the absentee process that she thought was more difficult.
“I don’t know how I’m going to figure out how to fix it,” Fedorowicz said. “I think absentee voting is a little bit harder.”
On the other hand, all registered voters in Virginia are eligible to vote via mail-in ballot regardless of reason. Additionally, eight states and the District of Columbia automatically send mail-in ballots to all registered voters which they may or may not choose to use.
Although the last day to register to vote before Election Day in Virginia is Oct. 15, same-day registration on Election Day Nov. 5 is an option for those that do not meet this deadline. Early voting is underway in Virginia and ends Nov. 2.
Those unsure if they are registered to vote can check their status and explore other voting options at vote. gov. Virginia residents may also check their status and register to vote on the Virginia Department of Elections website.
CAT SMITH THE CAVALIER DAILY
University students in an election year are faced with many choices prior to casting their ballot, including where and how to register as well as whether to vote in-person or absentee.
OPINION
LEAD EDITORIAL
Affirm the actions of U.Va.’s admissions efforts
The University has done admirable work to uphold diversity in a post-affirmative action world and must continue to do so
For high school seniors, it is time to apply to colleges. However, for those of us on college campuses, it is time to reflect on the first year of admissions post-affirmative action. Unlike the majority of institutions similar in caliber and size, the University was largely successful in admitting a diverse class of students without the traditional affirmative action tools. This laudable success can be attributed to the manner in which the University has creatively spearheaded programs that target under-resourced communities in the Commonwealth and actively solicit applications from them. In this way, the University has created a new playbook for admissions, one which deserves to be thoroughly applauded for its transformative creativity and legal sustainability.
The Supreme Court dismantled the legal foundation for affirmative action at American universities in June 2023. Immediately, universities and their admissions offices were thrown into turmoil. Many predicted that this ruling would fundamen-
tally diminish universities’ abilities to admit diverse classes. In this first year post-affirmative action, these predictions have largely been proven correct. The reality is that many universities experienced a drop in the number of minority students admitted. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for example, experienced an extreme decline in the number of Black and Hispanic students. The University, in contrast, saw a relatively small decline in the number of Black students in addition to increases in the number of Hispanic and first-generation students. In short, the University succeeded where many other institutions faltered.
The University has relied on a wide array of programs which have allowed it to commit to the mission of diversity while staying well within the bounds of the law. Specifically, instead of looking to intervene at the level of admittance, it has doubled down on programs which target a major source of the problem — encouraging applicants from under-
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served communities.
Primarily, this means that administration has reprioritized programs which play a critical role in helping students from marginalized communities apply to the University. For example, the Virginia College Advising Corps works to connect college advisers with high schools across the Commonwealth in order to increase the number of low-income, first-generation and underrepresented high school students who enter higher education. In addition, the University has employed Uplift@UVA, a hybrid program that targets seven counties in central Virginia with high amounts of low-income, first-generation high school students by providing academic counseling services to students. Perhaps most importantly, however, the University has also committed to covering tuition for all instate students whose families make less than $100,000 per year.
What is truly radical about this approach is not simply that it has mitigated the effects of the Court’s
MANAGING BOARD
Editor-in-Chief
Nathan Onibudo
Managing Editor
Grace Thrush
Executive Editor
Naima Sawaya
Operations Manager
Honor Wood
Chief Financial Officer
Charlie Healy
EDITORIAL BOARD
Nathan Onibudo
Naima Sawaya
Songhan Pang
Dan Freed
Paul Kurtzweil
Wylie Brunman
Farah Eljazzar
JUNIOR BOARD
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decision. Rather, what is truly impressive is the efforts made to switch from reactivity over the leveling of the University’s admissions playing field to proactivity in advancing equity within K-12 education. By laying the groundwork for equitable access to a University education, the University takes steps toward creating the conditions which make an affirmative action policy completely unnecessary.
Yes, the University has achieved something through these programs which will undoubtedly benefit the University’s own community. But beyond that, these programs will hopefully become the start of sustained efforts on behalf of universities to ensure equitable access to education long before the Common App. Experts have discouraged reading too deeply into this first year of statistics — good or bad, they could be outliers. With this in mind, however, the University cannot grow complacent. Rather, the institution must continue to develop programs that serve the
Sports Editors
Ben Istvan
Xander Tilock (SA) Victoria Blankenship (SA) Michael Liebermann
Arts & Entertainment Editors
Delores Cyrus
Delaney Hammond (SA) Leila Mohajer
Life Editors
Mia Tan
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Opinion Editors
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Songhan Pang (SA) Wylie Brunman (SA) Paul Kurtzweil
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(SA) Albert Tang
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diverse students which comprise the Commonwealth.
While this cycle has been positive for the University, challenges to affirmative action informed policies did not and will not end with one Supreme Court ruling. In fact, various groups seem intent on challenging this most recent admissions cycle, alleging that universities did not comply with the ruling. In light of this ongoing battle, the University must remain committed to putting students of all backgrounds in positions to achieve great success. Through sustained effort, the University can move beyond merely operating in a world without affirmative action and begin creating a world that does not need affirmative action.
THE CAVALIER DAILY EDITORIAL BOARD is composed of the Executive Editor, the Editor-in-Chief, the two Opinion Editors, their Senior Associates and an Opinion Columnist. The board can be reached at eb@cavalierdaily.com.
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Leena Fraihat
October 7th — one year on
The last year of violence and death is the latest example that we must stop dehumanizing members of communities other than our own
It has been a year since Hamas murdered 1,200 Israeli citizens. Since then, several waves of destruction and death have washed over the Palestinian, Israeli and now Lebanese peoples. But what strikes me the most from the headlines — aside from the extreme and horrific new milestone in casualty lists — is the rhetoric often used to describe these casualties. Many members of the Jewish and Muslim communities, both abroad and worryingly at our own University, promote rhetoric that concerns only their own deaths rather than the universal tragedy of human life lost. It is time we embrace the mutual humanity we share instead.
A conflict that started with celebrations of civilian murder has morphed into far greater degrees of death. For members of one community, the conflict has culminated in calls for the erasure of Gaza and the ongoing invasion of Lebanon. For the other community, Iran’s unleashing of an exceptionally large missile barrage demonstrates how this escalation continues. These acts of extreme violence ignore the present realities of the communities involved and the importance of the civilian lives harmed by these events. Dehumanization of civilian
lives in this way can lead to consequences as horrific as the genocide of communities — exemplified in both the Holocaust and the indiscriminate violence in Gaza. The last year then shows us how the dehumanization of civilian casualties has normalized the proliferation of their death.
Similarly, the danger of dehumanization has been and continues
pro-terrorist humans motivated by a pure hatred of Jews.” Both these announcements lacked an explicit expression of solidarity with the civilians killed on the other side of that noxious wall dividing Gazans and Israelis — instead, rightful mourning and protest for community suffering was castigated.
Over the past year, many members of each community have con-
tion.
When we degrade the suffering felt by members of other communities as unworthy of sympathy and solidarity, discrimination is proliferated against these people. Consequently, a dangerous sense of inequality between communities is permeated across lives equal in their universal human dignity. The silence held in the face of others’ suf-
When our silence is both an expression of and contributor to another community’s suffering, the remedy is clear — conversation.”
to be felt at our University, specifically in the ignorance displayed by members in both communities. Statements released last year by Jewish and Muslim organizations reflect insensitivity of rhetoric.
After the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at the University celebrated the “unprecedented feat” and conflated murdered Jewish citizens with “occupation soldiers.” On the other hand, Chabad’s statement during the Palestinian encampment at our University described these protesters as “depraved
tinued to exclusively acknowledge their own hardships at the University. When Jewish students are attacked or Israeli flags vandalized, members of the Jewish community comment in sadness. And when Muslim students are dehumanized or pro-Palestinian encampments are violently dispersed, predominantly the Muslim community rightfully protests. We at this University seemingly have two disconnected communities that separate the acknowledgment of suffering in a way that does nothing to inhibit further experiences of discrimina-
fering not only dehumanizes them as unequal but also contributes to the same pattern of violence so brutally impacting our own communities.
When our silence is both an expression of and contributor to another community’s suffering, the remedy is clear — conversation. Conversation for conciliation has already had success elsewhere. At Dartmouth College and Syracuse University, professors have led groups of Jewish and Muslim students to come together in humanizing conversation. Students who have never previously met members of the other religion have now had intimate conversations with each other, allowing for conciliatory connections. Though not without limitations, there have been clear displays of tangible improvements at these institutions compared to our own University. These universities show that any resolution to community conflict starts with an embrace — it begins with embracing the common humanity we hold and seeing each other as civilians. The last year has demonstrated how divided rhetoric and the consequent dehumanization can contribute to an escalation in extreme violence and harm to communities. But through a conciliatory embrace, we can prevent such infectious hate from further harming the Jewish and Muslim communities at our University. We must, as the students of these communities, ensure that humanization, not hate, is the focal point of our interactions.
U.Va. is missing a human voice
WYLIE BRUNMAN is an senior associate for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily.com.
As the University fosters dialogue on contemporary crises, it must reprioritize firsthand experiences alongside academic research
Over the past year, events have been hosted by groups about the ongoing genocide in Gaza. However, events rhetorically prioritized by the University have solely featured academic voices and disregarded the voices of people impacted by the crisis. This presents an incomplete discussion of the topic, as the absence of lived experiences means that University conversations lack authenticity. The University must do a better job building understanding by listening to the voices of those with firsthand knowledge — relying solely on perspectives of those who have studied these issues academically makes an abstraction of what is a reality for millions of people.
To be clear, academic voices are useful in understanding the context for any topic. Nevertheless, stories from those who have lived through the occupation provide an insider perspective that academic analysis cannot capture. If an event is to be promoted as one that brings together differing opinions to educate University students about Palestine, it should feature those who have a direct connection to the conflict. To foster constructive dialogue on the
topic of a humanitarian crisis, we need the humanized voice to be the center of the discussion.
Unfortunately, the University has largely only platformed academic perspectives about the ongoing conflict. Most prominent among these was the University-hosted event titled, “Ena-
the limitations of their viewpoints compared to authentic Palestinian perspectives.
While “Enabling Difficult Conversations” offered valuable insights only for the pedagogical dimensions of debate, the University chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine’s
these stories, the Teach-In illustrated the human cost of the occupation, making it clear that the crisis is not just political or historical but a deeply personal reality for millions.
Given that student-run groups are hosting conversations that foreground stories, the University may
To foster constructive dialogue on the topic of a humanitarian crisis, we need the humanized voice to be the center of the discussion.”
bling Difficult Conversations” with Tarek El-Ariss, Dartmouth College’s chair of Middle Eastern Studies, and Susannah Heschel, Dartmouth’s chair of Jewish Studies. This lecture aimed to brief students on how to collaboratively debate and critically learn about such a divisive issue. The University made the effort to sponsor these speakers but did not engage authentically with the lived experiences of those impacted by the conflict. This choice avoids debate about past academic concepts. While professors’ perspectives are valuable, it is important to recognize
Teach-In, “Decolonization is Not a Metaphor: Gaza and Palestinian Liberation” exemplifies the sort of human-centered events the University should work to foreground more. This teach-in, and others like it, emphasize uplifting the voices of Palestinian students.
One speaker read a piece from a Palestinian student at the University, where the writer addressed the catastrophic impacts of occupation. These are lived experiences that are crucial for educating others on the ongoing genocide and the broader genocidal history of Israel. By sharing
hesitate to further inundate the scene. However, the University’s involvement and what it chooses to platform signals important values to the community. If it were to fully amplify these stories, it would create a more empathetic community on Grounds that understands the human cost of geopolitical issues. Rather than limiting endorsement to faculty, the University can expand to a wider range of voices and demonstrate its humanistic approach to academics.
Striking the balance between academic and human voices is especially important in relation to the Palestin-
ian conflict. For 75 years, Palestinians have endured apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide under Israeli occupation, yet discussions on this issue often become detached, overlooking human suffering and turning it into a purely political question. Human lives should not be political. While academic analysis is useful for building a foundation for discourse, productive dialogue requires that we also amplify personal stories that highlight the reality of life under occupation.
We must push for the University to facilitate spaces where stories are heard and acted upon. This would create an environment that promotes not just intellectual engagement but real emotion that inspires more than conversations. These stories should drive action, education and understanding of the necessity for Palestinian liberation. Through this, I hope to see that future conflicts are discussed with an emphasis on human perspective, not academic expertise.
AYAT YOUNIS is an opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily.com.
SPORTS
Miami transfer Lattimore ready to prove herself at Virginia
The senior forward, held back by injury thus far, is primed to shine in Charlottesville
Ben Istvan | Sports Editor
Latasha Lattimore puts the ball in her right hand, attacks the baseline from the corner, plants her feet in front of the basket and jumps for a layup. She has done this thousands of times in her career. But this time, in the second quarter of a December 2022 game between Miami and Michigan, is tragically different.
The 6-foot-4 sophomore forward, playing in her ninth game for the Hurricanes after transferring from Texas, barely gets six inches off the ground before throwing the ball out of bounds and crumpling to the hardwood. She immediately grabs her right knee and slaps the floor in pain, over and over again.
Lattimore knows she has just torn her ACL. She heard a “pop” in her knee, an eerily similar sound to the one from her first ACL injury in 2020, when she was a senior in high school. The Toronto native had recovered in time for her freshman year with the Longhorns but struggled to get off the bench and was looking for a fresh start at Miami.
In an agonizing moment of déjà vu, that fresh start was taken away before she even played an ACC game. Lattimore said the injury broke her heart into “a million pieces.” She did not know if she could make it through a second rehab process.
“Mentally, it drains you a lot,” Lattimore said. “Sitting on the sideline and watching practices [was] hard.”
In the end, her first recovery experience was hugely beneficial in getting her through the more recent one. Lattimore said she rushed through her rehab activity in 2021, but took things “one step at a time” during her second go-around. That wise approach paid massive dividends — she missed the start of the Hurricanes’ 2023-24 campaign but returned in late November and played her way into the starting lineup by late February.
“The second time I tore my ACL, I feel like I came back way stronger,” Lattimore said. “It was hard, but I just had to hold on to the grind.”
Lattimore’s improvements made her a sought-after recruit last spring when, following the retirement of longtime Miami coach Katie Meier in March, she re-entered the transfer portal. There, a close relationship with Virginia’s Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton played a key role in bringing Lattimore to Charlottesville — the two have known each other since Lattimore was in middle school.
She announced her commitment
to Virginia April 24 and spoke publicly about her decision last month.
“[Agugua-Hamilton] obviously knows what she’s doing — she’s a great coach, off and on the court,” Lattimore said. “She cares about her players a lot, she cares about me personally a lot.”
Lattimore also mentioned the team’s sense of community as a factor that added to Virginia’s appeal, describing her new teammates as “loving.” Agugua-Hamilton believes that had a significant impact on the Cavaliers’ eventual victory in the sweepstakes for the Canadian.
“[Lattimore] wanted to be in a culture like ours … that would feed her soul and feed some positivity into her, and I think our players do that,” Agugua-Hamilton said.
Despite a rocky college career to date, the senior is bringing plenty of pedigree to Virginia. She was the No. 38 overall prospect in the Class of 2021 and the No. 1 ranked player in Canada, where she won back-toback provincial titles in Ontario while attending Crestwood Prep.
Lattimore averaged 5.6 points and 3.1 rebounds for Miami last season —
those numbers appear pedestrian at first glance, but her increased role during the back half of the season led to a mini-breakout. She posted 8.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game in her final 12 contests, which included five double-digit scoring games.
The Cavaliers are going to need that level of production from their new forward. Camryn Taylor, Sam Brunelle and London Clarkson all exhausted their eligibility last season, which puts Virginia down its three leading frontcourt scorers from the 2023-24 season. Agugua-Hamilton emphasized the team’s need to pick up more size in the offseason and that Lattimore was a key part of that.
“[Lattimore] is a tremendous athlete,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “She’s really looking great — athletic, can play on the inside and out, shot-blocker, rim protector and a rebounder.”
Offensively, Lattimore compares her game to that of Candace Parker, a fellow 6-foot-4 forward and twotime WNBA Most Valuable Player. She also tries to emulate Kevin Durant, a two-time NBA champion who served as the inspiration behind
Lattimore’s decision to wear the number 35.
If she is anything like her basketball idols, Lattimore should have little problem stepping into an increased offensive role this season. It helps that she has fit right in with the up-tempo style employed by the Cavaliers, whose 74.1 possessions per 40 minutes ranked third in the ACC last season. In addition to calling her “very fast,” Agugua-Hamilton said Lattimore “runs like a deer.”
The Miami transfer confirmed she has encountered little difficulty adjusting to Virginia’s high-speed practices.
“[The pace] was nothing new to me,” Lattimore said. “I’ve always been a rim-runner, I’ve run the court — it’s easy for me … I love to run, so [Agugua-Hamilton’s] pace and my pace match.”
High school highlight tapes and a video of Lattimore dunking a basketball in 2019 are evidence of that. Even then, she looked ready to bring a dynamic element out of the frontcourt position that the Cavaliers have not yet had in Agugua-Hamilton’s tenure.
Defensively, her presence will be also much needed. No Virginia player has averaged more than one blocked shot in a season since 2021-22, but Lattimore recorded that and then some at Miami last year. She swatted 1.3 shots per contest and racked up 10 multi-block games despite averaging just 15 minutes.
“I bring energy, whatever it is — scoring, rebounding,” Lattimore said. “Whatever Coach Mox needs is what I’m going to give to her … I’m gonna give it my all.”
Lattimore sees the bigger picture, but she is not hiding that she has personal goals for her senior year. Two transfers, an ACL tear and only seven starts in the past three seasons have quieted the hype she carried into her college career. But she still has two years of eligibility and plenty left to accomplish when Virginia’s season tips off Nov. 4 against American.
“I have a lot to prove,” Lattimore said. “This year, I’m gonna put my name back out there in any way possible.”
ALBERT TANG THE CAVALIER DAILY
Lattimore attacks the lane during the Pepsi Blue-White Scrimmage Oct. 5.
What has gone wrong for No. 25 women’s soccer?
A month into the season, Virginia women’s soccer looked to be one of the favorites for the NCAA title. The Cavaliers at one point held down the No. 2 spot in the national poll after a resounding 8-0-0 start. They dominated opponents with an aggregate goal differential of 22-2 in those games, which included six shutout victories and a road win over No. 3 Penn State.
Then, three weeks ago, the real test began. Virginia entered the most difficult four-game stretch of its season. First, a home match against Wake Forest, who had dispatched them 2-0 the season prior. Then No. 16 Notre Dame and a pair of road trips to North Carolina to play the No. 4 Tar Heels and No. 2 Duke.
With an opportunity to prove themselves as a juggernaut, the Cavaliers instead watched their season unravel in front of them. They lost all four games, conceding 10 goals and scoring only three. The team’s inefficiency in the attacking third, which had been a weakness in several games early in the season, began to rear its ugly head consistently when the real competition came.
They plummeted from No. 2 to No. 14 after a 3-0 annihilation by
the Demon Deacons. Then it was to No. 19 after a 1-0 loss to the Fighting Irish. Then No. 25 the week after their 3-2 defeat to the Tar Heels.
Following a defeat to the Blue Devils last week, Virginia’s losing streak sits at four games. With five regular season matches to go, the Cavaliers have fallen to 13th in the 17-team ACC — only the six best teams even qualify for the conference tournament.
Virginia’s poor performance in the ACC thus far cannot be attributed to either key injuries or bad luck. Sure, each of the Cavaliers’ four losses came to current top-15 teams that have national title aspirations, so some slack should be given to them for that. But Virginia was once one of those title-contending teams, and now it is fighting for a place in the ACC Tournament. As such, they are facing the loaded question — what went wrong?
There is no doubt that the Cavalier roster is full of talent — after all, it boasts two preseason All-ACC selections and multiple players who have competed on the national level. At its best, Virginia has looked like a team that can compete with anybody in the nation. The problem is that the Cavaliers have not played at
Sam Chun | Staff Writer
this level for a complete 90 minutes in the past few games.
Rather it has been a tale of two halves for Virginia over this fourgame skid. The Cavaliers have followed a trend of displaying precise passing movements and high intensity in the first 45 minutes but coming out of the halftime break flat.
Against Notre Dame, Virginia registered 11 shots in the first period but mustered only four in the second half, even after the Fighting Irish scored the go-ahead goal in the 47th minute. The Cavaliers were also tied at the break with North Carolina but were unable to prevent their eventual defeat. It was the same story against Duke — Virginia may have scored its lone goal in the final period, but it came only after the game was well out of reach thanks to a lackluster performance following halftime.
In short, the second-half Virginia team has been doomed by sloppiness and apparent fatigue, as they have been consistently outshot in the latter stages of their matches.
This inconsistency is not unique to the losing streak, though. The problem was just masked against far inferior competition early in
the season. Only three of Virginia’s first eight opponents currently have winning records — Penn State, Utah Valley and James Madison, the latter two of which compete in mid-major conferences.
Even during the dominant eightgame winning run, Coach Steve Swanson was critical of the Cavaliers’ lack of shot quality and tendency to revert to sloppy habits late in games. Virginia scored only twice with 24 shots against Towson and found the net just once with 11 shots against VCU. In short, inefficiency in the attacking third of the field has come back to bite the Cavaliers against defenses that do not allow as many chances throughout the course of a game.
The level of athleticism boasted by ACC opponents has also been tough for Virginia to deal with. While the Cavaliers are no slouch, they have looked as if they do not have the speed on the back end to match the runs of opposing forwards, nor the strength to play physically in the box on crosses. Those weaknesses have been made apparent by a handful of the 10 goals the team has surrendered in their last four games, most recently in the 3-1
loss to Duke during which Virginia was dominated both in the box and in transition.
The porous defense may come as a surprise because a highlight of the team’s early-season success was their stout backline that did not allow a goal over four consecutive games. That, however, was not a strong indication of an all-around fortified defense. This success was more so due to Virginia’s control of possession, which limited the time opposing teams spent with the ball in the Cavaliers’ defensive third.
Though the Cavaliers have faced the worst of their schedule, every game remaining is against a conference opponent and will carry the added pressure of being a must-win if they want to keep their postseason hopes alive.
It is evident Virginia is good, but the Cavaliers are not in the tier of teams that will make deep runs in the ACC and NCAA postseason this year. The Cavaliers have shown flashes of a team that could contend. Bad teams do not win eight games in a row. But the great teams perform on the biggest stage, and Virginia has been unable to do that thus far.
Why No. 3 field hockey’s loss is a gift in disguise
The Cavaliers needed to lose now to win it all later
Eleanor Buchanan | Staff Writer
Virginia field hockey always seems to be in contention for a national title. The Cavaliers have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 28 times since it was first held in 1981. With those opportunities, Virginia has advanced past the first round 14 times and made six appearances in the semifinals. But not once in 44 years has the team made the championship game.
The 2024 squad, ranked No. 3 in the nation, appeared like they might break the 44-year curse after winning their first nine games of the season, including six over opponents currently in the national rankings. But Friday evening, as the Cavaliers trudged off the Boston College Field Hockey Complex in Newton, Mass., some may have thought another season with national championship hopes had gone awry.
The Cavaliers fell 3-2 in overtime to No. 11 Boston College. It was a devastating loss and the team’s first of the season. Despite a spectacular two-goal effort by junior midfielder Daniela Men -
dez-Trendler, Virginia was unable to complete the comeback after ceding two goals in the first half and converting on only two offensive looks despite having a 10-3 edge in shots.
While Friday’s lackluster result may have ended Virginia’s winning streak, it did not necessarily signal the end of a winning season overall. In the long run, the loss will be helpful because it exposed the weak points that went unnoticed behind the team’s perfect record, which had little chance of remaining as such for the entire season. On the defensive end, Virginia did not amp up enough pressure early on against Boston College. The Eagles found it easy to slot a pair of shots past senior goalkeeper Tyler Kennedy before the halftime buzzer sounded. This is an important reminder that Kennedy’s season-long save percentage of .586 — which ranks eighth in the ACC — certainly leaves room for improvement. The Cavaliers will need to be more aggressive defensively to stop the bleeding before it leads to more
losses.
What worked for Virginia in the second half against the Eagles was the high defensive pressure that forced Boston College’s forward line to pass back or risk turning over possession. The fast pace of play kept the Eagles on their heels, which not only aided Virginia’s defense but also allowed its offense to fire on all cylinders.
Creating more attacking chances is especially necessary for a unit that has struggled to convert in front of goal. Virginia totaled five corners against the Eagles but scored on none of them. On one of those occasions, the Cavaliers were up by two players but still could not find the back of the net. Their struggles amounted to a shot percentage of only .200, while Boston College went a perfect 3-for-3 on shots on goal to turn the tide of the matchup in its favor.
For the season, the Cavaliers are averaging 14.4 shots per contest versus only 2.9 goals, which amounts to a shot percentage of .203. In order to avoid further de -
feats, Virginia will have to keep its foot on the gas in the offensive third and capitalize on more of its opportunities, which will hopefully be plentiful with help from the backline.
It is also important to remember that Boston College is a team of high caliber which, going into the game, seemed slightly underrated. The Eagles had only lost to No. 4 Maryland and No. 1 Northwestern entering their game with Virginia, and both defeats occurred nearly a month before the Cavaliers traveled to play them. So losing on the road, in overtime, to an opponent of that formidability, is hardly a warning sign.
Additionally, Virginia made the semifinals last year after going just 11-5 in the regular season, a reminder which should serve to moderate any overblown anxiety about this Boston College loss. Last year, the team dropped games against Duke, Maryland and Liberty — three opponents they beat earlier this season — as well as Boston College and Louisville. All of that to say, a loss
halfway through the season is not going to decide whether the Cavaliers put an end to their championship drought.
Virginia’s title chances will be made more clear after its next two games, which come at home against No. 7 Saint Joseph’s and No. 14 Syracuse. The Hawks are 9-2 on the season and rank second in the NCAA in goals per game, while the 8-3 Orange are tied for fifth in the country in shutouts.
With plenty of competition left to come, including No. 1 North Carolina, the end of the Cavaliers’ winning streak does not, in any way, signal the end of their postseason chances. In fact, the loss could be the key to a championship season — fixing the errors that are highlighted in defeat will strengthen the team in a way that a win could not have.
By the time November rolls around, the Cavaliers will be more than ready to shed the half-century curse and take home some hardware.
ALBERT TANG THE CAVALIER DAILY
Senior midfielder Noa Boterman fights for the ball against William & Mary.
A guide to the weekly farmers market at Ix Art Park
The market has something for everyone, from fresh fruit to personalized poems
Miriella Jiffar | Life Writer
With over 60 Virginia vendors and hundreds of patrons, the Ix Art Park Farmers market bustles with energy every Saturday of the year. It is a picturesque scene set against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and if you’re lucky, the sun will be shining brightly through the crisp fall air. I love spending a morning at the market wandering around the booths and admiring the craft of local businesses.
About a 30-minute walk and a five-minute drive from central Grounds, the market at Ix Art Park is not too far from the University. It’s perfect for a grocery run or a social outing — I visit the market every few weeks with friends. Here are my tried-and-true suggestions to make the most of your shopping experience.
Fresh produce
I recommend two booths that sell fresh fruits and vegetables sourced from local farms — Lesley’s Garden and Singing Earth Produce. Both vendors arrange their produce under large tents to accommodate a sizable flow of patrons making their selections. These are great farms to support if you want to stock up on some nutritious essentials for the week ahead.
This weekend, these two vendors had a variety of seasonal offerings,
including pumpkins and squash. Lesley’s Garden boasted a large array of flowers in addition to dry chilis, tomatoes, corn, carrots, purple cabbage and homemade pickles. Singing Earth Produce was selling radishes, potatoes, peppers, onions and garlic. From the signs posted on the booths, I learned that these vendors offer The Fresh Match Program which will match up to $50 in SNAP — Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — benefits to use on fresh fruits and vegetables.
The market also has specialty food vendors if you want to splurge on items that you can’t find at the grocery store. I suggest stopping by Wegner Grapes for some Concord grapes — they are locally grown in the Shenandoah Valley, and they are incredibly juicy and sweet. Opposite Wegner Grapes this weekend was Edgewood Apiaries, which sells local raw honey in addition to a catered selection of honeycomb, soap and candles. I sampled the raw honey, and it had a light, almost fruity flavor, unique from other brands of honey I have tried before. I would recommend picking up some of their honey to stir into tea or drizzle over baked goods.
Food and drink
In my opinion, the most important stop at the market is Frolic Coffee. They are a family-owned busi-
ness that roasts their coffee locally in Charlottesville with organic beans sourced from Ethiopia, Honduras and Peru. At an extremely affordable price — $3 for a 12 oz customizable iced cold brew — this has become my favorite stop at the Farmers Market. Once you pay for your drink, you’re handed a cup with ice to fill with as much cold brew as you like. Then, you can add milk, agave nectar or simple syrup to suit your preferences. There are plenty of other drink options as well, including batch brew hot coffee, pour-overs, chai and matcha.
After you get your coffee from Frolic, make a beeline to the bright yellow tent of Bee Conscious Bakery, an environmentally friendly, family-owned farm that sells their homemade pastries at Ix Art Park. They offer a variety of cookies and muffins, all made with organic ingredients, but I go for a personal favorite — a blueberry and lemon scone. The scone is always so moist, and it is a perfect balance of sweet blueberry and tangy lemon, finished with a dusting of sugar.
On my most recent trip to the market, I discovered LG’s Elixir, which sells organic cold-pressed juice. They only use 11 all-natural ingredients, including turmeric, ginger and habanero pepper among others. I love fresh juice, so I had to try a sam-
ple, and it really woke me up with its acidic tang. It’s also a nourishing option thanks to the antioxidants in all the natural ingredients I will definitely come back next week to buy a bottle. While most booths are at the market each week, LG’s Elixir is there only on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month, so plan your visit accordingly if you want a taste of their refreshing “elixir.” Corner Juice aficionados, this one’s for you.
Artisanal goods and flowers
The market also has many vendors selling artisanal goods, from handmade jewelry to arts and crafts.
One of my favorites is the Charlottesville Poem Store, falling at a unique intersection of arts and community building. You name a topic, and the vendors will write a poem for you on the spot — on a vintage typewriter. A personalized poem makes for such a thoughtful gift for friends and family. The store also has literary-inspired pins, bookmarks with poetry quotes and small art prints for sale.
Another popular booth is Orion Family Farms, a queer-owned flower farm in Buckingham, Va. Customers can DIY their own flower bouquets and choose their vases or paper wrapping. “Pay what you can, pay it forward” is the motto of Orion Family Farms, so their customizable flowers operate on a pay as you will basis.
It is such a fun activity to do with friends — while you all get to choose your flowers together, each bouquet turns out completely different. However, these run out fast — there were a few times last semester when I tried to make a bouquet, but the flowers were all taken by the time I got there. I’d stop by Orion Family Farms around 10 a.m. to ensure that you’ll have a great floral selection for your bouquet.
While these are my top recommendations, you truly cannot go wrong with any vendor at the market. Each booth has great offerings, and there is always something new to discover.
The market isn’t just a hub for business — it’s a beautiful kaleidoscope of community. It’s one of the few events that brings together local artisans, city residents and students to enjoy food, art and culture. It’s for this reason that the market has become a staple of my time at the University, and I highly recommend a visit.
The market is open on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. from October to March and from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. from April to September.
ISABEL HAMILTON THE CAVALIER DAILY
The market isn’t just a hub for business – it’s a beautiful kaleidoscope of community.
Small truck, big flavor — the magic of Mod Pod
The sleek silver truck on 14th Street offers Mexican-inspired fare in a conveniently-located spot
Sophie Guettel | Senior Writer
Ever wondered what that sleek, metallic spaceship parked on 14th Street is dishing out? Let me spill the beans — it’s tacos. Mod Pod, a “dining” offshoot of the Little Mod Hotel that opened just last year, is more than the reflective trailer it seems. It offers a range of delicious, Mexican-inspired dishes that cater to anyone passing by. And let me tell you, it’s worth the stop.
I know that many students who live behind the Corner, myself included, are puzzled by the bizarre eatery on every walk down 14th Street. Therefore, I felt a sense of duty as a food writer to investigate the trailer and its menu. This week, I stopped by Mod Pod to sample a few of their signature food and drink offerings.
When I arrived at the truck, I learned that Mod Pod opened in October 2023 as a dining option for guests staying at the Little Mod Hotel, but the truck is open to all customers. Their menu is centered around a variety of taco options, but they serve a handful of other items as well, from breakfast plates to smoothies.
Parked just a few steps away from Grounds, the truck is in a great spot for students to refuel between classes or unwind with friends. Nestled next to the silver truck is a charming little outdoor seating area, complete with cheerful umbrellas that provide
shade for diners who want to savor their meal on the spot. Perfectly tucked into the rhythm of everyone’s daily route to class, it’s an ideal spot for people-watching, yet simultaneously private and serene.
Choosing from their all-day breakfast menu, I opted for the breakfast taco, featuring a fried egg, chimichurri, avocado, pico de gallo and pickled onions, as well as a $2 addition of chorizo. The first thing that struck me was the tortilla, which was griddled to perfection. Unlike some tacos that fall apart in your hands, this one had just the right amount of crispiness, holding everything together beautifully. The chorizo added a smoky kick and was balanced by the freshness of the chimichurri and the tang of pickled onions. The fried egg gave it a solid structure — though I must admit, I did find myself wishing for a sprinkle of cheese to round out the flavors. Still, it was a steal at $7.
Next up was the $12 Tex-Mex Torta, a heartier option with chicken tinga, smoked cheddar, avocado, salsa picante, cilantro and pickled onions all tucked inside a soft roll. The chicken tinga stole the show here — it was tender, well-spiced and smoky, and it perfectly complemented the fresh salsa and avocado. The smoked cheddar added the exact kind of warm depth that I was
missing in the breakfast taco, while the cilantro and pickled onions brought brightness to every bite. That said, while the roll was light and fluffy, it was so thick that I found that it inadvertently overpowered some of the filling, disrupting the ratio of components in each bite. Still, the vibrant flavors made the dish worth trying.
To round out my meal, I went for something refreshing and sweet — the Açai Smoothie. Made with açai purée, oat milk, strawberry, banana and blueber -
ry, this smoothie was a standout. It was thick and creamy with just the right amount of natural sweetness. The blend of berries was perfectly balanced, and the oat milk gave it a smooth, rich texture without making it too heavy. It’s the kind of drink that felt almost like a meal in itself — it was absolutely packed with flavor. At $9, it’s on the pricier side, but after a taco and a torta, it made for a light, revitalizing finish.
The Mod Pod offers a mix of casual dining with bold, vibrant
flavors that make each dish worth trying. While the menu features plenty of Mexican favorites, the truck isn’t afraid to experiment, offering fresh takes on classics and blending breakfast with lunch in the most satisfying way. Whether you’re grabbing a quick bite between classes or settling in at their cute outdoor seating area, this local food truck promises to be an experience that is as delicious as it is convenient.
The Mod Pod is open seven days a week from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Treat yourself to my mom’s classic apple pie
You and your roommates will be falling for this seasonal delight
Charley Thomas | Life Writer
Every time I walk on Grounds, I see another leaf turned golden orange, and I feel another crisp breeze in the air. Each sign of fall is another reason for me to whip out the baking pans and try my hand at some of my mother’s seasonal recipes. One of my favorites of hers to fix is her apple pie. The warm, fruity flavor and flaky crust — especially when the pie is freshly out of the oven — are to die for.
Before I spent my autumns in Charlottesville, I could tell the season had truly begun when my mother prepared her fall menu — a lineup of savory dishes culminating in sweet apple pie. Now that I’m in college, I try to bring these comforting flavors to my
life at the University and share this slice of home with friends to get into the fall spirit.
Prep time : 20 minutes
Bake time : 55 minutes
Yields : 8 servings
Ingredients:
- 2 Pillsbury refrigerated premade pie crusts
- 8-9 Jonathan apples peeled, cored and sliced 1 inch thick*
- 2 tablespoons flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 pats of butter
- 1 egg white, whisked
*I recommend taking a day
trip to Carter Mountain Orchard to pick the apples yourself.
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Grease a 9-inch round pie pan. Press one pie crust firmly into the bottom of the pan.
3. In a large bowl, combine the apple slices, flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg until the apple slices are evenly coated with the sugar-spice mixture.
4. Spoon the apples into the pan and even them out with a spatula. Space out the pats of butter on top of the apples.
5. Drape the second pie crust on top of the apple filling. With a fork, press down on the rim of the crust to seal the pie. Trim
any excess dough with scissors. Cut three small slits into the top crust for venting.
6. Evenly brush the egg white over the pie.
7. Place the pie on the middle oven rack. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and wrap the edge of the crust with three-inch wide strips of tin-foil.
8. Place the pie back onto the middle oven rack. Bake for an additional 30-40 minutes or until the apple filling bubbles from the slits.
9. Let cool, and serve. *For a custom pie crust, decorate the top of the pie with fallshaped cutouts, such as pumpkins and leaves, using excess dough.
While the pie is still warm, slice it and serve. My family and I prefer our pie à la mode — with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top — for added sweetness. To me, this dish is the perfect ode to autumn. It packages the best of the season — warmth, comfort and nostalgia — into a few bites. Judging from my past experiences, the slices of pie will be gone in a matter of minutes. While you’re wolfing down your apple pie, try your best to savor those feelings and flavors.
ADAIRE BURNSED | THE CAVALIER DAILY
While the menu features plenty of Mexican favorites, the truck isn’t afraid to experiment, offering fresh takes on classics and blending breakfast with lunch in the most satisfying way.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Virginia Film Festival offers intriguing new collection of films
Take a look into VAFF’s diverse lineup, filled with both new features and old traditions
Madigan Lounsbery | Staff Writer
Returning for its 37th year in Charlottesville, the Virginia Film Festival is set to have quite the exciting lineup of films. Beginning Oct. 30 and ending Nov. 3, the films on display at this year’s festival span a myriad of themes and genres, from crime-driven musicals to gripping family dramas. In its diverse range of genres and forms, the festival aims to create an inclusive viewing experience that will highlight various perspectives and engender engaging conversations.
The Virginia Film Festival is a staple event put on by the University and has been bringing impressive media to Charlottesville for decades. Beginning with “Anora” and ending with “The Last Showgirl,” the list includes 80 films in genres ranging from horror to crime to LGBTQ+ films. Keep reading for a glimpse into this year’s electrifying program.
“Anora” — A new interpretation of an old genre
VAFF is set to open on a high note at 7 p.m. Oct. 30 at the Paramount with “Anora.” The film is the first of the festival’s Gala showings, a designation given to highly celebrated films. The comedic film tells the tale of a sex worker from Brooklyn who marries into a rich Russian family. However, her joy is threatened when her new husband’s buttoned-up family catches wind of their marriage and plans to put an end to it.
Ilya Tovbis, the artistic director for the Virginia Film Festival, described the film as a modern twist on a classic trope.
“It’s essentially a completely modernized and very fresh look at a screwball romantic comedy that gives great agency and liberty to essential characters,” Tovbis said.
As the winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival — the first American-made film to win the award in over 20 years — the film has generated a great deal of excitement. This critical acclaim, coupled with a fast-paced plot that puts a twist on a classic trope, makes “Anora” a perfect start to a festival that will appeal to a young audience.
Star-studded features
In several films featured at this year’s festival, audiences will recognize some familiar faces of wellknown stars. “Emilia Pérez” — a Spanish-language, genre-bending, comedy-crime-musical directed by Jacques Audiard — features standout performances from Karla Sofía
Gascón, Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez. In the film, a notorious narcotics trafficker named Emilia, played by Gascón, longs to quietly escape her life to leave the country and receive gender-affirming surgery. Gascón made history with this film as the first openly transgender actor to win the best actress award at Cannes.
The spotlighting of the film at the festival marks a shift towards a more inclusive film community and, by proxy, a more inclusive Virginia Film Festival.
Another highlighted film in the program that is certain to draw in students is Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night,” a long-awaited, star-studded film that tells the tale of making the first ever episode of Saturday Night Live. Additionally, one of its stars — actor Lamorne Morris — will also be presented with the VAFF Virtuoso Award, an honor recognizing an exceptional acting performance during the season.
Morris, known for other roles like Winston Bishop in the TV show “New Girl” and Kevin Sterling in the movie “Game Night,” will be in attendance to accept his award and will be participating in a question and answer session after the screening of the film.
Caroline Aldridge, a Virginia Film Festival programming intern and fourth-year College student, said that guests such as Morris who are popular among students have the ability to generate high levels of student interest in the festival.
“I think that he’s someone that our generation knows really well from ‘New Girl’,” Aldridge said, “so that’s always exciting when you have someone like that, that can bring in that student excitement as well.”
Exciting film series, both new and old
While some films like “Anora” and “Saturday Night” will be featured with Gala Screenings,” VAFF also curates various film series each year that specifically highlight certain genres or uplift the voices of underrepresented groups. This year, many of the festival’s recurring series will make a return — the “Black Excellence” category will feature films such as “The Black Sea” and “The Piano Lesson.” Another series, entitled “Virginia Filmmaking,” looks to publicize works made by local artists and will include films like “Catch a Killer” and “The Bitter Pill”.
The new series are not limited to genres, though. Another addition to this year’s program is “Voices of the Formerly Incarcerated,” which is a lineup focusing on uplifting the voices of previously incarcerated people via the film medium. The series will feature three documentaries entitled “InThrive: Incarceration Survivors’ Voices,” “Juvenile: Five Stories” and “Unlikely Allies.”
Tovbis, Aldridge and other VAFF leaders are quite excited for these new series to increase student involvement in the festival. While the free tickets that students get through Arts Dollars are quite the incentive, VAFF staff like Aldridge hope that it is the festival’s expansive genres that encourage students to get more and more involved in the festival year after year.
Highlighting excellence in horror
This year, the festival falls on the week of Halloween — a fact which did not go unnoticed by its producers when the program was being curated. The festival is playing into this timing, which has led to the creation of one of the festival’s new film series titled “After Hours,” which has a focus on fantasy and horror films — genres that have not been highlighted outright by VAFF in recent years according to Tovbis. One of the crown jewels of this
new series is “Nightb—h,” a film starring Amy Adams that has generated a great deal of buzz in the media as of late. As Adams’s character struggles with the cresting emotions that arise as she leaves her career behind to become a stay-athome mother, her life shifts in quite an odd way, as she believes that she is turning into a dog.
Tovbis said that this addition of a horror and fantasy series is a change for the festival that will continue in future years. He said he hopes that the festival continues to highlight novel genres in order to bring new voices to the screen and new viewers to the audience.
“I think something that we’re trying to be very cognizant of as we curate the festival as we intend to keep it relevant in years to come is being increasingly inclusive, increasingly encompassing of different forms of filmmaking, of storytelling, and — by extension — also hopefully bringing in a broader selection of audiences that might have differing tastes.” Tovbis said.
“The Last Showgirl” — an emotional end to the festival
After a weekend of traditions and new inclusions, this year’s festival will close out with “The Last Showgirl.” Directed by Gia Coppola, this film tells the story of a performer whose life gets turned
upside down when the show she has been in for the past 30 years closes. With an incredibly strong cast featuring the likes of Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista and many more, as well as an emotionally-driven plot, “The Last Showgirl” is an incredibly strong closure for the festival.
While the plethora of impactful films are usually a major draw for the festival, Aldridge said that the dialogues that they create are just as important. By diversifying the film offerings, Aldrige said these dialogues will hopefully become easier to facilitate.
“So much of the festival is just about having meaningful conversations across disciplines,” Aldridge said.
The Virginia Film Festival is taking major steps — both on- and off-screen — towards further inclusivity and increased involvement from the University and beyond. And with a revamped and quite remarkable program, people should certainly take advantage of having this wonderful festival in their backyard.
The full schedule for the Virginia Film Festival is available on their website. Tickets go on sale on Friday, October 11 at noon.
COURTESY ÉZÉ AMOS PHOTOGRAPHY
The Virginia Film Festival is taking major steps — both on and off-screen — towards further inclusivity and increased involvement from the University and beyond.
AKAdeMiX brings diverse influences to dance
The club provides performance opportunities in often underrepresented dance styles like hip-hop and breakdancing on Grounds
Gretel Brown | Staff Writer
Hip-hop, locking or break dancing — any style of dance has a home in AKAdeMiX, the University’s student-run open style dance crew. Established in 2010, AKAdeMiX — otherwise known as the Mix — is a Contracted Independent Organization where students come together to choreograph and perform dance routines derived from a diverse range of foundational dance styles. The group showcases their routines at both regional competitions and University events. Through its practice and performances, AKAdeMiX carves out a space on Grounds for historically sidelined dance styles to flourish.
Open style dance was originally developed by Asian American dancers and university students struggling to find a space for themselves within existing dance communities in the 1990s. It incorporates a variety of different genres of dance, seeking not only to inspire innovative new forms but also to shed light on dance styles that have been marginalized because of their association with people of color.
Kristina Kang, AKAdeMiX director and third-year Batten student, emphasized the importance of recognizing the origins of the club’s influences.
“[Foundations] are something that we really value as a team,” Kang said. “Communities who have been creating these styles have been historically marginalized. We want to make sure that we’re acknowledging the foundations … that we’re taking our time to know the history and that we’re taking proper inspiration from these styles instead of just appropriating.”
Nowhere does this creative open-mindedness shine more brightly than the club’s dedication to the choreography process. Aspiring members audition for the club each semester by dancing to previous AKAdeMiX routines that are posted online. However, once they are officially part of the team each dancer must contribute a new, original piece.
AKAdeMiX’s artistic directors shape the general creative direction of the performances by voting on the performance themes that guide the song selections for the semester. However, the general body members are tasked with designing the moves and sequences of the dance itself. This sharing of creative control allows for an atmosphere of support and collaboration among AKAdeMiX members.
Freya Chen, new AKAdeMiX
member and fourth-year Education student, said this opportunity for individualized artistic expression and growth excites her. Although she took dance classes her first year at the University, the chance to take an active role in the choreography process is new to her.
“I definitely want to try making my own choreo,” Chen said. “It’s something I’ve never done before and I was kind of scared, but [as] a fourth-year I wanted to step out of my comfort zone.”
In addition to designing their own sets, AKAdeMiX works hard to bring their performances to various locations outside of Charlottesville. The club participates in several competitions within the larger Delaware, Maryland and Virginia area.
One of their biggest events is Prelude, a competition series that seeks to showcase both local and regional diverse dance groups that emphasize hip-hop and other African inspired dance movements. Featuring dance teams from throughout the East Coast, this year’s Prelude Dance Competition will take place Nov. 23 in Springfield, Va.
In past years, AKAdeMiX has re-
ceived recognition at several of their dance competitions. In 2016, They took home the title for Best Theme at World of Dance Boston — an international dance competition with a focus on street dancing and new age choreography.
However, despite their dedication to competition, it is not the club’s sole focus. To Chen, the creative and performative aspects of AKAdeMiX go hand in hand.
“As a dance team, our ultimate goal is definitely to perform, but it’s also really important for us to improve and grow as dancers in the process of making choreo,” Chen said. “Those two aspects are equally important.”
Both onstage and off, AKAdeMiX members support each other in their respective dance journeys, hyping up one another’s choreo and performances across their various social media platforms, including their YouTube and Instagram, @akademixdance. When a member of AKAdeMiX is performing, members of their team are regularly there supporting them in the audience.
“There’s a lot of overlap [in the dance community],” Chen said. “We watch each other perform every time.
Performances are really cool and energetic. Whenever I watch I get goosebumps. I just wanted to be a part of the performance, to make whoever is watching feel the same way.”
Above all, Kang said that AKAdeMiX is a welcoming place where dancers at the University, both aspiring and experienced, can come together and embrace all the multi-faceted forms of artistic expression the diverse world of dance has to offer.
“My favorite thing … is the ability to grow with the team,” Kang said. “Obviously dancing by yourself is fun, but there’s a lot of value to being able to dance with other people. I think I value that aspect … the community.”
Currently, AKAdeMiX is deep into rehearsals for the fall dance season. Audiences will be able to catch a glimpse at AKAdeMiX’s upcoming performance at Culture Fest, an event organized by the University Programs Council to celebrate cultural diversity at the University through artistic performances, cuisine and merchandise offerings. This year’s Culture Fest is scheduled for Oct. 26.
Jolinna Li digs into her roots with “Stories of the Return”
The fourth-year College student spent her summer in Taipei writing and directing her first film
Ty Lolak | Staff Writer
When fourth-year College student Jolinna Li arrived in Taiwan this past summer to start working on her directorial debut, she brought with her only an idea for a script. By the end of her stay in Taipei, she had finished shooting “Stories of the Return,” a 50-minute-long Chinese-language film demonstrating her talents as a writer and a filmmaker.
From its length to the scope of her responsibilities, “Stories of the Return” is Li’s most expansive project to date. The film — a fictional narrative with semi-autobiographical elements — is about a Taiwanese-American director who returns to Taiwan to shoot a script written by her deceased mother. The film premiered Sept. 29 in Newcomb Theater.
Li’s film tackles, among many themes, cultural differences between descendants of immigrants and their ancestral nations. Through the film’s protagonist — who is also Taiwanese-American — Li addresses her own relationship with Taiwan.
Li began her journey into filmmaking well before she arrived on Grounds. Li said she has been around the art form her entire life as her
mother, Anna Ma, is also a filmmaker. Having grown up surrounded by the medium, the Charlottesville native decided to try her hand at filmmaking in high school by participating in camps at Light House Studio — a Charlottesville organization that serves to introduce and promote filmmaking to local youths — during summer breaks. This inspiration followed Li to the University, where she further cemented her passion by continuing to work with Light House and getting involved in cinematography on Grounds. At Light House, Li participated in the Adrenaline Film Project — a workshop in which teams of three write, shoot and edit a film in just 72 hours. Additionally, through the University’s drama department, she worked as a cinematographer for Overcranked — a drama department course where students spend the first semester writing a film and the second semester shooting it.
Along with these filmmaking opportunities, Li’s experiences with language at the University were also foundational to the creation of “Stories of the Return.” In her third year, Li worked as a Chinese learning assistant
at Shea House, a language immersion house on Grounds. Li said that engaging with the language was part of the inspiration behind wanting to make a film in Chinese.
“I think that [in the] year leading up to the filming, I was surrounded by the language a lot more,” Li said. “And I think that kind of helped [get the idea for the film], and also made me want to write something in Chinese.”
This dream became reality when Li received the University Undergraduate Award for Arts Projects and the Miller Rising 4th Year Award, both of which expand creative opportunities for students by providing funding to pursue larger-scale projects.
With this funding, Li was able to travel with her mother, sister and cousin to Taiwan to start work on “Stories of the Return.” Her mother, a filmmaker and screenwriter, acted in the film and helped with the script, while her sister and cousin helped with sound and other aspects of production behind the scenes.
Upon arriving in Taiwan, Li and her dedicated family film crew got right to work. The five week duration of the trip meant that there was no
time to waste and the filming process had to unfold a bit unconventionally — roles were cast and scenes were shot while Li was still working on finishing the script.
“We started casting [and] trying to find all the locations,” Li said. “Meanwhile, I was still editing the script. So it was like, very much up until we shot it, it was being changed.”
Li said they found almost all of the supporting cast through advertisements posted around Fu Jen Catholic University, where Li’s mother studied film. The last role the crew had to fill was the most important — Ma Yu Ge, the film’s protagonist. Li said she ultimately found her lead actress Letitia Cheng Ho-Yu by chance while waiting to meet friends at a music video exhibition at a university in Taipei.
“There was this station where they were presenting music videos,” Li said.
“I was like, ‘who’s your guy’s best actress that you’ve worked with?’ and then they gave me her Instagram and I DM’ed her, and then she came to the audition.”
Ho-Yu plays Ma Yu Ge in Li’s film, the protagonist who travels back to Taiwan to shoot her film, which is
titled “Gui Zhou.” This fictional film has a very real backstory, as Li’s mother wrote the script for it decades ago. According to Li, embedding the script in her film plays into the film’s greater theme of returning to one’s roots and rediscovering the family and culture that are integral parts of one’s identity.
While there were a number of her mother’s scripts she could have chosen, Li said she picked “Gui Zhou” because she loved reading it when she was younger and, most importantly, because of its Taiwanese setting.
Li’s dazzling cinematography captures the Taiwanese countryside with scenes of vibrant greens and shots of Taipei in motion to convey its bustling energy. The film’s visual artistry coupled with its message of familial and cultural connection creates a final project that is a true testament to Li’s years of passion and experience in filmmaking.
While a date is still being cemented, Li said she is planning for “Stories of the Return” to have its first post-premiere screening at Visible Records in Charlottesville.
Surge of Frat Flu leaves U.Va. Health on life support
Editor’s note: This article is a humor column.
As the leaves turn and pumpkin spiced lattes return, one thing is undeniable — cuffing season is back, and so is coughing season.
Student Health confirmed the seasonal surge of Frat Flu, an illness notorious for its relentless symptoms and ability to outlast the average University romance. While flings quickly fade, Frat Flu sticks around, leaving students with coughing fits and aching hearts that make them regret attending that overcrowded frat party.
On average, 50 percent of partygoers are afflicted by Frat Flu at every party. Symptoms include a sore throat, cough, stuffy nose, re-reading of text messages and stalking of Instagram stories. In severe cases, victims experience hallucinations such as “I’m never drinking again.” To get to the bottom of Frat Flu’s grip on Grounds, epidemiologist Madi Bol offers an explanation.
“The Frat Flu phenomenon refers to the sickness contracted from crammed, contagion-clogged frat parties,” Bol said. “As Frat Flu weakens immune systems, it lowers emotional defenses too, leaving students vulnerable to both viruses and crushes. It’s worse than the typical flu, leaving behind a cough that lingers longer than the Snapchat streak with your latest love interest.”
Frat Flu obliterates your soul — similar to waiting for the “You up?” text that never comes. In severe cases, it develops into catastrophic FOMO, a Fear of Missing Out that compels students to attend every party. This FOMO fuels the spread, turning frat parties into self-sustaining germ fests. As reports pour in, victims describe the flu as “downright clingy” compared to the fleeting nature of University love. Despite complaints, Student Health’s response remains underwhelming — drink more water, rest and hope for the best. Frat Flu is here to stay, long af-
HUMOR CARTOON
ter your crush has moved on. With no end in sight, The Cavalier Daily demanded answers from Student Health’s Dr. Streakda Laun.
“Frat Flu is a part of college,” Dr. Laun said. “It’s not a pandemic, it’s a rite of passage. Students need to stop blaming frats for everything.”
Abandoned by Student Health, students are left wondering how Frat Flu continues to spread. Relationship specialist Diff Moe suggests the culprit lies in today’s romantic climate, where fleeting connections and contagious germs go hand in hand.
“Kids these days barely get to know each other before one ghosts the other. It’s no surprise diseases like Frat Flu are spreading so fast — students are swapping more germs than phone numbers at these parties,” Moe said.
Ghosting has led to shorter talking stages and rapid transmission of diseases via Zyn-flavored makeouts. Looking for a perspective from the fraternity community, The Cavalier Daily contact-
YAR Nostalgia Runs Deep
Sahar Asghari | Cartoonist
ed Kyle McChug, brother of Phi Slamma Jamma.
“I don’t even know why they are blaming us. Like, we only have a couple hundred people at our house every night,” McChug said. “I only see people wipe powder off their nose, not snot. And most of us only cough when we hit the za too hard. I don’t think it’s because of some disease or whatever.”
Fraternities refusing to acknowledge their role in spreading Frat Flu is as classic as their denial of hazing — both are treated like rites of passage that “build character.” Like pledges are expected to endure humiliation in silence, Frat Flu is brushed aside, treated as just another inevitable consequence of frat life.
Reports indicate that the University’s doctors were unprepared for such a surge, implying the next pandemic could be Frat Flu, formally known as Brovid-24. In an effort to overcompensate, Student Health insists that professors enforce a zero-absence policy. Frat
Flu isn’t a valid excuse to miss class — just keep coughing and carry on. As Frat Flu cases skyrocket, students wait for guidance. When asked, Dr. Seven Dee Harry offered advice.
“Doctors are scrambling to find a cure for this ailment. We haven’t seen anything this contagious since the viral spread of the renegade dance,” Dr. Harry said. “For now our best advice is to drink water, rest and, for the love of all things holy, stop expecting them to text you back — it’s not happening.”
Romances with frat boys quickly fizzle out, leaving students more sick than smitten. As students navigate the brutal realities of both Frat Flu season and University dating, one thing is clear — Frat Flu is here to stay, while your love life? Not so much.
MARGO KAYE is the humor columnist for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at humor@cavalierdaily.com
Panhellenic Pandemic
Ellis Moffett | Cartoonist
ACROSS
1 They make up plays
6 Scoreboard heading
11 MLA alternative
14 Greeting for Queen Lili’uokalani
15 Musical that opens in an orphanage
16 “i’m begging u”
17 Hot calendar date, maybe?
19 Genre for Ice Spice and Ice Cube
20 Taylor Swift title track with the lyric “Fighting with him was like trying to solve a crossword and realizing there’s no right answer”
21 Pelvic area
23 Diffusion process
27 Oyster diver
29 Like a healthy cut of beef
30 State of confusion
32 Regarding
33 Stat displayed on an inflight map, for short
34 Tennis headgear
35 “The Squad” Congress member Omar
36 Sweet rewards of strenuous efforts ... or a literal description of the circled letters in 17-, 27-, 46-, and 54-Across
CROSSWORD
Quinn Connor | Puzzle Master
39 Filth
40 Clarifying words
41 Preceder of “Fit,” “Sports” and “Play” in video game titles
43 Prefix meaning “ten”
44 PC exit keys
45 Trois times trois
46 Pipe cleaner
49 Some bad weather systems, for short
51 Hip bone
52 F- on a chemistry test, e.g.
53 Sheep sound
54 General upkeep
61 Flik or Dot in “A Bug’s Life”
62 Longstocking of children’s books
63 Fragment in a fire
64 GPS suggestion
65 Teams alternative
66 HomeGoods purchase DOWN
1 Half-___ (coffee order)
2 Wong of “Beef”
3 AKA, for one
4 “Mad Max: Fury Road” actress Charlize
5 Treasure chests?
6 White elephant gift type,
often
7 New England sch.
8 Doc who treats tonsillitis and tinnitus
9 Something a fortress may be under
10 _____ cotta
11 May flower vehicle
12 Place to space out?
13 Death on the Nile cause, potentially
18 “That was me!”
22 Colgate competitor
23 Spanish “wave” or a Portuguese wave
24 Not dependent on others
25 Attend, as a university
26 More fresh
27 Like a score of 300 in bowling
28 Wizard Weasley
31 Attends a meeting from home, say
34 Strive for
35 ___ Hawke, “Chipmunks” antagonist
37 One of the five basic tastes
38 Iconic television dog
39 Economic measure led by the U.S.
42 Hypotheticals
45 Z-lister
47 Reminds, as a 48-Down
48 Online message
50 Like a gym rat’s physique
55 Hoppy brew, for short
56 Bot, in gaming lingo
57 Kesha hit: “___ ToK”
53 Obstacle for pole vaulters and law students
58 “SNL” network
59 Position for Bob Iger
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60 Mess up