Thursday, April 17, 2025

leiGh Bailey, Kayla MOOre NOelle valDiNOTO & CaT WhiTe The Cavalier Daily

This week in-brief

CD News Staff

Upperclassmen will no longer receive priority for housing, HRL says

In a departure from prior precedent, Housing and Residence Life stated it would no longer offer priority to upperclassmen, according to an email sent to current on-Grounds residents March 24. Some upperclass students have expressed anxiety about the potential of finding alternative and affordable housing options for their third and fourth years.

Under the new policy change, effective for the 2026-2027 application process, rising second-year students will be given first priority within the on-Grounds housing application cycle. This eliminates the “same area” portion of the housing application process — a policy which enabled rising third- and fourth-year students to remain in their on-Grounds housing area for the subsequent year. The policy previously meant that returning residents received first choice for their on-Grounds housing.

In a statement to The Cavalier Daily, University Spokesperson Bethanie Glover said changes to this policy reflect one of the key initiatives of the University’s 2030 strategic plan — to house all first- and second-year students on Grounds by 2030. The University has already taken steps to accomplish this goal by opening the Gaston and Ramazani houses in the Fall 2024 semester and plans to open additional housing at the Emmet-Ivy Corridor in the Fall 2027 semester.

Although minimal detail about the policy change has been released, according to Glover, HRL will publish details about the 2026-2027 housing application process on its website early in the Fall 2025 semester.

Students participate in the season of Lent on Grounds

Many Christian students at the University are preparing to conclude the season of Lent after observing the 40-day period in a number of different ways. Students in Lent have been engaging by sacrificing daily temptations and refraining from eating meat on Fridays, as well as through additive means such as participating in charitable ministries or spending additional reflective time in prayer.

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A preview of the week of Passover on Grounds

With Passover starting Saturday, the Brody Jewish Center — the Hillel chapter at the University serving over 1,000 Jewish students — and Chabad House, a more traditional Jewish center on Grounds, will host a number of events providing opportunities for Jewish students and community members to observe the holiday while away from home. These events also aim to accommodate the dietary restrictions observed during this time.

Passover, the most celebrated Jewish holiday worldwide, commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. It will begin Saturday evening and be observed for eight days. The holiday centers around ritual Seder — a traditional feast held at the beginning of Passover — meals featuring symbolic foods, prayers and the retelling of the Exodus story.

To commence the holiday, both the BJC and Chabad begin with two evenings of Seder meals. Annie Weinberg, executive director at the BJC and Class of 2019 alumna, elaborated on the symbolism of each component in the Seder plate, which include a shank bone representing the Passover sacrifice, an egg symbolizing spring and the cycle of life and salt water representing the tears of those in slavery in Egypt.

Other events include a Shabbat dinner hosted by the BJC April 18, as well as a weekend meal pickup option — which adheres to dietary restrictions — offered to students for the second weekend of Passover. More information about event schedules can be found at the websites of the Brody Jewish Center and Chabad of Charlottesville.

Lent, which began March 5, is a Christian season of repentance, anticipation, mourning and almsgiving that precedes the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ which happens Easter Sunday. The period ends April 17 at sundown this year, a day known as Holy Thursday, and is celebrated by members of the Christian faith across many denominations. Between Good Friday, April 18 this year, and Easter Sunday, April 20, participating followers have traditionally sacrificed their time and attention to wait in penitence for the joyful resurrection.

Across the University, student groups have been hosting programming to help students participate in the season. One such organization is Catholic Hoos, a student-run organization that serves as a community for Catholic students at the University and works in conjunction with St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish, located on Alderman Road.

In addition to weekly bible study groups, charitable ministries and Catholic Mass services, Catholic Hoos hosts a variety of events to celebrate the season of Lent, mainly geared at dietary traditions.

It hosts the free and meatless “Soup Supper” and “Stations of the Cross” in the church each Friday during Lent. According to Dalton Haydel, president of Catholic Hoos and second-year College student, these events serve as avenues for penance and acknowledgement of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

Faculty and students share opinions on the use of generative AI

Students’ role in the policy-making conversation around generative AI remains unclear

Lucia Gambacini | Staff Writer

Generative artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot, has become widely used in classes as a learning tool and homework assistant. Although the University provides guidance on the use of generative AI, there is no universal policy which addresses the extent to which it may be used in classrooms. As a result, faculty have been granted a fair amount of freedom to choose how generative AI may be used in their classes, but some students say they have been largely left out of the discussion.

Since the University conducted a task force report on generative AI in teaching and learning in the Spring 2023 semester, the University Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost has provided faculty and students with recommendations on how generative AI may be used in and outside of the classroom. The website advises professors and students on the risks of generative AI, including privacy concerns, and notes that professors may not use generative AI to grade assignments, or use a generative AI checker on assignments, due to their inaccuracy.

Despite this, the website repeatedly states that professors may be able to choose how and when generative AI is used in their classes, and offers several recommendations on how to do so, such as informing students about how to use generative AI as a study tool which can explain confusing topics.

Ryan Nelson, the Murray Family Eminent Professor of Commerce Director, said that there are many instances in which generative AI is not useful for developing critical thinking skills, and many cases where students can use it as a tool.

“There are a number of faculty that will just not allow the usage of generative AI in almost any shape or form, because they really want to develop critical thinking in their students,” Nelson said. “And then the other end of the continuum is our faculty that wants to make sure that students are well prepared to enter the workforce using artificial intelligence as effectively as possible.”

Assistant Professor of Commerce Reza Mousavi noted the inevitability of generative AI use in the workforce is a common reason as to why professors, especially at the McIntire School of Commerce, are promoting the use of generative AI as a tool for research, planning or editing for assignments.

“When [students] join the workforce, in many, many cases, [employees] are allowed to use

ChatGPT … and most of the companies right now have their own AI tools,” Mousavi said. “So because of that, they should be able to use and leverage these tools to enhance their performance, save time, and be more efficient. But don’t take shortcuts.”

The distinction between generative AI as a learning tool and generative AI as a shortcut varies from one professor to another, but many shared thoughts about how it can be used in ways that support learning without undermining critical thinking. Spyridon Simotas, assistant professor at the college, allows and encourages the use of generative AI in his language learning classes as a means to enable a better understanding of French, without relying on direct translation.

“The difference between AI and other technologies in the past like Google Translate is that you can ask questions,” Simotas said. “With AI you can tell it to work with you at your level. And this is what I find fascinating, because you can stay in the language and create conditions as a learner to keep you in the language without having to default into translation.”

Simotas and other professors have created their own policies following recommendations from the University’s task force, which engaged with around 300 faculty across six town halls in gathering information for its report and gathered survey responses from 504 students and 181 faculty. Although professors have a large amount of control over their generative AI policies, some students continue to feel that they do not have the opportunity to share input on these policies.

Second-year College student Ella Duus is currently researching student self-governance of generative AI at the University, through a literature review on the history of student participation in self-governance, as well as student governance surrounding data and information technology. She noted the lack of student input on the topic of AI policies in classrooms.

“There has not been formal student input, especially not at the same level that was offered to faculty,” Duus said. “And although faculty have a very important voice to offer because … they’re the ones teaching, students are the ones learning. I think it would make sense for the University to invest some time and effort in collecting formalized student feedback on this and then moving in the direction, if feasible, that students want.”

Although professors have a

amount of

Some students have concerns surrounding the future of generative AI and education. First-year Engineering student Sara Mansfield noted that she believes generative AI should not be used in place of human thinking. However, she disagrees that students necessarily need to have more input on generative AI policy.

“I know that student self-governance is a huge thing [at the University], so student input would definitely be helpful,” Mansfield said. “But at the end of the day, I think the professor knows best what the professor is teaching in the class and how much AI can either help or hinder learning that material.”

Assistant Professor of Commerce Kiera Allison, in an effort to include students in the policy-making process, explained that in her class this semester, she chose to have students vote on which generative AI policy they prefer. She explained the purpose behind her policy is because she believes policies work better with social consensus behind them and wants students to form an opinion on generative AI policies in her class.

Ultimately, her students chose a policy which allows them to use AI to generate or revise up to 20 percent of their work, without having to report that they had used it.

“If students have had to articulate among themselves why this policy works for them and why they think this should be the code … then they’ve had to persuade themselves already that this is the

their generative AI policies, some students continue to feel that they do not have the

policy they want to adopt,” Allison said. “Whatever policy I impose doesn’t just affect that student, it affects the other students around them.”

Not every professor, however, views generative AI as a positive development for learning — although despite this, they still find ways to educate students on how to use the application responsibly.

John Owen, Taylor Professor of Politics at the College, asks students to compare their own written work to that of generative AI.

Following an in-class essay written by students, Owen asks them to put the same prompt into any generative AI platform and discuss where the generated essay falls short in comparison to their own writing. Besides this, he generally does not authorize the use of generative AI on assignments.

“In absolute terms I regard it as a negative development,” Owen said. “... I believe that early assembling of work is essential to the writing task and also to thinking, including thinking on one’s feet when in an oral discussion. So from a teaching standpoint, I think we would be better off without AI.”

Mousavi also emphasized how important it is for the student to still be doing the thinking behind their assignments.

“If you just use it to take shortcuts, it is going to kill critical thinking,” Mousavi said. “So it’s a double-edged sword. It’s a tool. If you use it properly, it is going to definitely help you. If you use it improperly, it is going to hurt you.”

Professors also discussed how noticeable the use of generative AI on assignments has become. They noted the new standard of perfection on assignments, and the abundance of perfect scores that, before the widespread use of generative AI, were few and far between. Allison explained the higher level of writing perfection that she has come across on assignments. She said that this has made her focus less on writing quality and more on other parts of assignments.

“There’s a level of cosmetic perfection that more students have access to,” Allison said. “Honestly, my response to that is [that] I’m less interested in perfect writing. I want something that looks like a human worked through it, right? So I’m looking for a kind of unique cognitive imprint.”

Simotas also noticed a shift in assignment grades as generative AI became popularized. He explained that the general standard of assignment submissions has increased since generative AI has become accessible. He highlighted that with the rise of generative AI use, improved grades do not always indicate that students are learning material more thoroughly.

“I don’t think that a perfect score necessarily meant better learning,” Simotas said.

CALEB REGAN THE CAVALIER DAILY

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opportunity to share input on these policies.

Who is Ken Cuccinelli, the Board of Visitors appointee?

A contributor to Project 2025 and former Virginia attorney general, Cuccinelli will be the newest member of the Board of Visitors

Vyshnavi

Tatta | Staff Writer

After firing Bert Ellis from the Board of Visitors, Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointed Class of 1991 alumnus Ken Cuccinelli to fill the vacancy. The former Virginia attorney general and former senior official in the first Trump administration will soon be one of 17 members who oversees the University’s finances, personnel and strategic direction. And while Ellis was removed for recent controversies, Cuccinelli is not without his own polarizing stances.

Cuccinelli’s political career includes serving in the Virginia State Senate for the 37th District from 2002 to 2010. Later, he served as Virginia’s 46th attorney general from 2010 to 2014 under Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, where he challenged the Affordable Care Act and opposed climate change regulations. During this tenure, he investigated a University climate scientist to determine whether he had defrauded taxpayers in his research.

While attorney general, Cuccinelli took action in opposition to LGBTQ+ rights. In 2010, he advised Virginia’s public colleges and universities to remove protections for sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression from their nondiscrimination policies, unless the General Assembly were to pass a law enforcing those protections.

Additionally, he defended Virginia’s anti-sodomy law, which criminalized homosexual acts, by petitioning courts to uphold it even after it was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. As a state senator, Cuccinelli described homosexual acts as “against nature” and “harmful to society,” and has consistently opposed same-sex marriage, expressing concerns about its implications for societal norms.

In 2013, Cuccinelli ran for governor, but lost to Democrat Terry McAuliffe. His next major role in politics was during the first Trump administration, when he was involved in the original COVID-19 task force and also served as the acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security during the Jan. 6, Capitol insurrection in 2021. DHS, responsible for mitigating homeland threats, played a key role in the aftermath of Jan. 6.

During the years between Trump’s terms, Cuccinelli contributed to Project 2025, a conservative policy roadmap coordinated by the Heritage Foundation to restructure the federal government under a Republican presidency.

Cuccinelli authored the DHS chapter of the Project 2025 agenda, advocating for a return to law and order, tighter border enforcement and significant restructuring of im-

migration services. He also wrote that there should be stronger executive control over federal agencies and supported the rollback of diversity and inclusion initiatives in government institutions.

In the plan, Cuccinelli laid out recommendations to dismantle and restructure DHS, calling DHS an inefficient agency and saying that its components would function better if divided. His proposal recommends consolidating all immigration and border enforcement agencies into a single, standalone entity while reallocating remaining DHS offices to other federal departments. Cuccinelli also said the Transportation Security Administration should be privatized — an idea currently under consideration by congressional Republicans.

More specifically on immigration, he recommended permanently removing some restrictions on Title 42-style powers — a public health measure under the Public Health Service Act of 1944 that allowed U.S. border officials to quickly expel migrants at the U.S. southern border, regardless of their asylum claims — to expedite migrant removals even outside of public health emergencies. Cuccinelli’s plan also calls for eliminating “sensitive zones” — areas such as churches and schools where ICE is currently restricted.

With Cuccinelli’s career in politics, some students say Board members should not be outwardly political. Second-year College student Jack Wallace said that appointing someone politically involved to the Board sets a bad precedent, as it could limit students’ exposure to diverse perspectives and hinder their learning.

“I think it sets a bad precedent to have someone who is so politically involved be a member of the Board of Visitors,” Wallace said. “The University is a place where people can learn and be engaging with diverse perspectives, and if we have someone who is fully committed to only one perspective … I think it limits the learning that students can do.”

While other Board members are also politically-aligned, including contributing large sums to GOP political campaigns, Wallace expressed concern that Cuccinelli’s stance on immigration might not align with the Board’s stated purpose.

“Ken Cuccinelli’s political stance I don’t believe aligns with the stated purpose of the Board of Visitors, which is to welcome students from all walks of life,” Wallace said.

But fourth-year College student Stephen Wiecek says that people are inherently political, and a history of partisan affiliation does not bother

him when it comes to Cuccinelli’s Board appointment.

“I don’t think inherently, because people are political actors and … because they have a political past that this should disqualify them from being on the Board of Visitors,” Wiecek said.

And though Wallace believes Cuccinelli’s political affiliation is an issue, he said that having a Board appointee who attended the University is important because Cuccinelli could be better positioned to understand student self-governance. Wallace is part of this self-governance system, serving as a representative for the College of Arts and Sciences on the Honor Committee. The University recently reaffirmed its commitment to the student self-governance system after one of the reports on the Nov. 13, 2022 shooting was critical toward student disciplinary bodies at the University.

Cuccenilli’s appointment was announced in a brief, non-specific statement that revealed Ellis was removed for violating the Commonwealth’s Code of Conduct. Prior to his removal, Ellis made sternly-worded comments about diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the University, which he had voted to eliminate in compliance with the Trump administration.

Ellis’ removal is the first instance in recorded history of a Virginia governor dismissing a University Board member before the end of their term, as his term was not set to expire until June 2026.

The Cavalier Daily reached out to the Jefferson Council — a conservative publication which Ellis was formerly president of — for comment on Cuccinelli’s appointment but had not received a response at the time of publication.

In a joint public statement with Cuccinelli released March 26, Youngkin said that Cuccinelli will make a great addition to the Board.

“Ken’s legal and policy expertise will be incredibly valuable to ensure swift action with the ongoing changes and challenges in higher education,” Youngkin said. “I have full confidence he will help ensure Mr. Jefferson’s University remains a place of opportunity, merit and academic freedom.”

In the same statement, Cuccinelli also articulated his goals as a future Board member.

“It is an honor to return to public service in the Commonwealth of Virginia as a member of the U.Va. Board of Visitors,” Cuccinelli said. “As an alumnus who loves this University deeply, I’m committed to aggressively advancing plans to restore a culture of merit and end all

forms of discrimination.”

Cuccinelli added that he looks forward to reducing spending by the University administration to ensure affordability and to defend free speech.

Both Wallace and Wiecek, on the other hand, would like to see the new appointee prioritize interaction with students and make efforts to understand the different perspectives they may have.

“I think when Board members engage with students, it’s a great thing,” Wallace said. “I’d love to see Mr. Cuccinelli engage with students, go out to lunch with them and understand the full picture of student life at the University — even more than he does already as an alumnus.”

Wiecek said that he hopes Cuccinelli will work to encourage diverse viewpoints within the student body and work for the betterment of the University.

“I think what Cuccinelli could do to improve student life would be to help improve viewpoint diversity, to be respectful and lend an ear to the student body,” Wiecek said. “But also to take actions that he believes to be in the common interest of the University and the Commonwealth.”

As for how to best serve students, Wiecek agreed with Wallace that Board members could be more present in the community, interacting with students to gauge their opinions.

Cuccinelli is able to begin his

term immediately without confirmation because it is an interim appointment. He will later need to be confirmed by the Senate for a full term, and the Senate will be under Democratic control until at least 2028. By the end of Youngkin’s term, all 17 Board members will have been appointed by him.

Wallace looks forward to the gubernatorial election later this year, which could bring political change to the Board should Democrat Abigail Spanberger win, as she could begin to appoint her own members as Youngkin’s appointees reach the end of their terms.

“I [don’t] believe that his appointment will be impactful” Wallace said. “U.Va. is more than its Board, and I think the students and the faculty are what people think of when they think of U.Va.”

And despite disagreeing on politics, Wallace said that even with Cuccinelli’s appointment, the Board should continue to serve students, regardless of politics.

“I believe the Board of Visitors members are just that — they’re visitors,” Wallace said. “We don’t have a board of trustees at U.Va., we have a Board of Visitors, and it’s important to remember that these people are here to help us in our mission of learning and growing as a research institution, not here to espouse their own political views.”

COURTESY GAGE SKIDMORE VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Cuccinelli served as Virginia’s 46th attorney general from 2010 to 2014 under Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, where he challenged the Affordable Care Act and opposed climate change regulations.

University Guide Service continues under CIO status

Leadership plans to focus on the historical side of their role at the University as a CIO and may apply for NGO status

Nina Broderick | Staff Writer

Student Council approved the University Guide Service as a Contracted Independent Organization March 25 following its termination as a Special Status Organization in February. Under CIO status, Guide Service leadership hopes to focus on the historical side of the organization and is considering applying to become a non-governmental organization.

As an SSO, the Guide Service formerly acted on behalf of the University and therefore was required to keep a close working relationship with a University advisor. In contrast, CIOs are student clubs which provide educational or social membership opportunities but are not considered official representatives of the University.

Before their termination in March, the Guide Service gave admissions and historical tours on behalf of the University to prospective students, families and visitors. After being suspended last fall due to administrative concerns over quality and consistency of tours, the Guide Service worked alongside the University admissions office to formulate a training plan with the goal of reestablishing University-sanctioned admissions tours. The University officially chose to terminate its relationship with the Guide Service as an SSO in February.

Nina Accousti, Guide Service cochair and third-year Architecture student, expressed excitement for this new chapter of the Guide Service because of the flexibility they gain from the change.

“[CIO status] gives us a great opportunity to expand Guides,” Accousti said. “We’re able to think about research projects, collaborations with other organizations, creating specialty tours, really cool opportunities that come with independence that we’re just exploring now.”

CIOs are not required to have faculty advisors, unlike SSOs, and do not have any affiliation to the University and its departments. However, CIO status gives organizations access to different benefits, such as the ability to reserve onGrounds spaces, participate in Activities Fairs and apply for student activities funding, for which SSOs are ineligible.

Yukta Ramanan, Guide Service member and third-year College student, similarly expressed enthusiasm for the redirection and path ahead for the Guide Service.

“I’m excited. I feel like there’s a new direction,” Ramanan said. “And as unfortunate as [losing SSO status] was, I feel excited about how we can make the most of this opportunity.”

Under CIO status, Accousti said she would like the Guide Service to focus more on the historical role of their organization. She hopes that the Guide Service can become a historical resource for students as well as other CIOs on Grounds.

“With our new independence … we can focus on really exploring and especially digging into the history side of our organization,” Accousti said. “Under SSO status, we have delegated functions. That’s a contract that you sign with your advisors, so you have to hit those points. So now we just have more control over what the focus of our organization is.”

Prior to becoming a CIO, the Guide Service announced their break from the University to give independently-run historical tours. The Guide Service began holding these tours Jan. 24, which they said have had better-than-anticipated turnout. The co-chairs did not share specific turnout statistics for these tours.

Along with these independently-run historical tours, Rose Haron, Guide Service co-chair and second-year College student, expressed interest in archiving the history of the Guide Service itself, as well as other CIOs’ histories. Haron did not share specifics of how the Guide Service would conduct this process of archiving.

While Haron recognizes their main purpose is still to give tours and educate people about history, she said she looks forward to the opportunity to assist CIOs with archiving or conducting specialty historical tours.

According to Haron, these specialty tours would dive deeper into more specific topics or the history of certain groups at the University. Accousti gave the example of potentially conducting tours about AsianAmerican history on Grounds.

After being approved as a CIO, Ramanan noted the overall positive shift in attitude among the organization, including an increase in participation in facilitating tours.

“I think morale was really low [last semester] because we didn’t know if we would ever be giving tours [again],” Ramanan said. “By becoming a CIO, we get some of that autonomy back. I’m already noticing a lot more engagement from within the Guide Service.”

Ramanan also said she is now more motivated herself to participate in the organization and give tours knowing that she has more individual freedom as a guide.

As the Guide Service prepares to conduct its functions under CIO status, the co-chairs also spoke about

a need for outside funding sources. As an SSO, the Guide Service was funded by the Vice President of Student Affairs Office as part of their SSO agreement, according to Haron. Now as a CIO, the future of their funding is less clear. She did not share how much funding the Guide Service received as an SSO.

According to a statement from University spokesperson Bethanie Glover, CIOs may request SAF funding which is appropriated by Student Council. Student Council allocates close to $1 million of SAF funding annually. Accousti and Haron said that they will apply for funding as a CIO but have also begun to develop external funding plans to help support the organization heading into the next semester. According to the co-chairs, funding is used for training materials and events, although they did not share how much funding they hope to secure.

Specifically, the co-chairs noted alumni outreach, donations and public history grants as potential funding sources. Haron did not express concern with funding uncertainties hindering the ability of the Guide Service to carry out its duties.

“At the end of the day, we’re giving volunteer tours,” Haron said. “Funding is helpful and essential, but we can also give tours without the amount of funding that we’re used to.”

One concern Ramanan expressed with converting from an SSO to a CIO is the loss of legitimacy — particularly in terms of purposefulness — and therefore loss of participation in the organization. However, she did say she has faith in the plans of the new co-chairs to ensure continued participation in and support of the Guide Service.

“The further we detach ourselves from SSO status, I’m just worried that we’re not going to have people that want to join the organization, or we won’t have as many tourists,” Ramanan said. “But at the end of the day, I think the chairs have a really robust plan for advertising and giving more tours and increasing collaborations with other organizations, so hopefully that shouldn’t be a problem.”

In part to combat concerns around delegitimization that may result from losing SSO status, the Guide Service is considering applying to become a non-governmental organization. Non-governmental organizations are non-profit individuals, groups or organizations that operate separately from the government and have their own humanitarian or development goals.

According to Haron, as an NGO, the Guide Service would maintain their CIO status. She said that becoming an NGO will not only help the Guide Service financially but will also strengthen their reputation.

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“There are certain tax breaks that you qualify for as a nonprofit. You look more appealing to donors, there’s certain grants that you can qualify for as a nonprofit,” Haron said. “[It would] really just strengthen our image as a public history entity, and give that legitimacy to the work that we are doing, which is service work.”

Similarly, Ramanan noted the importance of strengthening their organization’s public image to attract more donors.

“Mainly, it would get us access to more funding if we were an NGO. And I think that’s the purpose,” Ramanan said. “And it also legitimizes us a little bit more … it makes us look a little bit more purposeful … I feel like it clarifies our mission a little bit more.”

During their time as co-chairs, Accousti and Haron plan to focus on strengthening the Guide Service as a CIO. Accousti noted that there is no animosity between the Guide Service and the University and that they are not ruling out the possibility of collaboration in the future.

“We’re going to leave that door [of working with the University] open. I think Rose and I are going to focus on creatively building up our independent organization for our time,” Accousti said.

LIFE

How Cville Tulips cultivates community for refugee women

The organization provides education, empowerment and support for refugee women in Charlottesville

Grace Roddy | Staff Writer

Clapping to the rhythm of traditional Afghan music, women in vibrant dresses dance in a circle as children run around interacting with volunteers, playing games and making arts and crafts.

To mark the end of Ramadan, Cville Tulips traded its typical educational programming for something more celebratory — an Eid gathering full of dancing, joy and community. The joyful scene captured the organization’s true mission of creating a space where local refugee women and their children feel seen, supported and empowered.

Founded in 2022, the studentand faculty-run organization partners with Madison House and the International Rescue Committee to support newly arrived women and families in Charlottesville — predominantly from Afghanistan and Syria — and equip them with the proper education and support resources that allow them to thrive.

Every Sunday, students and community members volunteer with Cville Tulips at the Peabody School in Mill Creek, offering five different levels of English classes, culturally-sensitive health education and community-building activities for refugee women.

Second-year Engineering student Zahra Arshadi, who serves on the executive team as a multimedia director, said that the idea for Cville Tulips emerged when co-founder Bonnie Gordon and Marjan Omranian, co-director and Class of 2024 alumna, met Afghan families on a bus and began speaking with them about their struggles adjusting to life in the U.S.

“They feel isolated because when immigrant families come to the United States … all of [these] resettlement agencies [really] focus on the men in the family, [getting] them to work, and the kids getting admitted to school,” Arshadi said. “But there’s a gap where the woman gets left out and there isn’t anything for them.”

Born and raised in Kabul, Arshadi moved to the U.S. herself in 2021, just months before the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan. She said her journey to the U.S. was fueled by a deep desire for education. Now at the University, Arshadi channels her experience into helping other Afghan women navigate the difficult transition she remembers too well.

Arshadi said that the literacy sessions are quite empowering, especially as it gives participating mothers a moment to prioritize themselves in the midst of caring for their families.

“It gives the woman a space to not worry about their kids, not be a mother for just a little bit and focus on themselves,” Arshadi said.

Like Arshadi, second-year Arts and Sciences student Sophia Qamari is also Afghan. As an English Language Assistant, she helps lead Cville Tulips’s English curriculum and social programming. Each week, Qamari works with volunteers to teach English classes focused on practical conversation and vocabulary.

Qamari said it is rewarding to watch them slowly become more confident in their English abilities.

“Seeing it click, and seeing them open their eyes — that, you know, ‘I can do this. I haven’t been to school in so long, and I’m coming to [a] country where I don’t know anything,’ — [it is] never going to get old,” Qamari said.

Arshadi shared that many of the women that are enrolled in the Cville Tulips classes have not been in a classroom environment since the 6th grade, so this education is exceptionally empowering.

“They can’t read or write in Farsi, so [English] is the first language they learn to speak, write and read, which is such a big deal,” Arshadi said. “We have a lot of students, and it’s just really meaningful work.”

While the classes help refugee women connect with one another and find passion in learning, the classes also end up giving volunteers a similar sense of belonging, according to Qamari.

“When I came [to U.Va.], I was struggling to find a community, because there’s really not that many Afghans that are U.Va. students,” Qamari said. “There’s a very small population of us, so finding that sense of community, I really found it in these women.”

Despite the ways in which Cville Tulips fosters joy and connection, Arshadi said that refugee families still face vast resettlement challenges, especially in that women are often left out of formal support systems.

“We can’t do everything, and hearing their struggles with a lot of different things, it always

makes me question how we serve immigrant families, especially immigrant women,” Arshadi said. Nonetheless, Cville Tulips has created a space where these women can focus on themselves and find a sense of home while navigating a difficult transition. For Qamari, the most rewarding part

of this work is seeing how small gestures — like helping a woman write a grocery list in English or celebrating Afghan culture through dance and crafts — can spark confidence, forge bonds and kindle profound joy.

“I know that I’ll never know what they’ve been through, but

[with the] empathy that I have for them, I’ll always want to help them in any way that I can,” Qamari said. “I think [that] is probably the most rewarding thing.”

COURTESY ZAHRA ARSHADI

Founded in 2022, the student- and faculty-run organization partners with Madison House and the International Rescue Committee to support newly arrived women and families in Charlottesville — predominantly from Afghanistan and Syria — and equip them with the proper education and support resources that allow them to thrive.

From cramming for tests until dawn to waking up for early morning workouts, more than 60 percent of American college students experience poor sleep. In the wake of academic, extracurricular and social demands, getting the recommended 7-9 hours of slumber is essential — but it is often the first part of a healthy routine that students cast aside.

This is no different at the University. Despite the fact that sleep is a key component of good mental and physical health, many students across schools at the University feel they cannot prioritize sleep above their to-do list. These students say that sacrificing sleep has become an unavoidable part of their life at the University, and although they have found ways to adapt, they express concern that a sleepless study body is being normalized.

According to graduate College student Andi Wood, the culture of sleep deprivation at the University stems from the pressure of prestigious academics. She said that each professor expects a high level of performance, seemingly dismissing that most students take five or more similarly time-consuming courses.

The University that never sleeps

How students shape their sleep habits around a never-ending slew of work

Mai Hukuoka | Senior Associate

“In undergrad, especially from the top, they expect you to get your work done and don’t care how much sleep you’re getting,” Wood said. This trickles down to the students, Wood said, who struggle to meet those expectations and shape their sleep habits accordingly. As a result, she said, sleep deprivation becomes a normal part of student life.

“At the bottom, it’s kind of like the no sleep Olympics,” Wood said. “There is a big culture [of] not sleeping, and that’s the norm. That definitely should not be the case.”

Second-year Architecture student Hailey Hicks said she finds herself falling victim to the culture of sleep deprivation. In the School of Architecture, she and her peers frequently complete extensive, hands-on projects for their classes, and to perfect their models, it is not uncommon for them to work from sunset to sunrise.

“I normally go to bed around 1 or 2 [a.m.],” Hicks said. “And then on weeks where we do have a project deadline, I [go] to bed anywhere between 3 to 4 [a.m.] most nights. Two nights ago, I went to bed at 6 a.m., which is pretty common.”

Second-year College student Jessica Yi said that she understands the importance of sleep to her well-being. Yet, no matter how much she wants to get these solid hours, she finds that they just do not fit into her schedule. As a biology student taking courses in organic chemistry and genetics, she constantly finds herself studying for exams late into the night at the library.

“I’ve been thinking, ‘Sleeping late is so bad for my body,’ and my mom always tells me it messes up your hormones … but I can’t get myself to sleep early, I just can’t,” Yi said.

Hicks agreed with Yi, saying her work often takes priority over sleep.

“[Sleep] is definitely a secondary thing,” Hicks said. “The word ‘schedule’ is arbitrary to me — it’s more so [that] everything’s out the window. I get as much sleep as I can, but work comes first at times.”

Academic demands are not the only thing that keeps students from getting to bed. Beyond maintaining a high GPA, University students feel pressure to build glowing resumes and lead a well-rounded lifestyle. Students, on top of their rigorous coursework, bounce between club meetings, on-

Grounds jobs and volunteer shifts. Second-year Commerce student Odessa Zhang says that the expectation to be active in clubs and hold leadership positions shaves away at her sleep. She said that these commitments often have her saying no to social invitations, too, as she needs to opt for rest over a night out.

“A lot of my extracurriculars tend to meet later at night. Same with group projects,” Zhang said. “In addition to that, when I have things in the morning [like] my morning internship, I have to wake up early for calls, which can make me lose sleep.”

Students admit that procrastination — whether it be in the form of watching Netflix or going to a house party — may occasionally contribute to sleep deprivation. But according to Hicks, while procrastination seems to be a common explanation for students’ lack of sleep, it is not always a significant factor.

“Genuinely, I feel like a lot of people think that it’s just [that] we procrastinate, [but we’re] actually not,” Hicks said. “It’s just we have so much work and it all piles up at one point in time … and have other things going

on, like all the students at U.Va. … and that’s why we work into the night.”

To cope with poor sleep, many students employ timeless strategies of downing caffeine and returning home for a siesta. Third-year Engineering student Zack Sikkink does just this, compensating for missed sleep with coffee and midday naps. With the difficulty of upper-level engineering courses, he said that caffeine is especially necessary to focus and work productively in a sleepy haze.

“I drink at least one cup of coffee per day, sometimes up to three,” Sikkink said. “If I’m sleepy during the day, I’ll take a nap.”

Although students find ways to adapt to the stress of little sleep, the normalization of sleep deprivation at the University has stirred concern among students across major programs and schools. According to Wood, the sheer number of things to do and places to be becomes borderline unhealthy for students, and things need to change.

“At a big academic school like U.Va., there is so much to be done, and that does hurt students,” Wood said.

Top 10 criteria for an ideal outdoor study space

As we enter further into springtime, the hunt for a good outdoor study spot has begun in full force

Emily Barrie | Staff Writer

I’ve never appreciated the life that warm weather breathes back into the University more than recently, when I’ve finally been able to re-enter shorts into my weekly outfit rotation. Much like the crowds of people laying out near the Rotunda, these warm temperatures have also inspired me to study outside. With any luck, abiding by the criteria listed below will help you find the perfect study spot, just in time for your finals cram-session.

1. A goldilocks amount of lighting

While the ideal study space should have direct access to sunlight, it should also maintain an ample amount of shade — no one wants to squint to see what’s on their computer screen. For this reason, I despise the tables outside Clem because without any surrounding buildings to provide accessible shade, the sun is suffocating. Instead, I prefer a table with some sort of awning that effectively filters out some of the bright light that comes with being outdoors.

2. Not too busy

3. No outdoor mess

A downside to an outdoor study space is that it will inevitably be less clean than the freshly wiped-down tables inside. During springtime in particular, there are often natural remnants — pollen, leaves and suspicious bugs. Especially because I am allergic to pollen, the last thing I need is to leave my study session with uncontrollable sneezes and red, watery eyes. For this reason, I enjoy studying on the terrace or another similar setting that features fewer trees to create a mess.

4. Comfy chairs

Since outdoor seating must accommodate all types of weather, the chairs often sacrifice comfort for dura-

If you’re anything like me, you love studying with your friends, but it can be next to impossible to find a table that will fit everyone. Recently, my go-to, gate-kept spot has been the courtyard of the McIntire School of Commerce. I can always find a place to sit, whether that be on the couches or elevated tables, and so far, it has not gotten overcrowded. Though I guess I just spilled the beans about it.

bility. In fact, many of the chairs leave my butt and back in desperate need of the chiropractor. There is some hope, though — some outdoor study spots have finally managed to satisfy the need for a decent chair, like the courtyard at the Commerce school.

5. A sturdy table

Whether it be due to the weather wearing away at the material or the lack of upkeep on outdoor furniture, I have had one too many tables be wobbly or have cracks throughout it. There’s nothing worse than putting your stuff down at a table only for it to abruptly lurch in the other direction. Be sure to avoid teetering tables when planning out the perfect place to lock in.

6. Proximity to food

Hunger and studying go hand-inhand for me — I must always have a snack in hand in order to be productive during my cram session. For this reason, I love the picnic tables located outside of Nau Hall. Just steps from The Den and Grit Coffee — both onGrounds meal options — these places

have admittedly claimed too many of my Flex Dollars.

7. Noise level

We all know the rules — if you are in the mood to chat with your friends, go to Clem 2. If you need complete, depressing silence, Clem 1 is the place. These “policies” apply to outdoor study spaces as well. If you want a space to lock in that is not overly trafficked, seek out an area that is not a common footpath for students. Often, in places like these, the only noise that can be heard is the blowing of the wind or a bird chirping.

8. Access to outlets

Having fully charged devices is a rare occurrence for me, which means that an outlet close by is a non-negotiable for wherever I choose to study. Unfortunately, most outdoor spaces do not have any power outlets adequately near. I feel that it should become more of a priority for the University to provide accessible outlets around outdoor spaces to encourage more students to study in the fresh air, which is why I felt like I struck

gold when I found a few outlets in the courtyard of the Commerce school.

9. Protection from rain

If there is a huge storm coming, retreating inside or bringing a rain jacket is probably your best bet to keep yourself dry. There are also some areas located under the overhang of a roof that offer some dry refuge. Personally, I will still utilize one of these types of hybrid spaces as I find the sound of rain to be calming, so don’t be too surprised if you catch me sitting outside when the rain starts coming down.

10. A scenic view

Studying in scenic locations is a must, especially when the University pours so much effort into maintaining the aesthetics of Grounds. Interestingly, I find that with a scenic view, I am more motivated to get my work done. If you want a spot with a perfect view of this gem, the picnic tables in the grassy area between the Corner and the Rotunda are the way to go.

PHOTO GALLERY

Eliza Connolly, Mac Doucette, Benvin Lozada, Caleb Regan and Cat White

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Mary Hall’s thesis play caps her college experience

The fourth-year student writer-director explores generational trauma, grief and healing in “I Am My Mother’s Daughter” opening April 18 at Helms Theatre

Sophie Hay | Staff Writer

On a cool Wednesday night in early April, a group of University students gathered in the Helms Theatre for a rehearsal of “I Am My Mother’s Daughter,” written and directed by fourth-year College student Mary Hall. Thrifted costume options spilled out of a series of reusable bags. Onstage, a door, a bench and a few black stage cubes stood in for the inside of a home.

Standing in the middle of this set, Hall facilitated a series of energetic warmups with her four cast members. As they prepared to enact a scene, she retreated to the house to sit next to her assistant director, who was flipping through a binder. The student writer-director then opened her laptop and settled in to observe as her thesis play came to life in front of her.

“I Am My Mother’s Daughter” represents the culmination of everything Hall has learned throughout her college experience. It is also the first theatrical work to be created as a thesis for the Distinguished Majors Program within the African American Studies department.

Hall is double majoring in drama and African American and African Studies and is intensely involved in theatre outside of the classroom — she has written short plays for Virginia Players Lab Series and the New Works Festival, directed for the New Works Festival and acted in University, student and professional productions.

Last year, Hall decided to apply for the Distinguished Majors Program in the African American and African Studies department upon learning she could complete a creative thesis — not a 40-page paper — as long as her project involved research. Combining her academic and extracurricular passions, Hall decided to write a play exploring a relationship between a Black mother and daughter, pulling from both academic and artistic resources to produce a moving and ambitious piece

“I really liked the concept of exploring the relationship between the Black mother and daughter, because that’s something that not a lot of research has been put into,” Hall said. “Over the summer, I … read a lot of books, a lot of articles specifically outlining the Black mother daughter relationship and outlining Black

bodies in theatre, trying to combine all the different aspects that I learned in many of my different classes across both of my majors.”

As the summer before her fourth year came to a close, Hall started writing. She produced a first draft over the course of three months, then revised, revised, revised with the help of her thesis advisor, Assoc. Drama Prof. Theresa M. Davis.

Once she felt her play was in a good place, she submitted to Virginia Players Lab Series — a University Department of Drama and Virginia Players program which aids selected students in producing and directing their own theatrical work. “I Am My Mother’s Daughter” was accepted in December, gaining $200 in funding and access to Drama department rehearsal and performance space.

“That was the goal of writing it in the first place, and the goal of my DMP, my thesis,” Hall said. “I’ve had many opportunities to have my shorter plays produced, but being able to build a play from the ground up, write it, direct it, see the entire creative process over the span of a year was what was really important to me.”

The play centers on a young woman named Thalia who unexpectedly inherits her estranged grandmother’s rural North Carolina home following her death. She travels to North Carolina to set a plan to sell the house in motion, but soon finds herself uncovering family secrets and reexamining her relationships — especially her complex connection with her mother, Zora.

Hall received over 40 self-tape auditions, from which she selected her four cast members — second-year College student Spirit Chavis, fourth-year College student Gabriella Amina Watson, third-year Architecture student Darnell Glover and second-year College student Lillianne McMinn — who developed their performances over the course of a collaborative rehearsal process. Actors exchanged creative performance ideas with Hall and her two assistant directors, graduate Education student Matthew Tucker and second-year College student Hank Hawkins, and each member of the team played a vital role in shaping the production.

Hall’s approach to her subjects is multifaceted, reflecting dramatic, academic and person -

al perspectives refined over the course of her summer research process, which was made possible by a number of funding sources that helped support her project. She received a summer research grant from the African American and African Studies department, while a College Council scholarship and the Ingrassia Family Echols Scholars Research Fund enabled her to travel to North Carolina for the International Black Theatre Festival and to New York to experience Black theatre.

This research empowered Hall to develop her play within the context of existing Black scholarship and art. She said she hopes her play helps to counter stereotypical representations of Blackness she has observed in the media, especially representations of Black mothers.

“I’m writing from my experience and trying to dispel those stereotypes in the best ways that I possibly can, but also in a way that if you are not Black, if you’re not a person of color, you’re still able to see yourself in this relationship, or in all of these different relationships,” Hall said.

Hall’s exploration of generational trauma, grief and healing stood out to student actors

auditioning for University productions at the beginning of the spring semester, including Chavis, who plays Thalia.

“I think the thing that resonated with me the most is [the play] was very personal,” Chavis said. “Family dynamics and carrying on trauma and trying to break that cycle between mother and daughter or grandmother to mother and daughter can be seen in most lives, even if it’s not specifically that dynamic.”

Similarly, Watson, who plays Zora, said she was eager to be part of a nuanced depiction of a Black family — especially in collaboration with other Black students in an environment which reflected her cultural experiences.

“When you come to U.Va., comparing your families with other people, realizing there’s a lot of cultural differences there, … coming from a perspective of Black families, you can be taught to repress and keep things down,” Watson said. “This play shows how having conversations is actually how we improve and not repeat those cycles of trauma.”

Hawkins said being part of a new play represents a unique and exciting opportunity, and he is eager to find out how audiences will

respond to the work.

“It’s not often you get to see a new play on its first performance,” Hawkins said. “It’s very much about the raw rage and confusion that comes from moving into adulthood … I’m really excited to see how audiences resonate with it.”

As this first performance approaches, Hall reflected on her approach as writer-director of “I Am My Mother’s Daughter,” an approach informed by the support she has experienced over the course of her college experience.

“I try to take the same humanistic approach that all of my previous directors, fellow actors have bestowed upon me, so that I can make this the best play possible,” Hall said. “If we’re not all enjoying the process, if we’re not all feeling supported and well-rounded the way I’ve been supported these past few years at U.Va. … then everything I’ve done here is not a true reflection of everything that I’ve learned.”

“I Am My Mother’s Daughter” will be performed at the Helms Theatre April 18 at 8 p.m. and April 19 at 2 p.m. Tickets are free to reserve.

COURTESY MARY HALL

Hall received over 40 self-tape auditions, from which she selected her four cast members who developed their performances over the course of a collaborative rehearsal process.

The origin and translation of Elizabeth Mirabal’s “Herbarium”

A group of six University undergraduates translated the free verse poetry collection, opening a window into Cuba’s diverse plant life

Ty Lolak | Staff Writer

Publishing house Valparaíso Editions’ newest poetry publication, “Herbarium” was written by Elizabeth Mirabal, third-year Spanish Ph.D student at the University. Originally from Havana, Cuba, Mirabal wrote “Herbarium” as a 205 page collection of free verse poems about the flora of Cuba.

Two years ago, “Herbarium” was translated by a group of six undergraduate students in Professor Nieves Garcia Prados’ class, SPAN 4040, “Translation from Spanish to English” and published in November 2024.

Herbariums, a practice dating back to 15th century Italy, are collections of botanical specimens that are dried and pressed onto paper for scientific study. Mirabal’s “Herbarium” does not contain physical plants but rather poems, all of which relate to the vegetation of her home country in contexts ranging from the medicinal to the culinary to the purely aesthetic.

“My grandmother and my aunt, they used to have this garden in my house, but I have been living in the U.S. for 10 years … far away from those plants,” Mirabal said. “Because I cannot have the plants of my homeland near

me, I decided to write a book with all the memories that I have about the plants in my life.”

Mirabal describes the book as being made up of memories, both sad and humorful, characterized by plants of her youth in Cuba and vignettes from the perspective of past writers with connections to Cuba. This blend of Mirabel’s personal nostalgia for Cuba and its herbage, as well as similar reflections from writers that preceded her, allowed her to fully embrace the complex emotions that memory can elicit.

“I think the book is written around nostalgia, and nostalgia is like a bittersweet feeling,” Mirabal said. “If we think in the origin of the word, ‘nostos algia’, ‘nostos’ is’ place’, and ‘algia’ is ‘pain’, and it’s a pain for a place that you cannot be anymore.”

A normal final project in Garcia Prados’ SPAN 4040 consists of translating four or five poems or pages of a novel as part of the class’s coursework, and Garcia Prados typically selects several students to work on a special translation project. This time, Garcia Prados met with Gordon McNeer, director of Valparaíso Editions and professor at

the University of North Georgia, who agreed to publish poetry that had never been translated into English, and the two settled on “Herbarium” as the work to be translated.

“This book has some cultural references that we talk about in the translation class, how to translate very specific cultural references [of] plants, plants, trees, and she used the colloquial term of the plants,” Garcia Prados said. “So how can you translate that into English? I thought that it could be very interesting to see [what] would be the solution for that.”

Students in the class submitted their translations of the poems, and in the end, a group of six were selected off of the quality of their samples to translate “Herbarium” — Class of 2023 Alumna Leah Baetcke and fourthyear College students Bliss Bodawala, Mitchell Francis, Amelia Pearson, Ben Riley and Thomas Tayman.

Bodawala said that the process of translating poetry is complex, as poems often contain literary devices and a rhythm specific to its original language, so translators must find a delicate balance between word-for-word trans-

lation and capturing the spirit of the original text.

“One of the hardest parts is to find that fine line in between literal translation and completely figurative and poetic translation, because you don’t want to distort what the author’s original message is,” Bodawala said. “So what I would try and do is translate the feeling of it, and then again, incorporate that feeling into the English version.”

When asked about the most challenging factor in the translation process, Mirabal and Garcia Prados also pointed to the balance between literal and poetic translation. Mirabal’s description of Cuban flora often uses the colloquial terms for the plants, rather than the scientific names, and the translators worked hard to maintain the nostalgic feeling that comes with them when translating.

“We had to find botany books just to understand which plants were which so we could have an accurate translation of them,” Bodawala said. “We were also trying to avoid using the scientific names, because the scientific names kind of take certain emotions out of the feelings that are associated with such

plants, like poison ivy.”

For Mirabal, having her work translated means a continuation of the literary connection between the United States and Cuba. She cited examples from American novelist Ernest Hemingway, who spent much of the last part of his life in Havana, to José Martí, a Cuban writer and national hero who helped unite Cubans in the United States.

“It’s always a joy of inspiration and sometimes also a sort of comfort, because even when I am alone, I feel that the spirits of the writers that used to live and write and think and feel here are with me, and they are part of my tradition,” Mirabal said. “I am not alone.”

With Mirabal’s “Herbarium” and the students’ translation of it, a window into Cuba and its diverse plant life tied so deeply to Mirabel is opened for Americans to experience.

“If you are not translating, you are not showing the world of ... the authors,” Garcia Prados said. “If you are translating a work in another language, you are opening possibilities ... and you are showing the culture of the author.”

The growing zine scene of Charlottesville

With roots in activism, this multimedia art form mixes the structure of a magazine with the creativity of a collage

Isabelle Halliday | Staff Writer

From recent on-Grounds workshops to city-wide festivals, University students and community members all across Charlottesville have begun to embrace zines. The art form can be traced back to the 1920s, when they were used to spread the message of the Harlem Renaissance. Since then, artists have also used zines to speak on subjects such as rights for the disabled, the dismantling of racial discrimination and more.

Zines are small booklets that can feature anything from stories to recipes to poems — the content is completely up to the artist’s choice. Most zines are handmade and contain a small amount of pages. Once the original form is complete, this small size makes it easy to photocopy for easier and wider distribution through activist circles and community spaces.

Recently, University students have been able to attend two zine creation workshops and a showcase event organized by third-year College student Reese Robers. While the few zine workshops held at the University typically occur in the Edgar Shannon Library Scholar’s Lab, these events were the first student-run project, all held in Monroe Hill House.

Robers described how she first became involved with zines after becoming inspired to create her own collection and seek out creative spaces that had access to zines.

“I was really interested in the concept of the zine, but there just wasn’t a huge scene for it in Roanoke,” Robers said. “I didn’t really find a huge wealth of zines where I was from, so I tried to get into it as much as I could in other places.”

First-year College student Eva Geisinger created two zines in the student-run workshops, which she described as an open and collaborative space. Geisinger also spoke on how zines are both a creative outlet and a way to show art relaying voices that need to be heard.

“It can be anything that you want it to be, and it is often making a statement about what you think is right and what you think should change about the world,” Geisinger said. “It’s about really just finding your individual voice in such a refined, small, creative space.”

Outside of the University, zines are still widely used in activism today, as the work of Jess Walters — a Fusion Lab Arts Research Fellow with

the Center of Health, Humanities, and Ethics through the University of Virginia School of Medicine — has shown. Walters is a co-founder of the Charlottesville Zine Fest, which is an annual series of zine-making workshops that culminates in a festival where artists can showcase their work.

Over the course of her time as an activist, Walters has created zines to battle for legislation that will improve the lives of disabled individuals. One mini zine called “Kidney Patient’s Point of View” speaks on the importance of the Living Donor Protection Act and is available on Jess Walters’s website. Walters commented on how using zines for advocacy purposes can leave a lasting impact on viewers.

“It puts a face on the problem, and it humanizes the entire issue,” Walters said. “That’s an important part to me — looking at ‘how are we heard?’ And I think this is just one example of a way that something in a creative media might shift how somebody approaches something.”

The University itself also has a noteworthy space to learn more about zines — the Zine Bakery project within the Scholar’s Lab, on the third floor of Shannon Library. The project con-

sists of a large rack where zines are positioned to take and distribute, as well as resources for zine authors and their works.

The co-director of the Scholar’s Lab Amanda Wyatt Visconti formed the Zine Bakery project in the early summer of 2024, which began with their own collection of zines that grew over time. Visconti is proud to see that many students became interested in the project.

“One of the things I really like about having this public library space and zines is that I can put topics that are things students want, and students are able to see those subjects or people that can represent them,” Visconti said.

University students have echoed that statement and are looking forward to the possibility of a more regular zines community at the University.

Second-year College student Abigail Fireison commented on the possibility of a zine club or larger activity for students.

“If someone were to start a zine club and had these meetings every other week or every week, and people got together to make zines and then distribute zines, I think that’d be cool,”

Fireison said. “Sitting down and doing something that you don’t necessarily get the chance to do every day creatively is a really cool thing to do.”

With the recent on-Grounds events creating growing student interest in zines, the Charlottesville Zine Fests have made the art scene available for a larger community as well. The first Charlottesville Zine Fest was held in 2023, and the event has been annual since. The Fest features local artists displaying zines available for purchase and exchange, with the central theme of the event being the promotion of diverse voices and experiences.

As zine-making becomes increasingly prominent in the University and Charlottesville communities, Walters said that they were happy to see zines possibly forming a connection that can close the gap between any University and community organizations.

“I really love opportunities to bridge that gap,” Walters said. “I just think that it’s a beautiful way to authentically build community, right? Because you get to have that, and with that liberty comes a sort of freedom to be oneself. In my work, I like to encourage people to see that they have that power.”

SPORTS

As Margot Appleton prepares for

her final races, a look

back

One Friday in early March of 2023, then-sophomore runner Margot Appleton lined up for a race she had not expected to be in.

Only 16 runners can qualify to race in the NCAA 1 Mile preliminary, and Appleton was 22nd on that list. However, six people had scratched, and so she was called up to race. Appleton took to the track with nothing but a slim hope of making the top 10 and heading to the finals.

“I’m last. I’m not going to make it,” Appleton thought in the first half of the preliminary race, but in the eighth and final lap of the mile, she passed just enough people to nab the last qualifying spot for the final.

She headed back to the track the next day with an eagerness to race. Appleton knew that the top eight runners in the final would earn All-American honors, so she only had to beat two other people.

And she did just that. Appleton powered through a frenzied final lap and finished in fourth overall.

“It changed my whole outlook on myself as a runner and where I was at,” Appleton said. “And I think just the overall experience was so fun because there were no nerves going into it. It was just like, see what I can do.”

That race firmly entrenched Appleton’s status as one of the strongest collegiate runners in the 1,500 and mile. But the end of her tenancy atop those two races, with the outdoor NCAA Championships approaching in June, is on the horizon.

Appleton joined the program in 2021 and had some strong but not extremely notable performances. She was part of the seventh place Virginia distance medley relay at NCAA indoors and advanced to the NCAA East preliminary round in the 1,500.

Following her performance at NCAA indoors, later that year Appleton took third place in the 1500 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and by the end of the next indoor season she held three Virginia records, in the mile, the 3,000 meters and the distance medley relay.

Unfortunately, after an extended outdoor season in 2024 followed by a month or two of easier running, Appleton had the first major injury of her running career — achilles tendinitis. This forced her to take five weeks off

Virginia’s star distance runner does things her way — and it works

Caroline Wulff

| Staff Writer

running, keeping her from competing in the vast majority of the cross country season.

“I wasn’t even sure if I was gonna run cross country,” Appleton said, “and definitely the first couple of workouts back from that I felt I [hadn’t] been this out of shape since high school.”

It was not until cross country ACCs in November 2024 that Appleton returned to the field, placing seventh and then taking fifth at NCAA Southeast Regionals. In spite of the lost time, both Appleton’s finishes were on par with her 2023 cross country season. In fact, her efforts at the Southeast Regionals gained Virginia’s women their first automatic bid during Appleton’s career.

At cross country NCAAs, she had her best finish ever, placing 18th in a competitive field — a significant jump from her 51st-place the year before and the highest finish out of any other Virginia women’s runner in the race.

In indoor season, she broke her own Virginia record in the mile by four seconds, dropping it to 4:25.03. Her NCAA finish in the mile, though, was not as high as she had hoped. Still, Appleton was the only Virginia female athlete to qualify for indoor NCAAs this year.

“I didn’t have a great race … at NCAA, and that really stunk, because I’ve never not performed [well] at an NCAA meet,” Appleton said. “And going into that race, I’d run a 4:25 mile, which should have been one of the top times going in.”

A couple weeks after that race, the team went to the Raleigh Relays, where Appleton then ran the fourth-fastest NCAA time ever in the women’s 1,500, taking three seconds off her personal best in the event.

To this point, Appleton has clearly compiled a magnificent career, clawing her way to become one of the NCAA’s very best. One might think that ascension comes with pressure, but for Appleton, a positive mindset overpowers the stress.

Approaching running with a positive mindset has been a key component of Appleton’s career, and she mentioned that the best piece of advice she received was from her high school coach, who told Appleton when she was taking her easy runs too fast that she needed to slow down and keep her

easy days as a space for recovery. Appleton has continued to heed this advice in college, focusing on keeping running enjoyable rather than obsessing over the details.

Prioritizing recovery and focusing on the big picture rather than on every little detail has been something Appleton has also seen from some of the best runners she knows.

“A lot of female distance runners kind of hyperfixate on doing all the right things,” Appleton said. “...But I don’t think [high-caliber runners are] hyperfixated on everything they’re eating, or their paces on their runs, or what they do on the weekends as much … I think it’s exhausting if you’re constantly trying to do everything perfectly.”

Unlike many runners who focus on ultra-technical details, Appleton does not use a GPS watch to track mileage or pace on her runs, instead opting to run for a certain amount of time.

She also has a particular racing strategy, which has worked well for her in allowing her mind to relax during a race. Appleton typically starts her races slightly slower than her competitors and

gradually moves up through the pack before kicking hard in the last lap — and delivering a final blow to her competition.

“I am super competitive,” Appleton said, “I don’t like leading races, because I honestly find racing easier than doing a hard solo workout, because I love to just focus on the person in front of me, rather than time.”

She admitted, though, that this has been both a strength and a challenge.

“My natural tendency is to usually go to the back,” Appleton said, “and I’ve been trying to work on finding a happy medium with that, because that works when you’re trying to get third or fourth in an NCAA final. But if you’re really going for the win, you don’t want to be in the back.”

On the subject of going for a win, Appleton has tangible goals for the conclusion of her final season with Virginia. She would like to win a wheel, a trophy particular to the Penn Relays, with her relay team and hopes to race — plus maybe take first — in the 1,500 at NCAAs.

“I don’t want to put crazy pressure on myself because it’s the

1,500, and the NCAA has been deeper and faster than it’s ever been, but I do want to go into that trying to win,” Appleton said. Appleton was recruited because Virginia believed that she could be a contributor to this program and raise the standards for the Cavaliers. Needless to say, Appleton has proven to be that type of athlete many times over. Whether or not her last few goals are completed, Appleton has shown that being an excellent runner is not about perfection — it’s about a deep love for the sport and competition.

Whether or not Appleton completes her final goals, she deserves an ovation for her outstanding career with the Cavaliers. She has faced constant pressure, a demanding schedule and more — but her hard work and pure grit have led her to conquer adversity. Ahead of her final races, it is perfectly fitting that she continues to do things her way, just as she has always done.

COURTESY VIRGINIA ATHLETICS

An inside look at Virginia’s superstar.

For most Virginia student-athletes, balancing academics and varsity sports is enough to fill a calendar. But for Shelby Bavin, a junior coxswain on the women’s rowing team, life includes one more high-stakes commitment — firefighting.

Her nights end in turnout gear, racing to respond to emergencies as a volunteer firefighter, while her mornings begin on the Rivanna Reservoir directing Virginia’s crews through intense practices. But whether she is calling the final sprint of a 2K or suiting up for a structure fire, Bavin’s drive — and trust in the people beside her — makes her a vital teammate, in every sense of the word.

Having grown up next to the Potomac River in Alexandria, Va., Bavin was surrounded by a large rowing culture — after seeing her older brother start rowing when he entered high school, she decided to give it a try in eighth grade, when her local team allowed it. For the next four years, Bavin dedicated her life to being the best she could be as a men’s team coxswain for both Alexandria City Titan Rowing and Old Dominion Boat Club. Dur-

Balancing fire and water

Shelby Bavin races toward the flames — and the finish line

Eleanor Lynch | Staff Writer

ing that time, she earned two state championship medals and competed at SRAA national championships.

After coming to the University, Bavin knew that she wanted to make an impact on another community in addition to the rowing team, and joined the Seminole Trail Volunteer Fire Department at Albemarle County Station 8 back in November 2023, after hearing about it from a good friend who was actively firefighting at the time. Since then, she has logged nearly 1,400 hours of service as both a firefighter and an Emergency Medical Technician.

On average, active University student volunteers at Station 8 clock around 100 hours per month, and Bavin is no exception. That, combined with an academic course load, is an impressively packed schedule. Between her weekly 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. overnight shifts on Wednesdays, 6:25 a.m. morning practices and a full academic course load, Bavin’s calendar is often full from dawn till midnight.

While many students seek to decompress in breaks between commitments, Bavin finds balance by leaning

into hers.

“Going to the fire station is a way for me to decompress from school,” Bavin said. “And rowing is a way for me to decompress from school. And then, getting to the station, I can take my mind off rowing, and being at the boathouse I can take my mind off bad calls I might have sat on. I think in a way, the three things balance each other, because they’re all so different.”

Bavin does not see her ultra-packed schedule as a sacrifice — rather, it gives her purpose. For Bavin, this is a mindset which connects to her time with Virginia rowing. The Cavaliers are focused on success, of course, but it is always a success which is earned through grit, toughness and a love of community.

“The quote we have above our boathouse door, which is ‘Entitled to nothing, grateful for everything,’ is the thing that speaks to the values of our team the most,” Bavin said.

In both firefighting and rowing, trust is required — sometimes even blind faith. Whether it is entering a burning building with someone new or lining up with an unfamiliar crew

on race day, Bavin says both rowing and firefighting demand confidence in others’ training, instincts and commitment.

As a coxswain, Bavin is the eyes and ears for her boat. As the rowers all face backwards, Bavin needs to be on high alert for obstacles in her path and do her best to communicate to her rowers what is happening around them in terms of where they sit in comparison to competitors and how many meters remain. Her volunteer experience as an EMT and firefighter require that same type of focus — Bavin must be ready to delegate tasks when running head on into an emergency, whether that involves rushing to fight a fire or helping a patient going through cardiac arrest.

“You may not have always worked with the people you get put on a [firefighting] crew with, but you’re trusting the training they have received and that they can do the job,” Bavin said. “Rowing is like that, too — sometimes lineups change, and you have to adapt and trust that everyone is rowing the same stroke even though you may not have rowed with them before. The

coxswain facilitates that faith.”

Trust and culture go hand-in-hand at Station 8, where the team-oriented environment mirrors what Bavin values on the water. Charlie Murphy, a second-year College student who started volunteering at Station 8 last spring, said that this dynamic is central to what makes firefighting — and Bavin — so impactful.

“[Bavin] has absolutely stepped in and embraced the family-like culture of the station,” Murphy said. “Which is extremely impressive given that she’s balancing this whole other life that a lot of us don’t have.”

Bavin strives to be the best she can be, both for herself and those relying on her, in every situation she puts herself in. She makes sure to give it her all so that, in time, the people around her will trust her — and in return, the effort she puts in allows her to trust her support systems.

Bavin’s story is not defined by any one role she plays, but by the extraordinary way she plays all of them — with intention, resilience and a deep commitment to supporting those around her.

How Virginia baseball follows the numbers

An inside look at the people and programs who work behind the scenes

David Sewall | Staff Writer

Graduate student Tyler Gorecki and senior Petey von Ahn arrive at Disharoon Park roughly an hour before the first pitch of any given home game. After checking in and grabbing their credentials, they head to the press box before logging in to a local URL that gives them access to Trackman data collected from cameras positioned across the ballpark.

Gorecki and von Ahn serve as co-directors of the Virginia baseball data team. Now in their third and fourth years with the team, and second as co-directors, both understand the growing importance of analytics in shaping modern baseball strategy.

Formerly overlooked, statistics — like on-base percentage, walk rate and on-base plus slugging — emerged as key tools for player evaluation and development in the early 2000s, shifting the focus away from traditional metrics and reshaping the way the game is understood. These metrics were part of a larger movement known as sabermetrics — an analytical approach to understanding baseball through objective data rather than tradition or intuition.

Virginia, one of the nation’s pre-

mier collegiate baseball programs over the past decade, has embraced this shift under Coach Brian O’Connor. The program’s data team was founded during the 2021-22 season, and the installation of Trackman cameras and software before the 2023 season marked a major step forward in its ability to collect and analyze in-game data.

Invented in 2003, Trackman was a small Danish golf startup before beginning to apply its Doppler radar technology to baseball in 2008. Fast forward 17 years, and Trackman has become the backbone of baseball analytics programs across the world. Since then, continued investments in tracking and camera technology have allowed the Cavaliers to steadily expand this part of their game.

Ahead of the 2025 season, Virginia installed new Automated Rule-Based Workload Evaluation cameras at Disharoon Park, replacing six initial Synergy cameras. Each camera records game footage and uses software to tag specific plays and track in-game data — a major but necessary investment. Each pitch is tracked via the Trackman and ARWE cameras for its hori-

zontal and vertical break, spin rate and velocity. The cameras also capture a pitcher’s release point — both in terms of height off the ground and distance from the center of the mound. From there, the data team identifies pitch type and outcome — whether it was a strike, a ball or put in play for a hit or an out.

Trackman processes the camera feedback and generates data for every individual action on the field, from pitch characteristics to batted ball outcomes. That data is then uploaded to the local URL that Gorecki and von Ahn monitor.

After each game, von Ahn produces pitching and umpire reports using the Trackman data that is collected. He then uses a coding software that runs the data and produces a report in a digestible manner outside of a giant data sheet.

Those reports are sent to Travis Reifsnider, the program’s Director of Player Development and Scouting, who identifies trends that could be a point of emphasis for O’Connor and his staff.

With Trackman and the addition of ARWE cameras, which record and

track every pitch and play regardless of which team is on the field, each report also includes information on opposing pitchers. The reports provide valuable insight particularly for ACC opponents and high-leverage series where the Cavaliers could possibly face the same relief pitcher multiple times in the same series or at a later point in the season.

Some of the most critical data reports for Virginia, however, are the umpire reports. These provide insight into specific umpire tendencies and how Cavalier pitchers can attack hitters in the most efficient way.

“I use called balls and strikes to develop a standard strike zone and then pull any missed calls because, like any umpire, college umpires are not perfect but they generally have tendencies,” von Ahn said.

Still, while the numbers offer valuable insights, there is more to baseball than just the data.

“Baseball is the best sport to acquire data in discrete events where you can measure so many things at once, but it’s also such a mental sport that you need to find a balance,” Gorecki said. “We’re not here to force data on the

team. Our job is to provide it where it’s useful as a tool.”

That tool can be traced back to “Moneyball” — the 2003 book and its 2011 film adaptation — which showcased how the Oakland Athletics challenged the assumption that a high player payroll was necessary for success. Instead, they proved that with the right data, even a small-market team could compete.

Ben Wieland, a quantitative analyst for the Philadelphia Phillies, said that the growing emphasis on analytics is increasingly important.

“It’s no secret in Major League Baseball that everyone has a data analytics department,” Wieland said. “I think it’s a cool role where you can see what you do on a spreadsheet and computer actually put into practice on the field.”

“Moneyball” came out 20 years ago, and now teams are leveraging data more than ever — using it to make roster decisions, guide arbitration cases, negotiate free agency contracts and make decisions on the field.

But the Virginia data team is not trying to change the game — just sharpen it.

ACROSS

1 Handshake listings

5 Spring Break month

10 Casual conversation

14 Inland sea in 68-Across

15 Amtrak’s fastest train

16 Go out with

17 Insignificant

18 Nuclear bombs, perhaps

20 Cook on high heat

22 Bottom, slangily

23 Kind of instinct

24 Fixture for the Virginia Players

27 Runway model?

29 Pitching stat

30 Last three letters of a U.Va.

email address

31 Went higher and higher

32 Shed tears

34 What a free class is

37 Hit album from Sabrina Carpenter... or what 1-Down, 16-Across, 22-Across, 43-Down, 56-Across and 64-Down all are

41 Van Gogh masterpiece

42 Fixes

45 Super high

48 “Ready, ___, fire!”

Max Goldberg | Puzzlist

Answers are available on the digital version of this puzzle which is published at www.cavalierdaily.com.

51 Mai tai ingredient

52 Like “go” or some other verbs (abbr.)

53 Fantasies for a boring lecture

56 Pizza order

57 Not procrastinating

59 Reason to cram

60 Daytime TV show in Latin America

63 Spat

66 Once, once

67 To no _____

68 Cambodia continent

69 “Gimme ____!”

70 Church songs

71 Yanks DOWN

1 Printer problem

2 Catan resource

3 Shower caddy occupants

4 Wintry mix

5 Capital de España

6 Nail

7 Gag

8 Soccer shoe 9 “____! The Herald Angels Sing” 10 AB followers

11 Place for a 27-Across

12 Adjust 13 Evaluated

19 Peace of mind

21 “A” in IPA

24 Use a needle and thread

25 School opening?

26 Wind bursts

28 Onion section

31 Took in

33 Belonging to thee

35 Number of Xs in this puzzle’s solution

36 ENWR assignment

38 Where one might find Crater Lake

39 Unburden

40 Italian dessert

43 Extra product

44 Texting format, abbr.

45 Act like Kermit the Frog in a viral meme

46 Judges and juries

47 Threat ender

49 Core values

50 Man of mystery

53 Split up

54 Mr. T’s group

55 Bother

58 Fastest man in the world Lyles

61 List-ending letters

HUMOR

62 Jeremy of the NBA 64 Corner restaurant with an acronymic name

65 Notes after mis

ROUNDTABLE: U.Va. alumni share career wisdom for students

Editor’s note: This article is a humor column.

As the spring semester comes to a close, students are gearing up to embark on summer endeavors and break from the academic grind. Some will step into leadership positions, like wrangling 30 8-year-olds as a camp counselor. Others will work at their hometown ice cream store, forced to serve waffle cones to their opps. Fourth-years, however, face different prospects — entering the corporate world.

Whether applying for jobs like consulting associate, management consultant or associate manager, the demand for this diverse range of professional opportunities is high. Yet, according to statistics from the University Career Center, students continue to face rejections. In 2024, each fourth-year in the College of Arts and Sciences submitted an average of 492.4 job applications while receiving only 0.11 offers. The Center provided no comment, other than extending an open invitation for free tissues if any

student needed to dry their tears.

To help students navigate the challenges of job hunting, The Cavalier Daily spoke with three recent graduates about their career paths and advice for students seeking corporate positions.

How did you land your current role?

Ben E. Fits, Strategic Synergy Optimization Associate at Beloitte: A thousand applications and attendance at every career fair – it’s all about persistence. I had so many coffee chats fourth year that Grit had to cut me off from espresso so I didn’t go into cardiac arrest. I tried to use that as a foot in the door to their finance office, but they blackballed me for being a security risk. Once, I was so caffeinated I mistook my Media Studies professor for a giant latte. Luckily, my classmates intervened before it was too late.

Liv Ingpaicheque, Administrative Operations Associate at Opulent & Company: My experience stalking former situationships on social media paid off. I memorized every detail of

my recruiter’s background — education, past jobs, parents’ addresses. The key was using the information strategically. During the interview, I casually slipped in a fact found in an archived 2003 Facebook post about his old babysitter’s maiden name. I think he hired me out of fear?

Chad Vantage, Senior Analyst at Birthright Incorporated: My dad’s golf buddy decided I was the right fit. I don’t know, I can’t really explain that. Either you mesh well with the bros at the company or you don’t.

What do you wish you’d known before starting your job search?

BF: Honestly, I was too late in the game. Once you enter the corporate world, you realize there are always opportunities to connect with recruiters if you start paying attention. One of my biggest regrets is not taking advantage of these earlier — I should have been on LinkedIn in sixth grade instead of trying to dig tunnels in my backyard.

LI: That ‘entry-level’ means you

need three degrees, 20 certifications and 10 years of work experience. Now, I make minimum wage filing papers despite having a McIntire School of Commerce degree. That definitely wasn’t something my business fraternity with a five percent acceptance rate prepared me for. But in this real-world economy? I’ll take it.

CV: How much time I’d spend pretending to know what was going on. Like once, my parents’ friend mentioned ROIs for his company’s investments. How the hell am I supposed to know what ROI stands for? I majored in Economics, not English. But I quickly learned to just say, ‘Let’s circle back on that’ and hope they didn’t follow up.

Do you have any advice for future star associatemanagerconsultants?

BF: If your elevator pitch is even a millisecond below 30 seconds, you’re unemployable. And no more than two exclamation points in a follow-up thank-you email. Also, get those resume boosters. Teaching your grand-

parents how to send an email while they type with one finger? That’s consulting experience. That conspiracy theories slide deck you created when you went on an internet rabbit hole? Voila, a new project for your resume.

LI: Negotiate everything. Your salary, benefits, even your job title. I talked my way from Auxiliary Administrative Operations Associate to Administrative Operations Associate. People still don’t really know what I actually do, and neither do I.

CV: Don’t stress. I have a theory — the number of offers you receive is inversely proportional to the number of applications you send in. Learned that the second time I took STAT 2120! I got 12 offers from 10 of my dad’s poker and golf buddies, and guess how many applications I submitted? Zero.

NIKITHA PRABHU is a humor columnist for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at humor@cavalierdaily.com

OPINION

Did anyone actually want VERVE?

City officials must learn from their mistake of approving VERVE, a student housing complex that will fundamentally alter the Charlottesville landscape

Over two years, a debate unfolded over a development proposal on Stadium Road, just steps from central Grounds. In February, this controversy became public for the first time with the rapid demolition and clearing of a massive parcel of land that will house the VERVE student apartment complex. The demolished property, a small 62-unit complex, will be replaced by the tallest building in the city. With 12 stories and 463 units, the development will tarnish the landscape of the University and the greater Charlottesville area. VERVE should serve as a striking warning against compromising on zoning procedures in pursuit of a quick fix to one of Charlottesville’s most complicated problems — housing.

In addition to compromising on housing, it is worth noting that a 12-story building directly next to the University will negatively impact historical aesthetics. This did not go entirely unnoticed — Architect for the University Alice Raucher wrote a letter warning of the detrimental visual effects of having a high-rise in such proximity to architecturally and historically significant landmarks. This was evidently not enough to stall the

project. Neither was the presence of a house that was protected by the city for its historical significance — the protection was waived, and the house was demolished. As the University’s stakeholders, we should use VERVE as a reminder to be more vigilant defenders of the architecture that makes our university unique. After all, as times change, the iconic architecture of the University is its most indestructible characteristic.

inating feature of the Charlottesville landscape, University-related developments should at least be held to the standard of not being visually destructive to Charlottesville. With this project, city officials have allowed a national real estate company to upend the local landscape.

Charlottesville will suffer aesthetically from VERVE, but might students benefit from increased housing sup-

affordability is far from clear — the only guarantee is the lasting presence of the building itself.

Moreover, VERVE is an unsustainable solution, not only for students, but for Charlottesville and its residents as well. The challenge of student housing demand driving up rent for Charlottesville residents is real, but it is hypocritical for the city to expect VERVE to remedy this problem.

The simple value of a visually appealing Grounds is rarely acknowledged only because it is so universally accepted.”

The glaring size of VERVE will not only prove an eyesore, but will also impact how prospective students and tourists experience the University.

The simple value of a visually appealing Grounds is rarely acknowledged because it is so universally accepted.

Visual appeal is a real point of value — there is a reason why the University bothers to put columns in front of its buildings. Furthermore, as a dom-

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ply? Such a hope would be shortsighted. Amid continuously increasing class sizes, VERVE is driven by increasing student demand rather than an attempt to provide cheaper options. Student rent prices are functions of numerous moving parts, including enrollment numbers and the proportion of students living on Grounds — both of which are factors that are likely to change in coming years. VERVE’s long-term impact on student housing

THE CAVALIER DAILY

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VERVE was presented as a starting point for city-wide affordable housing, but VERVE markets itself specifically as student housing. Whether housing market effects outweigh the harms of the University’s expanding presence is a gamble Charlottesville residents may not wish to take. The root of their problems comes from being priced out by a University that has grown to dominate the city, and VERVE will only exacerbate this process.

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Given these downsides, how were Charlottesville officials persuaded to approve VERVE? Subtext, the firm behind the project, promised to pay $6.8 million into the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund in exchange for the city’s approval. Make no mistake — this funding is genuinely valuable for the city’s affordable housing efforts. But when a company attaches a multi-million-dollar donation to a project proposal, it is advisable to question the project’s implications. Though the proposal does dedicate funding toward affordable housing, it will not actually provide any affordable housing itself. Meanwhile, student benefits will be short-term at best, and the Charlottesville and University landscapes will be degraded in the process. The bottom line is that this project is not a home run but a tradeoff. It should be clear that more of these compromises will not be a sustainable way to address Charlottesville’s housing challenges.

NATHANIEL CARTER is a senior associate opinion editor who writes for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily.com.

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Do not be fooled — Trump is not fighting antisemitism

Recent executive actions have nothing to do with antisemitism and everything to do with academic censorship at the University

The University received a letter from the U.S. Department of Education March 10 accusing the University of failing to protect Jewish students. The letter warns that the University should expect sanctions from the Trump administration, unless they take the responsibility for protecting their Jewish students seriously. Two years ago, after the University’s Chabad house was vandalized, I levied a similar accusation against the University. But the recent federal focus on antisemitism is no cause for celebration. The Trump administration is weaponizing antisemitism in order to attack the University’s values.

If all you knew about universities was what you heard from Truth Social, you would think of them as hotbeds of antisemitism. Yet, this is not the reality at our University. Just last year, the Jewish Leadership Advisory Board wrote that Jewish students “...feel supported by the University’s administration.” In similar news, a memo published from the University’s Religious Diversity and Belonging Task Force said that Jewish students reported the highest sense of belonging when compared to students of other religious affiliations. There are

still instances of antisemitism at the University, but these findings suggest that antisemitism is the exception, not the rule.

In addition to leveling an unfounded accusation at the University, the letter is ambiguous on what sanctions would actually look like. Luckily for us, Trump’s recent actions offer a playbook of what is to come. In March, the Trump ad-

Studies department took the brunt of the attack. The department was forced to hire a new provost and was put under “academic receivership.” Academic receivership is an internal process that occurs when a college administration determines that a particular department is in need of oversight. In this case, however, the Trump administration itself — as opposed to Columbia — is

tural and historical landscapes of the Islamic, South Asian and African world. What about studying various regions of the world threatens the safety of Jewish students? Given the tenuous connection to antisemitism, we are left to assume that the Trump administration is interested in censoring departments which promote multiculturalism and global literacy.

Given the tenuous connection to antisemitism, we are left to assume that the Trump administration is interested in censoring departments.”

ministration informed Columbia that $400 million of federal funding would be withheld and communicated a list of demands. Facing what faculty characterized as a “gun to the head,” Columbia caved to the Trump demands. While the Trump administration initiated these actions against Columbia in response to reports of antisemitism on campus, the Trump administration’s demands do little to address antisemitism. Most notable were the demands targeting academics. Columbia’s Middle East, South Asian and African

asking for direct oversight into the department, violating academic freedom.

Should Trump choose to target our University, two similar departments would be at risk of academic censorship — Middle East and South Asian Languages and Cultures and African American and African Studies. It is unclear how censoring these departments has anything to do with preventing antisemitism on college campuses. At the University, these departments offer courses in global languages and courses which explore the cul-

Admittedly, other demands from the Trump administration were more focused on antisemitism — but still impede the openness for debate which universities must promote. For example, the Trump administration demanded that Columbia accept a formalized definition of antisemitism that recognized anti-Zionism as a form of antisemitism. Reasonable people can disagree about whether or not anti-Zionism equates to antisemitism. Regardless of where your beliefs lie, this is an issue that should be debated at the universities that

it directly affects — not an issue which is resolved from the man in the high castle. By offering this decree, the Trump administration stifles debate that remains unsettled, depriving students of the opportunity to engage in meaningful discourse that leads to cross-cultural understanding.

The actions by the Trump administration are not merely attacks on one department or one aspect of University life — they are aimed at the very values of higher education, values which include academic freedom, an openness to global perspectives and lively debate. Whether it realizes it or not, our University is already in a dilemma — either conform to the Trump administration’s image of education or resist. As such, the University must prepare now. And that preparation begins with the acknowledgment of a simple truth — the Trump administration’s actions have nothing to do with antisemitism and everything to do with our values.

DAN FREED is a senior opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily. com.

Why growth-based grading is missing the mark

As incoming students tour Grounds and pick their first courses, an introductory calculus course is a common selection to fulfill quantification requirements. However, many students do not know of the growthbased grading system in the courses MATH 1190 and 1210. In this model, a randomly selected half of the class concentrates on mastering specific mathematical skills — rather than acing exams, growth-based students meet particular criteria in assessment “targets.” Although this innovative approach promises to revolutionize the way success is measured, its implementation presents challenges which have disadvantaged students.

The growth-based grading model was developed by American psychologist Carol Dweck, whose research focused on training academic capabilities. Most recently, the math department has joined this trend by having students focus on mastering individual mathematical skills and providing multiple chances to showcase their understanding.

Given that this approach differs from traditional grading, the University Department of Mathematics is focused on collecting reliable evidence

The math department’s approach to changing their grading rubric seems half-baked

of student success before a complete transition. That impulse is important because it shows the department is headed in the right direction and is focused on taking an informed approach to an otherwise complicated task. The department has divided all calculus I courses between traditional and al-

inequality exists between the two sections — one half receives the full, invaluable support that the University’s teaching professionals offer, while the other is left with resources that may be insufficient.

Individual success is only one part of the issue, however. This gradual

able, the implementation approach raises serious ethical concerns. This is still experimental. Dividing students into traditional and growth-based systems without their consent turns them into test subjects. That is the fundamental problem with the rollout of the current protocols — they appear to be

Although this innovative approach promises to revolutionize the way success is measured, its implementation presents challenges which have disadvantaged students.”

ternative learning styles. Though both sections are in the same class with the same professor, they are distinct. For the selected growth-based students, their semester begins with an unexpected syllabus requiring quick adaptation — a stark change for students who have never experienced such a grading system. However, there is no assurance that the Teaching Assistants supporting growth-based students were growth-based students themselves. Given that the primary resources available to students are incapable of attending to the needs of their classes, it is evident that a significant

change harms the overall cohesion and vitality of the classroom. This dynamic presents an issue, as professors must cater to two groups of students. For growth-based students, an upcoming exam represents an opportunity to improve skills from past chapters. Their questions in class may focus on previous concepts, but for traditionally graded students, those inquiries may have no relevance. These professors likely do not have the tools to deal with these differences without breaking academic cohesion.

While the department’s pursuit of curricular innovation is commend-

premature and overly experimental, riskingnegating the promises of alternative learning. Rather than a fully realized system designed to transform how students engage with learning, students are divided and experimented on, missing out on the benefits of growth-based grading.

This experiment harms the academic journeys of students in MATH 1190 and 1210. If the math department wants to continue moving toward growth-based learning, some change is necessary. The math department should develop classes dedicated to growth-based learning while contin-

uing traditional classes for those who feel more comfortable in them. This way, they understand what they are signing up for and can mentally prepare for that transition. Moreover, there should be an increased focus on training the professors, teaching assistants and other resources on how exactly to aid students subjected to the new grading rubric.

The math department should be commended for pursuing academic development and commitment to student success. Although it seems like a minor change, the new system is intended to completely transform the way that students think about learning, and it needs to be treated as a drastic shift. Before this model can be the blueprint for growth-based grading schemes across the University, the math department needs to reevaluate its approach to implementing the new methods in existing classes and work to optimize the outcome for all students.

LUCY DUTTENHOFER is a viewpoint writer for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily. com.

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