Undergraduate Class of 2014 Reflections, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy

CLASS OF 2014 Bachelors of Arts, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Dear Batten Staff and Faculty, We thank you for all that you have done to make our experience in Batten so special. We hope that this book serves as a reminder of our class’s passion for policy, academic rigor, and close social ties. Although we have now graduated from this great University, the wonderful Batten memories which you helped create will remain with us always.

Cheers to a bright future, The Undergraduate Class of 2014

ORIENTATION: AUGUST, 2012

GRADUATION: MAY, 2014

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Elizabeth Aghili

Sara Almousa

Amy Baker

John Bennett

Joniel Cha

Lauren Cricchi

Sara Dax

Emily Ellis

Brian Gonzalez

Sasha Hanway

Alex Kim

Charles Kim

Courtney Blandford

Jeremy Dollin

Neil Branch

Ozzie Bryan

Casey Duggan

Grace Glover

Karla Kredie

Cliff Lance

Mai Le

Brian Gonzalez

Rachel Locke

Meagan McDougall

Arshia Mahajan

Seth Nelson

Victor Nguyen

Bella Noyen

Travers O’Leary

Kelsey Patterson

Emily Pik

Emily-Page Rasmussen

Emily Schenck

Marisa Schuler

Rachel Schumacher

Joe Spisak

Kanchana Sthanumurthy

Bridget Stock

Dalton Stokes

Cephra Steuart

Ian Van der Hoven

Preethi Varma

Brian Via

Will Warren

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:  Policy Pioneers…………………………………… Page 5  Academic Atmosphere……………………….. Page 25  Batten and the University…………………… Page 40  The Batten Community……………………….Page 58

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PART I

POLICY PIONEERS “We have since developed into our roles as “Policy Pioneers,” not only blazing the trail for ourselves, but also leaving a path or legacy for future classes to follow.”

- Grace Glover

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CREATING A COMMUNITY

By Rachel Schumacher During orientation we were introduced to the overused phrase “policy is everywhere, lead from anywhere.� At the time, I thought this was the crux of what we would be learning in the classroom. In reality, I think we learned how to lead because we were forced to lead. As the first class of a new major it was our responsibility to help create a structure, create a program, and create a culture.

Through doing these actions we have become leaders.

The simplest of these tasks was to create a governing body. Mai, Travers, Seth and I were tasked with writing the constitution. But in reality ideas were developed through conversations with everyone in class. In only one year we created a council. Implementing BUC this year has been challenging but we were able to plan events, make up new initiatives, and set a foundation for the future. Through this exercise we learned how to make something out of nothing, collaborate, and lead.

The next step was to help build the program itself. We essentially solved the collective action problem. Our study guides were second to none and the number of times we turned our complaints into a Google doc of ideas and sent a representative to enact change is rather astounding. We left our mark on how classes could be more effective and in the process learned how to communicate and be leaders.

Finally, we were tasked with creating a culture by creating a community. This was the most important and will be the most lasting of our accomplishments. Simply by being friends, spending time with one another, and working together on assignments we helped to create a friendly, fun, challenging, and exciting major. This is something that will last long after we have gone. This is true application of the ideals of leadership.

Leading from anywhere did not just occur in Batten. I have seen all of us take what we have learned in classrooms and through the activities above and apply it to other aspects of our lives. Whether on the athletic field, a club meeting, or in the community, we have all taken formal and informal leadership positions and excelled. I look forward to seeing how we lead from anywhere in all of the places we will go.

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A GREAT HONOR .

By Jeremy Dollin It has been a great honor to be a part of the 1st Bachelor of Arts Program in the Batten School of Public Policy and Leadership. The honor that will be bestowed on my fellow classmates and I will be unmatched by any other class and we will carry the distinction for the rest of our lives.

My degree objective from the University of Virginia was to major in business and get my under-graduate degree from the McIntire School of Commerce. After not getting accepted into the Comm School, I believed that my next best option was to major in economics. Struggling to meet the requirements for the economics major, along with not capturing my interest, I was left with only one option that interested me, Foreign Affairs. It wasn’t until two weeks before the BA for Public Policy and Leadership application was due that I was made aware of this new major. After investigating the major fully, I felt this program would capture my interests and I would flourish in a program like this.

When I discovered that this would be the first undergraduate class to graduate from the Batten School, I thought it would be a great honor to be part of this program. I was wait-listed after applying, but after talking to Howard Hoege, who at the time was the Director of Admissions, I was accepted into the program. I thank Howard, and the rest of the Batten School staff, for giving me an opportunity to be a part to this great program.

There have been many challenges being part of 1st Bachelor of Arts program in the Batten School, like structure of classes. The Batten School has had the Masters in Public Policy (MPP) for a number of years, but the classes are structured very differently. In the undergraduate program most of the students have little or no knowledge about what public policy and leadership entailed. Our Intro to Public Policy was very well structured and taught us how policies can effect an issue. It was created around a very important policy issue at the time, the legalization of Marijuana. After finishing the required classes, one had the choice to take specialty classes that were geared more towards what one is interested in. All classes have some form of policy issues in them, including leadership classes, which is interesting to learn how leadership skills, from past presidents or officials, are used to develop policies within any type of organization.

The best part about being in the 1st BA class of Batten is the people in the class and associated with the school. The 1st BA students of Batten have become very close as a group over the past 2 years and have grown to respect and appreciate each other’s thoughts and views. It made classes more enjoyable as well, because when we had group projects or exams, we all would come together and study. Being in the 1 st BA program, as part of Batten, had its challenges, but the knowledge I have gained, along with the professors, administrators and friends that I have made, will follow me for the rest of my life.

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A TRULY COLLABORATIVE EFFORT

By Seth Nelson I chose to write about being a part of Batten's first BA class because as a class we have had the opportunity to establish the undergraduate community experience in multiple ways. Along the way, all of us have made lasting friendships that most of us treasure as perhaps the best part of our Batten experience. For me personally, being a part of a brand new program meant that I could participate in an entrepreneurial venture of sorts. Our class has been instrumental in shaping what our program offers through feedback to professors, town hall meetings, and most significantly for me, the establishment of the Batten Undergraduate Council.

For me, my involvement in the Batten Undergraduate Council has been the most meaningful experience during my time in the program. It solidified my commitment to the sense of community we established over our two years together. I originally heard that the administration was seeking to start an undergraduate council through Travers O'Leary. We had an interest meeting and a majority of our class turned up to be a part of leading the undergraduate program. Having viewed the establishment of a new council as a prime opportunity to grow my leadership capabilities, I threw my name in the hat to be a part of what became known as the Transition Team. My classmates, many of whom I did not know, put their faith in me, along with Travers, Mai Le, and Rachel Schumacher, to be the Transition Team. We were charged with forming the structure of the council, writing a constitution, establishing a set of by-laws, and legitimizing our organization through the university administration.

The four of us spent the fall and spring of our first year tackling these goals. We met on a weekly basis before meeting with the "general body", which comprised of all undergraduate Batten students interested in being on the council. Our goal throughout it all was to establish the council according to the collective interest. As a result, we tried to structure the organization as flat as possible to avoid hierarchical leadership, the goal of which was to allow as many people as possible to participate and have their ideas heard and implemented. After all, we were all a part of the first BA class and wanted to build the program together.

Each week we discussed several different ideas with how to structure the council.

Eventually we settled on having an executive board comprised of a President, Treasurer, and Director of Communications, all of whom would be elected by the undergraduate class in the university-wide elections. We also elected internally a chair for each of the three committees we formed: Internal, which was to handle affairs related to events specifically for the undergraduate class; external, which was to deal with the undergraduate program's relations with the Batten School at large, the university, and eventually organizations around Charlottesville, and other policy programs around the country; and finally social, which was to organize official and unofficial Batten social

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functions. Each of these three committee chairs would lead a team of undergraduate students to set goals and plan events that would help reach those goals.

I would like to personally thank all of the people who have helped us reach our goals as a council over the last two years. Jill Rockwell was incredibly enthusiastic throughout the process. She was our primary point of contact within Batten. Dean Mike Citro was also incredibly helpful in navigating the process of becoming an official organization within the university so we could hold elections. The Batten Graduate Council was also a support group who helped us by way of providing their constitution and bylaws as an example for us. Finally, I want to thank our first executive board who did the bulk of the work in actually implementing what the Transition Team and the rest of the council had established together. Lauren Cricchi did a phenomenal job leading the council during her fourth year. This was not an easy task as she signed up for a role with largely unknown responsibilities. The administration expected a lot of her and she delivered, while many if her peers became less involved in their university extracurricular activities. She was certainly a model for all future presidents of our council.

Per usual, Rachel Schumacher did an amazing job keeping track of all the goings-on of the council, a skill she developed through her numerous other commitments as secretary. Victor Nguyen did a great job managing the finances so we could continue to hold fantastic events for undergraduates and future Batten classes. Emily Ellis led the Internal Committee which first established the Batten Umbrella Group, later to become our mentorship program BUMP for new Batten undergraduates to be welcomed into the community and supported by the fourth-year class. Ian Van der Hoven led the External Committee, of which I was a part. We worked with Patti Edson in Admissions to establish the Ambassador program to hold information sessions with prospective students. Finally, Emily Pik did an admirable job organizing social functions for our class. Through these and other informal gatherings, we were really able to strengthen our bonds as a class and develop lifelong friendships.

Everyone in our class has been a strong contributor to the first BA class and we have worked hard to leave a legacy of what student self-governance and leadership can be. We are proud of our accomplishments and look forward to seeing what future classes will be able to achieve in their time as Batten undergraduate students.

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THE ANOMALY OF “THE FIRST” .

By Rachel Locke Being a part of the first Batten class is a confusing endeavor for many people, including myself. Not having really any idea what being the first BA class of Batten would entail, applying was largely a blind choice. Trying to explain what this Batten BA class is to people often elicits some confused looks, and the description I use doesn’t even begin to cover the whole experience. It is not often that people have the opportunity to be in the “first class” of something, or it often seems like a far off historical notion, not something that I would ever be a part of. When I have to tell people about Batten, I usually describe my major as the first class of a newly created undergraduate major, from the Batten school which previously only had graduate programs. This description leaves out the bulk of my experience as the first BA class, something that is hard to convey in a brief introductory description.

If you had asked me on orientation day what I expected to get out of this Batten program, I probably would have said something along the lines of: “a nice head shot to use for my resume (part of our orientation process), another major, and maybe getting to know some new people”. Reflecting back now, what actually happened was quite different. My head shot was pretty awful, thanks to Virginia’s humid August weather, I gained much more academically than being able to say I double majored, and I cultivated relationships with classmates that I would have never spoken to otherwise.

I did not know what I was signing up for, being in this illusive “first Batten BA class”, and there was no way I could have predicted it. This notion I believe though, was what made the experience so striking.

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LET’S CELEBRATE!

By Emily Pik As Batten students, we have had many occasions to celebrate these past few semesters. We celebrated our admission to the Batten School, the end of our first year as Batten BAs together, throughout countless study sessions, project deadlines, and gettogethers in between, and now our graduation from this amazing place. To put it simply, we have been given the opportunity of a lifetime at UVA. Not only have we uniquely made forty-three new friendships in the latter half of our college career, we have also forged an unprecedented path for undergraduate students at the University to follow. Of course, remembering back to the first days of our orientation and our first couple of public policy classes together, we were unaware of how this adventure would play out. It may have been overwhelming to consider the duty we had to implement this new program, so we quietly acknowledged it and began our experience.

I believe we unknowingly underestimated how greatly our involvement and collaboration would affect Batten’s identity at the University. One of my favorite parts about being a member of this inaugural class has been receiving intrigue from friends, underclassmen, and others across all stretches of UVA. “So, what is Batten?” is a question I have been faced with frequently (undoubtedly because of how often I mention Batten, Garrett Hall, and “my Batten friends”). Besides delving into the extraordinary relationships we have built between students, staff, and faculty, sometimes it is easiest to discuss the distinct and tangible differences of the Batten BA program versus any other major of study, and therefore express how lucky we truly are.

Telling others what the Frank Batten School is and the structure of our program has been such a rewarding job. As we’ve seen the reputation of Batten become stronger and more visible, I want to remind you that this is our doing. We have had no shame in the novelty of our program, but rather pride. Instead of being concerned that Batten wasn’t on the average student’s radar, it has been a highlight to introduce people to the concepts which our curriculum is centered around, such as policymaking, program evaluation, congressional members, citizenship, leadership, and the roles we plan on playing in it all.

We have explained that the Batten School’s mission is to develop leaders and policymakers, in graduate students and now undergraduate ones. We say that our program is a combination of multiple disciplines, with the overlying idea of providing students with the skills and knowledge to make a positive impact on society. Through faculty members and visiting speakers, all who are experts in their field, we have been handed the initial knowledge to make change. From national security, to education, food safety, healthcare, climate change, immigration, business regulation, or affairs with Ukraine or China, we have spent the past year ready and able to discuss, deliberate, and propose recommendations to these types of issues in formal and informal settings, in a

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professional presentation or over a few beers. Both national and local current events along with the relative issues at their core are what we Batten students thrive off of. We write policy memos about them, find statistical relationships explaining them, construct strategies to approach them, and build partnerships to improve them.

We have also been challenged by those who are curious to explain the differences between our program and the MPP program. While we can describe the parallels and dissimilarities in curriculum and skill-focus, we tend to touch on the progress we have made towards creating an all-inclusive Batten community. We were the guinea pigs, we know, and we established our representation through the Batten Undergraduate Council, lovingly known as BUC, from a constitution that both Frank and TJ would be proud of. We included ourselves in the Batten community as we have given and received positive feedback on our academic and social experiences. We have been fearless in initiating the planning of events that would benefit the different passions of the students in our program.

Besides speaking up for ourselves as the newest cohort, we have worked to successfully cross the divide between the different programs in Batten. We have fully utilized and embraced the advice we have been given by our Batten MPP Teaching Assistants, and formed long-term relationships with these peers in the MPP program who have now become our mentors. We have shown excitement to strengthen and add to our Batten alumni network when we were such hopeful novices in the job search, and now as we become eager but nostalgic Batten alums. We are prepared to be of use to any future and current Batten family member, just as alums have been for us.

We have also worked to form friendships with the current MPP students, who had their own thing going for five years prior. With common ambitions and the shared desire to work hard while enjoying each other’s company, we saw a chance to unify the Batten family further and strived to do. Batten Family Weekend was a major milestone in the history of the Batten School, and an event that embodies everything our school is about. Bringing all members of the community together in the planning, executing, and attendance of the event in February, whereby our friends and family got a taste of public policy and the world we have been fortunate to become a part of, was due to our efforts in collaborating with the MPPs to celebrate the entire Batten family. While we are not enrolled in the same classes as most of the MPP students, the common ground we share has always been important to us. We have added to the identity of Batten, as well as our individual program, and it has not gone unnoticed.

At this point in time, with graduation upon us, we can now speak to how vital Batten has been in affecting our futures. As we leave UVA, we are scattering out of Charlottesville both near and far. When we graduate with a BA in Public Policy and Leadership from the Batten School, we are prepared to embrace diverse opportunities.

From the private sector of Washington D.C. and New York City, to the teacher corps in the U.S. and abroad, agencies of the federal government, graduate programs in public policy and law, and NGOs and non-profits, we will make our impact. We are prepared to

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meet the demands of our society as we research and analyze social programs, consult federal agencies on strategy, advise firms and organizations on steps for increased success, and teach the next generation how to be great.

I know that it is always our hope that through these particular ideas and examples of putting our study of public policy into action, those with intrigue about Batten are now even more interested in what we do and in doing it themselves. We have watched as the appeal to being a Batten student has grown among the UVA student population and have felt secret pride as they have infiltrated the public policy courses and been our peers. It is such a success for our new and growing program, and we absolutely have ourselves to thank.

We were presented with the opportunity to lead, and have done more than just fulfill it. We are responsible for an exclusive and respected identity, and for compelling others to follow in our path. We are appreciated for inspiring these future leaders. Who knew we could do all that?

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THE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME

By Cephra Stuart As a member of the inaugural undergraduate Batten class, I must say that my experience has opened my eyes to endless possibilities. I transferred to UVa, as a second year student, from Williams College where I was pursuing Leadership Studies. I did not know, coming in, that continuing my studies in leadership would be possible. However, to my surprise, I discovered that UVa was accepting applications for a new major in Leadership and Public Policy. Although I did not have a firm understanding of what “Public Policy” would entail, I knew that I was interested in leadership. Thus, I submitted an application not knowing what was in store.

I still remember attending our orientation, entering Garrett Hall for the first time, and receiving a packet with the pictures and bios of everyone in our class. I was so impressed by the range of extracurricular activities, work experiences, and diverse interests of the members of our class! I also felt really special getting the opportunity to take headshots. In addition, it was different being in an environment with so many leaders and motivated individuals; everyone was so outspoken and opinionated! When we first began our development of what is now the Batten Undergraduate Council (BUC), I was inspired by how we were able to work together so well and so early on to establish a solid foundation.

Since then, we have continued to work together to create a positive framework and reputation for the future Batten undergraduate majors. Additionally, being a part of this program has forced me to think outside of the box. Furthermore, I truly believe that I am graduating with a strong ability to “lead from anywhere”.

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A CLASS UNMATCHED .

By Brian Via Policy is everywhere, lead from anywhere. Entering as part of the first undergraduate class of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, none of us knew what to expect. Coming from a diverse set of backgrounds and experiences, we were all taking a new step together – setting out as policy pioneers and leaders at the University of Virginia.

In being the first, we had an unparalleled opportunity to help shape and impact our experience in Batten – the last two, and most meaningful years, of our undergraduate college careers. As a class we adapted, learned, and worked together in an effort not only to maximize our opportunity and learning, but also to contribute into building something meaningful for years to come. From structuring and building the Batten Undergraduate Council, a brand new student governance organization representing all Batten undergraduate students, to initiating undergraduate mentorship programs and serving the community, this first Batten undergraduate class strove to leave its mark.

And we did just that. Not even a year into our new major, our class went forth from UVA to embody the Batten School motto - policy is everywhere, lead from anywhere. Members of this first undergraduate class studied abroad, bringing lessons from around the world back to UVA, interned at the highest levels of government, both at the White House and on Capitol Hill, and interned at some of the most reputable businesses and non-profit organizations in the U.S. Our class took the leadership skills acquired before coming to Batten, built upon them in professional development experiences, and applied them to the skills we were learning everyday.

Fifty years from now, it is unclear how large the Batten undergraduate classes will be or what the program will look like. But if it recruits the caliber of students found in this first undergraduate class, driven and ethical leaders determined to have a positive impact on the world, then it will be just as great, and perhaps even better, than this first, stellar undergraduate class.

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BATTEN RESUME IMPACT

By Clifford Lance There is a special subtext to being the first in anything – we are new, exciting, and untested. This reality is as true for the Policy Pioneers as it is for any endeavor.

However, being the first also grants intrigue and prestige. While UVA's Frank Batten school is by no means an unknown name, and many of our graduates have entered and altered the policy world, our undergraduate degree is unheard of. I am sure I can speak for many members of our introductory class in saying that this occasionally causes some interesting questions during interviews. “What exactly does your major...do?”, “What does it mean to be a Public Policy major?”, and countless other questions of various depth regarding our desire to change the world and how Batten would help us do so continuously came to light. In a world where your academic credentials are often not as important as your extracurricular engagements, I believe we have had the unique experience of entertaining interviewers with our unusually involved coursework (Here's to you, Paul Martin), various hiccups of scheduling, and passion for all of the experiences that have come as a result of our involvement with Batten.

The overarching theme in these stories we have told interviewers, I believe, is our fervent statement of blind faith in our coursework. Each semester we have been asked to believe that we would graduate with an understanding of Public Policy potent enough to not only survive the working world, but also to allow us to lead the way for future undergraduate policy majors. Every Policy Pioneer had the ability to say that they contributed to the building of this program, because we have provided the faith and effort. In turn we have already watched our program grow substantially – both in size and administratively. The Batten faculty has believed in each one of us, and as a result, we will continue forward proud of our undergraduate experiment. Our class will continue, untested but unabated, and I know each of us is honored to be the first class to build the reputation of the Batten school's undergraduate program.

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A LASTING LEGACY

By Kanchana Sthanumurthy As the first undergraduate class of Batten, the BA Class of 2014 has had both the great honor and the responsibility of shaping the traditions, atmosphere, and identity of the Leadership and Public Policy undergraduate major.

We began early, with enterprising Batten students inviting the whole of our major over for get-togethers and dinners at the very beginning of our third year. This beginning camaraderie was crucial because it marked the atmosphere we would continue to deepen and strengthen throughout our two years.

The Batten administration was extremely welcoming and helped facilitate events to deepen this camaraderie. They sponsored numerous undergrad-faculty meet and greets, dinners for students, team-building retreats, career counseling, and more.

Despite the fact that our third-year classes were huge lectures filled with non-Batten students, all of these events helped us maintain a good rapport with one another.

We created a Batten Facebook group as well, which became a forum on which we were able to discuss school, Batten life, any issues we were having, social events, and more. The group allowed everyone to consolidate their identities and offered a chance for even the quietest Battenites to speak up and ensure their voices were heard.

A big challenge for the first BA class was to make sure our traditions and sense of community would remain in future Batten classes. We made sure this would happen by forming BUMP, or the Batten Undergraduate Mentoring Program, in which each thirdyear was paired with a corresponding fourth-year who could serve as a mentor to the third year about our classes and other social realities of Batten life. At the end of the day however, we best served as an example through our actions and the institutional memories that we left behind for the young ones. It has been a journey, but Batten has helped us make friends and networks that we will maintain for the rest of our lives.

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ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP

By Isabella Noyen It seems fitting that the last assignment I write in my undergraduate career is a reflective paper about my Batten experience of the last two years. The class of 2014 has been the inaugural undergraduate class of the Batten School of Public Policy and Leadership and as such has been a central part of the planning and execution of classes.

This has been a unique experience that has shaped my academic learning and environment.

One of the words that has been used most often by my professors over the last two years has been “experimental”. This applies to the content of the classes, the sequence of the classes and even the classes themselves. Although I initially found this daunting as I was used to the more fixed class structure of my other major I came to find it very rewarding to be able to have an input in the direction of my learning and to be able to find the right combination of classes and readings through “trial and error”. As we have learnt in our citizenship class this semester getting involved in the governing or law making process, whether by voting or taking office, is crucial to having a working system that is accountable to the general population. It is the definition of being an “engaged citizen”. Batten is a microcosm of the larger political environment as the first BA class has, individually and collectively, been involved in our own education.

Apart from gaining a wide-ranging and thorough understanding of public policy, leadership, politics and a host of other topics, being the first BA class has had the added effect of bringing us closer together as a group. I have yet to see evidence of another major, my own second politics major included, in which every individual is on a first name basis and where people routinely come together outside of the academic environment. I have worked on group projects with a number of different people and it has been successful and enjoyable each time because of the close ties each of us share in the Batten class.

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SETTING A PRECEDENT

By Kelsey Patterson I had known about the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy early on during my time at UVA as an MPP program. When I saw that they were opening an undergraduate program during my second year I knew that I was going to apply. Being part of the first class has been an exciting opportunity and given us all the opportunity to utilize the leadership skills named in our major. The Batten Undergraduate Council was formed and anyone who wanted to be involved had the opportunity to join and help establish a Constitution to be used by Batten undergraduate classes to come.

Being the first class also meant that we had a lot of visiting professors as Batten was trying to determine the courses that would necessary and who should teach them.

Since these classes had never been taught before our class took them, they were often experimental in nature as the professors and students tried to find their footing. This really brought the class closer together; we were all the undergraduate guinea pigs taking all these classes as a batch for the first time. We were able to provide feedback to the administration on teachers, class structure, and class content. We all have taken our role as the first undergraduate class seriously; we want to do our part to continue shaping this great program from Batten undergraduates in the future. Hopefully, future classes will continue to shape the program and continue improving it to create an even stronger program.

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SHAPING THE FUTURE

By Charles Kim Having been part of the Frank Batten School’s inaugural undergraduate class has allowed us all to be pioneers and contributors in shaping the Batten School’s ensuing undergraduate curriculum and culture. It was a worthwhile experience in having the opportunity to directly influence the foundation of a new school and program at a prestigious university such as the University of Virginia—we, as students, are able to leave a lasting impact and influence future Batten generations.

Firstly, as Batten’s first undergraduate class, we have taken courses that were not previously offered. And consequently, we essentially became the “guinea pigs” and had the opportunity to offer our own input into the courses included in Batten’s undergraduate curriculum. It is interesting to know that future Batten students’ experiences with the Batten curriculum will be influenced by our own experiences and feedbacks.

But more importantly, at least to me, was the joint experience with the other undergraduate Batten students. Given the small class size, we were able to maintain a close-knit group and foster a sense of intimacy amongst all the classmates. We all knew each other. And that intimacy amongst the classmates that we were able to establish set the standard as to how the future classes are to be.

It was a completely new experience and we did not know how the experience would be at first. But having been part of the Batten School’s first undergraduate class truly was gratifying. Our experience as Batten’s first undergraduate class is unique in and of itself and cannot be repeated. And how we have shaped the Batten undergraduate program is a significant part of the legacy we leave behind at the University of Virginia.

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BLAZING THE TRAIL

By Grace Glover As the inaugural undergraduate class of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, we have had the unique opportunity to be involved in both shaping our immediate experiences, as well as determining the future direction of the program. As a result of our active commitment to the school, Batten has become more than just a “major” for many of us. Over the past two years, our academic horizons have expanded; our appreciation for ethical leadership and sound policy has grown; and our sense of community at UVA has amplified. We have since developed into our roles as “Policy Pioneers,” not only blazing the trail for ourselves, but also leaving a path or legacy for future classes to follow.

A defining feature of the Batten School has been the professors, faculty, and staffs’ willingness, support, and encouragement for us to help them develop the undergraduate program. Our involvement within the school over the past two years— providing feedback on courses, hosting events and renowned speakers, and establishing student programs—has contributed to a rewarding undergraduate experience, as well as enabled each of us to practice and develop our leadership skills. In the process, we have left our legacy on the school, both individually and as a cohort. The sense of community, the passion for policy, and the strong academic success which has been established by our class will continue to be defining qualities of future classes.

Not only has our undergraduate class contributed to the high standards of excellence associated with the Batten School, but it has also assisted with the recruitment of bright, talented individuals in the upcoming classes. We have become Batten’s greatest cheerleaders at UVA—not only through word of mouth, but also through our actions. Our engagement with Batten programs, our tight social bonds, and our strong academic rigor exemplify the benefits of being part of the Batten community to students across Grounds.

As an Ambassador to the Batten Admissions Office, I have had the opportunity to see first-hand the excitement of First and Second year students at the prospect of becoming a part of the Batten undergraduate community. During the various admissions events which I have helped organize, including the “First-Annual Batten Chili Cook-Off” for prospective students and the “Welcome Dinner” for newly-admitted students, I was impressed with the overwhelming talent, enthusiasm, and academic excellence of which the upcoming classes are comprised. As we prepare to graduate from this fine University, our class should be reassured that our commitment to developing the undergraduate program of the Batten School will not be without cause.

Instead, the future of this program rests soundly on the foundation which we have established over the past two years, and will only continue to flourish as we pass our torch as Policy Pioneers to the next wave of dedicated Batten undergrads.

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GUINEA PIGS

By Meagan MacDougall We were the guinea pigs for everything. At the start of every class it seemed like the novelty of the program, our cohort, and the course was stressed by our professors – so much so that we just learned to roll with it. Often we covered material that ended up being…not so useful and read books that could have been pared down to literally one paragraph. In essence, we helped make the experiences of everyone after us better than ours because we were the first and someone had to go through the struggle.

Knowing that we had no one to look up to or really go to for advice was probably one of the most difficult aspects of being “policy pioneers.” The other Batten students couldn’t relate to us, not the post-baccalaureates and certainly not the accelerated students. We had to navigate the coursework, heavy course load, and demanding assignments on our own with no precedent to look to for guidance. Being told we had no limits on projects was liberating but also extremely difficult because we just couldn’t know where the edges of acceptability lay until we fell over it ourselves. Through all of this though, we had one another. We all had to take the same classes at the same time so we went from being a group of strangers coming from all over the University, involved in drastically different organizations and courses, to a group of one. Classmates who shared notes openly and planned impromptu study sessions the night before an exam because we understood that where one person struggled, another excelled.

Through everything, we became a family. I don’t think any class after us will ever be as close as we were and as much as the group of us wants to pass that along, we realize – even within the second BA cohort – that they will never be as tightly knit (or as cool) as we were. They had the chance to take some of the core classes apart from their cohort, detracting from the unified nature and essence that made the program what it was to me and my classmates. I would not have wanted to be in this major without this specific group of people. Sure most of us probably didn’t know each other before orientation but each person brought their own personality to the halls of Garrett and into the lives of everyone else in a way that is irreplaceable and immeasurable.

We were the pioneers. We were the guinea pigs for every project. We were a group of strangers who became classmates and then friends. We were study and struggle buddies. We are the first undergraduate class of the Batten program. We are the first Batten family.

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AN ITERATIVE PROCESS

By Ozzie Brian It was a cold and rainy day when I entered Garrett Hall for the first time. Even though my trip was only to momentarily escape the harsh weather, it proved valuable when I was approached and informed about the new undergraduate program in Batten starting in the upcoming fall. It seemed and proved to be a great opportunity and I was fortunate enough to apply and get accepted into the first undergraduate class in the Batten School.

As the first class, we brought many pieces of ourselves to Batten and each has played a role in our experiences and the foundation for the program moving forward. Over my course in Batten, I continued to be amazed and inspired by the new ideas that our courses allowed us as students to develop and make reality. I really valued the flexibility that the newly introduced courses allowed us to have. Our feedback was genuinely valued as it served as the benchmark for the incoming students into the program. Moving forward, I can already see the changes in courses and administration to better accommodate the following undergraduate classes.

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DEAR FUTURE BATTEN B.A. STUDENTS,

By Marisa Schuler There is only one word to describe how I feel about my experience as a part of the first undergraduate Batten class, and it is this: blessed. While today in age that may sound controversial; while your Batten professors will likely never speak of religion, other than from a social, political or psychological perspective; whether you or your classmates believe in a god, karma, or nothing at all – I can find no other word that best articulates my past two years as a Batten student. The Batten School was the best thing that ever happened to me. And it did, indeed, happen to me. I stumbled upon the school in a flurry of emails as a first year, seeing only the master’s degree. If it weren’t for my father discovering that the school was creating an undergraduate program – to which I insisted he was mistaken – I would never have known about the opportunity. I would never have met some of the best people I have known in my life: the best professors, the best administrators, and the best friends.

This class has formed a unity and a bond that will be difficult to replicate. In some ways, that is wonderful. Each class should have its own identity, its own personalities that make it unique, and its own dreams to change. But I would, without a doubt, encourage you to pursue the spirit of the class of 2014. You have each been hand selected by a team who genuinely wants to see you change the world. If you applied to Batten, you all have something in common, and that is goodness. The first Batten class was – and I do not exaggerate – entirely full of genuinely good, kind people. The Batten School only served to sharpen and strengthen that goodness for the real world, and it will do the same for you. But you must seek to hold onto that openness; you must remain true to your idealism. Building friendships take time, but those you create in the Batten community will, once developed, hold steadfast forever.

While not a scientific conclusion, I would urge you to consider the possibility that you have each ended up here for a reason. Take the time to get to know one another.

Start small. Reach out to the person in the room who seems most different from you.

Learn how distinctive you all are – and let yourself be surprised at your commonalities.

Embrace change. You will most definitely evolve while at Batten. Let your community support you as you navigate the twists and turns of your path, and support your others as they traverse their own. Do not dwell, but keep it in the back of your mind that the proximity to such incredible people, at this time in your life, may not come again for some time. And be on the lookout for us wise, nostalgic alumni. I can guarantee you that we will return to share our love with the Batten family time and again, and do all that we can to keep the spirit of congeniality, erudite and zeal alive and well. We hope that you will find all that we did in Batten and more, and embrace the legacy we have left behind.

Best of Luck, Marisa Schuler 24

PART II

ACADEMIC ATMOSPHERE

“[Class] discussions made possible through our cohort’s underlying trust, respect, and familiarity, largely unmatched in other majors and schools at UVa, has helped me to develop a more holistic view of policy issues and course curriculum.”

- Casey Duggan

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BATTEN’S TWO EDUCATIONS

By Courtney Blandford “And we all nodded at him: the man of finance, the man of accounts, the man of law, we all nodded at him over the polished table that like a still sheet of brown water reflected our faces, lined, wrinkled; our faces marked by toil, by deceptions, by success, by love; our weary eyes looking still, looking always, looking anxiously for something out of life, that while it is expected is already gone – has passed unseen, in a sigh, in a flash – together with the youth, with the strength, with the romance of illusions.”

Joseph Conrad, “Youth” This excerpt, from Joseph Conrad’s short story Youth, was read to us by Professor Jim Todd in the last lecture of our last Batten class on April 29, 2014. A melancholy reflection about regret, Professor Todd reassured us that he was sure none of us would feel this way at the end of our lives. It was a gentle reminder, nonetheless. We did not talk about citizenship in Ancient Greece, in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century, or in America currently. We did not talk about political, civil, or social rights, the Liberal Tradition of citizenship versus the civic republican, duty-based citizenship versus engaged. Instead, we talked about how to have a good life. We were cautioned that making a lot of money may be nice but won’t necessarily make us happy, and that in the end there are other, more important things, that are sure to bring us more happiness, regardless.

Each of my professors in Batten has taken the time to share with the class some personal experience and words of wisdom, unrelated to our immediate academic pursuits, that will help us, they believe, lead more fulfilling lives. They shared their mistakes as openly as they shared their successes because they are not only concerned with preparing us for successful careers, but also for successful lives – and ultimately they made sure that we knew there are lot of different ways to achieve that. Because of Batten professors’ genuine interest in our wellbeing and willingness to share their own life experiences, I have grown considerably as an individual in my two years in Batten. I feel like I am leaving The Batten School with two educations – one in public policy and one in life. When I first applied to Batten I expected to be educated, but I have also been empowered. If when I am “lined” and “wrinkled” I reflect back on my life and happiness has not passed “unseen,” I will have many people to thank in my life, not least among them will be my professors at Batten.

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THE POWER OF PERSONALIZATION

By Kelsey Patterson While all Batten students are required to take core classes to provide a comprehensive framework to approach policy problems, we are also given the opportunity to take special topics classes.

Special topics classes allow for Batten students to take more classes based on their own interests. The classes cover a wide variety of topics from International Financial Institutions to Anti-Terrorism and the Role of Intelligence. Many of these classes are popular within the University and for some of them Batten actually has a set number of seats reserved to ensure that their students can enroll, which anyone who has struggled to get into classes can appreciate.

Special topics classes are also important for those who want to go abroad.

I spend my second semester of third year living and studying in London, England.

Batten was able to count my European Foreign Policy course as a special topic course. Since Batten is still new and doesn’t provide summer or J-term classes, without special topics studying abroad would be impossible. As Batten grows as a major I would hope more students take the opportunity to go abroad and take courses about the policy approaches of different countries, providing an interesting comparison to what we learn in our introduction classes. The special topics classes give Batten the flexibility their students desire, many of us have a multitude of interests and this category of classes allowed us to be active Batten students and still engage in supplementary interests.

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BATTEN SPEAKER SERIES

By Emily Ellis First arriving at a big university like UVA can feel overwhelming- so many people, so many classes, so many activities. How are we supposed to decide which classes to take, who to hang out with, what extracurricular activities to join? The Batten School expedites the decision-making process by offering the best of everything. There are key factors that make the Batten School a unique place to acquire my undergraduate education— I can write for hours about the sense of community, the unique classes, the mounds of free food in Garrett Hall, all well-known facts that have quickly been branded as distinct Batten characteristics. But I think this book is the perfect forum to divulge a little-known secret that makes studying at the Batten School a comprehensive academic experience: the guest speakers.

There are three reasons why listening to speeches should be a priority of college students.

First, it is a valid excuse to procrastinate on homework.

Second, it allows students to learn without the stress of being tested on the information.

We all come to college to learn, but sometimes we forget this when we are being swamped with homework or forced to read a 1,000 page book. Listening to someone else talk takes your mind off your own work, allows you to learn something new, and reminds you why learning can still be fun. Finally, it makes you smarter by igniting a hunger for more knowledge. Whether you become more curious about CIA anti-terrorist tactics or just plain wonder how someone can know so much about latrines in Senegal, listening to speakers can pique your interest and compel you to ask more questions.

Many departments offer public speeches, but the Batten School provides easier access and streamlines the options. In other words, Batten students do not have to go digging through e-mails or searching all of the department websites to compile a list of interesting speakers they might want to attend. The intimacy of Garrett Hall makes it impossible not to know when guests are visiting the Batten School. As soon as you walk into the lobby, a bulletin board detailing the week’s events welcomes you. Just beyond

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stand tall oak doors leading into the Great Hall, where the voices of speech-givers can be heard sharing their research, experiences, and invocations. The convenience of having speakers come to my second home definitely made it easier for me to attend as many speeches as I could. More importantly, it forced me to want to learn. The luxury of having access to all of these interesting speakers compelled me on multiple occasions to put off my homework just a little longer and instead take a seat and listen.

A particular event changed how much I valued access to so many great, free speeches. One day, on my way down to the Garrett Hall basement to do homework, I heard some sort of discussion in the Great Hall. A panel of women was discussing the role of women in public policy. “Whatever, women are enfranchised now and can do what they want,” I initially thought to myself. But, preferring to listen to the panel than do my homework, I took a seat and listened to them discuss the differences in lifestyle between those who did politics or practiced law versus those who chose federal or nonprofit jobs. I did not come to a conclusion of my own about which sector might be best fitting for me. I did, however, think about things that I never would have thought relevant to my 21-year-old self (“I don’t need to think about getting married, children, what schools I want to live near, I’m only 21!”). These women urged the audience to consider the lifestyle they want when choosing a profession, and choosing a profession will be based on the choices I make in college.

The Batten School is not just a place to go to learn in a classroom, it is a place where students can interact on a personal level with professors, learn from classmates, and have access to resources like public speakers. It creates opportunities to learn more about leadership, public policy, and life in general. This is what makes Batten not just a school for learning, but an experience for life.

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KNOWLEDGE AS POWER .

By Joniel Cha As a double-major of Leadership & Public Policy in the Batten School and Foreign Affairs in the Politics Department, I often compare and contrast the two majors. Thomas Jefferson’s principle that knowledge is power is the foundation upon which the Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics, under the College of Arts and Sciences, is built. The Politics Department draws upon history and the past to inform students and encourage them to make analyses. Most Politics courses evaluate students with papers and exams wherein students regurgitate what they have learned. There is little to nothing on current events and future implications. The practical application of said knowledge is simply not there. While students do acquire research and analytical skills, it is limited in scope and degree.

The Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, on the other hand, while still a liberal arts program, seeks to challenge, equip, and prepare students with an education more substantial. Policy memos are one key example demonstrating the Batten School’s goal of not simply educating, but also enhancing students in their skill sets. Not only do students learn about history and the past, but you will also look at current events and future issues, and then problem solve. You will compare and contrast alternative options, use cost-benefit analysis, and predict policy implications to provide their proposed recommendation. This forces you to think even more critically and analytically. Moreover, students do not merely work with a theoretical framework, but also use data analysis and statistics to support their claims. The Batten School also has you work in groups and make presentations, which is not done in the Politics Department with the exception of seminar courses. I have had a unique opportunity of taking a class with graduate students as classmates, not just TAs. Through this, I not only learned from the professor and peers as I usually do in typical classes, but I also learned from MPP students as well– including their insights and experiences. Thus, the Batten School provides a fuller and deeper education that equips students with not just knowledge but also practical skills. You have a bright future ahead and a wonderful privilege at the Batten School; take advantage of it and make the most of your time here.

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LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP

By Ian Van der Hoven I was fortunate enough to organize and welcome General Dennis L. Via, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Materiel Command, and the first four-star general in the history of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, to launch the Batten Undergraduate Council’s leadership speaker series. General Via, father of fellow Batten undergraduate Brian Via, was gracious enough to speak to the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. He spoke mainly about his leadership experience and imparted advice to the future leaders and policy makers gathered in the Great Hall.

As an experienced leader at the pinnacle of his field, General Via was an excellent first speaker. I clearly remember, and take to heart, one particular piece of advice: always work as hard as you can at anything and everything you do, for such behavior will be noticed and positively affect your reputation, which an aspiring future leader knows follows you throughout your career. As I slowly trudged through my last few finals of my undergraduate career, I tried to follow General Via’s advice. For though the incentives to abide by the motto “Fourth Year don’t care” were extremely tempting, I understood my work ethic is a skill always being practiced and honed. Now is not the time to start slacking off.

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THE HANGING QUESTION

By Casey Duggan All of my life, I have been pushed to ask questions. As a child and teenager, the idea of asking a question—public speaking, admitting a moment of confusion, voicing my opinion, making myself vulnerable— seemed incredibly daunting. Despite the ongoing encouragement of my parents and teachers to do so, there was always some deep-rooted sense of hesitation to “take the plunge.” I soon discovered that it takes a certain atmosphere, and the company of a very caring and close-knit group of individuals to make this state of vulnerability both bearable and gratifying.

The atmosphere that has been generated amongst our cohort of Leadership and Public Policy majors has done just that. Since the beginning of our Third Year, I have never felt more comfortable in initiating and contributing to genuine discussion both in and outside of the classroom. Both faculty and students within the Undergraduate major, and the Batten school as a whole, support and encourage each other to speak their mind and voice their opinion. This authentic and candid conversation has allowed for the unfiltered discussion of opposing opinions and perspectives. The discussion made possible through our cohort’s underlying trust, respect, and familiarity, largely unmatched in other majors and schools at UVa, has helped me to develop a more holistic view of policy issues and course curriculum. The ability to ask a question will always be nerve-wracking, but when surrounded by the caring and compassionate community that has come to define Batten, a task that I once considered daunting has become one of enjoyment.

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FAMILIAR FACES

By Brian Gonzalez Imagine walking into class and already knowing every student – not just as acquaintances you might have had a prior course with, but as real friends. I feel as though this has been one of the greatest aspects of the academic life for the first BA class in the Batten School’s history. You somehow make it to 9am Stats class on Friday and immediately as you open the door you see every seat filled with your friends that are feeling your same pain. You walk into the first class of the new semester perhaps nervous about how tough economics may be but are greeted by a room full of friends who you know will make the class fun and help you along the way.

I also double majored in English and the difference really is quite stark. Walking into a class discussion of 20 people for the survey course and not knowing a single person gets old quick – not even to mention the 300+ lectures were the community aspect that our class has built is nowhere to be found. With this unique community we have been able to learn each other’s likes and dislikes, in policy, but also in life.

Especially important is the fact that we have become so comfortable with one another that we are not afraid to voice our opinions in and outside of class. In my Batten classes I have seen more people open to express themselves and to also except other’s opinions than in any other courses I’ve taken at the University. The past two years have felt like a family, one unit taking each step together as it comes along.

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CLASSROOM CAMARADERIE .

By Alex Kim

The academic atmosphere at the Batten School, among other things, is what I think sets us apart from other programs at UVA. It encourages engagement, provides challenges, and nurtures a sense of community. My classmates and I, hereinafter called the Batten family, have been provided with the unique opportunity of being the first undergraduate class at the Batten School and have benefitted from a great program.

I think the curriculum was designed to foster engagement. Granted a few large classes with other students, the Batten family was predominantly together in small classrooms. This not only allowed for great discussions, but it also encouraged everyone to feel comfortable and become engaged in class activities.

Our coursework was nothing short of challenging but it helped us to gain a solid understanding of policy issues and develop analytical skills necessary for policymaking.

The Batten family was forced to think creatively and critically as we worked to tackle policy issues that our leaders face today.

The sense of camaraderie the Batten family has developed contributed the most to the unique academic atmosphere at the Batten School. Although we may not always share the same viewpoints (especially on policy issues), we are always supportive of one another. With all the group activities and projects, and social events, we have become more than just classmates.

I am fortunate to have been part of the first Batten family and I hope the students that follow will also have the great experiences that I have had!

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WORKING OUT THE KINKS

By Emily-Page Rasmussen This major is incredibly unique in that it is not only small, but brand-new. Though that occasionally means kinks in the academics program, those were more than made up for by the fantastically responsive faculty and professors. The staff was actually really interested in student feedback (sending multiple emails to remind us for professor and class reviews), and even requested surveys midsemester so that changes could be made immediately for the students in the class, and the professors could work on any problems that had cropped up during their courses.

Professors were absolutely willing to listen to their students and take into account their thoughts on class structure, projects, deadlines, and even material that we wanted to cover and feedback on readings and lectures. Professors wanted to push us to new standards in our academic work, and asked us to put unprecedented amounts of time and effort into our projects. When we occasionally asked for more time to do so, or for one on one help and advice, they were more than willing to accommodate. From allnighters pulled while working on a digital media project for Comparative Policy History, to bi-weekly meetings for a project to get the Common Core standards passed in all 50 states, group work is a standout in my memories of Batten. Professors encouraged us to work cooperatively as a team, and to come to them frequently with updates and questions.

The newness of the major not only meant being pushed to new heights in academics, it meant incredible flexibility in what we chose to do. Most projects allowed us to pick almost any topic we could think of to work on, which meant we were able to develop and pursue passions and a focus in certain policy areas. I found my passions in education policy, choosing to work on the Common Core in Paul Martin’s policy class, and health care policy, finishing my group thesis on U.S. health care costs and options for reducing prices through my capstone seminar with Professor Scheppach.

The availability of staff and professors and the closeness between them and students was a huge part of making Batten a worthwhile major. Professors got to know students in the small Batten-only classes, and actually wanted to see us outside of class (Professor Todd offered multiple opportunities through bird-watching and operawatching). They indulged the Batten Council whenever we wanted to set up dinners and events with them, and even enjoyed them. Being part of the beginning of the “Batten Family� not only meant growing close to my classmates, but to my professors and the Batten staff as well.

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SAILING UNCHARTERED TERRITORY

By Rachel Locke One of the beauties of the Batten academic atmosphere is there is usually someone struggling through the same kind of assignment you are, whether it is for a class we all have to take together, a special topics course, or in a group capstone project.

While this provides ample opportunity for procrastination, it is also helpful to know everyone else is in the same boat you are. And thankfully, there is usually someone in this boat who actually knows what he or she is doing.

Even though everyone in Batten has outside interests, there is a great rally of coordination for the classes we all do have to take together. Going into the program academically, it was a terrifying but comforting feeling that my fellow BA students had no more experience in what our next two years would be like than I did. We couldn’t really ask anyone older what the classes would be like, or look up course reviews, because these classes were new, and created for us. We mostly knew the names of our required classes and professors, but were lacking in the details. I believed this sort of uncertainty had the potential to be detrimental, with everyone focusing on his or her own academic success. Instead our class chose to work together. The undetermined future going our classes was an opportunity for our class to learn to depend on one another.

The other comfort in the academic atmosphere that I had not experienced before the Batten program is that I know my input about classes/ assignments/ teachers will be taken into consideration and can actually be passed on to future Batten classes. There is no one in a better position than our class to give honest and fresh feedback, since we have the potential to change the academic atmosphere at Batten, and set the tone for future classes.

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TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

By Emily Schenck When I think about the academic environment within the Batten school, the words that come to mind are supportive, encouraging, and stimulating. It exceeded any and all expectations I had less than two years ago when I walked into my first Batten class.

One surprising element that I was not anticipating was the large amount of group projects and assignments. At first, I was hesitant--group projects do not always have the best reputation. However, after my first group project in “Value and Bias in Public Policy” during my first semester in Batten, I realized its benefits. Group work hones many important skills, like the ability to communicate effectively, time management, and discussing or debating crucial issues. Additionally, group work allows for diverse perspectives and thinking about things in a new light.

Another aspect that I enjoyed about our many group projects was the diversity of the assignments themselves. Assignments ranged from creating a blog about a shared policy interest, to making a digital story about the history of a policy issue, to thinking of creative ways to approach leadership dilemmas, to developing a strategy and advertisement to pass a bill, to writing a semester-long Capstone thesis paper about healthcare. Not only did I learn so much about the actual material that we researched, but also how to gather and present information in a variety of different ways.

Finally, our group projects helped us to bond as a class. I do not think any of us had expected to become so close by the end of our two years in Batten, and I think it is largely because of the time we spent together working on assignments in and out of class. We were able to learn so much about our classmates in so many ways and because of this, I believe I have grown as a person.

Overall, the Batten academic experience has been beneficial in many ways. Most notably for me, the group projects helped me develop many necessary skills and I can say with confidence that I now feel exponentially more prepared for the real world.

My academic experience at UVa would not have been nearly as invigorating and worthwhile if it weren’t for the Batten school.

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LEADING BY EXAMPLE

By Bridget Stock “He said a leader needs to have integrity, clarity of vision, a purpose you could understand and communicate, strong values, a strong team – and that means picking the right people and creating an environment where they can succeed, developing them, and letting them make mistakes.”

Connie Sage, author of a 2011 biography titled “Frank Batten: The Untold Story of the Founder of the Weather Channel”, describes Mr. Batten’s vision for an emerging generation of leaders. Those leaders comprise the first undergraduate class of UVa’s Frank Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy. Garrett Hall is our birthplace.

Washington D.C. is our playground. We unite under a commitment to public service and a desire to create change. We are pioneers.

Batten’s undergraduate academic experience is defined by group collaboration, a strong professor-student relationship, and an unparalleled interdisciplinary approach to policymaking. Across all Batten courses, one aspect stands out: the quality of guest speakers and our opportunity to engage them in a variety of topics. In Public Policy Challenges of the 21st Century, we engaged Howard Hoege on drone policy and Justin Brookman on online privacy and cyber security. In the U.S. Policy toward Asia capstone course, we gained new insight on the Sino-American relationship, but also heard sound career advice from Ambassador Jeffery Bader and from Admiral Joseph Prueher. In Ethical Dimensions of Civic Life, Dr. Mohan Nadkarni spoke about giving back to the community as engaged citizens.

These academic sessions with strategic thinkers, lobbyists, and senators empowered me to understand the need for balance between theory and practice in the policy world. Howard Hoege remarked he is wary that policymakers understand the magnitude of human impact embedded in the decision to launch a drone strike.

Ambassador Bader described the Trans-Pacific Partnership as ideal in thought but likely unfeasible.

The undergraduate curriculum integrates a wide variety of approaches toward one common goal of policy implementation. We examine policymaking from historical, philosophical, and psychological perspectives - a range of interconnected lenses that ultimately fixate on one objective: great policy. This multi-faceted approach empowers us to weigh the cost and benefits of a policy and ultimately translate theory into practice.

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Perhaps most rewarding, however, proved to be our chance to engage guest speakers on their career paths, thoughts on leadership qualities, and best ethical practices as frontrunners in public service. I asked Admiral Prueher what he believes is the most underappreciated talent or trait amongst leaders in the public arena today.

He responded that “quiet leadership” is often less admired but ultimately more effective.

The most commended leaders are not always those who seek media exposure in order to convey their beliefs, and perhaps it is today’s role of media in the political realm has prompted quiet leadership to go underappreciated. I encourage all current and future members of Batten’s undergraduate program to consider Admiral Prueher’s advice. As newcomers to the policy arena, we have the opportunity to alter to way in which the public appreciates its leaders.

On May 18, 1963, John F. Kennedy addressed Vanderbilt University students for the institution’s 90th anniversary and said: “You will have the unequaled satisfaction of knowing that your character and talent are contributing to the direction and success of this free society.” Similarly, in part through out exposure with renowned guest speakers, Batten has equipped us with the necessary skills, knowledge, and fervor for change needed to go forth as engaged citizens inclined to perform public duty.

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PART III:

BATTEN AND THE UNIVERSITY “We not only hold a strong Jeffersonian work ethic, but as Batten students we approach problems and solutions while integrating the implications of ethical dimensions, practicality, leadership, policy history and political consequences.�

- Preethi Varma

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UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS

By Sara Dax

Most prominent, in my mind, is the diversity of interests and backgrounds that constitute our class. We are, in this sense, unlike any other major. Batten is a unique place where a varsity athlete, an APO volunteer, a student leader, and foodie can come together and flourish in the shared academic and social space of Garrett Hall.

For me, Batten was always a place where I believed I could dream about a better world and could acquire the tools needed to make it real. While the coursework provided the tools, I have also been privileged to meet, know, and learn with a wonderful group of people with vastly different interests and involvements. I’m not sure I can think of another department at the University of Virginia that can claim quite the same diversity.

The first time I met Howard Hoege at an information sessions, I remember him emphasizing diversity and his desire to create a class defined, ultimately, by seriously different experiences. He spoke of Batten’s mission to consider its applicants holistically, especially noting their passion, whether it was for national security, public housing, or social justice.

So, thank you, Howard, for handpicking one of the most unexpected blessings of my undergraduate career.

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ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES

By Brian Via The University of Virginia is a world-renowned public university, known for its rigorous academic courses, student governance, and Honor Code. Subsequently, it takes an incredible academic program filled with extraordinary people to make a profound impact on such a highly esteemed university, in a short amount of time. That is exactly what the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy has done over the last five years.

In previous years, the University was known for the McIntire School of Commerce or the Curry School of Education. But in recent years, more and more excitement is being generated around the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Formed under the dream of one of America’s most brilliant men, Frank Batten, who had a vision of a program centered on grooming insightful leaders for the challenges of tomorrow, the Batten school is unlike any other school at UVA. Three academically rigorous programs providing a world-class education and unparalleled opportunities for student leadership and growth, the Batten school and its policy pioneers are leading the University of Virginia to unseen heights.

In just five short years, the Batten school has placed graduates in the highest offices of government, at some of the most coveted businesses, and most prestigious non-profit organizations. It has drawn the attention of a slough of prominent guest speakers, ranging from a former U.S. Supreme Court Justice and current U.S. Army Four Star General, to several sitting U.S. Congressmen and key policymakers, all of whom lead our country towards the America of tomorrow. If the Batten school has attained this level of clout in just five years, it’s remarkable to think where the school will be five, or even ten years from now - the possibilities are endless.

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BATTEN BOYS TAKE ON LONDON

By Dalton Stokes The Batten School, while relatively new, has still integrated itself into the greater University community. A prime example of this integration, while still remaining its own entity, is the Batten School’s participation in the “UVA in Oxford Summer Program.” I along with Ian Van der Hoven, Emily Schenk, Amy Syvrud, and Becca Kim, were afforded the opportunity to take the inaugural Batten specific class at University College Oxford, in Oxford, England. We learned about EU policy, international citizenship, and alternative dispute resolution just to name a couple topics. But more than just the book knowledge, I was exposed first hand to international culture. I had never been out of the country. I learned more than I could ever imagine.

But on one particular weekend, Ian and I left Oxford to visit another Batten Student who happened to have in internship in London, Seth Nelson. Seth had already been in London for most of the summer and knew his way around. Ian and I took a bus close to Seth’s residence and waited for him to get off work. We met up on a Friday afternoon and spent the weekend together having Seth be our guide around London.

Wow. First thing Saturday morning we woke up early and bussed to Wimbledon. Yeah, Seth had in internship in which he literally worked in Wimbledon Arena under court 2. Ian and I were in for a treat when we were allowed an all access pass to walk the sacred grounds, sit in the press conference chairs of the likes of Federer, and Nadal, and touch the perfectly manicured grass.

But the day was still young; we took the Underground to Central London and walked. We walked wherever our legs could take us. In the next seven hours we saw the London eye, the Rosetta Stone, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Westminster, and Tower Bridge. We ended the day in a pub as it started to rain, the perfect end to a classic day in London, rain.

But our night did not end there. We began talking in the pub like we hadn’t seen each other in 20 years. The three of us had only known each other for a mere two semesters but felt like old friends. Batten was our only tie. But it is a tie that brought three guys together over the pond for a weekend of culture and experience. Now I am not going to lie, I forgot some of the names of the places we visited in London, but one thing I will not forget is the time I spent with Ian and Seth as we romped around one of the most famous cities in the world.

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BATTEN’S GREATEST GIFT

By Will Warren The Batten School is an imperfect synecdoche. In many ways the relationship between the Batten School and UVA holds. The Batten School has typifies UVA’s culture of overachievement. The Batten School has its own social groups, CIOs, and student government. Our class is diverse in every sense of the word. I imagine a visitor, separated from his tour, wandering aimlessly into Garrett. Here he finds students working, discussing the news, and laughing. He says to himself, “what a fine group of UVA students,” unaware he has crossed into the dominion of Frank Batten.

If he were to stay, he would unearth the subtle differences. The Great Hall is more elegant than the Chemistry Building and Mellow Mushroom does not flow freely in the Economics Department. Most UVA students rarely discuss CBO scoring for fun.

Most importantly, he notes, “the Batten School feels like a small town; everyone knows your name.” Indeed, if UVA permits anonymity, the Batten School enforces familiarity.

When I entered Garret for the first time as a Batten student a stranger greeted me by name. I thought little of it and continued about my business. We quickly learned each other’s names and grew quite close outside of class. Small classes led to strong relationships with faculty. The transformation went almost unnoticed, but the mysterious creatures that inhabited the solarium turned into friends and peers. I am now greeted by friends, not strangers.

Most importantly, we developed the expectation that every member of the class engage wholly in the Batten School. The Batten School is nationalistic in a way UVA cannot be. It is your prerogative to skip a football game or the block party, but forgoing a Batten semi-formal? High treason. When you sit down on the trolley there’s no expectation to share your life story with the person sitting next to you. In Batten there’s a directive to divulge. UVA, a school of 14,000 allows for anonymity; Batten does not.

Even those who are uninterested in the Batten School are unable to remain anonymous. It takes an active effort to maintain any sort of distance, and even then the rest of the school speculates on your absenteeism. “Perhaps they’re sick?” or “a spy from the School of Commerce.” It is possible to be conspicuously absent, but not anonymous.

I hope this does not read as a critique of the Batten School. In fact, it I believe this forced familiarity is our greatest asset. As a Resident Advisor and First Year Seminar facilitator I’ve seen many students falter at the University because they are unable to make this place familiar. They remain trapped in anonymity and go through their days unidentified. They are decidedly unhappy.

Ultimately, the Batten School is no different from another CIO or Greek organization or first year hall. The Batten School is a way to make the enormous universe of the University manageable. It is a way to make friends, get involved, and thrive. It is a way to find people you care about and people who care about you. This is Batten’s greatest gift, and one we will all cherish.

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NOVEL OPPORTUNITIES

By Charles Kim Even though the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy was founded and established about seven years ago, its undergraduate program was launched just a year ago in 2013.

And ever since its start, the undergraduate program along with the school in its entirety has become a notable and integral part of the University of Virginia community.

And in a short span of time, the Batten School has been able to acquire national recognition as one of the top Public Policy programs in the United States.

The Batten School has not only contributed to the bettering of the University’s reputation as a prestigious institution but also to offering the students at the University a better education and professional experience during their time at the school. The prestige and the experience it is able to offer have attracted attention from both prospective students and professionals.

In addition to the School adding to the University of Virginia’s prestige, the Frank Batten School has been able to amalgamate the different disciplines offered at the University of Virginia. The nature of the field of study and coursework has enabled the Batten School to incorporate a large number of disciplines—including economics, psychology, sociology, environmental science, etc.—into its curriculum at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Hence, the School offers students the ability and opportunity to widen their perspectives and expand on their academic exposure.

Since its founding, the Frank Batten School has become a significant supplement to the University of Virginia. Not only has it added to the University’s prestige and recognition but also to the academic opportunities that it has given to its students.

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THE BATTEN IDENTITY

By Victor Nguyen As the inaugural Bachelor class of Batten, one of the most frequent questions I get asked was “Oh are you staying an extra year for the MPP program?” Because of which, one of the main goals for the Batten Undergraduate Council was to establish a Batten Undergraduate identity within the UVA community.

Thankfully, all 43 members of our class were very involved within the UVA community (and the Charlottesville community). We were involved with Class Trustees, Student Council, UJC, Greek, Queer Student Union, Persian Cultural Society, Middle Eastern Leadership Council, Korean Student Association, and many others. As a result, we were able to slowly establish a sense of identity within our peers. For me, aside from being the Treasurer of BUC, I was also involved with Queer Student Union, worked for the Office of the Deans of Students, and interned at the City of Charlottesville. I’m pretty sure everyone who has worked with me is still pretty sick of hearing how much I love Batten and the opportunities we get. Batten has provided us with great speakers, amazing food, and of course, interesting classes. Oh, did I mention amazing food? (It’s no wonder Batten’s nickname is Fatten).

After two years with Batten, I hope we have left a great legacy. I hope 5, 10, 20, or even 40 years from now, we can come back and proudly say that we have left our footprints on the sands of time, and see how esteemed this program has become, both nationally and internationally.

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A DISTINCT DYNAMIC

By Joniel Cha The Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy is physically located in Garrett Hall on the Central Grounds of the University of Virginia. Yet the Batten School does not just take up space; and it is not merely a program, school, or building. It adds a special and distinct dynamic to UVa as a whole. Indeed, the words that come to mind when I hear the word Batten are family and community. And these are the words that I want to leave with you to fill you with hope.

The Batten School is a loving, caring, and tight-knit community that invests in each individual personally. The faculty, staff, and administration give advice coupled with friendship. The alumni provide unique networking opportunities. Peers offer companionship and mutual growth. Younger BA students allow upperclassmen to step up, mentor, and bond with them – just as some MPP students have done for upperclassmen BA students. To top it off, each class even has its own Facebook group to communicate with, support, and get to know one another, as well as to plan events. I have been challenged to improve my writing and critical thinking skills. I am very grateful that professors and teaching assistants would take the time to provide constructive criticism and go out of their way to help and support me.

True to the well-earned title and well-deserved label of family, the Batten School not only nurtures its members, but also feeds them with free food! From sandwiches to salads, pizzas to dessert, the Batten School generously provides for all. But it doesn’t stop there; the Batten School also invites and hosts amazing guest speakers open to all Batten students free of charge. As a result, both one’s head and stomach are satisfied. No wonder why students justifiably and lovingly call it the Fatten School.

I have fallen in love with Batten, and I hope many more, such as yourselves, will have the same privilege of being a part of the Batten family and fall in love with it too.

The Batten community is what you make of it. May the ceiling of my BA ’14 class be your floor, and may you build upon and expand from where we have left off.

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A JEFFERSONIAN HERITAGE

By Alex Kim With its foundation set on public service and leadership, the Batten School is a quintessential part of the UVA community. The Batten School has stood out with its notable guest speakers and its successes in university-wide competitions. Most importantly, however, is the Batten School’s indisputable commitment to develop future leaders in society.

Our professors and faculty have worked hard to show the Batten family how we can make a difference in the community. For example, we have had numerous opportunities to work with non-profit organizations, community leaders, and social entrepreneurs to tackle issues they are working to solve.

The Batten School has hosted speakers like former White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers and Stanford’s d.School co-founder George Kembel who have attracted students from different study areas to Garrett Hall. Whether it was intended or not, such events have helped reach out to the UVA community and instill the importance of public service and leadership.

The increasing number of applicants to the Batten School reflects the rising demand in students who want to further their understanding and knowledge of public service and leadership. I hope that the Batten School continues to grow and expand its influence in the UVA and Charlottesville communities. I strongly believe that the Batten School’s goal truly represents UVA’s Jeffersonian heritage.

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THE BATTEN MOCK CONGRESS .

By Preethi Varma The Batten School brings together a very diverse group of students, students from different majors and even extracurricular activities. When I first started the undergraduate Batten program, it was the first time where I was in a classroom with students from all backgrounds and interests. Despite our differing backgrounds, we have the shared goal of bringing about positive change in our communities. That vision will be held by all of us after graduation and I think we all have exemplified that within the rest of the UVa community.

I always pictured our group as a “Mock Congress,” or a decision-making body, which holds diverse opinions and experiences. Together, our Congress engaged in riveting discussion, class projects and strived to find creative solutions for today’s policy problems. By being University of Virginia students, we are active members of the community. Batten students take it up a notch. In Batten, we not only hold a strong Jeffersonian work ethic, but as Batten students we approach problems and solutions while integrating the implications of ethical dimensions, practicality, leadership, policy history and political consequences.

Batten had an impressionable year within the University community. As students, all of us are actively engaged in various realms of student life ranging from StudCo, the Greek community, various cultural groups, to small CIOs. We all are leaders in our various organizations because we share similar the Batten philosophy and come together to solve problems facing our community. We will continue to attract leaders throughout the University.

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“LEAD FROM ANYWHERE”

By Marisa Schuler The Batten School has been charged with an important mission, one that is challenging in this fast-paced, technologic world. Batten has promised its students that, upon graduation, they will be able to Lead from Anywhere. Just as your professors and administrators will do all they can to equip you with the tools to pursue that promise, you, as a Batten student, must embrace the opportunity, and look to learn from those around you. As you will see, “anywhere” in this context applies to any place – to any person, of any age, from any level of supposed ‘power’. As you will learn, leadership can come from all ranks, all walks of life. It can be open and demanding and robust, as when students before you protested the removal of President Teresa Sullivan.

It can be small and quiet and steady: the wisdom of a soft-spoken teaching assistant, whose ideas and genius knock you off your feet in shock of words so big coming from someone who appeared so small. It can be visible, in the form of banners hanging between the columns at Garrett Hall; or it can be imperceptible, a subtle shift of mood in the wake of a collective realization following a serious group deliberation. Leadership truly is everywhere at the Batten School, and its lessons are seeping into the culture of the University of Virginia, hungry for the kind of thoughts and actions of those who are being cultivated for greatness.

Do not be afraid of this responsibility, or the change it will bring. The Batten School will become more competitive. Its leaders must not – and will not – lose sight of the original mission, or the spirit the school has developed over the years, especially in its first undergraduate class. While inevitably not as mature, and certainly less professionally developed, an undergraduate student body will bring the raw optimism and idealism that will foster an atmosphere of hope and an appetite for knowledge thriving at the Batten School. Public policy undergraduates provide the perfect complement to the brilliant and prestigious MPP students the school is already attracting. The classes combined, supported by and armed with a growing faculty and staff whose own accomplishments extend both globally and internally, into the heart of the school, will allow Batten to transform the University of Virginia. The potential for impact is enormous, and we as the first undergraduate class cannot wait to see what is accomplished in the future.

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MORE THAN A MAJOR

By Neil Branch As part of the first undergraduate class of the Batten School, we had the responsibility of finding our identity at UVA. The Masters in Public Policy program had already established itself for attracting the top leaders at the University and from outside through its accelerated program and two-year program. These leaders came with a very specific and narrow scope of interests and really wanted to be masterful in public policy. However, the challenge of our class is we had a group of individuals who had not defined their interests moving forward and sought to really understand the philosophical underpinnings of public policy. With this challenge and also wanting to be unique at the University we set forward to meet this challenge.

In moving forward, we needed to show that we had a unique culture to attract people at UVA. Many people come in to UVA knowing they want to do the nursing school, or commerce school or be pre-med so how could we make those people say I am pre-public policy? We all realized the importance of the Batten School’s undergraduate program really standing on its own and not being a back-up for students who did not get into Commerce School, Politics Honors, Political and Social Thought and the various other majors. We wanted to be students’ number one choice.

The first way Batten School has distinguished itself is the high quality academics.

The Batten School focuses on making its students versatile and making sure they experience all aspects of public policy. The rigorous and comprehensive curriculum offers students a chance to explore a variety of interests. Courses like value and bias show the psychological underpinnings of people as future followers and ones we serve through policy. The economics of public policy then shows how critical economics and economic thinking underscores analysis and acceptance of new policies. Then courses like ethical dimensions of civic life or policy and institutions then provide the philosophy and background in better interpreting policy. Batten School does not thrive due to one class but thrives because the combination of all these elements.

The second way the Batten School sets up a unique opportunity is the way it provides students to be leaders. The Batten School understands that students are not made into leaders simply in the classroom setting. Instead the various extracurricular opportunities prepare students for a lifetime of service and leadership. One critical opportunity has been through Batten Undergraduate Council. Instead of the administration hosting events for students, they trust the student leaders of the class to know the interests and desires of students best. In addition to BUC, there are many chances for students to get involved with other student government to represent Batten.

This allows students to engage in activities like Student Council, University Judiciary Committee and Honor. Outside of these roles, Batten School provides many opportunities to develop professionally and as a leader. The Batten school brings leaders

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like Jim Webb and Mark Warner to speak on the fundamentals of leadership and our world today. Additionally, there are plenty of chances to learn more about public policy opportunities in the real world from NGO’s, to government to private companies.

It is then through these lessons that Batten has distinguished itself. It is not a program just where you go if you want to study policy. It is a program you join if you want to become a leader. If you wish to really give back and serve your community.

Where you go if you make an impact on the many future generations.

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OUR BATTEN FAMILY

By Elizabeth Aghili Four years ago, I started to cry as I read my acceptance letter to UVA. I was ecstatic, knowing that I had just gotten accepted into one of the top schools in the country. What I didn’t know was that I would come to love UVA so much that by the time I was a fourth year, I would start to cry again, every time I thought about graduating and leaving this place that I had come to call home. The Batten School had everything to do with that. It has been such an integral part of my UVA experience, that I can hardly separate the two.

With a lot of programs, you have to choose when you want to be a UVA student and when you want to be a member of that school. However, Batten has done an amazing job of integrating into UVA culture, while still having Batten-specific events.

For instance, they have an event for Lighting of the Lawn, we had our own Foxfield’s plot, we’ve had tailgates for UVA football games, and we’re having our own Batten events for graduation. These are all UVA wide events that Batten has become a part of.

This way, we don’t have to differentiate between when we want to be a UVA student and when we want to partake in Batten festivities- we can easily do both and merge the two worlds together. I believe that this has been one of the greatest strengths of the batten program.

Furthermore, Batten hasn’t just been an academic program; it has been a family for us, with its own distinct culture.

No other program at UVA, not even the famous Commerce School is as close knit and family oriented as Batten is. I can confidently say that every member of our class can name the first and last names of all other 43 students in our class. We have had countless memories together and find ways to hang out at every opportunity. From studying abroad to birthday parties to dinners out, there is always a “Batten picture” taken for each event that has more than two of us in attendance. There are few people who could say that about their majors.

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VALUE ADDED

By Courtney Blandford “Every day the opportunity for leadership stands before you… Every day you have the chance to make a difference in the lives of people around you.”

- Heifetz and Linsky, “Leadership on the Line” One of the most unique aspects of the Batten School is the interdisciplinary access it affords its students. Not only is there diversity of academic backgrounds within the class, but also within the curriculum itself. One of the first things students learn in Batten is that public policy spans all aspects of life. From science to healthcare to foreign relations to the economy, the public policy student must be able to navigate a broad range of fields. Perhaps daunting at first, students are promptly given the skills and encouragement, if not to feel confident, at least to feel at ease outside their comfort zone.

Outside of Batten these skills allowed me to be more a part of UVA. Academically, I became far more comfortable taking classes outside of public policy and politics. Moreover, in each of these classes I was able to contribute a unique perspective. In turn my Batten classes often afforded me the opportunity to apply what I learned in classes outside of Batten. There are many opportunities to explore vastly different areas of public policy while in Batten, and exploration is highly encouraged.

There is an emphasis on inter-disciplinary exploration not afforded by many other majors. My Batten classes also helped me in my position as president of the Figure Skating Club at UVA. I learned many leadership skills that helped me more effectively manage the club and help it expand.

I doubt my experience is unique among my class and I expect that this ability to become more involved in the UVA community both in academics and in extracurricular activities will be one of the defining aspects of the Batten School in the future. Not only is Batten a wonderful part of UVA in itself, it also gives back to the university by enabling and encouraging its students to be a bigger part of UVA in their own way. With many of its students in leadership positions and all of its students eager to make a difference, Batten’s reach is far more expansive than its numbers.

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A CROSS-DEPARTMENTAL ADVANTAGE

By Meagan McDougall These past two years in Batten we’ve been able to watch what was more or less an experiment to see if undergraduates could handle a toned down graduate level program grow into a program that prospective first years and thinking about. It’s crazy to think that something that didn’t even exist at the start of our first year has grown into such a rigorous, immersive, and yet collaborative program. When I first entered into UVa the program to get into was Comm School. Now when I talk to first years a lot of them are talking about Batten. The program I happened to be blessed to join and form is becoming just as competitive as the beloved Comm School and in a couple years I think they’ll be on equal standing as both programs churn out analysts that companies are vying for.

Almost everyone in the first class of undergraduates double majored with another topic within the College and I’m almost positive that is a trend likely to continue. The skills we learn through Batten are multi-disciplinary and I firmly believe that the skills and material covered in other majors are helping to shape the courses offered in Batten and the dynamics of Batten students. Being a double-major myself with AfricanAmerican Studies, although it was difficult not having anyone else who could relate to me or who had taken the Batten classes, it was a nice academic balance between the two and it’s encouraging to notice that more people who are interested in Batten are also exploring their other interests.

The presence of Batten at UVa and the cross-departmental programs hosted have grown to expand the attention students pay to policies and to the leaders who are able to impact policy changes. It’s refreshing and humbling to be able to say that we were lectured by policy professionals and leaders. Through their knowledge, students at UVa are able to challenge the way they view policies, the University, and the government as they analyze points for reform and work to end up in a position that can actually realize their ambitions.

Batten is still a relatively new program on Grounds but the opportunities it has afforded to students and faculty alike is likely to continue growing and providing paths to personal and professional success.

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GIVE AND TAKE

By Lauren Cricchi Sure, I’ve always been a Wahoo. I always knew I wanted to come to UVA; I knew the lay of the land, I knew the Good Old Song, I knew my parents (not so) secretly wanted me to follow in their footsteps and be in the Comm School. I also knew that I was very fortunate to have had the education I did through the Collegiate School in Richmond, where I had attended 5th-12th grade and that it had primed me for the top tier education I was poised to begin at the University. What I did not expect, however, is what Collegiate didn’t prepare me for.

I got to UVA thinking I was ready for everything that came my way. I didn’t really have a good idea of what I wanted to study, but I thought I would figure it out pretty quickly. Boy, was I wrong. I had never been in a class larger than 20, much less 200. I didn’t understand what the point of office hours were because if I had ever wanted to talk to my teacher, I would just stop them in the hallway or after school at a football game. I had been great at Calculus, but college statistics and economics were a whole different story. I had declared not one but two other majors before I stumbled upon an information session for the brand-new, not-yet-certified undergraduate program at the Batten School. It was almost serendipitous that Howard Hoege distinctly reminded me of Collegiate’s own Dean of Admissions, who had changed the course of my life for the better all the way back in 5th grade. Howard put on a good show, and my star-crossed path to Batten led me through humbly failing an econ test before I realized I needed to find a new major. And so, the day before leaving the country for Brazil for ten days, I applied to the Batten School. It may be cheesy, but it was the best decision I have ever made at the University.

I immediately jumped into my coursework at Batten. While big classes in the College had left me feeling either incompetent, bored, or lacking direction, everything clicked when I was learning it through the lens of public policy. Whether it was social psychology, economics, statistics, history, or politics, every course I had taken thus far at UVA had somehow prepared me for Batten. But now, I had inspirational, talented, and most importantly approachable and helpful professors to guide me. I hadn’t realized until then how much I missed the close-knit learning environment in which I had thrived in high school, and how lucky I was to have found something so special in college. Thus, I began to invest even more of myself into this new program that had already given me so much. From there, the Batten Undergraduate Council was born… and the rest, as many of you know, is history!

Looking back on my four years at UVA, I honestly cannot picture my experience without the Batten School and BUC. I was able to fully harness my talents and passions to give back to a community that shaped me into the person I am today. Through Batten, I learned how to lead, how to study, how to research, how to negotiate; I learned

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about the history of Charlottesville, about FDA food regulations, about production possibility frontiers and how to plan a rally in Washington D.C. I learned from my professors, from my classmates, and from the dedicated staff that make the school the family that it is. I made friends I would have never met without the Batten School, and my college experience was enriched because of them. I am so thankful to be able to take away so much more from this program then a couple grades and 3-page memos, and so honored I was able to serve my classmates as the first ever Batten Undergraduate Council President. I truly believe that the Batten undergrad experience has prepared me to enter the real world ready to “lead from anywhere.�

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PART IV

THE BATTEN COMMUNITY “Batten’s social atmosphere is unrivalled. These classmates have become some of my closest friends and confidants at UVa. The ability to grapple with polarizing policy issues by day and celebrate the submission of final projects by night defines Batten’s inaugural undergraduate class.”

- Bridget Stock

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LIGHTING OF THE LAWN

By Courtney Blanford Four years ago, I started to cry as I read my acceptance letter to UVA. I was ecstatic, knowing that I had just gotten accepted into one of the top schools in the country. What I didn’t know was that I would come to love UVA so much that by the time I was a fourth year, I would start to cry again, every time I thought about graduating and leaving this place that I had come to call home. The Batten School had everything to do with that. It has been such an integral part of my UVA experience, that I can hardly separate the two.

With a lot of programs, you have to choose when you want to be a UVA student and when you want to be a member of that school. However, Batten has done an amazing job of integrating into UVA culture, while still having Batten-specific events.

For instance, they have an event for Lighting of the Lawn, we had our own Foxfield’s plot, we’ve had tailgates for UVA football games, and we’re having our own Batten events for graduation. These are all UVA wide events that Batten has become a part of.

This way, we don’t have to differentiate between when we want to be a UVA student and when we want to partake in Batten festivities- we can easily do both and merge the two worlds together. I believe that this has been one of the greatest strengths of the batten program.

Furthermore, Batten hasn’t just been an academic program; it has been a family for us, with its own distinct culture. No other program at UVA, not even the famous Commerce School is as close knit and family oriented as Batten is. I can confidently say that every member of our class can name the first and last names of all other 43 students in our class. We have had countless memories together and find ways to hang out at every opportunity. From studying abroad to birthday parties to dinners out, there is always a “Batten picture” taken for each event that has more than two of us in attendance. There are few people who could say that about their majors.

As I mentioned above, Batten has created its own way of partaking in classic UVA traditions, such as Lighting of the Lawn. As first years, you attend Lighting of the Lawn in curious awe of all the different groups in various lawn rooms having a blast, the Acapella groups whose songs get you into the holiday spirit, and as a famous UVA event that everyone raves about. However, by the time you get there, you realize that you don’t know anyone in any of the lawn rooms to join, and with the length of the drinks line, you hope they don’t run out of hot chocolate by the time you get to the front of the line. By second year, you’ve joined a few clubs and there’s at least one lawn room you can stop at for a cookie and a slightly higher guarantee that you’ll get hot chocolate. However, I still felt like I didn’t have a home at these giant UVA events.

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This all changed when I was accepted into the Batten School. Third year, we were invited to Dean Harding’s Pavilion to celebrate the Lighting of the Lawn. There were unlimited hors d'oeuvres, hot chocolate, and gingerbread cookies to decorate. Everyone from our class was there and so were numerous faculty members that we got to interact with one on one. For the first time at Lighting of the Lawn, I felt like I truly had a home.

I was no longer a wanderer, blending into the UVA masses.

Batten has provided us with not only an amazing academic experience with challenging multidisciplinary classes, but it has also provided us with a family at UVA. As corny as this sounds, there is always someone to get dinner with, someone to complain about our numerous projects and papers with, and someone to encourage and help you when you’re going through a rough moment. This is exactly how I’ve explained my sorority to strangers. This is why we often joke that Batten is our very own fraternity.

The Batten school has done so much to make us feel at home and to create an environment that allows us to thrive. A huge thank you to the faculty and staff for creating this home for us and for all the 43 friends I’ve made during my time at Batten.

Lighting of the Lawn, Third Year

Lighting of the Lawn, Fourth Year

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COMMUNITY OUTREACH

By Neil Branch On an early spring morning, Batten students decided that they sought to experience the broader Charlottesville community. They noted that as good policymakers, it is important to have grasp of one’s environment and surroundings.

They had heard that the Charlottesville’s Farmer Market was the perfect place for a blend of locals and students. They saw this as a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the wonderful offerings found in Charlottesville.

The day started off brisk due to the unpredictable cold of 2014’s what should have been spring. Everyone, though, didn’t mind the need for a sweater as they prepared for the trip knowing the excitement of the first Farmer’s Market of the season. The trip started with Liz and I first making a brief detour to Spudnuts to start the day. They say that one shouldn't’ shop on an empty stomach so we thought delicious potato flour donuts would solve our problem. Spudnuts was crowded as we got there since word must have gotten out that this was the perfect place to be on a Saturday morning. But we waited patiently for the line knowing what awaited us. Not being able to get just one, we got a whole dozen so that we could share with the Batten classmates we would see shortly later that day. With our belly’s filled and our taste buds on overdrive, we then drove back and parked for the Farmer’s Market.

Upon exiting the car, we were overwhelmed by the vast number of people and stalls. We didn’t even really know where to start and how we were going to find our friends among the sea of people. We slowly perused around hoping to find a familiar face in the crowd. We quickly became immersed in flowers, tomatoes, herbs, soaps, woodcarvings and every other type of craft you can find. The time and effort our class would put into researching a policy or writing a policy memo, these people had put this same passion into their product.

After perusing the stands and speaking with the vendors, we found our classmates in the taco line. We were all glad to see fellow classmates enjoying the sunshine and embracing this piece of Charlottesville culture. The tacos proved to be amazing and really authentic. This proved that if you go seeking for culture then you could find it. With our tacos in hand, we walked around some more and enjoyed the local musicians at the market.

The joys of the day though didn’t come just from the sights of the market but it really was the people. We stopped at various booths really seeking to explore these people’s craftsmanship. Our conversations started by talking about their product but then expanded into their experiences as part of the local community. It was a chance really to understand the motivations and concerns of people. It is important as policymakers not to look at people as just a number or statistic but remember each has an individual story.

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This experience and the others engaging with the broader Charlottesville community should be critical lessons for students as future leaders and policymakers.

We must work to engage and understand the cultural context of where we live. You can only learn so much from a book or website. The real full experience is through going out into an unknown environment. The other part of this is as a leader one needs to get to know people. While we can study documents like the Constitution or a problem, we do not fully understand the origins and background if we don’t have a sense of the people behind it. Through understanding people, we become better leaders. It is therefore with that why I share this story. While yes it is encouraged future Batten classes to check out the Farmer’s Market, in fact it is bigger than that. Instead it is about really challenging yourself as a leader to find your place in your community.

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BUC SUNRISE HIKE

By Lauren Cricchi On September 10, 2013, we held our first ever meeting of the Batten Undergraduate Council for the 20132014 school year. It was the first time I had ever led a meeting completely on my own, and it was definitely intimidating! However, I was immediately put at ease by my wonderfully supported Executive Committee team, as well as the palpable excitement of every new member in the room. I could tell we were going to do something special together this year.

I was also excited because when I asked for suggestions for events, someone immediately shouted out that we should do a sunrise hike to Humpback Rock. Selfishly, I was in, because this was something I could cross off the list of 114 Things to Do Before You Graduate; presidentially, on behalf of BUC, I knew this would be a perfect bonding opportunity for my newly-formed group of Batten students. What better way to get to know someone than climb a mountain with them right after rolling out of bed? So, on September 27th, a group of about 20 BUC members got up at 5:30am and drove in darkness to the Rock. We used flashlights to climb to the top, with only minor casualties along the way. We finally made it to the top, at which point there was but a speck of light on the horizon. We waited, watched, and took plenty of selfies together (see below).

Once the sun had finally crossed over the furthest mountain and the day had officially begun, we still couldn’t bring ourselves to leave for several more minutes, still drinking in the beauty of our surroundings. Then we realized our stomachs were growling and Bodo’s was calling our names. As we sat around our bagels, feeling quite accomplished for 8am on a Friday morning, I couldn’t help but look around and smile at the Council I was so lucky to be a part of this year.

Now with my term completed, I can look back and say that that morning and that sunrise were certainly symbolic of the dawn of a great experience and a great year. Thank you to all of my BUC friends for growing with me and making our Council more successful than I could have ever hoped for. Everyone rose to the challenge of creating a culture and a legacy that will hopefully last well into the future. I learned from each and every one of you and am excited for what next year’s Council has in store!

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CAMPING AT SPY ROCK

By Jeremy Dollin One of the best events that occurred in my 2 years in Batten was going camping a couple of weeks ago. Dalton Stokes, Grace Glover, Brian Via, Ian Van der Hoven, Travers O’Leary, and I hiked the Appalachian Trail to a camping ground called “Spy Rock”. We were disappointed that more of our Batten friends could not come, but due to prior commitments and it was a time in which everyone was preparing for the end of the academic year. Even though we should have also been preparing for finals, we took the opportunity to clear our minds before finals started, besides how many times do you get to hike the Appalachian Trial. It was about a 4 mile uphill hike to the camp site, with a nice breeze to our back. After not hiking since I was a little kid, it was nice to do it again with friends that I hope will be friends with for the rest of my life.

We arrived at the hiking grounds around 4:30, gathered our gear and began the traitorous 4 mile hike. With Dalton leading the way, we put the fate of our lives in his hands, hoping that he knew where he was going. At times, the group questioned his sense of direction and outdoorsmen skills jokingly, because he kept telling us that this was the last hill, when in fact there was always one more. After hiking for about an hour and half we finally arrived at Spy Rock Camp grounds, where the real work began.

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Setting up camp was just as exhausting as the hike. We had to find and cut wood for the fire, set up the tents and hammocks, and of course, run up to the top of the mountain for sunset. After sunset we started a fire and made hotdogs and s’mores for dinner. Then we just sat around the camp fire and told stories and sang songs, no American Idol Contestants coming from this group. The singing came mainly from the music on someone’s phone. The best part of the trip for me was sleeping in a hammock under the stars, until about 5 am when the wind started picking up and the temperature fell to right around freezing. We all got up at 6 and climbed back up to the top of the mountain to watch the sunrise. Unfortunately it was a little cloudy, so there was no sun that morning. After eating breakfast that consisted of pop tarts, peanut butter and jelly, and nature valley bars, we packed up and made the 4 mile hike back down the mountain.

The overall experience is something we will all cherish for the rest of our lives. I would not have picked a better group to go camping with nor would I have thought the Batten School would have given me the opportunity to build these friendships. These types of self-initiated activities have to be taken advantage of because you never know when you will be able to hike the Appalachian Trail again. I have truly enjoyed all the events that the 1st year Batten group has created and will miss seeing the friends, on a day in and day out basis that I have become so close with over the past couple of years.

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MY SECOND FAMILY

By Casey Duggan January of my Third Year marked the beginning of an exhilarating, yet admittedly anxiety-ridden adventure. I was packed and ready to embark on the journey of a lifetime – a semester-long exchange program with Sciences Po, a political science institute, in Paris, France.

Despite my excitement, I couldn’t help but experience a few last minute pangs of anxiety and hesitation; going abroad would mean having to miss a whole five months of lively Take-It-Away picnics on the lawn, lazy afternoons watching men’s baseball at Davenport field, late nights in the East Asian Studies Room of Alderman library, and, most importantly, a semester away from the intriguing classes and budding friendships that defined my first semester in Batten.

Upon my 7am arrival at Charles de Gaulle, my reservations quickly melted away and five months flew by even faster than everyone had warned. Despite preoccupation with my studies of French politics and hours spent planning weekend trips around Western Europe, constant Facebook notifications from our “Batten Undergraduate Class of 2014” erased the six-hour time difference and transported me back into the familiar classrooms of Monroe and Rouss Hall. It was a strange experience—as if I was an outsider looking into the fishbowl formally known as Charlottesville, Virginia—or better yet, Garrett Hall.

The following summer passed by just as fast as the semester abroad had before it.

I was excitedly awaiting our return to Charlottesville—the moment that we would all be reunited in the oak-lined walls of the Great Hall. But I couldn’t help but wonder—after a semester away, how had the dynamics of our cohort changed? Based on the Facebook posts and pictures alone, it seemed that everyone had gotten exponentially closer.

Maybe it was the hours of sleep-deprived studying for Research Methods or possibly the first annual Tantalizing Tank Top Friday, but from the outside looking in, our cohort

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had become some kind of absurdly large group of best friends. What would that mean for those of us who has been abroad? Had we all missed out on the opportunity to be a part of the “in-group”? Similar questions continued to plague my thoughts for weeks leading up to what would be the bittersweet start of our Fourth and final year at UVa. Looking back now, the unease that I felt going into the fall semester seems absurd. My Fourth Year at Batten has been filled with nothing but unforgettable memories with fellow members of the Undergraduate Batten class. The second we entered our first Institutional and Political Context of Public Policy lecture, it was as if nothing had changed. Never in my life have I been surrounded by such a diverse group of individuals that somehow fit so well together. No matter the circumstance—be it comparing thoughts on Starr Hill’s seasonal brew at the Know Good Beer Festival, racing in the Kelly Watt Memorial Two-Mile Race, checking off must-try’s from a list of Charlottesville’s top brunch spots, or discussing feminist theory in Ethics of Civic Life— memories made with my Batten classmates have been some of my favorite at UVa. Just as a semester abroad was no hindrance on our friendship, I am convinced that our classes’ wide range of plans following graduation will prove to be no obstacle to maintaining the bonds that we have developed over the course of our last two years.

This class has truly become my second family and I cannot wait for our reunions for years to come.

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A FOREIGNER’S PERSPECTIVE

By Karla Kreidie My graduating Batten class had two non-U.S. citizens: Meagan McDougall and myself. As you can imagine, the curriculum was very American-centric; it basically set you up to take on positions in the federal and/or state government in the United States. There are very few classes that encourage us to write on matters that do not pertain to the United States. Many may then ask, as a non-US citizen, why did I choose Batten?

Growing up in Lebanon, I was never given the chance to pursue any career outside of medicine or engineering. If you wanted to succeed, those were the only two careers you could pursue. Moving to America, however, I was overwhelmed with the wide range of available career options.

Public Policy and Leadership, as well as my second major Global Development studies, are definitely two majors that are not going to be available in Lebanon in the foreseeable future.

Batten is more than a major; it’s a set of tools and networks that will be valuable for life. All those times you spend reading the news frustrated over the decisions taken by world leaders and feeling helpless about it are over. Batten equips you with the means to become an engaged citizen and effect meaningful change. For me, it’s more challenging because I have to take everything I have learnt in Batten and adapt it to fit the cultural context of my country. This will be difficult, but I enjoy that challenge. I can now look at an issue like the lack of citizenship rights for women in Lebanon and instead of framing it as a human rights issue, I can reframe it as an economic burden to the nation as a whole. Batten re-instills the duty citizens have to actually change the issues they care deeply about.

In a time where the Middle East is facing great unrest, with the Arab Spring unfolding and the Syrian civil war continuing, there is a great need for public policy in my region of the world. Who is going to craft the laws of the newly emerging democratic Arab nations? What issues are they going to need to care about first? What should be

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done about the over one million Syrian refugees flooding into Lebanon? These are all unanswered questions that need to be addressed. So do I regret majoring in Batten?

Every time I try to explain to friends and family back home what I am majoring in, you can see a certain degree of dismissiveness in their eyes. You can see the way they question the legitimacy of my major and the value of my degree. They always ask me what public policy is and what I can possibly do with such a degree. What they don’t realize is that while everyone is busy becoming doctors and engineers, without people like me that care about the future of the country and the direction it takes, there may not be a Lebanon.

Beyond the future, my experience in Batten has been one of the most fulfilling.

No other major at UVA is filled with people who are willingly to share their notes with you and genuinely want you to succeed. No other major at UVA is filled with people who will stay up all night to make sure you understand the material for the exam we have the next day. The people in Batten are open to different cultures and want to listen to you share your experiences and struggles. That is what makes Batten unique. We have athletes, foreigners, sorority sisters, fraternity brothers, people from all religions, atheists, Republicans, Democrats, and independents all thrown into one major but can put all of that aside and genuinely learn from each other.

Many people find it amusing that Batten parties are the one place you go to drink and always somehow end up talking about politics. But what they don’t realize is that Batten parties are also the one place you go and be guaranteed to legitimately learn something. It is so rare to find an Arab rambling about the Arab-Israeli conflict to a Jewish person and not a single side leaves the table offended – but in Batten we make it work.

As the first graduating class of Batten BA, we hope to start a trend. We hope that the culture we have set of being a diverse and understanding family will stem for years beyond our existence. If you ever feel like Batten is not the family you hope for it to be, then you should go out there and change it. That is what this major is all about. Under the direction and coursework provided by the Batten School, members of our class hope to enact the change that they want to see in the world. The Batten School has singlehandedly allowed for that change to begin in college.

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BATTEN’S GLOBAL REACH

By Ian Van der Hoven Policy can take you anywhere.

This past summer it took several of us across the pond. The Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy recently created a summer study abroad program in Oxford England. Of the 2014 Batten BA cohort, Emily Schenck, Dalton Stokes, and I were the first participants in the program and were fortunate enough to spend a memorable summer at University College. Along with the crew that went to Oxford, other fellow Batten undergraduates were abroad as well, engaged in a variety of tasks. Seth Nelson also spent his summer abroad, working for a company that helped put on the British Tennis Championships at Wimbledon.

The shared Batten bond could not keep us long apart. Due to coincidental overlap, Dalton, Seth, and I decided we should try to meet up all of us were in the England. Dalton and I left Oxford on Thursday afternoon and took a bus for the twohour ride to London. There we met up with Seth and the adventure began. Over the next few days, the three of us traveled around London together seeing the sights, including the numerous pubs. Staying at Seth’s host parent’s house, we embarked each day of the weekend on sight seeing trips to Buckingham Palace (where particularly stout English teenager immediately recognized us as Americans and inquired if all American’s aspired to live in Los Angeles one day), Nelson’s Square, and magnificent British Museum.

The highlight of the trip, however, was a personal tour of the grounds at Wimbledon by Seth. A behind the scenes tour, many are not able to receive, was a great time and further illustrated the benefits of Batten connections. We saw the Maine Court where Andy Murray recently won Wimbledon, got to sit at the winner’s podium and pretended to give our victory press conference, and found several clay courts (which tennis enthusiasts would know should not be at the bastion of grass courts, Wimbledon).

Our English rendezvous, I believe, were be indicative my cohort’s experience following graduation. As we all disperse across the country, and the world, to lead in our respective fields, wherever we travel, we will be able to utilize our Batten connections and enduring friendships to always have a place to stay and go on adventures.

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ATHLETES IN BATTEN

By Ozzie Bryan Being an athlete in Batten comes with a very great merit. Many people say collegiate student athletes have it just as hard as a normal college student. I have to disagree though. Looking back, there are multiple examples that separate athletes from the regular or average student. Completing my undergraduate years in Batten I can reflect on the hardships of time constraints, stereotypes, class attendance, physical and emotional fatigue, and also the athletic sport the student is participating in, are just few of the many burdens we had that the traditional student did not. Knowing that my classmates didn’t have it easy, I just believe the student athletes have an incredible responsibility to keep their grades up and do well in whichever sport they are partaking in. Athletes also have an enormous amount of pressure on them, because they have to represent their school in a very good way.

Time is indeed one of the major mediators between the athletes and academic success. The time demands from games, travelling, film and video sessions, weight training, and injury or recovery treatment definitely took away from class and other Batten social activities. From being a track and field athlete, I can say that time is your biggest enemy from experience in Batten. It seemed like it was always against you. Waking up for seven o’clock workouts, then going to having class immediately after, then going straight to practice after, then getting out late at night.

This demands effort, time, and commitment to being a student. One thing that I did value was the sense of community in between the student athletes and our class.

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B.U.M.P.

By Emily Ellis One of the many great aspects of the Batten School is that it teaches the students about leadership and public policy and does not expect students to be leaders by nature.

In many of my 1010 level politics and history courses there seemed to be a disparity between those who already knew the subject matter versus those who were in the class to learn about the material for the first time. It was intimidating being in classes where a select few students would raise their hand all the time and had seemingly already taken the course. Batten School took me in and taught me how to take initiative, learn both inside and outside the classroom, and face intimidation. In my first semester at Batten, I joined a class effort to create the first ever Batten Undergraduate Council (BUC). By my second semester, I became the Internal Committee Chair, which fosters relationships between students, faculty, and degree programs. By the third semester, I started an idea for a mentorship program between third and fourth year undergraduate students. And by my fourth semester, my team and I turned this idea into a reality: the Batten Umbrella Mentorship Program (BUMP).

The Internal Committee spent two semesters searching for a project that would define our committee and serve the greater purpose of the Batten School. I cannot remember the specific origin of the idea for a mentorship program, but I do remember bringing the idea up in a BUC meeting. Ian van Der Hoven suggested calling it “the Umbrella Groups.� This was in honor of our founder, Frank Batten, who co-founded the Weather Channel. Thanks to Ian, this new name led to the Weather Channel donating 100 umbrellas to the Internal Committee for our new mentorship program. The Groups consisted of three 3rd years and three 4th years, grouped together based on policy interests. While we had a strong idea and a sponsorship in place, molding the organization was a very long work in process, and still is.

The summer of 2013, between my third and fourth years, I labored over the Umbrella Groups. I sent multiple e-mails out to the rising fourth and third years, advertising the Groups as a way to meet new people, and grouped about 60 students into Umbrella Groups. Luckily, the students were enthusiastic and made our Initiation Dinner in August a success. As the Fall 2013 semester wore on, my fears about the future of the organization were coming to fruition. There were no incentives for the Groups to meet on their own accord, the mission of the Groups was unclear, and the Umbrella Groups forever remained an idea rather than a legitimate program.

January 2014. We came back to UVA after a long winter break and reassessed the committee. It was still lacking a clear identity, and the Umbrella Groups were failing to engage the participants. Bryan Kardos, a 3rd year, had just taken a social entrepreneurship J-Term course and came into our committee meeting with a template from his class on how to start an organization. Thanks to his commitment to our 72

mentorship idea as well as his ability to apply what he had learned in class to a real-life situation, we were able to rejuvenate the program. By spring semester, we created BUMP bylaws that explicated the mission, activities, and norms of the organization.

BUMP now has a twofold mission: to forge a strong Batten community and to foster learning outside the classroom. We decreased the groups of three 4th years plus three 3rd years down to a 1:1 ratio in order to increase accountability and encourage 4th years to meet with their mentee. We added professional development incentives and created formalized policy discussions, otherwise known as “Round-Table Discussions� to create a forum for students to teach each other about current events. BUMP allows students to learn about leadership and public policy on a micro level before learning how to command a group meeting, classroom, or auditorium.

We created BUMP so that future classes will be able to have the same unique experience that our first class did. Batten became a family to us, and for a program that begins 2nd year, it was rare and wonderful to have found that halfway through college.

My class banded together to navigate a new program. Creating a new student council, a mentorship program, and even just taking classes that had never been offered before was an adventure, but a little scary at times. It felt like we were walking down a cave holding hands, knowing where we wanted to come out, but not sure we would find the path to get there. We did.

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THE CULTURE OF BATTEN WITHIN GARRETT .

By Clifford Lance Since it's renovation in 2009, Garrett Hall has become the central hub for both Batten faculty and students. The beautiful woodwork, ample study space, and excellent view of the amphitheater have embedded itself in each of us Policy Pioneers. Garrett Hall, however, is more than just a building. The halls of the Batten school serve not just as a sanctuary from busy libraries and a gateway to long nights studying, but also as a communal watering hole for students and faculty to have unprecedented access to one another. The benefits of such presence and interaction are immense; I cannot imagine how many times I have been stuck on a particular problem and a nearby professor or teaching assistant has offered their support and assistance. I have almost come to take these interactions for granted because they occur so often – it is easy to forget that such things are not common occurrences in other schools around Grounds. Many individuals talk about the Batten community as an example for other academic programs around grounds, and that community is anchored to, and begins in, Garrett Hall.

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“OH, YOU’RE GOING TO A BATTEN THING.”

By Mai Le I used to think that life could never get any sweeter than those spring afternoons spent soaking up the sun on the Lawn with your good friends. Then I learned about Charlottesville in the summer. Think everything you love most about UVa, combined with more free time than you could ever dream of during the semester. Life is one endless Thursday night, but it’s also peacefully uncrowded, so you don’t have to wait in line at Survivor Hour.

One of my most cherished times at the University was the second half of May 2013. We had finished our finals, gone to the beach, and come back for graduation.

Everyone had great summer plans lined up, but still had time to kill before that life was to begin. During this two or three week period, I spent the vast majority of my waking hours with a group of fine individuals who came to be referred to as the “Batten Summer Crew.”

The group was primarily Neil, Elizabeth, Emily Ellis, Ian, and myself, with some guest appearances by Brian Gonzalez and Cliff, among others. We bided our time with classic Cville activities such as wine tasting at Veritas and beer flights at Blue Mountain, visiting the quarry, and picnics up by Ash Lawn (stopping for Bellair sandwiches on the way, of course). Some of the best moments though, were those that weren’t quite so picturesque – in fact, they bordered on lamely normal. Things like watching too many “Game of Thrones” episodes on a laptop propped up on a hat box, trips to Trader Joe’s that resulted in too many desserts to count, silently reading in the same room, and nights just spent chatting until we fell asleep.

I think the general vibe of this period can be summed up by one of my favorite quotes from An Unfinished Life, Robert Dallek’s biography of John F. Kennedy. In it, JFK’s close friend Ted Sorenson discusses an uneventful night with their usual social circle and says, "We weren't doing anything except talking and laughing, and I couldn't tell you one thing we talked about the whole night, it was just so delicious an evening.”

That’s honestly how I feel – it was just so delicious a summer.

The funniest thing about summer crew was that we weren’t close friends prior to that May. I don’t think this exact group of people had ever even hung out together during the school year, yet this transition to being together nearly 24/7 felt so natural.

That’s truly a testament to how close we have become as a class. Take any six of us, and we can have a great time together. If I said I was hanging out with this particular group, my other friends would say, “Oh, you’re going to a Batten thing.” But that thought usually never even crossed my mind – I had begun to think of all these people as simply my friends.

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FOXFIELD

BY VICTOR NGUYEN Not many students at this University can say that they have gone to Foxfield with their major. Fortunately for us, we were able to check that off the list (well, if that was on the 114 things to do list).

Before I go any further, it is important to note that Batten is more than just a major. It made us grow academically. It made us grow professionally. It made us grow mentally. It made us all one family. As cheesy as that sounds, it truly describes how I feel about Batten. Therefore, it wasn’t a huge surprise when our class decided to organize a “Batten and Friends” plot to celebrate our friendships. We also used it as an excuse to show our friends what the Batten family is like.

Mai Le and I took the initiative and organized our plot. With the help of our friends, we were able to work out all the logistics and details within a short period of time. Not only so, Batten was generous enough to give us food. And who doesn’t like free food? Trays of Cane’s fried chicken were the star of the darty (that’s the term for “day party” in 2014). Even though everything went perfectly well, there were a few hiccups.

For example, one person who was not affiliated with Batten got very sick on our plot and needed medical attention. Thankfully, Preethi Varma took no time and got help (what can I say, Batten taught us to lead from anywhere). Later, cleaning up was a disaster!

Even though a lot of people helped cleaning up, there were a few free-riders. Adding on to the stress, the tent would not close, and there were too many things to clean up. As a result, Mai was not a happy camper.

So the moral of this story is that not only do we study hard, we also enjoy our lives to the fullest. For future leaders, I think it’s important to keep in mind that you always have to stay calm and make responsible decisions, but don’t forget to live the moment. As Bridget Stock says, “We are responsible, but FUN!”

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#BATTENDOESHUMPACK: IT’S THE JOURNEY, NOT THE DESTINATION

By Travers O’Leary By the time that most students become Fourth Years they have already completed a great number of University traditions; they have struck the Lawn, the rebellious have gone steam tunneling, and of course most have eaten a Gus Burger circa 1:30 AM on a Saturday night. Another tradition here at UVa is the sunrise hike up Humpback Rock.

Far from strenuous, it is about a 20 minute hike to the top of a mountain (more like hill), where one can see for miles overlooking the Shenandoah Valley. Like most UVa traditions, it is done as a group, with your closest friends oris used as a team building exercise. Lauren Cricci, our steadfast leader, decided that it would be a great idea if we hiked to the top of Humpback… and so we did.

Prior to this past fall, I had never had the opportunity to hike to see the sunrise. I had only made the trek during the day. So the idea of waking up at 5 AM was not the most appealing to me. As a result, I was a little ambivalent about the hike. While I really wanted to do it, I knew that I could just as easily press that snooze button and sleep all the way until a respectable 9:30 AM. Somehow I was able to roll out of bed and made the walk to the Bank of America parking lot where we had agreed to meet. Surprisingly, or perhaps not at all, everyone showed up, some still wearing their outfits from the night before, we got in our cars and we began our drive out 250 West.

Once we got to the base of Humpback we were all a bit more awake, a little bit energized and ready to start the hike to see the sunrise in the east. As we began our hike, a few of us led the pack. Others straggled in the back, still tired from the night before. It felt as if we were in a race to get to the top. We didn’t want to miss the sunrise and so we got to the top as fast as we could. Others took the hike a little slower, opting to talk and spend time with their friends. After about 20 minutes, we reached the summit, some a little bit later…

The top of the mountain was beautiful. There were rocks that you can sit on, overlooking the fog still settled in the valley. Even more memorable was the camaraderie exhibited by all of us students. For some, it was their first hike and was not the easiest.

We clapped, we cheered, and of course we took our pictures and uploaded them to Instagram, #Battendoeshumpback may have been my caption. Of course the sunrise was beautiful, a bit mirrored by the fog, but that did not matter. We had made the hike and even more so had a wonderful time.

The hike up Humpback can perhaps be a symbol for ones time at the University.

Often it seems that we so very much crave completion. We celebrate New New Years, Birthdays and graduations. We strive to get to accomplish the end, not necessarily celebrate the means. I was so fast to get to the top, just so that I could finish and to see

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the sunrise. Part of me forgot that often it is not about the destination, but instead the journey. As we walked down from Humpback, I made sure to walk a little bit slower. To appreciate those around me, and to take everything in one last time.

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ROPES COURSE RETREAT Emily-Page Rasmussen When I came in to Batten, I was expecting your typical UVa major—300 people, not a lot of communication between them, just happening to take a few of the same classes. I was immediately surprised by the two-day orientation at the beginning of my third year, and even more surprised when I met my 43 other classmates. The small classes of Batten definitely foster a community, but it also comes from the efforts of the staff and the students.

I was part of the creation of the Batten Council, and right away we began brainstorming fun activities to do together (and how to spend our budget, which was fantastically large for such a small class). One of my favorite memories of these activities was the leadership retreat to a ropes course. First we got lost on the way there, somehow ending up at an amusement park, which was tempting. But once there we started doing exercises in groups, and I enjoyed the bonding time with my classmates.

This is a photo of a ground exercise where we had to balance on wires and help each other across them, surprisingly difficult given the proximity to the ground.

Once we got 50 feet in the air I really “came into my own” as a leader, since I was so willing to do each challenge first. I had a blast being the first to step out over open air and cooperating with teammates to get past obstacles, as well as encouraging more reluctant people to take the change (and trust in their harness). Obstacles required us to work together, whether it be actually physically supporting each other or simply calling out instructions or cooperating by holding apart ropes (or holding hands!). I really felt like a leader that day, and it is one of my fondest memories of Batten.

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THE LITTLE THINGS

By Rachel Schumacher My favorite things about the Batten family are the little moments. The everyday occurrences that make me smile and enjoy even the most mundane lecture or intense projects. Here is a list of a few of my favorite “little things” that have made this experience better than I could have ever imagined: -

Walking into class everyday and not worrying about where to sit because regardless it would be next to a friend.

Bringing “breakfast” to Kleinmann’s class third year to celebrate completing a midterm and a paper.

Seeing people walk in late to Stats on Friday morning and knowing why they are struggling because we were out together Thursday night.

The great notes rotation of third year spring.

Late night pizza in Garrett Hall (really any pizza in Garrett Hall, or sandwiches, or anytime Batten unexpectedly fed us).

Going to Bilt in between Challenges and Civic.

All of the memes, every single one.

Eating too many cookies and working late into the night on Professor Martin’s project.

The fact that if anyone ever runs for office our Facebook page would ruin their chances.

Drinking wine on the lawn after writing lab.

Hearing about everyone’s Tinder relationships.

Being comfortable enough around one another to have real debates where people expressed their actual thoughts on the issues as unconventional as they may be.

So thank you for these small memories. For the fun we had day in and day out. I can’t imagine college with classes that were not full of friends. This fact made class a bit like social hour but also allowed us to learn so much more because we learned from each other.

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BATTEN SOCIAL ATMOSPHERE

By Bridget Stock “Your New Classmates, Your New Teammates” read the Policy Pioneers orientation booklet on August 27, 2012, the day when the journey had only begun. “Who speaks seven languages?” “Who grew up in Austria?” These classmates have become some of my closest friends and confidants at UVa. Batten’s social atmosphere is unrivalled. The ability to grapple with polarizing policy issues by day and celebrate the submission of final projects by night defines Batten’s inaugural undergraduate class.

Each spring, the class holds a Batten semi-formal, an opportunity to dress with the utmost sophistication and sip on one of the corner locale’s latest citrus concoctions.

April 12, 2013 brought the discovery of even more talents when Batten took the stage at Sushi Love for a night of karaoke. This past spring, we invited the third year class to join in the 2014 festivities at Crozet Pizza. Coming to UVa from the North, I had seldom experienced the lifestyle of social culture that I have found here. The chance to engage outside of the classroom with those who will make up our professional networks is a critical component to an undergraduate college experience, and Batten has facilitated that close-knit community feel.

UVa psychology professor Timothy Wilson once declared: “Experiences make us happier than material things, because experiences are more likely to be shared with other people, and other people are our greatest source of happiness.” Whether it was on a field visit to a local non-profit, at the opera, at one of Charlottesville’s renowned restaurants, or in Garrett Hall, some of my fondest UVa memories happened in the company of my Batten classmates.

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SOCIAL ATMOSPHERE AT BATTEN

By Preethi Varma Batten has brought me to some of my dearest friends here at UVa. Not only do I love being in class with fellow Batten students, but I love spending time outside class with them. Not only do we all remember moments in the classroom and discussing policy with our professors, but we share the precious memories grabbing lunch on the Corner, picnicking on the Lawn or even just hanging out with each other. We had various social activities throughout the two years which have furthered my love of Batten.

To this day, I still remember our first social gathering at Travers’ apartment. It was the first time all of us were together outside class as a group and also the first time a lot of us met each other. I remember introducing myself to a number of my Batten peers. I hit it off with Cephra, and Kanchana and I still am close to them postgraduation. That connection only grew throughout the two years with our love of education and our shared memories in Batten.

Throughout the two years, all of us have gotten to be very close together, and we also found some of our closest friends over that time. I really became close to a number of Batten peers including Elizabeth and Neil. Since the first year of Batten, we instantly clicked as friends and spent time with each other at social events, Date Functions, shared meals, study dates, and the list goes on. Our diverse personalities and our similar ambitions and outlook on life really bring us together.

What bonds the first year Batten class are our work ethic and our support for one another. I can trust my Batten peers to have my back, to push me when I might not be at my best and to celebrate my accomplishments with me. If there is anyone at UVa with the greatest “work hard, play hard” outlook, it has to be a Batten student. We love being in class with each other, and we love spending time outside class together. The beauty of our class is that everyone will branch off and meet some of his or her closest friends, but can still be unified as one group.

If you are a prospective student here at the Batten school, you should know that you will not only gain a fulfilling academic experience, but meet the best of friends who will always be there for you. I thank Batten for bringing me to all these people.

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KNOWLEDGE INTO ACTION .

By Sasha Hanway My second year of college I joined a cult. It happened the usual way: a combination of dumb luck, a strategically located and well-lit basement, and fascinating individuals got me hooked. I started do inexplicable things. I became involved. It started out quite innocently, just attending classes, but then I started to go to council sponsored events, to dinners, to bars. By my second semester in Batten I was spending most of my waking hours with my classmates. My CLAS friends and sorority sisters smiled and shook their heads, bemused: Batten is a cult.

I’ve learned more about leadership, collective efficacy, and mobilization capacity as a member of the inaugural Batten class than I’ve learned from any other leadership role. I never much valued the unglamorous, gritty act of leading from the middle, but as the only 3rd year graduating in my class of 2014, I learned that to lead, you must first follow.

For the average UVA student, resume building begins somewhere between the fetal stages of development and birth and hits an all-time, unfortunately life-sucking high at Mr. Jefferson’s University. This frenzied desire to lead clouds the importance of learning within community. The pressure to make the deans least, to be president of every club, while also beating the curve in all your classes requires focus and ambition.

But here I’ve learned that leadership is not an individualistic conquest of success.

Leadership is not about me; it is not about my resume.

My classmates in the Batten School do have damn impressive resumes, but they’ve taught me that leadership is fundamentally about service. Leadership is late nights editing the 2nd, 3rd, 4th drafts of papers, resumes, and applications that are not yours. Leadership is driving your classmates to job fairs in DC, even when you already have a job. Leadership is cheering on your classmates at wrestling matches and lacrosse games Leadership is picking up your classmates driver’s license from their house and bringing it to them at Panera because they forgot it for their State Department Security Clearance interview.

Now, we’ve policy nerds, obsessively refreshing the New York Times live-feed app; I was giddier than Ron Swanson about government shutdown. This community, this cult of leadership, pushed me to pursue knowledge, to lead on council, to start researching. Most importantly, it led me to friendships that will extend long beyond my time at this university. No fourth year wants to leave UVA. It’s uncommon not to have a strong relationship with this wonderful place. But, it’s strange to have an emotional connection to your college major. While the BME’s gleefully shred their theses and the comm schoolers eagerly sprint out of the dark dungeons of Rousse towards the darker dungeons of Wall Street, I find myself unwilling to move from the Great Hall in Garrett.

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I’ve learned more from my classmates in Batten than I have from any faulty member or class. This isn’t an underhanded comment on the quality of our academic preparation; Batten gave me an unparalleled academic education. But it also gave me my best friends. It’s not surprising that students at a top-ranked university are smart; however, it’s not the intelligence of my classmates that is so unique, it’s their capacity to take that knowledge and translate it in to action. Through the past two years, I’ve learned from the diversity of their experiences, their service, and the example they have set in how they engage with and serve members of our community and the university community as a whole.

Joining Batten means giving up part of yourself to serve a greater community. It’s the best and most meaningful decision I’ve made in my time here at the University.

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BATTEN STUDENTS KNOW GOOD BEER

By John Bennett This past year, I started home brewing my own beer as a way to destress from the profusion of exams, projects, and job interviews common among Fourth Years. Unfortunately, due to said exams, projects, and job interviews, I seemingly never had enough time to actually make beer.

There was one benefit of this hobby, however: as I started to appreciate and understand the beer making process, I could finally discern the difference between different beers.

Before I started brewing, all stouts and porters tasted like Guiness, all wheat beers tasted like Blue Moon, and all IPAs tasted equivalently awful. After I learned about fermentation, carbonation, and dry hopping, I learned to appreciate the subtle distinguishing features of different beers and breweries. In short, I finally started to understand why beer as a beverage has persisted for so long and mutated into so many different varieties.

The culmination of this appreciation arrived just last weekend, when I organized a group of classmates to go to a brand new craft beer tasting festival downtown. Unlike nearly every other group of students I’ve tried to get together at UVA, my Batten classmates were extremely enthusiastic, signing up in just three days in order to qualify for a group discount. At the festival itself, we looked like beer festival professionals thanks to our palette-cleansing pretzel necklaces and knowledge of local breweries. It also didn’t hurt that our group order had put our group name (Batten BA Class of 2014) on the festival sign, either. All in all, despite the fact that not one of us used up the drink tickets we received upon entering, we had a great time sitting on the lawn of the McGuffey Art Center drinking beer and talking about politics and future plans. I look forward to seeing where my classmates end up, and sharing a pint with them in their new home cities.

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OUR INCREDIBLE SOCIAL CHAIR

By Mai Le Dear Pik, I have to ask what everyone is wondering: how do you do it all? Between rowing, BattenCorps, and actually making it to all of our classes, you have hardly any time for yourself—and yet you still manage to be an incredible first Batten Undergraduate Social Chair. While the rest of us use our finite free time (or maybe not so finite as this year came to an end) to watch “The Mindy Project” and loiter on the Lawn, you were always one step ahead, organizing great times for us to look forward to. For this, we thank you.

From our first ropes course retreat to a date function, family weekend, semi-formal, and end-of-year picnic and fete, you thought of every celebration we could ever have asked for and executed them without a sweat. I know you will go on to do great things at CognoLink, but if you’re ever looking for a career change, I would keep event planning in mind. There are at least 42 people who will vouch for your abilities.

It’s amazing to see how close we’ve become as a group over the past two years, and I know a lot of this has to do with YOU. I know it’s hard to remember the time when we weren’t all obsessed with one another, but it did exist circa September 2012. The official events you put together were so instrumental in helping us break the ice and developing the tightknit community that has made Batten such an amazing experience.

Without you, who knows if we ever would have moved beyond that initial awkward stage. You also made sure we didn’t become too insular by planning some great mixers.

Bowling with MPPs and hanging out with the Chem-E’s helped ensure that we wouldn’t get sick of spending all our time together (as though such a thing is even possible).

What I truly admire is how selfless this all was. Organizing is stressful enough on its own, but you still constantly solicited feedback on what everyone in the class wanted and how our social activities could be improved. Even when you couldn’t actually make it to your own event, you worked tirelessly to make sure that we all enjoyed ourselves.

Such benevolence isn’t surprising to anyone who knows you. You are one of the kindest, most giving people at UVa. I know I speak for everyone in Batten when I say that we are so grateful for you and everything you have done for us. Honestly, we can’t thank you enough. New York doesn’t know how lucky it is to have you!

Batten Love, Mai

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