University of Virginia

Once an Alumnus Critical of Diversity at UVa, Now He Sits on the Board

Bert Ellis has been appointed to the University of Virginia's governing board by Governor Glenn Youngkin, having worked as the leader of a conservative alumni group demanding and end to diversity programs he sees as conflicting with the university's heritage. 

Texts by Youngkin UVA Appointee Full of Culture War Grudges, References to Faculty and Administrators as "Numnuts"

Bert Ellis's text conversations with other Republican appointees to the university's Board of Visitors show his adamant opposition to recognizing the history of slavery in building the institution, diversity initiatives, and other changes to UVA traditions, pledging a "battle royale for the soul" of the institution. 

A Closer Look at the Design and Details of the New Memorial to Enslaved Laborers

"We know so much about Jefferson – we even know what he ate on July 3, 1803 – but he and all those at UVA were surrounded for over 65 years by a community of more than 4,000 people that we know little about."

Jefferson's Other Legacy: Religious Liberty

by Cameron Addis

Thomas Jefferson's critics have pointed out his ownership of slaves as reason to question his continued relevance as a symbol of freedom. But his commitment to religious liberty helped to prevent violent sectarian conflict and should be honored. 

A Powerful New Memorial To UVA’s Enslaved Workers Reclaims Lost Lives And Forgotten Narratives

The memorial's design uses "memory marks" to stand in for the names of enslaved people whose labors built the university.

Alan Taylor's Book Reviewed in the Washington Post: Thomas Jefferson’s Education

by Drew Faust

How slavery warped Jefferson’s vision for the University of Virginia.

"Slavery, in every way imaginable, was central": U-Va. continues to explore its history

After a five-year plunge into the history of slavery at the University of Virginia, a commission has concluded that slavery played an integral role in the founding, construction and operations of the public university.

Video of the Week: The University of Virginia comes face-to-face with its own history of slavery

For many years, the history of enslaved laborers’ contributions to the building of the University of Virginia was not told. That’s changing.

Historians will join others at University of Virginia symposium to discuss what slavery means for today’s colleges and universities

The symposium will bring together more than 125 people from universities, museums and historic sites to share their work and perspectives in panel discussions and interactive sessions.

University of Virginia President Says Protesters Who Shrouded Jefferson Statue ‘Desecrated’ Campus

The protest occurred on the one-month anniversary of the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville.

In Honoring Enslaved Laborers, Colleges Seek to Blunt the Force of Their Pro-Slavery Icons

At the University of Virginia they’re building a memorial to the slaves who built the place.

University of Virginia approves memorial dedicated to the university's enslaved workers

The interior of a circular Virginia Mist granite memorial at the University of Virginia will bear the names of nearly 1,000 enslaved workers from between 1817 and 1865.

University of Virginia president chided for quoting Thomas Jefferson

Some 500 students and professors have signed a petition against Jefferson.

What we can learn about the discovery of Thomas Jefferson’s chemistry lab at the University of Virginia

The University of Virginia announced that Jefferson's chemistry lab was discovered during renovations of the school’s famous Rotunda.

University of Virginia establishes a new Civil War center

The new center will deepen its engagement in this broadening field and will expand research opportunities for students, faculty and other scholars. The opening of the new John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History was celebrated Friday with a public opening ceremony.

Add the University of Virginia to the list of universities actively confronting their association with slavery

The university is holding a symposium this week.

Virginia humanities projects receive grants

Seven humanities projects in Virginia have received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

UVa Miller Center awarded grant for centralized website of presidential materials

PresidentialCollections.org aims to make discovering these and others materials easier for a wide audience.

James Sterling Young, oral historian, dies at 85

James Sterling Young, who established the country’s only program dedicated to compiling comprehensive oral histories of the American presidency, and who also amassed a vast oral history of Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s career, died on Aug. 8 at his home in Advance Mills, Va. He was 85.His death was announced by the Miller Center at the University of Virginia, which studies politics, policy and the presidency. The center houses the Presidential Oral History Program, of which Professor Young was the founder and longtime chairman.An award-winning historian of 19th-century American politics, Professor Young, who retired in 2006, was at his death an emeritus professor of government and foreign affairs at Virginia. He was previously a faculty member and administrator at Columbia University....

UVa's Miller Center announces fellows for 2013-2014

The University of Virginia’s Miller Center has named nine promising young scholars as 2013–14 Miller Center national fellows. Each fellow will receive a one-year $22,000 grant to support research and writing as they complete dissertations on the history of U.S. politics, foreign policy, and global politics. Each fellow will also be guided by a “dream mentor,” a leading scholar in their field, and take part in workshops to learn how to reach a broader audience with their scholarship. The 2013–14 Miller Center fellows are: Laura Blessing, Politics, University of Virginia “The New Politics of Taxation: The Republican Party and Anti-Tax Positions” Sean Beienburg, Politics, Princeton University “Constitutional Resistance in the States, 1880–2010” Rebecca Brubaker, International Politics, University of Oxford “From the Un-Mixing to the Re-Mixing of Peoples: Understanding U.S.-Led Support for Minority Returns Following the Ethnic Conflict in Bosnia” Brent Cebul, History, University of Virginia