‘Roy’ Willis graduated from the College in 1962 with a degree in chemistry. The University has dedicated his former Lawn room in his honor. Photo by Mallory Noe-Payne.

As Black History Month gets underway nationwide, the University will dedicate Lawn room West 43 today to A. Leroy “Roy” Willis, the first black student to graduate from the College.

The reception, which will be hosted by the Office of University Development, the Office of the President and the Office of African-American Affairs, will include a number of speakers and a ribbon-cutting ceremony with a few words by the 1962 graduate. Alumni, black student leaders and current Lawn residents will attend, though the event also is open to the general public, said Dion Lewis, assistant dean of Africa-American Affairs.

Willis graduated in 1962 with a chemistry degree and lived in West 43 during his time at the University. In his honor, the University has installed a plaque on the door of the Lawn room listing his name and achievements.

“I’m very happy that the University community would honor me in this way,” Willis said.

After graduating from the University, Willis served in the U.S. Army as an officer and later went to Harvard Business School from 1967-69, graduating with a master of business administration. He since has spent the majority of his career developing communities, social justice and economic programs.

“I decided I wanted to be more involved in social justice and economic programs that would help develop African-American communities and African-American people,” Willis said. “This developed into working with cities at large.”

His dedication to these issues during and after his time at the University are part of the reason why he is being honored today, said Mark Smith, the University’s senior director of gift planning.
“We wanted to honor Mr. Willis this week because it is Black History Month,” he said. “The plaque commemorates his being here and his accomplishments as a University alumnus.”

Willis’ legacy at the University does not end with his generation; Willis had a set of twins, both of whom were the first black College alumni whose parents also graduated from the University, Smith said.

“I was very proud to integrate the College and to open doors not only for African-Americans but also for women who entered 11 years later. I’m really proud when I walk through the University of Virginia today to see the diversity that has occurred,” Willis said. “There were some social justice issues we needed to work on, but we fixed them in a constructive way.”

The reception will be held at 2 p.m. at the Colonnade Club in Pavilion VII.

The University’s division of the Global Brigades participated in yesterday’s nationwide event to celebrate and garner interest in student-led international development. The event, which aims to raise national awareness about global development and poverty, took place on 40 campuses across the country.

Orion Haas, director of Student Empowerment for Global Brigades, said the nonprofit organization strives to be the world’s largest student-led organization for sustainable development.

The University’s division of the Global Brigades is “a great example of the way young people can get involved doing multidisciplinary sustainable development work while in college,” Haas said, as well as one of the brigades’ “most experienced” and “longest standing” campuses.

Still, part of the purpose of Global Brigades Day is to involve more University students in sustainable development projects, Haas said.

Brigades programs often focus on developing and implementing sustainable development projects in Central America. Though brigades have traditionally gone to Honduras and Panama, Haas said the organization is looking to expand into East Africa during the next few years.

Of the brigades’ nine discipline programs, medical and dental programs are commonly instituted. But the University’s division has some new brigades in the works, including business, architecture, public health and environmental brigades. The organization also is interested in founding divisions that specialize in law and microfinance.

Jamie Claire, co-president for the Medical and Dental Brigades, explained that the organization as a whole has established programs but that more people still are needed.

To attract people to the brigades this week, the club has engaged in traditional promotional activities, such as flyering and sponsoring fundraisers. But the brigades have used less orthodox manners of publicity as well, such as building and painting a snow globe in the Amphitheater to represent the club’s symbol.

“Right now, we’re not really well known and we want to be able to just put up our globe and people will understand what it stands for,” Water Brigades President Lauren Coogle said.

“By acting all at once, [we] hope to bring unity between all of our clubs and students interested in global development work,” Haas said.

The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 will take effect Feb. 22, instituting a series of regulations to protect consumers younger than 21 years of age from excessive debt.

According to a 2009 study conducted by Sallie Mae, 84 percent of college students have at least one credit card; the average student has 4.6 cards. Students with at least one card carry an average of $3,173 in debt.

But the CARD Act limits both credit card companies and the young consumers they target. Credit issuers will no longer be permitted to use free merchandise to market their cards at college-sponsored events or within 1,000 feet of college campuses.

Moreover, certain provisions of the act prevent students from obtaining cards unless they co-sign with an adult or prove they have adequate income to pay off monthly balances. A maximum credit line of $500 or 20 percent of the annual income will be offered to adults younger than 21 years of age who do not meet these requirements.

Yvonne Hubbard, the University’s director of Student Financial Services, expressed support for the CARD Act.

“The act considers the poor practices that credit card companies use to entice students without allowing the students to realize the full consequences of having a card,” she said.
Hubbard added that AccessUVa, the University’s financial aid program, helps students to manage credit.

“AccessUVa’s focus has been to teach students to be in control of [their credit rating] because it is going to affect the rest of their lives­ ­— for instance, whether or not they can get a job,” she said.
First-year College student Fatima Haque agreed that the regulations have merit.

“There are exceptions, but the majority of 18 to 21-year-olds are not capable of managing their finances,” Haque said. “It’s good that students have the opportunity to manage a smaller amount [of credit].”

Some University students, however, feel that these new limitations are unnecessary.

“People, young and old, have overextended their credit in this tough economy,” fourth-year Architecture student Zach Carter said. “[Accruing debt] is a tough way to learn a lesson, but as a college student, you have a lot of other important decisions to make; you should be capable of handling your finances, too.”

Hubbard agreed that students should learn to make these decisions, but added that they should have controlled opportunities to learn how to manage their credit.

“College is about learning how to learn,” she said. “The same thing should apply to credit cards and credit scores. This act gives students the opportunity to learn with someone watching over them.”

Feda Morton, one of six Republican candidates for the fifth district Congressional seat, takes the podium during a four-round debate in Monroe Hall. Students posed questions concerning health care, domestic safety and foreign policy. Photo by Thomas Bynum.

The University’s College Republicans hosted a debate yesterday night among six of the seven Republican candidates opposing Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Charlottesville, in the upcoming election this November for the fifth Congressional district seat.

The organization’s members said they were honored to host this event, anticipating that it would be their “most important and largest event” thus far, according to an e-mail that Chairman Joshua Lambert sent before the event.

Lambert said the organization hoped to gain full honesty from the candidates in their responses during the debate. To achieve this goal, all the questions the moderator asked were submitted by students and a complete surprise to the candidates.

The six candidates who attended were Ken Boyd, Ron Ferrin, Jim McKelvey, Mike McPadden, Feda Morton and Laurence Verga.

The debate consisted of four rounds. The candidates first gave two-minute introductory remarks, which were followed by student questions that the candidates had 90 seconds to answer. The candidates then took questions from the crowd with 30 seconds allotted for each question. Finally, each candidate was given one minute to make concluding remarks.

The student questions focused primarily on prominent issues relevant today, including health care, domestic safety, foreign policy and immigration.

“I thought they were well balanced. They tended more towards business and international issues,” Morton said. “I was expecting pro-life and gun control issues.”

The candidates aligned on main conservative issues, such as how to deal with health care and global warming. Their responses to Congressman Joe Wilson’s outburst during President Barack Obama’s 2009 State of the Union, however, was varied. Some said he should apologize while others claimed it was a legitimate, emotional outburst.

Boyd said he was pleased with the student attendance.

“I think it’s great that college students are getting involved,” he said. “It impacts your future so much.”

Many students in attendance approved of the debate’s format and organization.

“You had the human element [crowd and student questions], and it was official and timely,” second-year College student Abbey Hendricks said.

Following the debate, Lambert said he was pleased with the debate overall and would mark it as a huge success, although he would have liked to see more students attend.

“Each [candidate] stood out in their own way,” he said.

The night took an unexpected turn for the audience, however. Immediately after the debate, Lambert resigned as chairman of the College Republicans, explaining that he had shown great commitment to the organization but could not honestly say he had enjoyed his term and claimed he could no longer continue.

He attributed his disheartenment to the Republican Party politicians serving in Washington, D.C. today, calling them “spineless bureaucrats.”

“I can no longer lend my name to an organization that cares nothing for its roots,” said Lambert during his resignation speech.

—Kelly Kirschner contributed to this article.

President John T. Casteen, III will deliver his farewell State of the University address today from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Old Cabell Hall auditorium. This address heralds the end of Casteen’s 20-year term, from which he will retire Aug. 1.

“He’s going to be taking a backward look at the work of the past 20 years and how the University has evolved under his leadership,” University spokesperson Carol Wood said. “In addition, he’ll be talking about the University’s future.”

The address is free and open to the public.

—compiled by Kate Colwell

Jerome Meyinsse did not play in the final 10 games of last season with former coach Dave Leitao. This season, he has played in all 21 games thus far. Photo by Mallory Noe-Payne.

Prior to this season, Jerome Meyinsse had little to brag about. Sure, he twice won All-ACC Academic honors, but Meyinsse also had only started one game during his three-year tenure at Virginia and had made only 35 field goals in that entire span.

“I always knew I had talent and I always felt like I could have contributed more,” Meyinsse said.

Part of his lackluster performance might be attributed to the decisions of former coach Dave Leitao, who did not play Meyinsse during last season’s final 10 games.

“My basketball hopes were kind of dashed” after the 2009 campaign, Meyinsse said.

But this year, as Virginia has vaulted into a tie for second place in the ACC, Meyinsse vastly has stepped up his game with new Virginia coach Tony Bennett. He has started 13 contests and has drained 38 field goals on the year.

In Meyinsse, Bennett saw someone who could play a key role for the Cavaliers. Following practices last fall, Bennett recalled telling his assistant, Jason Williford, “You know, he’s not that bad — maybe he just hasn’t played a lot.”

And so Bennett gave him the ball. Meyinsse saw the floor more frequently and Virginia’s start in ACC play jumped from 1-8 in 2009 to 5-3 so far in 2010.
But it seems even with his increased responsibility on the team, Meyinsse maintains his academic aspirations.

“I’ve applied to various grad schools but as kind of a safety net,” he said, “I’m also looking for finance jobs in New York. I’ll have some decisions to make when the season ends.”

Meyinsse, an economics major and math minor, said his two most challenging classes to date have been Linear Algebra and Basic Real Analysis.
“I get made of fun of a little bit for being the smartest on the team but not in the geek sense,” Meyinsse said. “I am the biggest person on the team, so not too many give me too much about being smart.”

Meyinsse, however, does not see his intelligence and his success with the game of basketball as mutually exclusive talents. He said he has always had a knack for memorizing plays and excels at analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of opposing players.

But although he has always loved the game of basketball, Meyinsse said his affinity for the game waned with the leadership of Leitao.

“I think it was a little bit on both sides,” Meyinsse said. “I don’t think there was as much communication as there needed to be which was a fault of both sides. It just wasn’t the greatest situation.“
But Bennett has provided Meyinsse with an opportunity he was not given during Leitao’s term, and the 6-foot-9 forward appears to be thriving with his new mentor.

“I got a new opportunity, a new chance,” Meyinsse said, “and it’s been going well.”

Editor’s note: The following story was originally posted online Feb. 3, but is only now making it to press because of production delays brought on by the inclement weather.

Recently, there has been talk of making the Big Dance even bigger.

The annual NCAA men’s college basketball tournament, famously known as “March Madness,” has invited 65 teams to play in the postseason tournament every year since 2001. The Tuesday before the opening weekend of the tournament, the weakest two teams play in the lowly “play-in game” to determine who will be the 64th team. The winner advances to play a No. 1 seed, and it inevitably gets thrashed every year.

Now, there have been reports that the NCAA is looking to expand the tournament to 96 teams.

The madness has got to stop. Sixty-five is the perfect number of teams for the tournament, and expanding it would be a huge mistake.

As it stands, there are 31 automatic qualifiers for the tournament and these berths go to the teams who win their conference tournaments following the regular season — except for the Ivy League because it does not hold a tournament and simply sends its regular season champion. The remaining 34 spots are at-large bids, which are awarded to the best teams that don’t win conference tournaments.

With the current format, the best and most elite teams are making the tournament. Adding 31 more at-large teams would significantly water down the tournament and decrease the overall quality of the teams in it.

Sure, it would be great if Virginia could make the tournament this year, and it would have a better chance of receiving an invitation in a larger tournament field. But the tournament is for the very best teams, and I’m not sure the Cavaliers meet that benchmark — though I hope they prove me wrong. At a minimum, Virginia would probably have to wind up with an 18-11 overall regular season record to be considered for the tournament. And even so, it would probably only be on the “bubble” and would need a win or two in the ACC Tournament. The Cavaliers would need to attain a 9-7 ACC record to get to 18-11 overall. A winning conference record is something I would say almost all at-large tournament teams should have. Adding 31 more at-large teams to the tournament would allow teams in with sub‑.500 conference records, and that is just not a very high-quality tournament.

With the 65-team format, BCS conference teams that achieve 20 wins or keep their number of losses below 10 stand a pretty good chance of getting into the tournament. A 96-team format would erase these milestones of success and replace them with milestones of mediocrity. Teams with records such as 16-13 and maybe even 15-14 would be considered for the tournament. The bubble would be bursting. The tournament should only reward good teams, not sort-of‑good teams. In addition to the Big Dance, the college basketball world now has three other postseason tournaments — the NIT, the CBI and CollegeInsider.com tournament — so a plethora of decent teams can play in the postseason. Everyone can be happy. I’m sure plenty of teams want invitations to the Big Dance, but still, it’s a privilege only the best teams can earn.

Unfortunately, undeserving “legacy” teams would stand a better chance of getting into a 96-team tournament. This year’s North Carolina squad is a perfect example. The Tar Heels just don’t have what it takes to make the tournament this year. I can bet you an overall record such as 16-13 for the Tar Heels would get them into a 96-team tournament, though. That would likely mean a more deserving team with an overall better résumé would be pushed out by North Carolina. The 65-team format makes it hard to reward mediocrity even for the big names in the sport.

If the NCAA wants more teams to be happy, it might as well allow every team into the tournament. There are more than 300 teams, so the fun would never end. Seriously, though, the three other tournaments are enough to satisfy those schools that wish to continue playing into March. And the market for postseason tournaments is growing. Just a few short years ago, only the NIT existed. The last couple of years have seen the birth of the CBI and CollegeInsider.com tournaments. There is plenty of tournament love to go around for even the least deserving of teams.

Ultimately, this probably comes down to money. The NCAA would like nothing more than to continue to milk the cash cow known as March Madness. It’s already one of the biggest sporting events in America, and the NCAA wants to make it bigger. I think this has more to do with satisfying the greedy pigs and less to do with making college kids happy.

One more thing: Wouldn’t a 96-team tournament make student-athletes miss more classes because of a longer-lasting tournament? I thought this was one of the reasons against having a playoff for FBS college football? My sneaking suspicion is that more money is made from the bowl format than would be made from a playoff. Apparently, it’s fine to make students miss class if it makes the NCAA more money.

Virginia dropped the doubles point 2-1, then lost three straight singles matches to seal the defeat.

The No. 23 women’s tennis team suffered its second loss of its last three matches Sunday, falling to No. 33 Ohio State 5-2. Freshman Erin Vierra and sophomore Lindsey Hardenbergh posted a win at the No. 1 spot, but teams at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots lost their matches, and the Cavaliers dropped the doubles point.

The Buckeyes got off to a fast start in singles, winning the first set of all six matches. They quickly sealed the overall win after sweeping matches in straight sets at the No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6 spots. With the match already decided, sophomore Emily Fraser managed to pull off a comeback victory at the No. 2 spot, defeating junior Paloma Escobedo 4-6, 7-6, 10-7, and Vierra knocked off senior Christina Keesey 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3. The Cavaliers will travel to Wisconsin this week to compete in the National Team Indoors. Their next match will be Feb. 24 against William & Mary at the Boars Head Sports Club.

—compiled by Ben Gomez

Two years ago, I wrote a column about why players on the men’s basketball team chose the numbers they wear on their jerseys. At the time, I posed the question to eight players, three of whom are still playing for Virginia: junior guard Mustapha Farrakhan, sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski and junior guard Jeff Jones. I wanted to ask the current Cavaliers the same question, and this time around, I spoke to the entire team about their number selections.

I’ll start by recapping the players I spoke with in 2007. Farrakhan explained that he had wanted to wear No. 2 in high school because of his birthday — Nov. 2 — but an older player already took it. He jumped on the chance to take the number at Virginia after the previous wearer, J.R. Reynolds, graduated and told Farrakhan he could wear it. Zeglinski chose No. 13 because he previously wore either 1 or 3, but both were unavailable at the time. (Fellow freshman Jeff Jones had already chosen No. 1, and No. 3 is retired in honor of former Cavalier guard Jeff Lamp.)

While Farrakhan and Zeglinski have kept the same numbers since 2007, Jones switched from 1 to 23 after his freshman season. Originally, Jones explained he had worn No. 23 in high school in homage to his favorite college player of all time, “Pistol Pete” Maravich. He chose No. 1 when he got to Virginia because he wanted to start anew and wanted to remind himself to always strive to be the top player at his position. But then he changed back to his old number. “I was trying to come to college and change things up,” he said. “But I know this — stay true to yourself, stay with what got you here.”

Jones’ reason for switching digits is the same reason many of his teammates wear the numbers they do: familiarity. The first number freshman guard Thomas Kody ever wore was 11, and though he wore No. 22 in high school, he pulled a Jones and went back to old faithful at Virginia. Senior forward Solomon Tat kept the number 45 from his high school days, when he wore the number Michael Jordan used briefly when coming back from his first retirement. Likewise, senior forward Jerome Meyinsse has worn 55 since his sophomore year in high school.

“My coach was in the closet picking out jerseys, and he took number 55 and he threw it at me and I caught it,” Meyinsse said. “I’ve just kept it ever since.”
Perhaps the longest tenured jersey number among all Cavaliers is the 15 worn by Sylven Landesberg, which has accompanied Virginia’s leading scorer since age seven. “It was the first number ever given to me,” Landesberg said. “I remember the first game I played in, it was a YMCA game. They said, ‘What number do you want?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know, this is my first time playing in a game, just throw me whatever!’ And I just stuck with it.”

For some players who couldn’t get their first choice in jerseys, the numbers they wear at Virginia are simply the closest to what they had before. Senior guard Calvin Baker had worn No. 3 for many years in honor of his favorite player, Allen Iverson, but 3 is retired at Virginia and 2 was taken by J.R. Reynolds. So, Baker said, “I just picked the closest number to it; I picked No. 4. Then they started giving me the nickname ‘CB4’ and I kinda liked it, so I stuck with it.”

Mike Scott’s first choice was also unavailable, as former Virginia forward Adrian Joseph wore No. 30, which Scott donned throughout high school. Scott ended up choosing 32, the number he wore at Hargrave Military Academy. His frontcourt-mate junior forward Will Sherrill found that both the numbers he wore in high school — 21 from basketball and 12 from football — were taken by former Cavaliers Tunji Soroye and Jamil Tucker, respectively. Needing inspiration, Sherrill turned to an age-old decision making tool: what looks good. “I was just thinking of a good number to take, and 22 looked nice on a jersey,” Sherrill said. “I’d never worn it before, but I liked how it looked.”

Two Cavaliers are wearing the numbers shared by their favorite NBA players, including Tristan Spurlock. His top two choices coming into Virginia were Nos. 15 and 22, but Landesberg and Sherrill already had those taken. So, Spurlock said: “I’m a Kobe fan, since he’s the best player on the planet, so that’s why I picked 24.”

Fellow freshman guard Jontel Evans chose his jersey because of a young superstar, Derrick Rose. “In college, he was 23, and in high school, I was 23,” Evans said. “He went to a different level and changed his number to No. 1. I went to a different level, so I changed my number to No. 1.”

I do have to say, among all the players I spoke with last week, Assane Sene’s explanation for his jersey selection was the most interesting. Said the center: “I picked No. 5 for so many reasons. First of all, it’s the number of my favorite player, Kevin Garnett. And second of all, it means a lot about my religion because I am Muslim, and the five prayers that I have to do every day — [wearing No. 5] reminds me a lot about that.”

The passing of Sene’s mother also played a role in his choice of jersey. “My mom passed five years ago before I came to college,” Sene said. “That’s why I’ve been wearing the No. 5. It means a lot.”
Some of his teammates do not have as much significance carried with their numbers, however, as they simply had very few choices. The two Cavaliers who joined the team as walk-ons during the preseason — freshman guard Doug Browman and senior guard Tom Jonke — picked from a trio of numbers: 0, 10 and 21. Browman, when justifying why he picked 0, said, “I chose zero because it’s a different level [playing college basketball]. It’s a new type of atmosphere so you’ve got to start at ground zero and work your way up.”

Meanwhile, the 6-foot Jonke joked, “I didn’t really want to be Tunji,” referring to the 6-foot-11 center who wore No. 21 last year. He thus picked 10, and with that selection, the 2009-10 Cavaliers roster was finalized.

In addition, I asked coach Tony Bennett about his reasons for wearing 25, the number he wore during his college career at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and with the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA. Similar to Landesberg’s attachment to 15, Bennett found his number at the age of 7, when he met Gail Goodrich, who then was an elite guard at UCLA and later went on to play in the NBA.
“[Goodrich] did a clinic or a camp at Stevens Point, Wisconsin,” Bennett said. “I’m left-handed and he was a left-hander. He was a great shooter and scorer. He pulled me out of the camp and I demonstrated in front of the campers. I think he came over to our house and we had a cookout. He gave me his book and I always followed him. He wore No. 25, so that’s where I got my initial love for the number.”

Bennett also mentioned two others who were responsible for his wearing 25: his sister Kathi, who helped Bennett develop his game growing up, and Mark Price, a guard who went to Georgia Tech and played 12 NBA seasons. Both Kathi and Price wore 25, so Bennett began wearing 25 in high school and carried it with him throughout his career.

“Once you get a number, you stay with it,” Bennett said. Many of his players would agree.