At Tuesday’s Student Council general body meeting, Christian Garcia, associate vice president of Career and Professional Development, shared his journey to the University as well as his plans to further the presence and productivity of the Career Center on Grounds. He discussed efforts to expand employer engagement, build new recruiting partnerships and increase opportunities for mentorship, internships and career projects for students.
This past summer Garcia left the University of Miami after a 24 year tenure to fill the former position of Nicole Hall, who is now the University’s new senior associate vice president and dean of students.
Garcia explained he already feels a sense of belonging at the University, citing its tradition of student self-governance and the student commitment to the institution.
“One of the things I kept reading about and hearing about when I came to my interview was this notion of student self-governance,” Garcia said. “I am so blown away by how much you care about this institution, how committed you are to this institution, and how, in many ways, you are running it.”
Garcia said he has been struck by student engagement at career fairs, pointing to high turnout at recent events. He noted that an engineering career fair early in the Fall 2025 semester drew about 1,500 students — a level of participation he said he had not seen at comparable events during his time at the University of Miami. Garcia added that similar engagement has been evident at events such as finance and data science nights, which he said reflect a strong student focus on career preparation.
Garcia concluded by outlining how the Career Center is looking to improve employer engagement by building relationships with organizations that do not currently recruit at the University, including outreach through alumni networks. He said the Center has recently launched a new Employer Engagement Strategic Plan Process involving staff who work with students, alumni and external partners to identify ways to leverage University connections and create additional opportunities. Garcia added that the initiative also aims to connect students with employers through mentorship, short-term projects and microinternships.
“We want to make sure that we are engaging with as many employers as possible,” Garcia said. “We want employers to serve as potential mentors to you all to offer short term projects, maybe internships or micro internships. These are all things that help students build skills and make better decisions.”
Following Garcia’s remarks, Student Council heard updates from Cody Scarce, co-director of U.Va. Mutual Aid and third-year College student. U.Va. Mutual Aid is a collective within Student Council that provides small grants to students facing financial hardship. In outlining the Mutual Aid budget, Scarce highlighted the success of the My Career Closet partnership — an initiative started in September for Student Council to partner with My Career Closet to provide University students with complete, professional outfits at no cost.
“We allocated $20,000 for 140 business professional kits to go out to students around grounds and I just got confirmation this morning from an email that all those offers have now been used,” Scarce said. “Conservative estimate of 1000 items being donated over the course of the term so far.”
Clint Wilson, co-director of U.Va. Mutual Aid and first-year College student, discussed the successful fundraising Mutual Aid has accomplished — raising over $3000, doubling their goal of $1500. Wilson also mentioned some of the effective partnerships in the fall including an a cappella concert with two on-Grounds groups, a sales collaboration with the Corner Starbucks and a chili cook-off at St. Paul’s Memorial Church. The committee is now focused on potentially partnering with the Hullabahoos for serenades in the spring semester to raise money for the Mutual Aid Fund.
Eli Boone, director of student legal services and fourth-year College student, also gave an update on what Student Legal Services — a resource offered by Student Council that provides low-cost legal assistance to students — has accomplished in the last academic year.
Boone highlighted student intakes increased by 40 this year within Student Legal Services and noted an upcoming joint venture with the University Judiciary Committee in March that will educate students about commonly encountered legal issues. SLS will also partner with the Women’s Center in March on a substantive legal topic that affects the student population.
“We have planned for a collaboration with the University Judiciary Committee that is happening on March 10 as a part of their J Week initiative,” Boone said. “This will largely be around commonly encountered legal issues and FERPA rights for students who are within the context of the UJC as well as the applicable standards of conduct.”
During the Legislative Session, a proclamation which called for the recognition of a new “Thank a Crossing Guard Day” passed unanimously with 33 affirmative votes. Additionally, a bill approving the appointments of two new co-Chief Development Officers, second-year College student Colin Beenhouwer and second-year Commerce student Michael Child, also passed unanimously with 33 affirmative votes.
The Student Council will reconvene Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. for a general body meeting where they will hear from nine visitors from the U.Va. Wise campus.
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