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(09/28/23 1:57am)
In the midst of a busy college move-in season at Tufts University, resident advisors took a stand for better benefits by orchestrating a strike. ULTRA, the union representing the school’s RAs, called for a stipend in addition to free housing. This is not an unreasonable ask — the majority of RAs at Tufts receive financial aid and work additional jobs all the while transforming dormitories into homes and providing twenty-four hour support to their residents. The same rings true here on Grounds, where RAs serve as the conduits that facilitate so much of University life. The University cannot continue to depend on student labor while inadequately compensating the students who make our great experiences possible. It is past time for the University to adequately recognize the crucial work that RAs do by providing RAs with a stipend.
(09/21/23 8:35pm)
Following last spring’s successful passing of an Honor referendum outlining a multi-sanction system, the Committee has been working to detail exactly how this new system will work. This year’s departure from the 180-year-old single-sanction has forced Committee members to fundamentally reimagine the way the Committee operates. This is no small task, and their work thus far has largely been admirable. The reality is, though, that the Committee is still thinking too small. Their recent conversations too closely mirror the problematic fixation on punitive measures that plagued the old system. The Committee must start addressing more systemic questions that engender a complete and total embrace of the case-specific and restorative mindset that the new constitution is supposed to reflect.
(09/18/23 3:59am)
We have been here before. If you keep up with The Cavalier Daily’s coverage, then you know we are no stranger to covering the coronavirus. We had hoped our days of counting case numbers and crafting critical calls to action were behind us, but here we are. Both nationally and here in Charlottesville, we have seen a sharp uptick in COVID-19 cases. But what has changed since our initial writing on this topic is the University’s reaction — or lack thereof — to rising case numbers. Where there used to be mask mandates and excused absences for those who missed class due to COVID-19, students are left to go to class sick or stay at home and risk falling behind in lectures and labs. It is the University’s responsibility to enact policy that prioritizes the health and safety of its students — but as it stands, the University is defaulting on this duty. Its failure to provide public health guidance that enables us to safely live and learn despite the continuing presence of the coronavirus has stripped many students of their ability to engage in the student experience. Instead of creating a “new normal,” students have been forced to return the old one, despite fundamentally different circumstances.
(08/30/23 4:43pm)
We didn’t want to write about this. Entering the week, we were preparing to write on a different topic, engaging with issues that concern the University and Charlottesville community. Then, students at UNC Chapel Hill were forced to hide in locker rooms and jump out of windows. Gun violence has marked another campus community.
(08/24/23 1:00pm)
In compliance with an executive order by Governor Glenn Youngkin, University employees — including student workers and representatives of special status organizations — may no longer access several Chinese-owned apps, including TikTok and WeChat, on their University-issued devices or University networks. The University policy does not prohibit other student use of the apps. This state ban mirrors moves made by several other states — all of which have cited concerns about data privacy or national security. If these apps do pose a threat to national security, then this ban is not the solution — policymakers must acknowledge the ineffectiveness of this new law and take practical steps to tackle the larger issue of American data security.
(07/19/23 6:19pm)
The Supreme Court continued to upend decades of precedent when it ruled in June that the race-conscious admissions practices at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina are unconstitutional. While many things are unclear regarding how institutions of higher education will attempt to recruit and retain diverse classes in this post-affirmative action era, one thing remains certain — our work is just beginning. Carefully crafted statements from University administrators are necessary, but they must be coupled with meaningful action that ensures the University looks and feels like the Commonwealth it is supposed to serve.
(05/28/23 7:17pm)
Diversity, equity and inclusion are three relatively straightforward words. We see them a lot here at the University. We hear them a lot in conversations with leadership and peers. More recently, they have appeared in articles about politics in higher education — last month, the New York Times published an article outlining the Jefferson Council’s campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on Grounds. Even the Supreme Court is positioned to weigh in, as a decision to outlaw affirmative action could undermine diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across the country. Today, what we argue is simple — diversity, equity and inclusion are fundamental to our success as a society. These efforts are not “anti-excellence” or "threatening.” They are necessary and must be practiced responsibly by the University to create a better future for students.
(04/21/23 11:29pm)
In case you forgot — as some of us on the Editorial Board did — Earth Day is coming up this Saturday. This year’s theme is “Invest in Our Planet,” and University sustainability partners have taken the message to heart. For the month of April, student and Charlottesville organizations have been hosting Earth Day Every Day, a multitude of workshops, career fairs, volunteer opportunities and more designed to promote the protection of our shared environment — now, and after the date has passed. To ensure that we continue to have a habitable earth to appreciate, the University must expand their climate goals to promote ongoing environmental awareness and create citizen leaders who lead climate-conscious lives even after they graduate.
(04/13/23 1:44pm)
During the brainstorming stage for this editorial, the Editorial Board thought that we might use artificial intelligence to write the first paragraph of this editorial. We gathered a few past editorials, fed them to the infamous chatbot and asked it to write the first paragraph of this editorial — just to see what would happen. The result? Not only did it give extremely detailed feedback on our past writing — thanks, ChatGPT — but in a few seconds, it wrote a paragraph shockingly similar to what the Editorial Board would have written. Needless to say, we all had existential crises. What this exercise proved, however, is that generative AI can be a useful tool for learning. Instead of fearing or ignoring this new wave of advancements, the University should embrace AI-based technology to move education forward and stay ahead of any problems that it may cause.
(03/30/23 2:19pm)
This month marked election season for students on Grounds, with the future of the Honor Committee, the University Judiciary Committee and Student Council on the ballot. Such organizations underpin our culture of student self-governance — a unique tradition that allows students to play an active role in steering the direction of our University. Student self-governance is deeply embedded in the fabric of the University, but its importance feels lost on the student body. In order to safeguard the tradition of self-governance, it is critical that more students engage in this collective project of sculpting our student experience. Students, your ability to make change at the University is a privilege, not a right. It is time we showed up and acted like it.
(03/16/23 5:30am)
Amidst the brunt of the pandemic, many universities decided to waive their SAT and ACT testing requirements. Colleges recognized that access to testing was limited due to outbreaks and adjusted their policies to ensure students were not unfairly disadvantaged by testing cancellations and school closures. Earlier this month, Columbia University and the College of William & Mary announced they are adopting test-optional policies indefinitely. There is growing evidence that these tests are ineffective at properly evaluating applicants, in addition to perpetuating socioeconomic disparities and having a legacy of racism and bias against marginalized communities. The University has been test-optional for the past two years and will be test-optional for an additional two years. To promote a more equitable college admissions process, The Editorial Board calls on the University to extend its test-optional admissions policy indefinitely.
(02/28/23 1:33pm)
This week, the student body will choose its new Student Council President, Vice President for Administration and Vice President for Organizations. The individuals elected to serve in these roles must be able to both understand and address the concerns of the student body. This Editorial Board endorses third-year College student Tichara Robertson for Student Council President, fourth-year Batten student Holly Sims for Vice President for Administration and third-year Batten student Violette Cadet for Vice President for Organizations, respectively. Running on a ticket together, Robertson, Sims and Cadet have shared what they call the “Community Coalition, a platform centered around “solidarity, accessibility and uplift.” Each of them has the institutional experience to make mental health care more accessible to marginalized students, boost access to funding for Contracted Independent Organizations and positively impact the overall perception — and engagement — that the student body has of and with Student Council. We believe these three candidates have laid out a detailed and ambitious plan to leverage Student Council’s resources for the betterment of the entire student body — we look forward to seeing them accomplish what they have set out to do.
(02/23/23 7:00pm)
This year, The Cavalier Daily Editorial Board endorses five candidates running for College of Arts and Sciences representative for the University Judiciary Committee — second-year Lisa Kopelnik, third-year Ineke La Fleur, first-year Allison McVey, third-year Ronith Ranjan and second-year Melinda Wong. Each of these individuals demonstrates dedication to improving UJC, a strong platform that prioritizes the safety and well-being of students on Grounds and the desire to maintain the UJC’s commitment to education and rehabilitation.
(02/23/23 7:00pm)
This year, the Cavalier Daily Editorial Board endorses two candidates running as College of Arts and Sciences representatives for Student Council — second-year Jason Almas and second-year Andreas Masiakos. In addition, we endorse one candidate running for Student Council School of Education and Human Development representative — third-year Makana Brooks — and one candidate running for Student Council Batten representative, third-year Lillian Rojas. Each of these candidates demonstrated a commitment to expanding accessibility to resources and provided realistic steps for increasing student engagement. Most importantly, each candidate emphasized their dedication to prioritizing student needs such as mental health resources and financial aid.
(02/23/23 7:00pm)
This year, The Cavalier Daily Editorial Board endorses four candidates running for College of Arts and Sciences Honor representative — third-years Hamza Aziz and Nishita Ghanate, second-year Laura Howard and third-year Rachel Liesegang — and one candidate for School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Honor representative, first-year Alexander Church. Each of these candidates expressed strong support for the proposed multi-sanction system and they all incorporated transparency and rehabilitation into their platforms — ideals that will guide the Honor Committee as it looks to create a robust sanctioning system.
(02/23/23 7:00pm)
Last week, the Honor Committee passed a new constitution that outlines a multi-sanction system. For it to take effect, the student body must vote to ratify the constitution in the upcoming spring elections. Decades of attempts, culminating in last year’s truly historic reduction of the single sanction to a two semester leave of absence, have led us to this pivotal moment. This Editorial Board thinks the proposed multi-sanction constitution is a step in the right direction — a step towards a more rehabilitative Honor system. Students must rise to the occasion and vote in favor of Honor’s new constitution this March. But this is not the end of the conversation — Committee members have work left to do to ensure the successful evolution of our Honor system.
(02/16/23 11:04pm)
The Virginia Board of Education recently voted to advance the latest draft of its history and social science standards for K-12 education. What began as an effort to merge standards drafted under Gov. Youngkin’s administration with standards drafted under the previous administration has morphed into a politically motivated takeover of our history curriculum that ignores the needs of Virginia’s students. The standards advanced this February not only stifle students’ learning through censorship, but also undermines efforts to use the curriculum to develop critical thinking skills useful well beyond our K-12 classrooms. The Board of Education should reconsider its decision to advance these standards before they are finally approved at their meeting in April.
(02/09/23 3:20pm)
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(01/28/23 9:06pm)
The year is new, but this conversation is not. In the upcoming days, a committee of state senators will vote to confirm Governor Glenn Youngkin’s recent slate of appointments to the Board of Visitors. Among these appointments is Bert Ellis, Class of 1975 alumnus and president of the Jefferson Council. If confirmed, Ellis seems positioned to try and “reverse the path to wokeness that has overtaken our entire university” — those are his words, not ours. Student and faculty leaders — such as the Student Council Executive Board, Student Council representative body, University Democrats and Faculty Senate — have remained consistent in their opposition to Ellis’ appointment. This community demands better. We, the 133rd and 134th Editorial Boards of The Cavalier Daily, call on our state senators to refuse the appointment of Bert Ellis Jr.
(11/12/22 8:59pm)
Despite the efforts we have made to heal and move forward as a community from the events of summer 2017 and the centuries of racist history preceding it, there are those who continuously try to hinder this progress. One of these community efforts at healing, Swords Into Plowshares, is an ongoing project by community leaders to melt down the Robert E. Lee statue that once stood in Market Street Park. The project would transform the Confederate monument’s materials into a new piece of public art. The original proposal came from the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center after the statue was finally removed in 2021. This removal followed years of local protests and organizing efforts, including a petition authored by fourth-year College student Zyahna Bryant, who was a high schooler at the time. As an Editorial Board, we wholeheartedly support SIP. We are eager to see it take materials of hatred and turn them into tools of reclamation spearheaded by the community itself — to, as the proposal states, “move history forward.”
