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(03/15/24 5:30pm)
By April 1, the University will release decisions for the remaining class of 2028 applicants. For Yale, Dartmouth, Brown and a growing number of other universities across the country, this admissions process marks the final cycle before returning to standardized testing requirements. One year ago, the 134th Editorial Board urged the University to maintain their no-testing policy indefinitely — citing both the test’s problematic origins and its ineffectiveness at evaluating prospective students. While we do share the concerns voiced by the previous Editorial Board, our current moment is different. We now believe that standardized testing has a place in the future of college admissions, provided it is considered within the larger context of an applicant’s abilities and circumstances.
(02/26/24 7:37pm)
This year, The Cavalier Daily Editorial Board endorses third-year College student Brookelyn Mitchell for Student Council Vice President of Administration, third-year College and Commerce student Ryan Bowers for Student Council Vice President of Organizations and third-year College student Valentina Mendoza Gonzalez for Student Council President. Running together under The Voice Movement, their ticket is framed around the values of community, transparency and justice. While we have questions about the role Mendoza Gonzalez will play in a potential Voice Movement administration, the Editorial Board was exceptionally impressed by both Mitchell and Bowers and is confident in their ability to actualize tangible initiatives and bargain effectively with University administration to advance student interests. The Editorial Board believes that, collectively, this ticket will be able to uphold the mission of Student Council and appropriately represent the views of the student body.
(02/22/24 8:16am)
For the past few years, the Honor Committee and its candidates have had a snazzy idea around which to center their initiatives and through which to mobilize the University community — multi-sanction. This was emphatically not the case this year. Rather, less than a year after the multi-sanction referendum, most Committee candidates seem to have become complacent, neglecting to adopt the necessary historicized approach to understanding the damage the Committee has perpetrated against our community. In the eyes of the Editorial Board, this complacency is unacceptable and at odds with the mandate the Committee has been given. So today, The Cavalier Daily Editorial Board endorses only one candidate running for College of Arts and Sciences Honor representative — third-year student Laura Howard. We hope that she will continue working to transform the Committee into an institution that is truly humanistic, restorative and intentional in its approach to upholding the community of trust.
(02/22/24 8:06am)
This year, The Cavalier Daily Editorial Board endorses three candidates running for College of Arts and Science Student Council representative — first-year student Jackson Sleadd, first-year student Dalton Haydel and first-year student Brian Ng. In their brief but impactful time at the University, these candidates have demonstrated a fresh, nuanced and informed approach to student self-governance that transcends their tangible experience. These candidates are prepared to take advantage of the unprecedented $5 million Student Council endowment in a practical way that genuinely advances student interests. Additionally, they each articulated a need for concrete initiatives to increase both the accessibility of necessary student services and the transparency of Student Council as a whole. Above all, the Editorial Board was impressed by their compelling visions for how Student Council can realistically bargain with University administration to drive positive change for the student body.
(02/09/24 5:00pm)
Kudos to our Virginia Legislature. They have finally taken an important step to address a persistent inequity in the college admissions processes — the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate unanimously voted to end preferential treatment for legacy applicants. In doing so, legislators from both sides of the aisle recognized the intrinsic unfairness of a system in which the often-privileged children of alumni are given preference in the college admissions process simply because of their connections. For Virginia, this bill is a necessary step towards greater accessibility in higher education, one that builds upon precedents set by other states. It is a step which we, as students, and the University, as an institution, should commend for its insistence on more equitable admissions processes.
(02/02/24 5:24pm)
After seven years of hard work by advocates, the path to affordable housing in Charlottesville seemed clearer than ever before. Charlottesville’s new zoning ordinance which promised unprecedented change was set to go into effect this February after getting approved by the Charlottesville City Council last December. In essence, this ordinance proposed more multifamily and higher density housing in hopes that, with an increase in housing units, lower housing prices would follow. Many people were convinced that this was the right course of action. And then, another roadblock was presented — affluent homeowners in Charlottesville filed a lawsuit against the City in an effort to prevent the ordinance from becoming reality. While the foundations of this lawsuit may be legally justifiable, this lawsuit is ultimately riddled with false and silly pretenses, which imply a more sinister motive to undo years of progress towards affordable housing in Charlottesville.
(01/26/24 1:00am)
In case you have not heard it enough from professors and friends — welcome back. Back to school brings more than just snowball fights on the lawn and syllabus week. For many, the return to class coincides with the return to dining halls. Whether you’re an O-Hill fan or a Runk die-hard, the dining halls are an essential part of the University experience. However, outside of the sufficient food selection within the dining halls, the University dining system, which is managed by Aramark, fails to provide students with adequate flexibility. Specifically, the rigidity of meal plans has disempowers students to make choices based on their own circumstances. The meal plan system must be restructured to permit more flexibility for students and to accommodate a diverse student body.
(01/19/24 4:50am)
The latest Israel-Palestine conflict has renewed debates about free speech in our society. One question has become especially prevalent — what, if any, role do university presidents have in responding to international, national and local tragedies? While this question has no easy answers, what has become clear to us — the 134th and 135th Editorial Boards of The Cavalier Daily — is that we cannot and should not expect university presidents, or other institutional representatives, to articulate developed stances on every single political and social issue of the day. To do so would be antithetical to the mission of any university which is to protect academic freedom, debate and dissent. As such, we as students must reframe our expectations for university leaders — instead of demanding explicit statements, we should expect critical neutrality that encourages open discourse and contextualizes debates. This is not silence in the face of injustice. Rather, we call for a neutrality that is characterized by its insistence on facts and deployed in a way that empowers individuals within the institution to engage in discourse.
(12/16/23 1:35am)
For the 134th term of The Cavalier Daily, the Editorial Board wrote 19 lead editorials. We are aware of the platform we have, and the privilege that comes with it — as such, we have attempted to speak for and, more importantly, to students at the University. We have advocated for issues that matter to us, called for change and explored diversity, equity and inclusion and free speech. And, while the Honor Committee might disagree, we attempted to provide a nuanced view of student self-governance at the University. For those who missed it, here’s a recap of what the Editorial Board wrote about during the year.
(11/30/23 4:50am)
The University is anything but an economically diverse institution. According to the New York Times College Access Index, the University ranks 248th for economic diversity out of the 286 most selective colleges in the country, as measured by Pell Grant recipients. Since the last time the New York Times released this index in 2017, the University has fallen even further behind regarding economic diversity — from the 50th percentile to the 25th percentile. Even more appalling, the University is dead last among state flagships, despite having the largest endowment per student. These are statistics with which the University, as an institution, and we, as students, should be very uncomfortable.
(11/13/23 6:07am)
Today marks one year since Nov. 13, 2022. We remember this day.
(11/10/23 4:15am)
Swords into Plowshares, an ongoing project by community leaders to melt down and repurpose the Robert E. Lee statue, has reached a major milestone — two weeks ago, the statue was cleaved and its parts were melted down. The metal will be transformed into a new piece of public art. The Lee statue has had a significant impact on Charlottesville — unveiled to honor the Confederate general in 1924, it served as a symbol for neo-Nazis and white supremacists to gather around in 2017 during the ‘Unite the Right’ rally. In fact, the rally was held to protect the statue, which the Charlottesville City Council had, at the time, considered removing from its place in Market Street Park. The Lee statue was eventually removed in 2021 and, after more than a year of litigation, it finally faced the flames just a couple of weeks ago.
(11/02/23 3:23am)
As the leaves turn shades of red, yellow and orange around Grounds and temperatures begin to cool, it’s evident that autumn is here. And while we are still sorting our candy from Trick or Treating on the Lawn, we are looking forward to returning home in a few weeks to spend time with loved ones and indulge in a home-cooked meal. However exciting this anticipation is, planning for Thanksgiving Break is a strenuous task that the University has only made worse with its lack of flexibility and accommodations for students. The University’s current schedule for the holiday leaves faculty and students at both an economic and academic disadvantage. Leadership must consider changing this schedule in future years to support the geographically diverse student body while continuing to promote academic success.
(10/26/23 5:45pm)
Over 8,000 people have been killed, more than 17,400 people have been wounded and over one million people have been displaced since Hamas — a militant Islamist group that has controlled Gaza since 2006 — attacked Israel Oct. 7. This enormous loss of human life deserves our unequivocal condemnation. The deaths and endangerment of civilians is never permissible or justifiable. The scope of the humanitarian and moral crisis that not just Palestinians and Israelis who are directly impacted are experiencing but also that diasporic communities across the world are reckoning with is unfathomable. How does the world begin to deal with this abominable loss of life and livelihood? How do we, as a diverse and multicultural University community, think, feel and talk about such an emotional yet tangible tragedy?
(10/19/23 2:09pm)
As any student here could attest to, we are all too familiar with the words “community alert” popping up on our phones, so much so that we learn to tune it out. It becomes just another notification, often the butt of jokes on Yik Yak. But the attempted abduction earlier this month — which left one student hospitalized — cut through all of that. To the victim, the Editorial Board offers our support and empathy. For the rest of the University’s community, this incident has added to an ever-growing list of horrific crimes near Grounds. The University is home to north of 20,000 young adults — it is not just where we learn, but also where we live, work and are meant to feel safe. And if this most recent alert exemplified anything, it is that for many of us, we just don’t feel safe in our homes anymore.
(10/12/23 9:25pm)
The 134th Cavalier Daily Editorial Board affirms the importance of supporting transgender and LGBTQ+ students, faculty and staff on Grounds, always and especially in the face of bigotry and anti-transgender rhetoric.
(10/05/23 10:28pm)
Few topics spark more contentious discourse than the issue of free speech, especially on college campuses. Schools across the country struggle to strike a balance between the free exchange of ideas and cultivating an environment where students from diverse backgrounds can live and learn. Here in Charlottesville, the University ranks number 6 in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s free speech ranking, if such a thing can be ranked numerically. It’s a fairly high ranking, and a student published in the Jefferson Independent claims the ranking gives the false impression that “students of different mindsets are dancing around a campfire, holding hands and singing folk songs.” This statement underscores a failure to grasp what the purpose of free speech is — it is not about superficial harmony in the wake of conflicting viewpoints, but rather the use of reason and debate to learn, grow, build consensus and move society forward. Free speech, then, may entitle people to platform problematic individuals, but it does not entitle these people — or the controversial speakers they invite — to any sort of welcoming, campfire-dancing student body.
(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.
