Guest Columns

Opinion

DIVESTUVA: Divestment is not a futile exercise — here’s why

By DivestUVA | February 25, 2022

If the University wants to spur positive change, it must divest its endowment from a backward industry that is actively destroying the environment.

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Opinion

REED: Unrestricted student self-governance is nonconducive to democracy

By Kyle Reed | February 12, 2022

Self-governance without our input, or even the input of other student officials is just governance, and it is governance gone awry.

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Opinion

SOMERS: It’s time U.Va. and Charlottesville shed a light on crime

By Luke Somers | January 29, 2022

Instead of focusing all our attention on police departments, we can focus on our living habitat as well.

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Opinion

BENOS: Join the fight for a fairer Honor System

By Christopher Benos | January 28, 2022

If you support giving all students a voice in the Honor reform process, add your name to the sanctioning referendum and informed retraction referendum petitions.

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Opinion

MILLER and TURNER: What does shared governance mean at U.Va.?

By Sarah Turner and Amalia Miller | January 26, 2022

The absence of information about the appointment process suggests a troubling choice to prioritize expediency in filling a spot over an ambitious search for excellent leadership to advance the University’s important missions.

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Opinion

PARHAM: Divesting from fossil fuels is misguided — here is why

By Robert Parham | January 23, 2022

Divestment, while intuitive, is in fact counter-productive when one carefully examines its cascading effects in a market-based economy.

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Opinion

HAYES AND PIWOWAR: We’re from opposite ends of the political spectrum, and we made a film together about politics

By Sean Piwowar and Molly Hayes | November 8, 2021

We don’t purport to have fixed any problems or really changed much at the University, but we hope that our small project might model what is possible.

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Opinion

DivestUVA: U.Va. cannot be “great and good” while investing in fossil fuels

By DivestUVA | October 20, 2021

It is time for the University’s administration, particularly President Jim Ryan and the Board of Visitors, to issue a public call for UVIMCO to disclose and divest.

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Opinion

O’REILLY: Why OERs are a great first step towards education affordability

October 13, 2021

U.Va. should move immediately to build a long-term infrastructure that will allow for a complete transition to open textbooks.

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Opinion

MEHTA: Looking forward, together

June 1, 2021

There is a balance to strike in appreciating our community as a whole and celebrating the wealth of diversity that constitutes it.

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Opinion

COX: The case for confirming the Supreme Court nominee

By Cameron Cox | October 21, 2020

Justifying the blocking of a nominee on the basis of precedent established by Senate Republicans in 2016 is insufficient.

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Opinion

AZHER: Moving beyond free speech — why I say F—k U.Va.

By Hira Azher | October 13, 2020

It is clear that the violence of this institution is constant and all around us — it is this oppression on which we must focus our energy and effort. 

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Opinion

Lifting the veil of silence: Rape persists at U.Va.

By Anonymous | September 28, 2020

This was previously submitted as an impact statement for a sanctioning hearing this fall in a recent Title IX matter at the University. The author's name was omitted to protect their identity.

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Opinion

SMITH: Positive for COVID, negative for assistance from U.Va.

By Megan Smith | September 7, 2020

It’s ridiculous and completely unacceptable that the University would begin allowing students to move back to Charlottesville — even if they live off-Grounds — without having clear and effective protocols at Student Health to give information to students who test positive or who may have been exposed.

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Opinion

WYNN: When it came to protecting my health, U.Va. was inept

By Brendan Wynn | August 31, 2020

When it comes to health, the University has proven it is disgracefully incompetent. 

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Opinion

ADOREMOS: Move all classes online this fall

By Ian Adoremos | August 27, 2020

Many universities with similar plans and initiatives have proven to be woefully unprepared for containing the dissemination of COVID-19.

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Opinion

EBRAHEM: For greater police accountability, end qualified immunity

By Andrew Ebrahem | July 25, 2020

If qualified immunity continues to protect police officers, not only will victims not be compensated, but the violations will continue to occur.

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Opinion

PATEL: Not enough cooks in the kitchen — a lack of physician engagement in politics

By Maitri Patel | July 21, 2020

As physicians continue to engage these inequities on a daily basis, the importance and necessity of their legal engagement becomes all the clearer. 

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Opinion

SOLOMON: Today, again, I am overwhelmed with grief and rage

By Ian Solomon | June 2, 2020

The dehumanization of black and brown people happens again and again and again and again and again and again … How many more unjust deaths must there be?

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Opinion

BRASACCHIO: Abolish legacy admissions at U.Va.

By Ellie Brasacchio | February 4, 2020

If the University seeks to have fair and equitable admissions processes — which it should, as a public institution — it should stop considering legacy status.