Police are investigating Virginia State Sen. Creigh Deeds’ (D-Bath) attack in the early hours of Tuesday morning as a possible murder-suicide, Virginia State Police said at a press conference this afternoon. Deeds was stabbed multiple times in the head and upper torso, but is in fair condition at the University Medical Center.
City Council met on Monday night to approve a list of “legislative requests and policy positions” to be submitted to the Virginia General Assembly, including local gun restrictions and bans on smoking in public parks. The requests and positions submitted to the General Assembly were presented by Deputy City Attorney Richard M.
A YouTube video created by students at the University of California, Los Angeles, has garnered massive online attention and is sparking debate across the nation about race at institutions of higher education. The Black Bruins, an African-American student organization at UCLA, posted the video last week to voice complaints regarding their university’s low minority enrollment. Junior and group leader Sy Stokes narrates the video with a spoken word poem addressing the school’s statistical gap in minority enrollment, saying only 3.3 percent of the school’s male student body is African-American.
Charlottesville police are investigating two robberies that occurred approximately 30 minutes apart from each other early Saturday morning. Police have noted that both cases have similarities.
The University administration is requiring the University Guide Service to rewrite its constitution, reform its disciplinary system, and restructure its new member education program in light of the hospitalization of five students for alcohol poisoning during a new member event in early October.
In keeping with national trends, the University has seen a growth in the number of international students stepping on Grounds. The number of international students coming to the United States for the 2012-13 year was a record high of 819,644 — a 7.2 percent increase from last year, according to a recent survey on international enrollment by the Institute of International Education.
An Engineering School student was found guilty of cheating by a student jury in an honor trial Sunday.
Gov. Bob McDonnell appointed three new members to the Board of Visitors this year. They began their terms in July.
University Law Prof. Douglas Laycock has publicly challenged a new Hawaiian same-sex marriage law, claiming the legislation lacks sufficient exemptions for religious institutions.
The Organization of Young Filipino Americans held vigil on the Rotunda steps Friday evening for victims of typhoon Haiyan, which recently devastated the Philippines. The storm hit last Thursday, killing a confirmed 3,600 and displacing nearly 700,000 others.
The Special Committee on Strategic Planning met with the full Board of Visitors Friday to discuss the upcoming generational shift among the University’s faculty and the need to adopt a new hiring plan to focus efforts on new faculty hires.
In response to the recent cuts to AccessUVA, the University’s financial aid program, students stood together in silent protest on Friday afternoon to get the attention of the Board of Visitors. Students wore signs stating what AccessUVA means to them as well as duck tape covering their mouths that read “Access Denied.”
A $130 million College of Arts and Sciences campaign is expected to begin soon, as University administrators anticipate a professoriate overhaul over the next five-to-seven years.
The University announced Thursday that Ray Mabus, the United States secretary of the Navy, will deliver the Commencement address at Final Exercises in May.
Finance was the topic of the hour at the Board of Visitors’ Strategic Planning Committee meeting Thursday afternoon. As University President Teresa Sullivan and the rest of the University administration sought the Board’s approval of their strategic vision, several committee members questioned the plan’s vague price tag. “If we approve [the plan], aren’t we just setting up contention at later meetings year after year?” Board member Frank Genovese said.
The Board of Visitors’ Education Policy Committee met Thursday afternoon to discuss a new University mission statement and the future of the school’s global presence. President Teresa Sullivan approached the Faculty Senate earlier this year about revising the current mission statement, which was developed by the Faculty Senate and approved by the Board in 1985.
The Board of Visitors’ Buildings and Grounds Committee convened Thursday in its final meeting of the academic semester to sign-off on project proposals and discuss future improvements to the University.
The Board of Visitors’ Student Affairs and Athletics Committee met Thursday to discuss the importance of student self-governance and to express support for members of the University’s athletic community. Patricia Lampkin, vice president for student affairs, began the meeting by speaking about student self-governance within University student organizations and how it allows engaged students to deal with “the messy realities” of leadership. “Nothing is in a box and then handed by professionals to them,” she said.
The University is currently testing a new activity-based budgeting model intended to change the way schools and departments receive funding.
In discussions of the University’s finances, one word constantly crops up: the endowment. But an endowment is nothing if managed poorly — the University can credit a large portion of its endowment’s size and comparatively high growth rate to the University of Virginia Investment Management Company (UVIMCO), the non-stock corporation that manages the University’s investments. UVIMCO is administered by a Board of Directors, three of whom are specifically selected by the Board of Visitors and one whom is selected by the University President.
