Columns

I believe strongly that it is important to go into a conversation with the mindset that a person’s beliefs are backed up by reason.

Opinion

ROBBINS: The power of radical listening

By Hailey Robbins | November 10, 2021

Labeling someone simply because they disagree automatically invalidates their experience, and becoming defensive achieves nothing.

I do not believe that the Academical Village truly existed in the sense that Jefferson wanted it to

Opinion

LANFORD: The evolving living-learning community

By Ryan Lanford | November 7, 2021

If the Academical Village is to be more than just a location at the University and become a real practice that will aid the learning of students, then it is necessary to point out the historical failing and fight to be better.

It feels as though a lack of thought and consideration has been put into dealing with student concerns and addressing fears as well as a physical time delay in reporting.

Opinion

ROBBINS: A breach in the community of trust

By Hailey Robbins | November 4, 2021

Arguably the most frustrating piece of the increased violence in Charlottesville is not that it hasn’t stopped completely, but rather the seeming lack of care and urgency displayed by University administration.

Be the one to raise the minimum wage, bring internet access to rural communities or support sustainable energy.

Opinion

CHEBILI: Students should prioritize state elections

By Nicole Chebili | October 30, 2021

The University has a particularly engaged student body when it comes to political action, but unfortunately most of the engagement comes from the presidential elections.

Opinion

CHEBILI: Thomas Jefferson does not need your defense

By Nicole Chebili | October 28, 2021

When we criticize Thomas Jefferson, his eugenics, his use of enslaved laborers or his abuse of Sally Hemings and many others, we are contextualizing history, not erasing it.

College is a valuable tool of exposure for individuals who may have grown up in a monolithic community.

Opinion

CYNN: Self-segregation at the University is real, and it’s not inherently a bad thing

By Samantha Cynn | October 27, 2021

But there is a huge difference between facilitating dialogues between people and working to address large-scale inequity, and lambasting individuals for wanting to be around those with whom they share common cultural or heritage-based traits.

Book banning is a form of censorship used purely to preserve certain notions of what people — most often, children and imprisoned people — should think.

Opinion

WYLES: Celebrate banned books

By Bryce Wyles | October 25, 2021

Book banning is a form of censorship used purely to preserve certain notions of what people — most often, children and imprisoned people — should think.

The University only takes 3-4 percent of community college transfers in the Commonwealth.

Opinion

LESHER: Making the jump to U.Va. from community college

By Oliver Lesher | October 25, 2021

While students of community colleges are as diverse as they come in respects to their race, ethnicity, income, and general experience, one main throughline unites them all — only about 300-400 of them will matriculate to the University of Virginia.

Only a year ago, there was controversy over Lawn room signs which espoused a less than subtle criticism of Thomas Jefferson and the university founded by him.

Opinion

TOLLIVER: Nonviolent resistance is a form of love, so keep it up

By Shaleah Tolliver | October 24, 2021

I do not want to live in a world nor attend a university where people throw away new concepts out of comfort for old ones or abandon acknowledgement for the sake of tranquility.

Puerto Rican history is more than the pain of colonization.

Opinion

CANO-SANTIAGO: Abolish the colony — Puerto Rican independence is long overdue

By Yssis Cano-Santiago | October 23, 2021

Like Spanish colonization, the historical 122 years of U.S. colonial oppression have been parasitic and painful for Puerto Rico.

I call on the University to swiftly eliminate all attendance policies across Grounds.

Opinion

WYLES: Stop marking attendance

By Bryce Wyles | October 20, 2021

If the University eradicates all attendance mandates and policies from its teachers’ syllabi, students will feel less pressure to come to class with coughs, sniffles and sore throats, even if they aren’t caused by COVID-19.

To condition the space’s full enjoyment on buying something from one of the mall’s establishments runs counter to its standing as an inclusive public square.

Opinion

McCOY: Charlottesville’s public square remains in want of public seating

By Robert McCoy | October 19, 2021

The Downtown Mall's standing as the city's inclusive public square is diminished by its inconvenient lack of public benches.

A preventative ban on any University support will ensure that the University does its part to eliminate this dangerous research from risking our public health.

Opinion

HELLER: U.Va. must ban gain of function research

By Matt Heller | October 18, 2021

A preventative ban on any University support will ensure our institution does its part to eliminate this dangerous research from ever again risking our public health.

Opinion

CANO-SANTIAGO: The Supreme Court must uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act

By Yssis Cano-Santiago | October 7, 2021

The court must uphold the act and respect the sovereignty of Native American tribes to make decisions on behalf of their children.

"Before we rip our monuments down — a process which I am all for in many cases — we should pause for a moment and think about what they can teach us."

Opinion

LAUGHRIDGE: What our monuments teach us

By Thomas Laughridge | September 27, 2021

When we raise someone onto a pedestal, we are effectively transforming them from a man into a myth.

The statue’s removal has also elicited tempered reminders that there is still work to be done.

Opinion

McCOY: Striving toward a perfect union

By Robert McCoy | September 24, 2021

In the spirit of striving toward the perfect union that Mayor Walker notes we are far from, some steps to grapple with the University’s role in Virginia’s eugenic program present themselves, such as renaming Alderman library.