UVA Lawn Traditions

Convocation:

You enter your First Year here just as Mr. Jefferson, or as I like to call him, TJ, would have wanted. Sitting on the lawn, facing the North with our beautiful Rotunda in the background. This event is magical for many reasons. You are sitting with all of your peers in Class of 20something, you’re all in the same position, and you will be with them for the next four years. Looking around you’ll feel the excitement in the air, and see everyone dressed up and waiting for the ceremony to begin. The speakers aren’t the exciting part, with the exception of the speech from the Sevens. Just be in the moment and appreciate that this is the only time you will be with all these people in the same place until graduation!

Rotunda Sing:

I love Rotunda Sing- it’s such a fun afternoon on the Lawn. Basically, Rotunda Sing is an acapella concert right in front of the Rotunda. It takes place at the beginning of the school year, so it’s nice and warm out. There are lots of beautiful lights projected onto the Rotunda steps and it’s just a really chill night. This is also when the acapella groups advertise their audition times—so if you’re interested in joining a singing group, be sure to check it out!

Streaking the Lawn:

Streaking the Lawn is something that most students participate in, and all are encouraged to do before graduation. It is what it sounds like, you streak the Lawn! Here is a step-by-step run through: go to the Rotunda steps at night, remove clothing, run down steps and lawn, run around the Homer statue 3 times, kiss his bottom, sprint back up the Lawn to the Rotunda, walk up the steps and whisper “Goodnight, Mr. Jefferson” into the keyhole on the door, put clothes back on. It’s fun and liberating! 10/10 would recommend doing it.

Pancakes for Parkinson’s:

Pancakes for Parkinson’s is an event that was created 14 years ago at UVA as a fundraiser for the Michael J. Fox Foundation to benefit Parkinson’s research. It’s a really fun event with lots of delicious pancakes made by the volunteers. I volunteered last year and donated to support my grandfather who has Parkinson’s Disease. It was a really great way to get involved quickly and to support a cause that is in desperate need of more funding for research. The event is also really enjoyable and for all ages, so it does a great job of bringing UVA and the Charlottesville community together.  

(here's me flipping some pancakes! Vid credit to Catherine Cura)

Trick-or-Treating on the Lawn:

My favorite childhood tradition had always been dressing up in a fun costume and trick-or-treating around my neighborhood with my brother. At UVA we host a similar event on the Lawn where the Charlottesville community comes together with the UVA students to celebrate Halloween. At 7pm on the Friday on/before Halloween, the children in Charlottesville gather on the Lawn and make a line to trick-or-treat at all of the Lawn rooms. Many students dress up even if they aren't a Lawnie to hand out candy! It's efficient, it's adorable, and it's a heck of a lot of fun.

Lighting of the Lawn:

Lighting of the Lawn, or LOTL, is the most beautiful event UVA has to offer. It began in the wake of the September 11th attacks when everyone in America and at UVA were unsure of their place in the world. LOTL was created to bring together UVA and the Charlottesville community, in order to support each other and celebrate our bond. LOTL occurs in early December on the Thursday before exams begin. Lights are strung all along the Lawn Rooms, Pavilions, and the Rotunda beforehand, and don't turn on until 10pm. Before the lighting, there's an acapella concert, a countdown, and ~boom~ the lights are on. The lights are synced to the Top 50 hits and thousands of students party together until we tire ourselves out. It's such a wonderful and meaningful event that no student should miss. 

Snowball Fights:

As per tradition: when it snows a lot, people break out into snowball fights. On the midnight of a snowstorm at UVA, students run to the Lawn to partake in the largest snowball fight you'll ever see. It's overwhelming and awesome to see the snow whizzing through the air while hearing the laughs and battlecries of your peers. Though it doesn't happen every year due to Virginia's climate, when it happens it's incredible. Don't miss out like I did because you don't believe that the entire student body would show up to the Lawn at midnight, because you'll miss out in a ton of fun.

Spring Fest:

Spring Fest is a really chill event that UPC puts on in April. Basically it's an event on the Lawn with live music, food trucks, free stuff, and lots of great people. This past year we had student bands play as well as my favorite, Misterwives! They put on a great performance and the best part is that it was free! It's also so gorgeous in Virginia this time of year, so laying on the Lawn is the best thing you can do to enjoy your afternoon on a lovely Spring day.

Graduation:

Graduation is an event that, thankfully, I won't partake in for two more years. Graduation for your class happens, traditionally, on the Lawn just as Thomas Jefferson (TJ) would have wanted it. During Convocation we face the Rotunda, as we are facing our education. At Graduation we face Old Cabell Hall which is blocking the Blue Ridge Mountains. We face the mountains because that represents our life after college and was really symbolic and important to Jefferson. Another fun thing that we do is carry really fun balloons with us as we walk.

Let's Get Traditional: UVa Lingo

Let's Get Traditional

UVA Lingo

by Will Bennett

If you have ever visited the University of Virginia or been on an historical tour, then you may have noticed some different terms used by the student body than you would here at other colleges. Here is a helpful guide to some of the terms that you will hear while coming to UVa. 


Grounds
At UVa, we call our campus Grounds instead of calling it "campus." On admissions and historical tours of UVa, the tour guide will prefer to the area of the school's campus that you are on as a specific area of "Grounds." 

First-Year, Second-Year, Third-Year, Fourth-Year
Instead of calling themselves freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors, students at UVa will call themselves first-years, second-years, third-years, and fourth-years. The reason behind this tradition dates back to the founding of UVa. First, Thomas Jefferson believed that learning was a life long process that was never completed, so therefore you could never be a senior in learning simply by beginning your fourth year of college education. Second, during the first years of UVa's function, many students would enter UVa for a year or two and then leave to return home for an extended period of time, and then they would come back to UVa to continue their college studies. Therefore, It made more sense then during UVa's early years for students to identify what year of their undergraduate education they were in rather than calling themselves a freshman, sophomore, etc. Even students that are pursuing graduate level studies here at UVa will say they are "second-year law students" rather than saying "sophomore law student."

Wahoos and Hoos 
The official name and mascot of the UVa athletics teams is the Cavalier, but our informal name for our sports teams and our students is the Wahoo, or simply the Hoo. At any UVa athletic event, you would hear the announcers say "Go Hoos," rather than "Go Cavaliers," and you will also here many professors on Grounds refer to students as simply "Hoos." The origin of this nickname for our sports teams and students goes back to a heated baseball rivalry with Washington and Lee University in the 1890s. During the 1890s, the fans of Washington and Lee's baseball team would refer to UVa students as fans as "wahoos." Overtime, this name came to be used more frequently around Grounds and by the 1940s it had become a commonly used term to refer to UVa students and athletic teams. Since then, the term has since been shortened to just "Hoos" rather than "Wahoos."

The Corner 
One of the most popular places for UVa students to go out to eat and hang out at is an area of University Avenue called "The Corner." University Avenue is one of the main streets of the area of Charlottesville near UVa's Grounds, and it serves as a kind of outline for the area of Grounds just north of the Rotunda. The Corner has some of the most popular restaurants, shops, and bars that students will go to throughout the year.

Academical Village and the Lawn
The original classroom and dorm buildings of the University of Virginia are located in an area of Grounds called the Academical Village, and the Lawn is the grassy area that divides the East and West sides of the Academical Village. The Academical Village is comprised of the 10 Pavilions, 54 Lawn Rooms, and the Rotunda that surround the Lawn. Thomas Jefferson called the original Grounds of UVa the "Academical Village," because he believed that a college should be like a village where professors and students would live and learn together during their years at UVa. The Lawn serves as the quad of UVa's original Grounds, and while there are some Quad areas in the first-year dorm areas,  the Lawn would be the equivalent of the central/original quad of UVa.