U.Va.'s three residential colleges get new principals
Rebecca Arrington	Matt Kelly	Patrick Gantz
Louis Bloomfield Hereford College	Carl Trindle Brown College	Brad Brown International Residential College

By Rebecca Arrington

Students living at U.Va.’s three residential colleges — Brown, Hereford, and the just-opened International Residential College — were greeted last week by three new principals.

Chemistry professor Carl Trindle now heads Brown College. Physics professor Louis Bloomfield is Hereford’s principal, and associate professor of commerce Brad Brown is at the helm of U.Va.’s newest residential college, IRC, in its inaugural year.

Each residential college brings tosgether a diverse group of about 300 first- through fourth-year students. Programs in the colleges run the gamut from lectures, seminars and workshops to cooking classes and folk dancing. Some of the programs are designed for residents only, while others are open to the larger academic community.

“U.Va. is too large to replace the supportive communities that so many students grew up in. That’s why students here naturally seek out smaller groups and organizations, and why they’re attracted to residential colleges,” Bloomfield said.

These colleges are homes away from home that can make the University a less lonely and intimidating place to their residents. After a hard day in the classroom or at the library, a student should find within the residential college a community of friendship and camaraderie that sweetens and improves every aspect of the University experience.

“My hope for Hereford College is that it will continue to evolve as home to all the best aspects of diversity and that it will flourish as an intellectual, academic and cultural community second to none. I have sought for years to develop this sort of community spirit and activity within and without the University and I’m delighted to be able to concentrate on it directly at Hereford,” he said.

Echoing Bloomfield’s sentiments, Trindle said, “It is important to live in a setting where you can come to be known by your own name and to hear your own voice. I hope Brown College [U.Va.’s first residential college] continues to be a place where its members can look with pride on the ways they have made it their own.

“I’ll be happy to delegate and boost such projects for members, faculty, governance and staff. They will be entirely individual and unpredictable, of course.

I look forward to some happy surprises,” he said.

The IRC is a residential community committed to bringing students and scholars together in an environment devoted to cultural diversity and global learning. It supports the University’s commitment to internationalize its teaching and research missions. (See University expands international emphasis with new residential college.)

“We want the IRC to enrich not only the lives of its residents but the life of the University community as well,” Brown said. “I think the residential colleges are closest to Thomas Jefferson’s idea of an Academical Village. I’m very excited about getting in at the beginning to help shape the future of international studies at U.Va.”