Here you will find texts and streamed videos of recent speeches and writings by John T. Casteen III, president of the University of Virginia. You can request copies of older speeches by writing: Office of the President, P.O. Box 400224, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904–4224.
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I write to ask for your support as we build one of our University's most important programs for students. AccessUVa is the financial-aid program that allows us to meet 100 percent of every undergraduate student's demonstrated need. Full Text.
As you know from the news, Virginia's collections of tax revenues are now so far below the predictions on which the General Assembly built the current year's state budget that state officials are planning for allotment reductions that will be even larger than those implemented in Spring 2009. In addition, unemployment in Virginia has almost doubled in the last year. The Virginia Employment Commission's chief economist predicted in a news story published today that unemployment in the state will continue to rise until, at earliest, the first calendar quarter of next year. Full Text.
For several months, the Rector and Visitors and I have discussed how best to manage my retirement from the position of President. The issues are complex, both because I have served longer than most presidents do and because the Board will eventually need also to find successors for several of our senior administrators and managers who have worked with me, some since as early as the late 1960s. Full Text. Watch Video.
In the middle of all of the bad news about the nation’s economy that we have been hearing and reading in recent months, we received some good news in January when The Princeton Review named U.Va. the nation’s No. 1 best-value public university in its annual "100 Best Value Colleges" list. The best-value ranking would be a noteworthy recognition in any year. During this deep recession, it is especially good news because students’ families and elected officials alike have recognized anew that affordable excellence in colleges and universities has to be a major national priority. The president and Congress have built the concept into several elements of the stimulus package. Even state elected officials who have neglected the issue for more than 20 years while siphoning funds from colleges and universities to other priorities have begun to talk about their responsibilities to higher education. Full Text.
All of us lost two great friends in January when first Gilly Sullivan and then Jack Blackburn died. Both of these men helped build and shape our modern University through deep and long-standing commitments to their respective roles in University life—Gilly as director of the Alumni Association, and Jack as dean of admission for the undergraduate schools. Full Text.
President John Casteen delivered the annual State of the University Address on February 4, 2009. Listen to the State of the University online broken into chapters, or downlad for later listening. Watch the State of the University online. Read UVA Today's news article about the event. Go
Calling America's institutions of higher education uniquely capable of producing "the people, ideas, tools, solutions, and knowledge infrastructure our economy needs to regain its momentum and to set a new trajectory," a group of public higher education leaders have issued an open letter to President-elect Obama and his incoming administration urging them to invest in higher education in general and in public higher education in particular, along with their sister private higher education institutions. Full Text. | Download PDF of Letter.
Thomas Jefferson's identities as statesman, author, architect and founder of our Republic and our University lead many to overlook his lifetime preoccupation with the environment as a naturalist, botanist, horticulturist and incessantly inquisitive student of nature. In 1790, he wrote to his daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph, "There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me." Full Text.
The overall reduction for the University of Virginia is $10.6 million, which equates to 7 percent of our General Funds. In addition, the state's Equipment Trust Fund has been frozen, which means the University is unable to spend its $10 million allocation for the purchase of equipment needed largely for research. Full Text.
All of us are feeling the effects of the global economic crisis. I write to let you know how this crisis is affecting the University and how we are working to protect and sustain our operations. Because press (and blog) speculations about what the crisis is doing to universities, including us, have been both numerous and generally mistaken, I want also to respond to a few misstatements about the impact of the financial meltdown on our endowment. Full Text.
This fall is a season of change in leadership here at the University. Retirements, departures for senior positions elsewhere and other transitions have created conditions for a remarkable transformation, and one whose scale and swiftness may be unprecedented in our history. The changes provide useful insights into where we are going, and how. Full Text.
One of the pleasures of living and working in the University and the surrounding community is daily engagement with buildings whose rich histories are sewn into the University's and our nation's fiber. That engagement is both as physical as touching bricks and timbers, and as visceral as seeing newfound subtleties of shape or shadow that make these buildings such powerful images for all of us. Full Text.
One day in November 2007, total pledges and gifts to the Knowledge is Power capital campaign passed $1.6 billion. Owing to the customary flow of business and the pressures of fall travel for Bob Sweeney and his staff, that day came and went without notice, but the day and the number mark milestones that point the way to our University's future. Full Text.
In January 2008, the University of Virginia received a letter from Senators Max Baucus and Charles Grassley, chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the United States Senate Finance Committee. The letter, which was sent to 136 universities, included 11 questions relating to financial aid and endowment management. On February 22, U.Va. President John T. Casteen III responded to the senators with a letter and documentation that comprehensively addressed these questions. PDF of letter (200 KB). PDF of responses (244 KB).
President John Casteen delivered the annual State of the University Address on February 6, 2008. Read UVA Today's news article about the event, and listen to an audio stream of the address. Click on audio link in feature column.
At its October meeting, the Board of Visitors endorsed a comprehensive approach to enhancing the sciences when it approved three major research buildings—one for Medicine, one for Engineering, and one for the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Full Text.
Described as early as 1813 as a place "where all the useful sciences should be taught," U.Va. is recommitting itself to science as it rounds out its second century. A Commission on the Future of the University has identified science and technology (among other areas -- the Commission's recommendations address what is learned and taught broadly) for attention now to build strength and further distinguish U.Va. The core reasons: determination to push forward the frontiers of knowledge in research that contributes to Virginia's and the nation's vitality, to use scarce resources effectively and efficiently, and to adopt the best known practices to deliver to students at all levels education and training second to none. Full Text.
The University has created three new video spots that will air during televised football and basketball games this fall and winter. You may view the spots online now. Full Text.
As students, faculty, and other members of our University family prepare for the beginning of the fall semester, our memories of the mass murder at Virginia Tech last spring remain vivid: televised images of police officers swarming the Blacksburg campus; details of the massacre emerging in bits and pieces; grief and disbelief mounting as the immensity of the tragedy slowly took shape. Full Text.
President Casteen's response to two recent statements that draw attention to an effort by a newly formed British membership organization that styles itself Britain’s University and College Union to promote a “boycott” of Israel’s universities. Full Text.
"Summertime in Charlottesville this year will be a respite between semesters and also a time of hard work as we continue a significant planning project that has to do with both the ongoing capital campaign and the University's longer-term future.." Full Text.
We have gathered here over the years, from time to time, when momentous events pull us together as a community. The last time I recall was the night of 9/11 and 9/12 and 9/13. We sat silently as you sit silently. We came together as a community to focus on issues that had to do with the lives of those who were lost and also with our, and especially, your futures. Full Text.
The shootings this morning at Virginia Tech have turned a seemingly normal day into one filled with grief and disbelief. For U.Va., especially on this day, Virginia Tech is family. Many of us have parents, daughters and sons, sisters and brothers, and friends who study, teach, or work in Blacksburg. Many of us are Tech alumni. Full Text.
During the last several weeks, University officials have reviewed a document entitled the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. Contrary to what its title may imply, this document is not a reflection of a significant agreement reached among college and university presidents. It is an effort by environmental activists, many of whom we know and admire, companies that earn their profits by selling environmental services, and others to gain commitments from college and university heads to agendas set outside of higher education. Full Text.
Read the Full Text.
Listen to Audio Now (Flash Player)
Watch the Video. (Quicktime Movie)
Listen to the Audio Stream of the November 17, 2004 Employee Briefing.
Full text.
View "Resist the Fourth Year Fifth" Flash Video (45 seconds).
State of the University Video Stream (RealOne Player).
For instructions on how to download the free version of RealOne click here.
Full Text.
State of the University Video Stream (RealOne Player).
For instructions on how to download the free version of RealOne click here.
"As you drive south on Emmet Street, past the shops at Barracks Road, a couple of banks and the fast-food places, only a sign or two and (when the leaves have fallen) the distant dome of U-Hall suggest that the University is in the neighborhood. This is about to change." Full text.
Full text.
RealPlayer Video Stream
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"When David Harrison III (College ’39, Law ‘41) died on June 8 at his farm, Flowerdew, the University lost a great friend. Few have understood more clearly than he did how learning and living are co-mingled here at the University. Always, in sustaining one, Mr. Harrison affirmed the other."
Full text.
Full text.
RealPlayer Video Stream
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Full text.
RealPlayer Video Stream
For instructions on how to download the free version of RealOne click here.
RealPlayer Video Stream
For instructions on how to download the free version of RealOne click here.