Rave Reviews: Sarah Drew While still a fourth-year student, Sarah Drew (Col '02) won rave reviews from The New York Times and Variety for her performance as Juliet in a production of Romeo and Juliet at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton.

	Arts
	Athletics
	Ethics
	Historic Buildings and Gardens
	Science and Technology
	Student Experience

The most ambitious goal set by the Virginia 2020 Fine and Performing Arts Commission is to create an environment at the University in which the arts will thrive. The University has developed a master plan for the Arts Grounds, a complex of new and expanded arts facilities on and around Carr's Hill. "We intend to elevate our arts programs to world-class status," says President John T. Casteen. "At present, we have exceptionally talented students and faculty who are constrained by the limitations of their facilities. Completion of the Arts Grounds will provide an environment that inspires creative and collaborative work and that will make this work accessible to wider audiences."

New Performing Arts Center - The new performing arts center will contain a concert hall with as many as 1,500 seats, as compared to the 850 seats now available in Cabell Hall auditorium. Wings, backstage areas, and other features will support performances of dance, theater, musical theater, and perhaps opera.

More about the new Arts Grounds.

	Achieving Equity for Women's Sports: Debbie Ryan When Debbie Ryan accepted the post as head coach, the women's basketball team didn't even have its own locker room. A quarter century later, Ryan has been named ACC Coach of the Year seven times and has led her team to the NCAA Tournament twenty times in a row.

Athletics are an integral part of the U.Va. experience for many students — spectators and participants alike. The Cavaliers compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference and are perennial powers on the national scene. Fielding teams in 12 intercollegiate sports for men and 13 for women, Virginia has claimed national championships in men's soccer and women's lacrosse and has captured top-ten national finishes or conference titles in many other sports. Over the past decade, the University has constructed world-class facilities for football, baseball, soccer, and lacrosse, and the University's new basketball arena, the John Paul Jones Arena, was completed in August 2006.

New Baseball Stadium and Basketball Arena - The quality of our sports facilities is an important measure of the University's commitment to varsity athletics and plays a critical role in our ability to attract top recruits. The baseball stadium has been transformed into one of the best ballparks in the ACC. The playing surface, which was replaced during the recent campaign through the support of former players and other donors, has been named in memory of Thomas Edward Davenport. A former captain of the Cavalier baseball team, Ted Davenport oversaw the Virginia Student Aid Foundation (now the Virginia Athletics Foundation) and fund raising for athletic scholarships for thirty years.

John Paul Jones Arena

The new 16,000-seat John Paul Jones Arena opened on August 1, 2006. It serves as the arena for the men's and women's basketball programs and as a venue for special events, such as concerts, conventions, and public ceremonies. The arena includes practice courts, a weight room, lounge, offices, and a large public plaza. The University has received major support for the $130 million project, including gifts from alumnus Paul Tudor Jones II (Col '76). Mr. Jones has named the building in honor of his father.

	Examining Ethics and Technology: Deborah G. Johnson Deborah Johnson, the Anne Shirley Carter Olsson Professor in the Division of Technology, Culture, and Communication, examines the way new technologies affect our social, political, and moral lives. She is a leading advocate for expanding the ethical dimension of engineering education programs.

The principles of honor, ethics, and integrity have long been central to University life, yet the complexity of the ethical issues facing students, both while they are here and after they graduate, is unprecedented. Forming interdisciplinary centers for undergraduate and graduate study, and engaging students, alumni, and the community in ethical debates, U.Va. is becoming one of the foremost centers in the study of ethics in America today.

A Long Tradition - Thomas Jefferson founded the University to produce citizen-leaders committed to civic responsibility, professional duty, and personal honor. He believed that a solid grounding in ethics was vital for individuals and for institutions: "I consider ethics, as well as religion, as supplements to law in the government of man." This commitment was strengthened with the creation of the Honor System. Administered entirely by students, the Honor System has governed student conduct at U.Va. since 1842. The Honor System is based on the core assumption that all who enroll in the University will not lie, cheat, or steal; those found guilty of an honor offense are asked to leave the University and will be denied a degree. The Board of Managers of the U.Va. Alumni Association is raising a $2 million endowment to provide a permanent base of support for the Honor System. Among the main purposes of this fund are to preserve the Honor System as a student-run entity and to provide educational programs that convey to students the ethical basis for the Honor System. Supporting this fund is just one of the many ways alumni and other thoughtful donors are sustaining the study and practice of ethics at the University. For more information, see "On Ethical Grounds: The Study of Ethics Thrives at Virginia."

	A Bookcase for the First Library With funds provided by donors Merideth Gunter and Bradley H. Gunter (Grad '63, '69), the University restored and conserved a bookcase believed to have been at the University since its earliest days.

Over the past two decades, the University of Virginia has worked diligently to preserve the architectural legacy of Thomas Jefferson. More than a matter of repairing bricks and mortar, preservation serves to safeguard a national emblem of education in a democratic society. Here are some examples of recent preservation efforts on Grounds:

Pavilion VII: The First Building on the Lawn Reopens - The restoration of Pavilion VII was made possible through the support of private donors and foundations, a $1 million challenge from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust, and generous matching gifts. The oldest structure in the Academical Village, the pavilion is the sixth to be restored. It is also the largest and most complex project undertaken since the University began its historic preservation program in 1984. The restoration encompassed the original 1817 Jeffersonian structure, an addition dating from 1860, and the garden room and guest rooms of the annex added in 1912 to provide overnight accommodations for visitors. During the two-and-a-half-year project, decorative molding and wood grain patterns were restored in the Jeffersonian portion of Pavilion VII; original wall and trim colors were replicated; and a skylight was reinstalled in the 1912 Reading Room.

The Pavilion III Garden: Restoring an Enchanting Landscape - The garden of Pavilion III will be restored with support from Jefferson's Circle, the leadership annual giving community for the University's historic preservation program, and the Garden Club of Virginia. The refurbishment commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the restoration of the West Lawn gardens by renowned landscape architect Alden Hopkins. Created by landscape architect William D. Rieley, the plans for the Pavilion III garden restoration include a return to Hopkins' original intentions and to the quality and variety of plant materials he used. Archaeologists will conduct research at the site before and during the restoration process.

Historic Furnishings for a Historic Setting - The University continues to seek funds both for the purchase of antiques and high-quality reproductions and to establish an endowment for future acquisitions of decorative arts for use throughout the historic precinct. Through the generosity of donors, the University has recently acquired or conserved such pieces as:
- Campeachy Chairs. Antiques dealer and decorative arts consultant Sumpter T. Priddy III (Arch '75) generously donated eight reproduction Campeachy chairs. Also known as siesta chairs, this style of seating was admired by Jefferson and used at Monticello.
- Jacob Chairs. While in Paris, Jefferson acquired a suite of chairs by celebrated cabinetmaker Georges Jacob. Reproductions of the chair Jacob made for Jefferson are used in the front room and meeting spaces of Pavilion VII. Jefferson's Circle provided funds for the chairs.
- Fry-Jefferson Map of Virginia. A 1758 French printing of the 1755 Map of Virginia by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson, father of Thomas Jefferson, now hangs in the pavilion as the result of a gift from Patty Burnette (Curry '74) and Kevin Burnette. Thomas Jefferson called the Fry-Jefferson map "the 1st accurate map of Virginia which had ever been made."

Cures That May Stem From Fat: Adam Katz Dr. Adam Katz, a plastic surgeon with an interest in regenerative medicine, has found a variety of adult stem cells in cells associated with fat that retain their capacity to transform themselves into other kinds of tissues. With a gift of $300,000 from former dermatology department chair Dr. Peyton Weary and his family, Dr. Katz is examining the use of these adult stem cells to produce and repair skeletal muscle.

The University intends to be a major contributor to discoveries from scientific and technological research. In addition to building strength in established departments, U.Va. is developing centers of excellence that cut across disciplinary lines, thereby fueling new advances in research and enriching the graduate and undergraduate learning experience.

Emerging areas of research include nanotechnology (http://www.nanoquest.virginia.edu/about_nanotech.htm), morphogenesis and regenerative medicine (http://www.morphogenesis.virginia.edu/index.htm), and U.Va.'s Institute on Aging (http://www.virginia.edu/aginginstitute/).

Undergraduate Research: Opportunities for Discovery - Traditionally the preserve of faculty and their graduate assistants, research is now part of the fabric of undergraduate life at the University. In the sciences, engineering, architecture, and medicine, undergraduates work part time in laboratories and field studies. In the humanities and social sciences, they seek out opportunities to help faculty with their scholarship. The College of Arts & Sciences recently established an office to promote and support undergraduate research across the Grounds, and students have created their own undergraduate research network and have begun publishing a scholarly journal, The Oculus, which takes it name from the skylight in the Rotunda.

	Life on the Lawn: Jasmine Yoon When Jasmine Yoon (Col '03) and her family emigrated from Korea to the United States in 1994, no one in her family spoke English. Six years later, she was accepted to the University of Virginia as an Echols Scholar and Jefferson Scholar. Yoon was not only chosen to live on the Lawn, but was elected head resident adviser to the "Lawnies."

Since 1999-2000, the Faculty Senate has enthusiastically fostered independent projects by awarding competitive research grants to outstanding second- and third-year students, based on the quality of their research proposals. In its first three years, the Faculty Senate's program distributed grants of up to $3,000 to 111 undergraduates, representing five schools and more than 30 departments on Grounds. The late David A. Harrison III (Col '39, Law '41) funded these awards, and his estate continues to provide support. The University is also seeking funds from other donors to make research opportunities available to more undergraduates.

New Options for Learning: Multidisciplinary Majors - Students come to the University with extremely high expectations — both of themselves and of this institution. In response, the University has introduced educational programs that reflect the emergence of new areas of study that tap into the strengths of our faculty and involve multiple disciplines. An example is the new interdisciplinary major program in Human Biology, which takes advantage of the University's outstanding faculty in law, medicine, bioethics, public health, health policy, and health evaluation. Likewise, the new major in Political Philosophy, Policy and Law, combines courses in history, economics, philosophy, law, politics, and foreign affairs. Generous gifts from Charles R. Cory (Col '77, Law '82, Darden '82) and from an anonymous donor will endow new faculty chairs in this cross-disciplinary field. In the Engineering School, the state has approved a new B.S. degree in Computer Engineering, in which students will grasp the fundamentals of computer science, electrical engineering, and other relevant fields.

The Importance of Graduate Life - The quality of the University's graduate programs and the quality of students who enroll in them are key factors in attracting and retaining the best faculty. Support for graduate fellowships is vital to the academic enterprise. Donors such as John H. Birdsall III (Col ’66), who recently endowed Jefferson Scholars graduate fellowships, graduate fellowships in music and art history and a graduate fund in drama, are making a profound impact on the University's academic programs. Named in honor of former University President Edgar Shannon, these fellowships have helped to attract students like composer Peter Swendsen, who turned down Northwestern to enter the McIntire Department of Music's innovative Ph.D. program, the first of its kind in Virginia. In art history, the Shannon Fellowship persuaded doctoral student Jennifer Van Horn to choose U.Va. over Yale.

Clearly recognizing the importance of graduate support, the Faculty Senate awards dissertation-year fellowships to graduate students who have shown exceptional promise not only as scholars but also as teachers. And each year at its annual In Celebration of Teaching banquet, the University recognizes and rewards graduates students who are outstanding in the classroom. A report prepared by the Faculty Senate in 2002 calls for the University to take further steps, including the raising of new fellowship endowments, to compete more effectively for superb graduate students. "If the University wishes to assume genuine national leadership, it must recognize the essential contributions that graduate students make to that goal," states the report. "Graduate student support is part of the cost of maintaining a first-rate university."