UVA's Bicentennial Stories initiative from WTJU 91.1 FM tells our collective story. It helps us understand our shared history and make meaning in the University today. And as we look ahead, these stories help us shape the future of the University and our role in a democratic society.

Marva Barnett, Professor Emeritus and Founding Director, Teaching Resource Center

“Teachers are people, they’re human beings. Students are surprised sometimes to be told that! They sometimes don’t even believe it!

“So I was director -- or founding director of the Center for Teaching Excellence. So if you were a teacher and you wanted me to read through any set of evaluations and, you know, talk about what we saw. I would just say, ‘Well, here are the main themes that come out. What did you get out of these? Or why were you concerned? Why did you ask me?’

“And they will fixate on what one of our graduate student’s called “the class assassin” -- the one person who really wasn’t happy for good reason or bad, just said something mean, rarely something that had any reality to it. And that’s the comment that sticks in the teacher’s head.”

UVA's Bicentennial Stories initiative from WTJU 91.1 FM tells our collective story. It helps us understand our shared history and make meaning in the University today. And as we look ahead, these stories help us shape the future of the University and our role in a democratic society.

Marva Barnett, Professor Emeritus and Founding Director, Teaching Resource Center

“Teachers are people, they’re human beings. Students are surprised sometimes to be told that! They sometimes don’t even believe it!

“So I was director -- or founding director of the Center for Teaching Excellence. So if you were a teacher and you wanted me to read through any set of evaluations and, you know, talk about what we saw. I would just say, ‘Well, here are the main themes that come out. What did you get out of these? Or why were you concerned? Why did you ask me?’

“And they will fixate on what one of our graduate student’s called “the class assassin” -- the one person who really wasn’t happy for good reason or bad, just said something mean, rarely something that had any reality to it. And that’s the comment that sticks in the teacher’s head.”

UVA's Bicentennial Stories initiative from WTJU 91.1 FM tells our collective story. It helps us understand our shared history and make meaning in the University today. And as we look ahead, these stories help us shape the future of the University and our role in a democratic society.

Tim Heaphy, UVA’s General Counsel

“There were a lot of things that happened that year. We unfortunately, that year, had two or three student suicides.

“So I got involved in the residence staff, so I was an R.A. my third year, then I was co-chair of the residence staff program.

“There was a big focus on mental health and wellness. And it actually lead soon thereafter to the institution of the fall break. At that point, we didn’t have a fall break; we went from August to Thanksgiving with no days off.

“And one of the practical improvements was, in an effort to help students decompress or release stress, we need to have some sort of a scheduled break. But unfortunately, that was the product of some tragedies.”

UVA's Bicentennial Stories initiative from WTJU 91.1 FM tells our collective story. It helps us understand our shared history and make meaning in the University today. And as we look ahead, these stories help us shape the future of the University and our role in a democratic society.

Tim Heaphy, UVA’s General Counsel

“There were a lot of things that happened that year. We unfortunately, that year, had two or three student suicides.

“So I got involved in the residence staff, so I was an R.A. my third year, then I was co-chair of the residence staff program.

“There was a big focus on mental health and wellness. And it actually lead soon thereafter to the institution of the fall break. At that point, we didn’t have a fall break; we went from August to Thanksgiving with no days off.

“And one of the practical improvements was, in an effort to help students decompress or release stress, we need to have some sort of a scheduled break. But unfortunately, that was the product of some tragedies.”

UVA's Bicentennial Stories initiative from WTJU 91.1 FM tells our collective story. It helps us understand our shared history and make meaning in the University today. And as we look ahead, these stories help us shape the future of the University and our role in a democratic society.

Tim Heaphy, UVA’s General Counsel

“We actually used to have, believe it or not, “L.A. Law” watching parties on Thursday nights and people from the same small section would get together at somebody’s apartment to watch “L.A. Law.” Sounds kind of silly now, but it was big then.

“What I’d heard about the Law School, which was true, was that it wasn’t super competitive and you’re going to find, you know, pages torn out of books because everybody’s competing for jobs. But it also wasn’t a party school where nobody cared about reading cases. It was both.

“I was really attracted to criminal and constitutional law and the Law School recognized that, so I feel like it was a place where I could identify what I liked, what I was good at, and that sort, yeah, gave me incentive to continue to do that out in the real world.”

UVA's Bicentennial Stories initiative from WTJU 91.1 FM tells our collective story. It helps us understand our shared history and make meaning in the University today. And as we look ahead, these stories help us shape the future of the University and our role in a democratic society.

Tim Heaphy, UVA’s General Counsel

“We actually used to have, believe it or not, “L.A. Law” watching parties on Thursday nights and people from the same small section would get together at somebody’s apartment to watch “L.A. Law.” Sounds kind of silly now, but it was big then.

“What I’d heard about the Law School, which was true, was that it wasn’t super competitive and you’re going to find, you know, pages torn out of books because everybody’s competing for jobs. But it also wasn’t a party school where nobody cared about reading cases. It was both.

“I was really attracted to criminal and constitutional law and the Law School recognized that, so I feel like it was a place where I could identify what I liked, what I was good at, and that sort, yeah, gave me incentive to continue to do that out in the real world.”

UVA's Bicentennial Stories initiative from WTJU 91.1 FM tells our collective story. It helps us understand our shared history and make meaning in the University today. And as we look ahead, these stories help us shape the future of the University and our role in a democratic society.

Tim Heaphy, UVa’s General Counsel

“Every first year dorm had a stranger dance, which meant that your roommate was supposed to go get a stranger to be your date.

“Every dorm had a stranger dance that was -- everybody was set up, either with people they chose, or they went random and let their roommate pick. The idea was give first year students an exclusive experience where they’re all thrown together and that gives them a sense of camaraderie, you know, what dorm you’re in becomes sort of your first peer group.

“And I still think that that’s really positive. After that, people start to go off into fraternities and sororities or teams or various different ways to define themselves, but first year, everybody’s thrown together and those were really fun.”

UVA's Bicentennial Stories initiative from WTJU 91.1 FM tells our collective story. It helps us understand our shared history and make meaning in the University today. And as we look ahead, these stories help us shape the future of the University and our role in a democratic society.

Tim Heaphy, UVa’s General Counsel

“Every first year dorm had a stranger dance, which meant that your roommate was supposed to go get a stranger to be your date.

“Every dorm had a stranger dance that was -- everybody was set up, either with people they chose, or they went random and let their roommate pick. The idea was give first year students an exclusive experience where they’re all thrown together and that gives them a sense of camaraderie, you know, what dorm you’re in becomes sort of your first peer group.

“And I still think that that’s really positive. After that, people start to go off into fraternities and sororities or teams or various different ways to define themselves, but first year, everybody’s thrown together and those were really fun.”

UVA's Bicentennial Stories initiative from WTJU 91.1 FM tells our collective story. It helps us understand our shared history and make meaning in the University today. And as we look ahead, these stories help us shape the future of the University and our role in a democratic society.

Tim Heaphy, UVA’s General Counsel

“Imagine 50 people packed into the back of a truck, just careening down the road.

“My first year, there was a planned rush event where Sigma Chi fraternity rented a U-Haul truck and a bunch of brothers and rushees piled into the back of that truck and drove to Randolph-Macon College for a party. And the driver of the truck was my R.A.

And there was an accident and the U-Haul turned over on its side and a vehicle came in through the roof, and Brian McKittrick, the young man killed, was on our hall.

“That had a real change in terms of how the University supervised fraternities and organizations and its approach to alcohol.”

UVA's Bicentennial Stories initiative from WTJU 91.1 FM tells our collective story. It helps us understand our shared history and make meaning in the University today. And as we look ahead, these stories help us shape the future of the University and our role in a democratic society.

Tim Heaphy, UVA’s General Counsel

“Imagine 50 people packed into the back of a truck, just careening down the road.

“My first year, there was a planned rush event where Sigma Chi fraternity rented a U-Haul truck and a bunch of brothers and rushees piled into the back of that truck and drove to Randolph-Macon College for a party. And the driver of the truck was my R.A.

And there was an accident and the U-Haul turned over on its side and a vehicle came in through the roof, and Brian McKittrick, the young man killed, was on our hall.

“That had a real change in terms of how the University supervised fraternities and organizations and its approach to alcohol.”