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.

Risa Goluboff, Dean and Professor, UVa Law School

"I’m very small, so when I’m pregnant, I look ridiculous.

“I am the Dean of the Law School, so most certainly not only the first woman and the first Jewish Dean, but the only under five feet is my guess.

“So, I was pregnant, I was teaching Civil Rights Litigation, it was my first semester teaching, and so my students were concerned because I really looked like I was about to go into labor at any time.

“They told me later that they had a whole plan. And that one of them was going to call the ambulance, one of them was going to call my husband, one of them was going to stay with me, you know. They had talked about what they would do if I went into labor in class.

“And it turned out it was really close. I think I finished teaching on a Thursday and I had her Saturday night/Sunday morning. They were wonderful.”

For more: www.uvastories.org

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.

Risa Goluboff, Dean and Professor, UVa Law School

"I’m very small, so when I’m pregnant, I look ridiculous.

“I am the Dean of the Law School, so most certainly not only the first woman and the first Jewish Dean, but the only under five feet is my guess.

“So, I was pregnant, I was teaching Civil Rights Litigation, it was my first semester teaching, and so my students were concerned because I really looked like I was about to go into labor at any time.

“They told me later that they had a whole plan. And that one of them was going to call the ambulance, one of them was going to call my husband, one of them was going to stay with me, you know. They had talked about what they would do if I went into labor in class.

“And it turned out it was really close. I think I finished teaching on a Thursday and I had her Saturday night/Sunday morning. They were wonderful.”

For more: www.uvastories.org

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.

Risa Goluboff, Dean and Professor, UVa Law School

“For the most part, I’m just the Dean, and the fact that I’m a woman doesn’t make a whole lot of difference.

“I have been at UVa for 16 years. I arrived here in the summer of 2002.

“I was a junior faculty member at the Law School, so first I got tenure in the Law School, that was great. But the bigger change is that two years ago I became the Dean of the Law School.

“So, I’m also the first Jewish dean, which doesn’t get as much play, but I think is also an important fact.

“One of the things that was unexpected was that there are a lot of graduates who are practitioners who have really wanted to talk to me about women in the profession and diversity in the profession, so it has kind of opened up a conversation that I think a lot of people wanted to have and didn’t necessarily see an opportunity for before, and that’s been really gratifying.”

For more: www.uvastories.org

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.

Risa Goluboff, Dean and Professor, UVa Law School

“For the most part, I’m just the Dean, and the fact that I’m a woman doesn’t make a whole lot of difference.

“I have been at UVa for 16 years. I arrived here in the summer of 2002.

“I was a junior faculty member at the Law School, so first I got tenure in the Law School, that was great. But the bigger change is that two years ago I became the Dean of the Law School.

“So, I’m also the first Jewish dean, which doesn’t get as much play, but I think is also an important fact.

“One of the things that was unexpected was that there are a lot of graduates who are practitioners who have really wanted to talk to me about women in the profession and diversity in the profession, so it has kind of opened up a conversation that I think a lot of people wanted to have and didn’t necessarily see an opportunity for before, and that’s been really gratifying.”

For more: www.uvastories.org

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.

Rita Dove, Professor of English, Former Poet Laureate

“I do admit that I still felt very tentative about race relations when I first came here.

“And I was surprised by, I remember one of my students, his fraternity had a “invite your favorite professor” day, and he wanted to invite me. This fraternity was kind of notorious for being a real southern-based fraternity.

“And I said, are you sure? And he seemed totally clueless about why he should be unsure. I decided to go and I was surprised that, indeed, it was fine. Though there was some very strong southern accents there, it still was fine.”

For more: www.uvastories.org

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.

Rita Dove, Professor of English, Former Poet Laureate

“I do admit that I still felt very tentative about race relations when I first came here.

“And I was surprised by, I remember one of my students, his fraternity had a “invite your favorite professor” day, and he wanted to invite me. This fraternity was kind of notorious for being a real southern-based fraternity.

“And I said, are you sure? And he seemed totally clueless about why he should be unsure. I decided to go and I was surprised that, indeed, it was fine. Though there was some very strong southern accents there, it still was fine.”

For more: www.uvastories.org

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.

Rita Dove, Professor of English, Former Poet Laureate

Interviewer: “So what is the story behind your poem on the Corner?”

Dove: “Testimonial, hmmm.”

“This poem was written, you know, it was a time when I was thinking about how important it was to step up to the plate, to answer the call of the world. Because all of us, at some point in our lives, have to confront that question.

“If the moment happens and you feel, ‘I have to do something,’ do we actually go up and do that?

“And this time I think of August 12th of last year that is a time when so many of us are asking, ‘Can I answer this world, I need to figure out a way to do it.’”

For more: www.uvastories.org

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.

Rita Dove, Professor of English, Former Poet Laureate

Interviewer: “So what is the story behind your poem on the Corner?”

Dove: “Testimonial, hmmm.”

“This poem was written, you know, it was a time when I was thinking about how important it was to step up to the plate, to answer the call of the world. Because all of us, at some point in our lives, have to confront that question.

“If the moment happens and you feel, ‘I have to do something,’ do we actually go up and do that?

“And this time I think of August 12th of last year that is a time when so many of us are asking, ‘Can I answer this world, I need to figure out a way to do it.’”

For more: www.uvastories.org

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.

Rita Dove, Professor of English, Former Poet Laureate

Interviewer: “How do you feel about Thomas Jefferson?”

Dove: “I am always revising my opinion about Thomas Jefferson, this silent conversation I have with the man.

“He was a man of his times. He was also, like many of us, someone who could sustain many different, conflicting moral systems. But I think that he certainly could conveniently forget things.

“No one can really judge that because we’re coming from a different age. I think that in the future, people will be saying about many of us, how could we allow this to happen.

“So no, it’s an ongoing dialogue we have, me and Thomas.”

For more: www.uvastories.org

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.

Rita Dove, Professor of English, Former Poet Laureate

Interviewer: “How do you feel about Thomas Jefferson?”

Dove: “I am always revising my opinion about Thomas Jefferson, this silent conversation I have with the man.

“He was a man of his times. He was also, like many of us, someone who could sustain many different, conflicting moral systems. But I think that he certainly could conveniently forget things.

“No one can really judge that because we’re coming from a different age. I think that in the future, people will be saying about many of us, how could we allow this to happen.

“So no, it’s an ongoing dialogue we have, me and Thomas.”

For more: www.uvastories.org