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.

Gary Nimax, Assistant Vice President for Compliance, Chair of the LGBT Committee for Faculty and Staff, and 1987 UVa Graduate

“I received financial aid for part of my tuition, and I remember wondering whether, if they found out I was gay, whether I'd still get financial aid.

“I graduated in 1987. I definitely didn’t feel comfortable being out my first year. I remember there being ‘out’ gay people in the dorms — just a couple — but sort of everyone knew it, everyone talked about it, they weren't well accepted, and I think that drove me further into the closet for a while. Then by the end of my college career, I was out.

“I don't think that the University was thrilled about it, but we were sort of — it was sort of okay, we were tolerated, I think was sort of how I felt about 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.

Gary Nimax, Assistant Vice President for Compliance, Chair of the LGBT Committee for Faculty and Staff, and 1987 UVa Graduate

“I received financial aid for part of my tuition, and I remember wondering whether, if they found out I was gay, whether I'd still get financial aid.

“I graduated in 1987. I definitely didn’t feel comfortable being out my first year. I remember there being ‘out’ gay people in the dorms — just a couple — but sort of everyone knew it, everyone talked about it, they weren't well accepted, and I think that drove me further into the closet for a while. Then by the end of my college career, I was out.

“I don't think that the University was thrilled about it, but we were sort of — it was sort of okay, we were tolerated, I think was sort of how I felt about 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.

Gary Nimax, Assistant Vice President for Compliance, Chair of the LGBT Committee for Faculty and Staff, and 1987 UVa Graduate

“It was one of those classes that had a long waiting list, people sitting in the aisles. People would go to the class who didn't even register in the class just to hear one of his lectures. He was very entertaining.

“I graduated in 1987. I studied psychology. I think my favorite class was sort of the legendary Intro to Psychology that Dr. Ray Bice taught.

“He had a number of ‘Bice devices’ as we referred to them, and I remember this one that made you hear out of the opposite ear, so you would have this thing on your head, and he'd play a sound to the right and you'd hear it in the left, and he just did a lot of things to make the class interesting and fun.

“I should add one thing — a Bice device is one of the 100 objects in the Bicentennial Exhibit too, by the way. So, he lives on there.”

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.

Gary Nimax, Assistant Vice President for Compliance, Chair of the LGBT Committee for Faculty and Staff, and 1987 UVa Graduate

“It was one of those classes that had a long waiting list, people sitting in the aisles. People would go to the class who didn't even register in the class just to hear one of his lectures. He was very entertaining.

“I graduated in 1987. I studied psychology. I think my favorite class was sort of the legendary Intro to Psychology that Dr. Ray Bice taught.

“He had a number of ‘Bice devices’ as we referred to them, and I remember this one that made you hear out of the opposite ear, so you would have this thing on your head, and he'd play a sound to the right and you'd hear it in the left, and he just did a lot of things to make the class interesting and fun.

“I should add one thing — a Bice device is one of the 100 objects in the Bicentennial Exhibit too, by the way. So, he lives on there.”

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.

Gabby Carper, 2018 UVa Graduate, and Former Grand Poobah of Brown College

Carper: “The question that really got me when I was applying was: ‘You wake up in a kiddie pool of mashed potatoes. Describe what happened.’

“What really got me into applying to Brown was the application questions, because they’re very eccentric and they’re written by current students every year. They change every year.”

Interviewer: “Can you explain the self-governance?”

Carper: “There’s four officers. There’s the president — which is what I was — or the ‘Grand Poobah,’ the vice president, who is the ‘Shama Lama Ding Dong.’

“As the Grand Poobah, I actually had a hat which was just blue hair and big white horns on the sides that I was supposed to wear at every official event just to prove that I don’t take myself too seriously. Because at the end of the day, we’re a residential college at a university planning events that could involve mashed potatoes and kiddie pools.”

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.

Gabby Carper, 2018 UVa Graduate, and Former Grand Poobah of Brown College

Carper: “The question that really got me when I was applying was: ‘You wake up in a kiddie pool of mashed potatoes. Describe what happened.’

“What really got me into applying to Brown was the application questions, because they’re very eccentric and they’re written by current students every year. They change every year.”

Interviewer: “Can you explain the self-governance?”

Carper: “There’s four officers. There’s the president — which is what I was — or the ‘Grand Poobah,’ the vice president, who is the ‘Shama Lama Ding Dong.’

“As the Grand Poobah, I actually had a hat which was just blue hair and big white horns on the sides that I was supposed to wear at every official event just to prove that I don’t take myself too seriously. Because at the end of the day, we’re a residential college at a university planning events that could involve mashed potatoes and kiddie pools.”

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.

Gabby Carper, 2018 UVa Graduate, and Former Grand Poobah of Brown College

“My first year it was called ‘Willy Wahoo and the Brownie Factory,’ and so I was a kid who got hit by the glass elevator at the end. So my whole thing was just screaming.

“Out of all the organizations that I’ve been a part of at UVa, Brown College is the most like a family.

“We have our annual haunted house every year called Hauntings on the Hill where we, as a community, build up this haunted house on Monroe Hill. So it’s in front of the Monroe Hill House, where President Monroe actually lived.

“We are building for 5 or 6 days and then take it back down within 3 days of it begin built.

“It’s never really that scary because we’re amateurs, but everybody I know who comes always has a good time.

“We donate 100 percent of the proceeds to local charities. And so that's probably one of my favorite parts of Brown is just giving back because we get so much from Brown just living there.”

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.

Gabby Carper, 2018 UVa Graduate, and Former Grand Poobah of Brown College

“My first year it was called ‘Willy Wahoo and the Brownie Factory,’ and so I was a kid who got hit by the glass elevator at the end. So my whole thing was just screaming.

“Out of all the organizations that I’ve been a part of at UVa, Brown College is the most like a family.

“We have our annual haunted house every year called Hauntings on the Hill where we, as a community, build up this haunted house on Monroe Hill. So it’s in front of the Monroe Hill House, where President Monroe actually lived.

“We are building for 5 or 6 days and then take it back down within 3 days of it begin built.

“It’s never really that scary because we’re amateurs, but everybody I know who comes always has a good time.

“We donate 100 percent of the proceeds to local charities. And so that's probably one of my favorite parts of Brown is just giving back because we get so much from Brown just living there.”

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.

Elizabeth Wittner, Academic Director of the Center for American English Language and Culture, and International Teaching Assistant Program Coordinator

“What does it mean that his arms are by his side when he’s talking? Is he bored? Is he mad? So much of the potential miscommunication that can happen is really not just about language.

“I’ve had a lot of prospective international T.A.s in the past ask me questions about, like, ‘How is it possible that students argue about their grades with the instructor, I mean, that’s okay?’ ‘What does it mean that students bring food into the classroom? Are they disrespecting me?’

“And vice versa. So what does it mean to an American student that my T.A. is not smiling? What does it mean that his tone is somewhat flat? It turns out that plays a huge role in the classroom, more so even than English language.”

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.

Elizabeth Wittner, Academic Director of the Center for American English Language and Culture, and International Teaching Assistant Program Coordinator

“What does it mean that his arms are by his side when he’s talking? Is he bored? Is he mad? So much of the potential miscommunication that can happen is really not just about language.

“I’ve had a lot of prospective international T.A.s in the past ask me questions about, like, ‘How is it possible that students argue about their grades with the instructor, I mean, that’s okay?’ ‘What does it mean that students bring food into the classroom? Are they disrespecting me?’

“And vice versa. So what does it mean to an American student that my T.A. is not smiling? What does it mean that his tone is somewhat flat? It turns out that plays a huge role in the classroom, more so even than English language.”

For more: www.uvastories.org