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.

UVA Stories

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.

Allen Groves, Dean of Students:

“You know, it’s funny. The Cavalier Daily polled students, fall of ’16, about the students’ view of me as the Dean of Students.

“I remember when they published that. Most people would have been ecstatic, because the positive approval rating was something in the high seventy percent. But what I laugh about still to this day is there was a five percent unfavorable, which anyone would kill for.

“But all I could think about was, okay, what did I do to this five percent? How can I change the view of this five percent?

“You know, it’s just my nature. I think I really do want students to have a positive view of me, even if they have to deal with me in a time that’s difficult because maybe they’ve gotten into trouble. But I want them to say hey, this guy actually is invested in me, and helping me make better decisions.”

For more: www.uvastories.org

UVA Stories: Allen Groves - Cavalier Daily Poll

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.

Allen Groves, Dean of Students:

“So the fourth-year trustees each year, they come up with a list of things to do before you graduate. So one of them they said was high-five Dean Groves.

“So I had been doing that for a couple years, and Student Council came to me and said, ‘Would you agree to try to break the high-five record, most high-fives in an hour?’ And I said, sure, like an idiot, without looking up what is the number, is it even possible? It was like 1,700 — something in an hour.

“So I arrived on the Lawn that night, and they had a huge group of students lined up all the way from the Rotunda down to Homer. So I did this, and at the end, I had hoped I just wouldn’t embarrass myself, maybe I would get 1,200 or something. 

“The final number was 2,200-something. I was blown away by that. They had a great time, Student Council was thrilled, the students loved it. It was a Guinness World Record.”

For more: www.uvastories.org

UVA Stories: Allen Groves - High Five Record

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.

Allen Groves, Dean of Students:

“I’ve had a lot of involvement with LGBTQ issues during my time as Dean, so I always go to the very first QSU meeting of the year.

“I remember one night going to where — and I won’t say where this meeting is they have every year, because they choose a place intentionally because it’s a quieter place. But I remember pulling up to park and watching a young man in a parking lot one over was pacing back and forth. And I knew what was going on, as he was trying to get up the courage to be able to go to this meeting, and do something public about who he was for the first time.

“So I just went over and talked to him. I said, ‘Are you waiting to go to that meeting?’ He said, ‘Yes sir. You’re Dean Groves.’ I said, ‘Yes, do you want to walk over with me?’ And he said yes, so I take that seriously.”

For more: www.uvastories.org

UVA Stories: Allen Groves - Queer Student Union

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.

Allen Groves, Dean of Students:

“There was also in those days a law school group that I later found out about called Lambda Legal. The big debate then was: did you put your involvement with Lambda Legal on your resume?

“The debate in the law school among a lot of us was, do you put that on your resume, knowing that a firm might not hire you, or do you put it, because you wouldn’t want a firm to hire you where you had to be closeted, and you’d rather know up front? It was an interesting debate among students.

“I did not disclose it. And I went to work for my first law firm, and was, I want to say, not that long into it when I had a pretty blatantly discriminatory thing happen where it got to me that a fairly senior person in the firm had made a pretty ugly comment about my sexuality to another associate, another young lawyer.”

For more: www.uvastories.org

UVA Stories: Allen Groves - Lambda Legal

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.

Beth Meyer, Merril D. Peterson Professor in Landscape Architecture, School of Architecture:

Meyer: “Oh, it’s a very vivid memory. I was a junior in high school, and I went to a college fair one evening. And this very persuasive Admissions Director John Casteen was talking about how fantastic UVa was going to be for women, and a bunch of us got snookered into applying.”

Interviewer: “So John Casteen was your admissions officer?”

Meyer: “Right. And then he was the president who helped recruit me back on the faculty. 

“You know, the first year I was back on the faculty, I went to reunions just to hear how John spoke to our alums. He talked about excellence coming out of the diversity of the student body. And he didn’t need to be saying that in front of an older group of alums, so I think it was heartfelt.”

For more: www.uvastories.org

UVA Stories: Beth Meyer - Casteen Recruited Me

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.

Peter Low, Hardy Cross Dillard Professor of Law, Emeritus: 

“I decided to come to law school as it turns out for exactly the right reason. Because I thought then and still think that law school is a door-opening education, whether you wind up practicing law or not.

“The kinds of things you learn in law school are transferable to virtually any job that you do. The methodology, the analytics, and so on. So I thought, you know, whether or not I wound up practicing law, it would be a practical way to try to earn a living rather than sitting on a mountain-top and philosophizing.”

UVA Stories: Peter Low - Pay You to Think

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UVA Stories: Peter Low - Pay You to Think

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