The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his Academical Village, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The original governing Board of Visitors included three U.S. presidents: Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe, the latter as sitting president of the United States at the time of its foundation. As its first two rectors, Presidents Jefferson and Madison played key roles in the university's foundation, with Jefferson designing both the original courses of study and the university's architecture. Located within its historic 1,135-acre central campus, the university is composed of eight undergraduate and three professional schools: the School of Law, the Darden School of Business, and the School of Medicine.
The Virginia Pep Band was a student-run musical ensemble at the University of Virginia (UVA). In the tradition of scatter or scramble bands, like those at Stanford, Rice and the Ivy League, the Pep Band preferred irreverent humor and individuality to marching in uniform formations. Founded in 1974, this group of students served as UVa's band supporting athletics in an official capacity until 2003. After being banned from official athletic events in 2003, the group continued to perform at sporting events such as swimming, field hockey, and ice hockey. The ensemble has also performed at Charlottesville community events including the Charlottesville 10-miler, the Alzheimer's Walk, and the United Way Day of Caring.
The Seven Society is the most secretive of the University of Virginia's secret societies. Members are only revealed after their death, when a wreath of black magnolias in the shape of a "7" is placed at the gravesite, the bell tower of the University Chapel chimes at seven-second intervals on the seventh dissonant chord when it is seven past the hour, and a notice is published in the university's Alumni News, and often in the Cavalier Daily. The most visible tradition of the society is the painting of the logo of the society, the number 7 surrounded by the signs for alpha (A), omega (Ω), and infinity (∞), and sometimes several stars, upon many buildings around the grounds of the university.
The Cavalier Marching Band (CMB) is the marching band at the University of Virginia. The band's original director, William "Bill" Pease, was the first full-time marching band director in the history of the University of Virginia. The Cavalier Marching Band made its debut on September 11, 2004, after a considerable donation was made by University of Virginia benefactors Carl and Hunter Smith to found the band in 2003. The CMB uses a mixture of both DCI-style glide step and Big Ten-style high step in its performances. Of its 200 members, all seven undergraduate schools at the University of Virginia are represented.
Colgate Whitehead Darden Jr. was an American lawyer and Democratic politician aligned with the Byrd Organization who served as U.S. Representative from Virginia, the 54th Governor of Virginia (1942–46), Chancellor of the College of William and Mary (1946–47), and the third President of the University of Virginia (1947–59). The Darden Graduate School of Business Administration of the University of Virginia is named for him.
The Jefferson Literary and Debating Society is the oldest continuously existing collegiate debating society in North America. The society was founded on July 14, 1825, in Room Seven, West Lawn at the University of Virginia. Named for the founder of the University, Thomas Jefferson, the society regularly meets on Friday evenings at "The Hall" in the Lawn.
The IMP Society is a secret society at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States that is notable for combining philanthropy and public mischief.
Secret societies have been a part of University of Virginia student life since the first class of students in 1825. While the number of societies peaked during the 75 years between 1875 and 1950, there are several newer societies and six societies that have been active for more than 100 years, including Seven Society, Z Society, IMP Society, Eli Banana, T.I.L.K.A. Society, and The 13 Society. The earliest societies, Eli Banana and T.I.L.K.A. Society, function as social clubs, while the Z Society, IMP Society, and Seven Society have a record of philanthropy and contribution to the university. Some of the more recent societies focus on the recognition or disapprobation of positive and negative contributions to the university.
Edwin Anderson Alderman served as the president of three universities. Edwin A. Alderman Elementary School in Wilmington and the Alderman dorm at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are named after him. The main library at the University of Virginia used to bear his name.
Frank Loucks Hereford Jr. was the president of the University of Virginia from 1974 to 1985. He died in 2004 at the age of 81. Among the hallmarks of his presidency were a major capital campaign, which increased the university's endowment from $97 million to more than $250 million; and ending the traditional Easters Weekend party.
The Virginia Glee Club is a men's chorus based at the University of Virginia. It performs both traditional and contemporary vocal works typically in TTBB arrangements. Founded in 1871, the Glee Club is the university's oldest musical organization and one of the oldest all-male collegiate vocal ensembles in the United States. It is currently conducted by Frank Albinder.
The Raven Society is an honor society at the University of Virginia, founded in 1904 by University student William McCully James, and named in honor of the famous poem by Edgar Allan Poe, who attended UVa in 1826. According to its constitution, one of the Raven Society's main goals is "to bring together the best men in the various departments of the university for mutual acquaintance and for cooperation in their efforts to protect the honor and dignity of the university."
Rugby Road is a street in Charlottesville, Virginia that serves as the center of the University of Virginia's fraternity and sorority system and its attendant social activity. It is located across the street from central Grounds, beginning at University Avenue across the street from the Rotunda branching off at Preston Avenue and finally curving down to the 250 Bypass, and marks one end of The Corner, a strip of restaurants and stores that cater mainly to students. Rugby Road is lined with a variety of architecturally significant houses from several different decades. Many of these are currently used by fraternities and sororities, although the majority of them were originally intended for single-family use; William Faulkner was one famous resident while he was a writer in residence at the University.
John Lloyd Newcomb was an American educator. He served as the second president of the University of Virginia, ascending to the position after the death of Edwin Alderman. Newcomb, a member of the engineering faculty of the university, oversaw the university through the Depression and the Second World War and managed its physical expansion, including the building of Scott Stadium, the Bayly Art Museum, and Alderman Library.
Eli Banana, officially known as the Mystic Order of Eli Banana, is a secret society at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1878, it was the first and the oldest secret society at the university.
Edgar Finley Shannon Jr. was a professor of English and president of the University of Virginia from 1959 to 1974. The University’s main library was renamed in Shannon’s honor in 2024.
Gilbert J. "Gilly" Sullivan was the longtime director of the University of Virginia Alumni Association for 35 years. Appointed to the position in 1958 after the retirement of J. Malcolm "Mack" Luck, Sullivan remained in the position until his retirement in 1993. During his years at the Alumni Association, he helped develop the Virginia Student Aid Foundation and significant expansion of the Jefferson Scholarship Program.
Ernest Campbell Mead Jr. was professor of music and former head of the McIntire Department of Music at the University of Virginia.
The O.W.L. Society, also known as the O.W.L. Club, was founded in 1887 at the University of Virginia as a secret society devoted to the literary arts. Founded in 1887, the O.W.L. Society is the oldest secret society existing at the university today, though it has not been in continuous existence since its founding.
Fraternities and sororities at the University of Virginia include the collegiate organizations on the grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. First founded in the 1850s with the establishment of several fraternities, the system has since expanded to include sororities, professional organizations, service fraternities, honor fraternities, and cultural organizations. Fraternities and sororities have been significant to the history of the University of Virginia, including the founding of two national fraternities Kappa Sigma (ΚΣ) and Pi Kappa Alpha (ΠΚΑ).
