UVa gears up for grads

By Matt Lang

Published: May 15, 2008

Tens of thousands of people will descend on Charlottesville this weekend for the University of Virginia’s 179th graduation exercises.

The university has been preparing for the onslaught by spreading 2,000 pounds of grass seed on the Lawn, laying a quarter-mile’s worth of electrical cables and applying a fresh coat of white paint to the Rotunda.

An army of UVa employees is being deployed around the university to erect 18 tents for information booths and food kiosks, set out 20,500 chairs on the Lawn, hook up two Jumbotron television monitors and perform countless other tasks.

Around 5,250 UVa graduate and undergraduate students will receive their degrees Sunday.

The festivities will kick off at 11 a.m. Saturday with Valedictory Exercises on the Lawn. Sheila C. Johnson, a Loudoun County entrepreneur and philanthropist, will deliver the keynote address. Johnson, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, is chief executive officer of Salamander Hospitality LLC, a firm that owns luxury properties in Virginia, Florida and South Carolina. She also owns stakes in the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the NHL’s Washington Capitals and is president and managing partner of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.

The valediction ceremony will also feature award announcements and a presentation of the graduating class’ gift to the university.

At 10 a.m. Sunday on the Lawn, Hunter R. Rawlings III will give a commencement address to the graduating students. Rawlings is a visiting classics professor at UVa and is a professor of classics and history, as well as president emeritus at Cornell University. Rawlings was Cornell’s president from 1995 to 2003. He previously served as president of the University of Iowa.

Diplomas will be handed out at various sites following Rawlings’ speech. Of the bachelor’s degrees that will be conferred, the most popular major will be economics, with 390 students graduating. The next most popular will be psychology, with 354 graduates, followed by commerce, English, history, biology and foreign affairs.

In a few cases, only one student will receive a diploma in his or her area of study. These lonely fields include biostatistics, medieval studies and chemical physics. Only three students will get degrees in physical education, Slavic languages and literature, comparative literature, and astronomy with a concentration in physics.

In the event of inclement weather, the weekend’s events will be relocated to the John Paul Jones Arena. Rain alone will not lead to the ceremony’s relocation. UVa’s Final Exercises have not been moved inside because of foul weather since 1976.

Pamela W. Higgins, UVa’s director of major events, advised graduating students and their families to err on the side of being early.

“To avoid stress, graduates and their guests should allow plenty of time to get here, given the traffic and the time required for riding the shuttle buses from the various parking spots to the Lawn,” she wrote in an e-mail.

Higgins added that parking will be available at the Emmet Street/Ivy Road Parking Garage, the John Paul Jones Arena and Scott Stadium. At JPJ, shuttle buses will be offered at the west entrance of University Hall. At the football stadium, buses will board at the entrance of the Student Activities Building.

As always, hotel rooms are scarce across the area over graduation weekend, said Allie Baer, marketing manager at the Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau. “UVa graduation is almost completely sold out, as it is every year at this time,” she said.

Charlottesville-area restaurants reported jam-packed bookings for Saturday and Sunday. Jamie Jacobs, manager of Zinc, said the West Main bistro is expecting to be slammed with graduation diners. “We’re going to be so filled, you couldn’t get an elbow in,” she said.

Though it is usually closed on Sundays, Zinc will be open the whole weekend. Across the street, Horse & Hound GastroPub is also extending hours on Saturday and Sunday, said chef and co-owner Luther Fedora.