“In today’s multi-purpose, decentralized university, it’s easy to lose sight of Jefferson’s ideals or to see them as dated or dead,” former Cornell University President Hunter R. Rawlings III delivered the commencement address. “Jefferson’s ideals still have plenty of life left in them.”

The University of Virginia awarded about 6,000 degrees on Sunday, May 18, 2008 during the 179th commencement.  A light rain didn’t stop raucous celebrations among the graduates and their families, who filled the Lawn with cheers and emotion.

Dunning and a classmate, Elizabeth Murphy, a 22-year-old from Warrenton, both spent six weeks last summer at the Primeros Pasos clinic in the impoverished Palajunoj valley of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Upon returning to UVa in the fall, the two friends decided to establish a student club devoted to raising money for the nonprofit clinic

On a picturesque Saturday morning, a sea of soon-to-be University of Virginia graduates, along with family members and friends, gathered on the Lawn in front of Old Cabell Hall for Valedictory Exercises

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

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