CNN Lauds U.Va.’s Educational Value
Great video from CNN’s “AC360″ blog:
Dodgeball Tourney to Raise Money for Blackburn Scholarship
‘Hoos for Open Access will hold its first ” ‘Hoos for Open Access Dodgeball Tournament” on Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. in the Slaughter Recreation Center.
The tourney will raise money for the John A. Blackburn Endowed Scholarship for AccessUVA. Blackburn, the longtime dean of admission at U.Va., was known for his commitment to building socioeconomic diversity at the University.
According to an e-mail seeking some publicity for the cause, “Each team should have 5-7 members and there is a $35 registration fee per team. There will also be free food and prizes for the tournament winners and for the team that has the most creative team theme and/or costumes. So we encourage you to be creative, have fun, and help us support this cause!”
For information, e-mail Alexis Pennington at kap4a@virginia.edu.
Emptying the State of the University Notebook
Just finished the first draft of the story on President Casteen’s State of the U address today, and thought I might empty the notebook here and note a few things that did not make it into the story (at least not yet, as the editors are now working):
AccessUVA, Health and Safety, News, President Casteen, Student Life, safety | Tuesday, February 9th | By: Dan @5:59 pm | 0 Comments
New Year, New Ranking: U.Va. is No. 3 ‘Best Value’
The first college ranking of 2010 is already upon us, and U.Va. has retained its No. 3 ranking in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance “Best Value” list of public colleges and universities. The financial magazine cited U.Va.’s financial aid program — known as AccessUVA — for keeping costs affordable in a time of rising tuition.
You can find the Kiplinger’s story here. If you want to skip to the list, click here.
Overall, Virginia schools fared very well in the rankings, taking six of the 100 spots. In addition to U.Va., William & Mary ranked fourth, Virginia Tech 16th, James Madison 21st, Mary Washington 38th and George Mason 64th.
Nos. 1 and 2 were UNC-Chapel Hill and the University of Florida, respectively.
Daily Progress Profiles First Blackburn Scholar
The Daily Progress ran a profile of the first Blackburn Scholar in Saturday’s edition. She is Ladi Smith, a graduate of St. Anne’s-Belfield in Charlottesville.
Smith overcame a lot on her way to U.Va. She was preparing to make the transition to high school when her mother died of a heart attack. Because her father’s job often took him away for extended periods, she moved in with one of her basketball coaches.
“It was really hard to push myself, but the last year I kind of came full circle and realized I’m glad I didn’t go down that hill and spiral downwards. And now I’m making her proud,” Smith told the Progress.
The Blackburn Scholarship endowment was established in memory of John A. “Jack” Blackburn, the former dean of admission who died in January, with more than $1.8 million contributed by friends and colleagues. Smith was selected from among the more than 20 students in the entering class who qualified for a full scholarship under the AccessUVA financial aid program.
