Skip to main content

From the Publisher

The Opportunity to Lead

As I assume the charge to lead the University of Virginia Alumni Association, I am struck with a deep sense of gratitude and an even deeper humility. What an incredible honor and momentous responsibility to serve in this capacity.

Dan Addison

We’re sending this issue of Virginia Magazine to press just days after hate-mongering violence invaded our Grounds and the city of Charlottesville. The weekend’s horrific events have shaken us all. Tragedy, however, can bring out the best in people, and I have experienced this profoundly across the University of Virginia community through an outpouring of support for our University, our students, and the city of Charlottesville.

It has been a time for reaffirming the values that define us as Wahoos—our embrace of free speech and civil discourse, reason and enlightenment, inclusiveness and mutual respect, and our unequivocal rejection of intolerant and xenophobic ideologies, including racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and misogyny. It has also been a time for reflection on the role that we as individuals and as a community can play to combat discrimination and intolerance and to be leaders in the practice of open, civil dialogue.

We are a community of trust—built on an open exchange of ideas, strengthened by diversity, and unified in an unrivaled love for our alma mater. As we move forward, we at Alumni Hall seek to create ongoing opportunities for alumni to come together, exchange ideas, and strengthen their bonds with the University.

In the days ahead, this means listening to you and creating opportunities for your voices to be heard. I hope you will share your ideas with me at upcoming UVA events or by reaching out by email or phone (434-243-9000).

Thank you for the opportunity to serve you and for trusting in me to lead our Alumni Association into the next era. I look forward to meeting and hearing from you in the months and years ahead.

Jenifer Andrasko
UVA Alumni Association President
Virginia Magazine Publisher