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Digital Exclusives | October 16, 2017

UVA 200: Bicentennial Launch Celebrations

Highlights from the launch events

Photography by Dan Addison

On Friday, October 6, 2017, tens of thousands of students and alumni joined on the Lawn to join in the launch of the University’s Bicentennial celebration.

Former Poet Laureate and UVA Professor Rita Dove shares a new poem with the crowd.
An estimated 20,000 people attended the Bicentennial Launch Celebration.
The Charlottesville Symphony at UVA performs.
Actor Bill Barker performs as Thomas Jefferson.
Members of the Martha Graham Dance Company perform.
The Rotunda fire of 1895 is re-enacted in dramatic fashion using digital mapping technology.
Local hip hop artist J-Willz performs.
TV journalist Katie Couric (Col ’79) talks to the crowd.
UVA basketball legend Ralph Sampson (Col ’83) talks to the crowd.
R&B singer Andra Day lets it all out.
The Cavalier Marching Band performs with actor Bill Barker as Thomas Jefferson.
Teresa Sullivan gives a speech during the Laying of the Cornerstone ceremony.
(From left) Bryanna Miller (Col ’18), President of the Colonnade Club Jann Balmer, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Rector Rusty Conner (Col ’78) listen to a speech during the Laying of the Cornerstone ceremony.
The crowd looks on during the Laying of the Cornerstone ceremony.
A memorial cornerstone presented to the University by the Charlottesville Mason’s Widow’s Lodge Number 60 contains a level, a square and plumb that will be opened in 100 years as part of the tri-centennial.
“What an honor to be at the greatest university in the United States of America!” Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe tells the crowd.
A work from painter Tim O’Kane, “The Placing of UVA’s Cornerstone, 1817.”
Lead singer Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls rocks the Lawn.
The Goo Goo Dolls capped the celebration.