I think it’s a sin that there are people who have graduated from the University in the last 70, 80 years, who have never set foot in the [Rotunda].

Historical preservation architect Jody Lahendro (Arch ’82) on the importance of reintegrating the Rotunda into student life.

Costumes are an opportunity to express something you would never actually be. They create a way for us to literally hide behind a persona that we’re creating.

Gweneth West, UVA drama professor and costume designer

Remember the cafeteria scene in ‘Jurassic Park?’ Of course you do. Dr. Grant asks Dr. Sattler if she’s sure a rampant velociraptor has been ‘contained.’ ‘Yes,’ she replies, ‘unless they figure out how to open doors.’ Virginia coach Tony Bennett is that velociraptor.

Eamonn Brennan on why the Cavaliers rank no. 7 on ESPN’s “Way Too Early Top 25 Rankings for 2016-17”

The columns that most haunt me are the ones where people are faced with wrenching choices and act bravely.  I think: Would I have been that brave? And usually my answer is ‘probably not!’

Alumnus Daniel Jones (Col ’85) on the pieces that have most affected him during his 11 years as editor of the New York Times Modern Love column

I hope [my students] learned that the civil rights movement was a movement of ordinary people, many of them just like these young people who were sitting in my class. They should not believe that it was all magical figures like Martin Luther King. People like King helped immeasurably. But it wasn’t all Martin Luther Kings. It was mostly ordinary people who did this, and these students are ordinary people, and they can do the same thing. They can rise to these heights themselves.

Julian Bond speaking to Virginia Magazine in 2012. Professor Bond passed away Saturday, August 15, 2015.

How did that happen?  I mean, how did it happen?

UVA Baseball Coach Brian O'Connor at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha after the Cavaliers won the 2015 College World Series.

Each and every one of you has a vibrant, courageous soul and a depth of power, creativity and wisdom you are only just beginning to tap into.  That is your light.  It is the light within you, and you have to let it shine.

Actor and comedian Ed Helms, in his valedictory address to the class of 2015

When you take your picture, you take your family.  But I wasn’t married and my family was all in Virginia, so I thought, “Why don’t I take my boys?”

Astronaut and alumnus Leland Melvin on his official NASA portrait with his dogs.