From President Ryan: Sharing meals and meaningful discussion at a common table

In Fall 2022, we relaunched the Jeffersonian Dinner series that has taken place on and off over the years. The idea is simple—gather about a dozen people around a shared meal and help to facilitate a meaningful discussion about an important topic of common interest. 

This idea was particularly appealing as we emerged from the grip of the pandemic, which reminded us all to never take a shared meal or a chance for connection for granted. But the idea actually dates back to UVA’s founding. As former Board of Visitors member Jeffrey Walker describes in his TED Talk on Jeffersonian Dinners, Thomas Jefferson was known for inviting some of the most interesting prominent figures of his time for lively small group dinners at Monticello, full of debate and new ideas.  In this spirit, Walker, who previously served as chair of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, hosted a series of modern-day Jeffersonian Dinners at Monticello and, along with former President Teresa Sullivan, revived the concept at UVA for several years.

Now, these dinners—hosted by Pavilion residents and at Carr’s Hill—are a highlight of the semester for their participants, myself included. Since we restarted the series in 2022, we have held 25 dinners, with costs covered by the President’s Office. The host—typically the faculty member or dean living in each Pavilion—chooses the topic and invites two or three faculty members who share an interest in that topic. Students, chosen by a lottery system, comprise the remaining guests. 

Topics have varied as widely as the attendees. There have been dinners focused on the future of work, the ethics of space exploration, the perils and benefits of social media, and the role of athletics in higher education. Students have joined conversations with faculty members and University leaders who, in some cases, have devoted their careers to the topic at hand. University Professor Larry Sabato—UVA’s resident elections guru—has hosted dinners on presidential elections and democracy. Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Dr. Craig Kent led a discussion on the future of health care. Nicole Jenkins, dean of the McIntire School of Commerce, focused her dinner on what responsible leadership in the modern world looks like.

If we come to the table in good faith, we tend to the health of the democracy that we share.

This spring, Christa Acampora, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, hosted a dinner on belonging, which gave students a chance to discuss what it means to belong to a diverse community like UVA, even (and especially) when we disagree. Dean Acampora also chairs the task force on religious diversity and belonging created in response to the conflict in the Middle East and a nationwide surge in incidents of antisemitism. While not directly related, this dinner and the entire dinner series offer students and faculty members alike a venue for nuanced discussion of current events. Amid the constant churn of news coverage and punditry, these candid, meaningful and in-person conversations help build empathy and compassion for classmates and teach the incredibly valuable skill of generous listening.

It’s those kinds of conversations that make these dinners so valuable in our online age—perhaps even more valuable than when Jefferson hosted his own. Prescient as he was, Jefferson could not have foreseen the rise of the internet and its incredible ability to accelerate both connection and division. In the context of that vast digital world, gathering around a table with people of different ages, backgrounds and opinions is both refreshing and rewarding, as I’ve heard from dinner participants and experienced myself.

In my view, at its best, higher education itself can and should offer that table. Instead of retreating to ideological corners, universities can give us a space to meet on common ground, where we can learn from, debate, and empathize with people whose opinions differ from our own. At this University table, we can challenge our own assumptions, ask new questions, and have the kinds of honest, in-depth conversations that are too often missing from our national discourse. If we choose to come to the table in good faith, we can not only expand our own thinking, but also tend to the health of the democracy that we all share.

The Jeffersonian Dinners are a small example of this ideal, but an important one nonetheless.  They remind me of what I love about working in higher education and what makes UVA, in particular, so special. I hope that we never lose sight of that common table.

James E. Ryan (Law class of ’92)
President of the University of Virginia