From the Publisher: Investing in Our Future

Young alumni, the focus of this year’s Vox Alumni project, see the University from a unique vantage point. They’re a natural bridge between the end of the student experience and the start of a lifelong alumni journey, so their perspectives have the benefit of both recency and reflection.

That’s why they are the subject of our latest Vox Alumni effort. It’s also why the Alumni Association has always valued its special relationship with young alumni. For nearly 30 years, we have been the home to the Young Alumni Council, an invaluable resource to us generally and even more so with this Vox Alumni project. YAC representatives helped us refine the survey at the center of the study, and they encouraged participation, which was critical.

We also do important, ongoing work with “future young alumni”—students—which might be surprising to some. But we see this investment in the on-Grounds experience as essential. We are committed to making the student-to-alumni transition sublimely seamless, so that when ’Hoos leave Grounds, Grounds doesn’t leave them.

Our hope is that UVA graduates will look back fondly on their times at Alumni Hall. The Alumni Association puts on some 150 student programs a year and many more in support of student groups across Grounds. For UVA’s newest arrivals, a new school year hasn’t officially begun until Alumni Hall’s parking lot overflows during First-Year Food Fest. For thousands during the school year, Bingo provides a fun (and occasionally raucous) distraction from coursework. Thanks to the hard work of our class councils and trustees, the entire UVA community benefits from storied traditions such as the annual Lighting of The Lawn, Third Year Ceremony, and Valediction during Final Exercises, just to name a few. These dedicated student leaders, responsible for strengthening community within their class, continue their work with the Alumni Association as young alumni through their service as post-graduate trustees.

All of this work aims to enrich the student experience, create lasting UVA memories and convey to Wahoos that the Alumni Association is here for them ever after. It’s some of the most rewarding work we do.

It also uniquely positions us to keep alumni of all ages informed about the life of the University, which is central to the mission of Vox Alumni. In time for the start of the new academic year, which we kicked off with another fabulous First-Year Food Fest, we offer you this Vox Alumni special report on a very special group of alumni.

Lily West (Darden ’12)
President & CEO