Letters to the Editor: Fall 2026

Thank you for the walk down memory lane in the article about the restaurants on the Corner. Another favorite of mine was Margarita’s Gourmet Mexican Restaurant. I used to go there with my friend Neal Young for a plate of nachos and a pitcher of sangria for Friday happy hours.

I very much enjoyed the recent article regarding the Corner. Since graduation I have returned to Charlottesville numerous times for Reunions, Orange Bowl Committee visitations, fraternity business and wine tours. Usually, I headquarter myself at the Colonnade Club and immediately head to The Virginian and Mincer’s.

My visits to these establishments are akin to time travel—the years disappear, and I am transported back to the mid-’60s. It’s a great sensation.

I very much enjoyed reading your latest issue dedicated to the Corner. I worked at The Virginian for three of my four years at Virginia. It was the best restaurant in town, famous for its amazing linguini with white clam sauce, daily specials and burgers. It was also a world-class brunch spot with lines epically long on the weekends, especially around football games. I started as a busboy/host and worked my way up to waiter and then bartender. At the time, Mary Ann Parr was the owner. She was such a wonderful person, kind and generous to all who worked at the restaurant. I was pleased to see that Mary Ann recently completed her degree at UVA and walked the Lawn. It’s incredible to think how many people The Virginian has welcomed over the years. Sam Shepard, the BoDeans and Sissy Spacek, just to name a few. I always felt The Virginian was another home base for me during my time in Charlottesville. I loved working there and remember it with fondness.

Thank you again for your super cool issue.

As special as all the eateries on the Corner were, there was an equally special place just behind Anderson Brothers Book Store: Mr. Van’s Pool Hall. The pool hall was much too convenient for this medical student. And my high school buddy, a UVA law student, also spent too many hours in this pleasure dome. According to Google, “The historic University Billiard Parlor (often affectionately referred to as Mr. Van Lear’s or Mr. Van’s pool hall) was a beloved, smoky institution on The Corner in Charlottesville. Operating for decades, Mr. Van’s was known for its pinball machines, vintage ivory-ball pool tables, and as a popular hangout for students and townies alike. The original parlor and building on the alley behind Anderson Brothers Bookstore and the College Inn are permanently closed.”

In the article about Gov. Spanberger, she is well-spoken and clearly has the university’s needs in mind. I support her moves to make the board more amenable to the 200-plus years of academic tradition at the U. However, as a graduate whose parents paid about $500 a semester for my tuition, I cringe at the modern costs of a degree. Debt upon leaving drives many career choices in order to pay off the debt. Other schools have committed to a maximum debt upon leaving school. The Yale School of Medicine, through scholarships and other support, limits debt to $40,000 after four or five years. UVA could limit student debt by using donations and income from its endowment to support students rather than new buildings.

As a UVA graduate, I am embarrassed to call these UVA public figures fellow Wahoos:

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer, appears more concerned with centralized government power than with protecting law-abiding Virginians. Her policies raise serious concerns about public safety, individual liberty and the constitutional rights of Virginians.

Thomas Jefferson warned: “The time to guard against corruption and tyranny, is before they shall have gotten hold on us.” And “When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

Former UVA President James Ryan also deserves scrutiny. During COVID, UVA imposed multiple vaccine requirements on students and accelerated enforcement while many Virginians were questioning government mandates and defending individual liberty. A university founded by Jefferson should not become a model for institutional coercion.

Charlottesville should produce leaders who defend liberty, not public figures who justify government control over citizens’ bodies, safety and constitutional rights. Someone needs to say it plainly: Public power is not virtue, coercion is not leadership, and citizens are not subjects.

I wish you had sat down with Gov. Spanberger after her veto spree of strong, progressive legislation passed by her robust Democratic state government. The time for incrementalism, triangulation and mainstream corporatist Democrats has long passed its expiration date. Yet here is Virginia, saddled with one such political leader for another few years. Voters really need to get their heads out of the sand and recognize that neoliberal, centrist Democrats serve the same destructive masters as Republicans; they just grandstand and exploit polarizing social issues to cosplay as an ally of our movements.

While I commend the author of this article for her objectivity and dispassionate tone, I have to say that we are deep into Orwellian Newspeak territory when the word “progress” is used to describe the elimination of efforts to redress the effects of centuries of institutional racism and sexism. Maybe the book should have been titled 2084.

That “shining city on a hill,” America, to which so many of us international students came from across the world with our dreams but also our fears, should not be silenced by the climate of intimidation that your article describes.

I came from India to the Department of Drama, UVA, in the fall of 1982, their first international student. At the time, I learned there were 22 international students at the school. Three graduate degrees later, all from UVA, I would retire as associate collegiate professor emerita from Virginia Tech in 2023. Today, I am left with deep gratitude for the freedom with which I could speak in my classes as a student; with which I could choose subjects to research and to publish on; with which I could teach, encouraging students to speak their minds; and to publish opinion pieces, such as my experiences with racism in the aftermath of 9/11 and on white supremacist attacks that killed Sikhs in Wisconsin in 2012.

However, today, a naturalized U.S. citizen since August 2001, I carry with me a copy of my American passport, even driving in town, should I need to show it.

I was disappointed that you chose to place the letter from John S. Grant as the first one in the Summer 2026 issue. The author is correct about one thing: Context matters. But context should inform our judgment—not replace it.

The letter assumes that because President Jim Ryan’s departure was controversial, every action that followed is therefore illegitimate. That is a political conclusion, not an objective one.

Universities cannot remain leaderless indefinitely. UVA’s Board of Visitors have both the legal authority and the responsibility to appoint a president when a vacancy occurs. Disagreeing with the circumstances surrounding a previous president’s departure does not invalidate the board’s obligation to govern.

The author also labels the selection process as “poisoned,” “rushed” and “inherently political,” yet offers no evidence that Scott Beardsley is unqualified or incapable of leading the university. Instead, the argument rests on guilt by association—that because some stakeholders objected to the process, the outcome must necessarily be flawed. History suggests otherwise. Many successful leaders have assumed office amid controversy or political division. Their legitimacy was determined not by the passions surrounding their appointment, but by the quality of their leadership.

I liked this article. In my day job, I work with people on GLP-1s. It’s long been known these drugs cause muscle loss. Any rapid, substantial weight loss can. It’s interesting there’s no improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness. I hope follow-ups are done with dedicated training protocols.

Many people aren’t aware that GLP-1s cause muscle loss. Mr. Angadi is absolutely right: Exercise is a nonnegotiable. The only way to preserve muscle during weight loss is to strength-train regularly (all major muscles) while eating enough protein. It can be hard for someone on GLP-1s to eat large quantities of chicken. Synthetic sources can help. 

People who prioritize exercise and nutrition feel better while on GLP-1s. They’re more likely to maintain weight loss long term. They’re less susceptible to frailty. 

GLP-1s can make a difference for those who need to lose significant weight. But they don’t replace diet and exercise.