May 19, 2016

Day on the Lawn

Caroline Newman | University Events

The Lawn has always been the heart of the University of Virginia.

It is a classroom, where professors and students study, discuss or simply read.

It is a home, for students and faculty currently residing there and for alumni who have walked its terraces over the years.

It is a stage—for music or megawatt Lighting of the Lawn celebrations. A playground—for students, families and plenty of puppies. A picture-perfect picnic site. A UNESCO World Heritage site.

Like UVA, the Lawn is both constant and constantly changing, its inhabitants living out Jefferson’s vision for shared lifelong learning as each new day dawns.

A Place To Call Home

The Lawn may be a world heritage site, but for residents of the 54 Lawn rooms and 10 Pavilions, it is also, quite literally, home. Living on the Lawn is one of UVA’s highest honors and comes with many privileges. A private bathroom, however, is not among them. Each morning, robe-clad Lawn residents wend their way through the colonnades, heading for bathrooms discretely tucked behind the Pavilions.

The Calm Before the Storm

Fourth-year student Lia Cattaneo, who is double majoring in civil and environmental engineering and environmental sciences, spends a quiet morning studying in her Lawn room.

“The community of people on the Lawn is unlike any other,” Cattaneo wrote in an email. “They represent so many cross-sections of the University and I learn something from them all the time.”

An Iconic Backdrop, With or Without Scaffolding

Construction or no construction, the Rotunda remains the signature backdrop for UVA graduation photos, even those taken well before the actual day. Here, Alham Siddiqi snaps a photo of soon-to-be 2016 graduate Jem Iwatsubo. Iwatsubo, from Richmond, VA, is studying psychology and bioethics and plans on taking a gap year to work before returning to graduate school.

You’ve Got Mail

The U.S. Postal Service makes daily deliveries to each Lawn room, as it would to any other residential community.

UVA’s Original Classrooms

Students await the beginning of doctoral candidate Britta Rowe’s “Writing and Critical Inquiry,” class, held in Pavilion VIII. Rowe’s class, themed around “Mad Science in Art’s Mirror,” helps first-year students develop critical writing skills.

The Pavilions—UVA’s first classrooms—still host classes, ranging from first-year courses to Pavilion Seminars for third and fourth-year students, featuring top faculty discussing topics of enduring relevance in the University’s most enduring classrooms.

[Students] can see, in a literal way, through looking and drawing, the great variety we have in these Pavilions.

–John Dobbins, professor of art history

Learning From a Living Classroom

Professor John Dobbins’ “Etruscan and Roman Art” class uses the Lawn as a living museum. His students create scale drawings of the Pavilions, showcasing various attributes of classical architecture.

Picnic Perfection

As lunchtime nears, the Lawn fills with students, faculty and families toting paper sacks from Bodos, unwrapping Take-It-Away sandwiches or enjoying salads from the Corner newbie, Roots Natural Kitchen, among other local eateries.

Meet Mabel

Humans aren’t the only ones who love the Lawn. Five-month-old Mabel, out for a stroll with second-year student McKenzie Tibbs, thinks it’s pretty great too.

Raise Your Voice–Students Advocate for Renewable Energy

Second-year students Zoe Grippo, right, and Clara Carlson educate fellow students about fossil fuel divestment and renewable energy development at UVA. The students also shared information about a collapsible windmill developed by UVA engineering professor Eric Loth, named one of “The Brilliant Minds Behind the New Energy Revolution” by Popular Science. Loth’s offshore windmill design features lighter hinged turbine blades that produce more electricity while remaining durable.

One Last Class Picture

Amid the 2 p.m. rush to class, fourth-year students in UVA’s civil engineering program gather for a class photo just a few weeks before scattering to the new jobs, new cities and new adventures that follow graduation. Many of these students have taken the same classes together since their first year, spending countless hours studying and celebrating together.

Preparing Young Men for College: Chicago’s Kappa Leadership Institute Tour

The Kappa Leadership Institute—Chicago tours Grounds. The institute supports disadvantaged young men with free college readiness boot camps, test prep, study abroad and college tours. It worked for fourth-year student Martese Johnson, left, who grew up in Chicago.

A Fine Balance–Slacklining Finds a Home on the Lawn

Slacklining has enjoyed a popularity boom among UVA students. More and more students are stringing the cable between two of the Lawn’s many trees and precariously testing their balance as the cable—intended to have less tension than a tightrope—bounces along. There is even a Slackline Club, encouraging experienced students to share tips and tricks with novices. Here, fourth-year students Tom Johnson, right, and Leandi Venter test their skill.

Let Me Take a Selfie

Like slacklining, selfies have become a prevalent activity on the Lawn, as students and tourists alike snap photos with its famous facades. Even this group of ROTC students, enjoying the Lawn after class, can break ranks to pose in front of the Rotunda.

African Music & Dance Fill the Lawn

As Homer looks on, UVA’s African Music and Dance Ensemble rehearses for its final performance of the semester. Directed by Michelle Kisliuk and offered as a course in the McIntire Department of Music, the ensemble focuses on music and dance traditions from Western and Central Africa and gives performances throughout the semester.

Welcome Home

Scott Beardsley, dean of the Darden School of Business, gathers in Pavilion I with his wife, Claire Dufournet, son Edouard and golden retriever, Java.

Furthering Jefferson’s vision for an intimate academic community, faculty and administrators live in the Pavilions and commit to opening their homes to students. The ready-made community has proved particularly valuable to Beardsley, Dufournet and their three sons, who relocated from Belgium in August.

We have both experienced players and others who are beginners. The advanced students have been wonderful musical mentors.

–Liza Flood, UVA graduate student and Bluegrass band member

A Bluegrass Jam Session

As twilight deepens, sounds of bluegrass fill the Lawn. UVA’s Bluegrass Workshop, a course through the Music department, brings together student musicians interested in learning more about the genre. The course emerged from decades of weekly jam sessions led by associate professor Richard Will and is currently taught by graduate student Liza Flood.

Another Day Fades Away

Amid the lingering notes of the bluegrass rehearsal, the slowly fading sun signals the end of another class day. Just as Jefferson envisioned, however, the classroom community extends beyond regular academic hours. Faculty members greet students as they return to their Pavilions or walk their dogs on the Lawn. Students make their way to rehearsals, club meetings or social events, or simply sit in rocking chairs, taking in the bustle.

Starstruck

Nighttime brings a sky full of stars and other celestial wonders over the western side of the Lawn.

One Last Hurrah

Pinpricks of light mark students’ continued presence on the Lawn as darkness deepens, their shouted greetings, murmured conversations and glowing laptops punctuating the growing silence as the University slowly falls asleep.

In just a few hours, sunrise will herald the beginning of another day.