Twenty-two years ago, Katie Couric walked down the Lawn to receive her degree in English from the University. Since then, she has accomplished things of which most graduates can only dream. With two Emmy awards and countless magazine covers to her credit, the NBC "Today" show co-anchor is one of the nation's top celebrities.
A month ago, Couric was back at the University, filming a segment for the "Today" show, a special feature in which each anchor went back to visit their alma mater.
Walking through the Academical Village is little more than a trip down memory lane for Couric. As she moved past the serpentine walls that surround Garden V, the strikingly short Couric thought back to her college years, when her favorite moments were home football games and sitting outside for class with her American Studies seminar.
"I liked parties," she said. "I wasn't a big drinker, but I liked to have fun."
Couric's memories might sound familiar to a lot of current students, which could suggest that the University has not changed much since she graduated in 1979.
"There's so much history here, so there's a certain amount of continuity," she said. "The Lawn doesn't look much different - just different people."
The University today
In a "Today" show segment scheduled to air Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., Couric takes a closer look at her alma mater and showcases the ways the University has changed during the past 20 years.
In her interviews of students and administrators, Couric focused on two areas that have changed markedly since her graduation: the honor system and the enrollment of black students.
The honor system "is a lot more procedural" than it was in the late 1970s, said Honor Committee Chairman Thomas Hall, whom Couric interviewed.
While Couric was a student, the Committee adopted its constitution, and since then the system has "gotten a lot more codified," Hall said.
In the past 20 years, the Committee changed the makeup of juries and added the seriousness clause.
But even with these changes, some fundamental aspects of the honor system have remained constant.
"The perceived benefits of the system haven't changed much since [Couric] has been here," Hall said. "Taking a test on the Lawn, leaving your Lawn room unlocked - those are examples people used to cite when she was here. In that way, it hasn't changed."
In addition to the evolving honor system, the University has boosted its enrollment of black students since Couric studied here.
"In the last 25 to 30 years, the University has made more of a commitment to the recruitment, enrollment, retention and graduation of African American students than any other institution in the country," said Dean of African American Affairs M. Rick Turner, whom Couric also interviewed.
During Couric's fourth year at the University, 5 percent of the undergraduate student population and 3 percent of the graduate population was black, according to Director of Institutional Studies George Stovall. Those percentages have almost doubled - nearly 10 percent of this semester's undergraduate population is black, and 5 percent of the graduate population is black.
Couric "was happily surprised to know we have made major strides" in becoming "more and more conducive in relation to African American students," Turner said.
Sound bites of life
Something else that's changed since Couric's undergraduate career is the degree of cleanliness in Room 26 East Lawn, her fourth-year residence.
On an afternoon in November, the room's current resident, Don Koons, noticed he had an unexpected visitor. He quickly recognized Couric, who was in town to visit her sister. She asked to peek at his room.
"My room had never been messier - it was right after midterms," Koons remembered. "She said it was OK; it was messy when she was there too. But when she went inside, she said 'It was never this messy.'"
Koons and Couric met again on her recent visit to Grounds for the "Today" show taping, and she did not seem bothered by their previous encounter.
"She smacked me on the butt" to get me moving for an interview, Koons said with a laugh. "It was all wallet."
The charm that characterizes Couric in the national spotlight shines through in moments like these.
Hall joked that he "was sort of disappointed" that Couric flirted with Koons instead of him.
"Very few professional news people could get away with that, but with her it's just cute," Hall said. "I told her to come to Sigma Chi [fraternity] like she used to when she was a Tri Delt."
Couric was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority during herfourth year at the University. As an undergraduate, she also was active with the University Judiciary Committee and resident staff. She also worked for The Cavalier Daily as a news writer and an assistant features editor, experiences she said helped prepare her for her career.
"It taught me the basics of journalism and good writing and how to inform people in an entertaining way," she said.
Academically, Couric said, "I applied myself in some courses and not others." She laughed as she remembered receiving a "good grade on an exam, and I had read the Cliff's notes, not the book."
After graduating, the Arlington, Va., native began her fast track to journalism success as a desk assistant for the ABC News bureau in Washington, D.C. For the next decade, she worked in broadcast journalism in Washington, Atlanta and Miami before landing a position as the "Today" show's first national correspondent in 1990. She has been the show's co-anchor since February 1991.
Behind the scenes
Despite her impressive resume, Couric said the work she is most proud of was not done in front of a camera lens.
"My work in colon cancer awareness has been my most professionally gratifying experience," Couric said as she leaned against a pillar outside Pavilion V.
Her husband, NBC News legal analyst Jay Monahan, died of colon cancer in January 1998 at age 42.
The following year, Couric co-founded the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance, a non-profit organization that promotes education, fund-raising, research and early medical screenings for the disease. In the past two years, the alliance has raised more than $8 million.
As she reflects on her involvement in raising cancer awareness, one of her staff members hands her a plastic container filled with homemade yogurt to give to her sister, Virginia Sen. Emily Couric (D-Charlottesville).
Cancer touched the Couric family again in July 2000, when Emily Couric was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer.Emily Couric now receives chemotherapy treatments at the University Medical Center, but she has not let the disease slow her down. She has retained her Senate seat and taken on even more responsibility as director of the Democratic Party of Virginia.
Final take
Despite her perfect face and unshakable smile, Couric's life as a celebrity is not without hardships and pitfalls. Even her walk down the Lawn is not as picture perfect as her television appearances.
"High heels at U.Va. are not a good idea," she said with a laugh as her shoe barely escaped getting stuck in the West Lawn's brick pathway.
After a long day of interviews and indulging awe-struck fans with kind words and hugs, Couric prepared to tape the final portion of her segment about the University. Though she was admittedly tired, she insisted to her staff members that they finish the day on a strong note.
"After working so hard, I want to get it done right," she said.
With an entourage of assistants and cameramen, Couric turned around and walked down the familiar path of the Lawn one more time.
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