Each year the Board of Visitors, the highest governing body of the University, selects one student to help it stay in touch with the student body's thoughts and opinions.
For the next year, that individual will be third-year government major and Roanoke native Herbert Timothy Lovelace Jr.
Saturday, Jan. 26, the Board elected Lovelace, who goes by "Tim," as its new student member. Lovelace was recommended to the Board, out of an applicant pool of 32, by a committee composed of students and administrators.
Lovelace replaces the previous student member, fourth-year Education student Sasha Wilson.
He's "passionate about anything he's involved with," third-year College student Ambrose Faturoti said. "He's one of those people who's really inspiring to be around."
Lovelace says he wants to speak for voices not usually heard at the University.
"My major goal is to represent the diversity of student opinion," Lovelace said. "I have an open-door policy in terms of hearing concerns."
Although he is black, Lovelace said it is not his race that qualifies him to represent a wide variety of student viewpoints; rather, it is his involvement in a variety of student organizations.
"The activities that I've done encompass a wide variety of communities," he said.
Lovelace is a member of the University Democrats, serving as women and minority affairs coordinator. He also is involved with Brothers United Celebrating Knowledge and Success, a predominantly African-American community outreach organization.
BUCKS members mentor youths in Charlottesville and sponsor the annual Reflections on Complexion forums on race issues.
Lovelace also plays on the women's basketball scout team, which practices against the University's women's team, simulating upcoming opponents.
The student member has to be someone Board members feel they can rely on to represent student opinion and to communicate on behalf of the Board to the student body, Board Secretary Alexander "Sandy" Gilliam Jr. said.
"You look for someone who, number one, is respected by other students, who is well plugged-in," Gilliam said.
The Board looks to the student member for advice on everything from the Honor System to the Greek system to student health, University Rector John P. Ackerly III said.
Most of the Board members don't reside in Charlottesville, he added.
"In some respects, the student member is the most influential member of the board," Ackerly said.
Students have sat on the Board since 1983, when the General Assembly passed a law permitting boards of visitors at state universities to include student members.
The University was the first school in Virginia to include a student member, Gilliam said.
Although student members are prohibited by state law from voting, the Board grants its student members all the other rights of the regular Board members, he added.
Over the years, student members have played an integral part in important Board decisions.
Three years ago the Board appointed student member Michael Allen to fly to Qatar, a small Middle Eastern country, to investigate the possibility of opening a University campus there.
Another student Board member invented the University's "opt-out" system, which allows students to obtain a refund of any portion of their Student Activities Fee that goes toward religious or political organizations to which they object.
"The BOV governs the University, directs all of its major activities; so with the idea of student self-governance, I knew I wanted to be a part of that," Lovelace said. "I want to leave a legacy of service"
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