If Saturday's football game against Florida State is any indication of the future, the time-honored tradition of ties, jackets and sun dresses may be competing with a new "sea of orange" in the stands.
With a record-setting attendance of 62,875, University athletic officials said they were pleased by the turnout and acknowledged student responsiveness to their ongoing campaign to get students to wear orange at games.
"It's something the players can see, something they can hear and something they can feel," Athletic Director Craig Littlepage said. "We were anticipating a great crowd and there was no disappointment there."
Littlepage said the fans are responding to Head coach Al Groh's Sept. 25 advertisement in The Cavalier Daily, in which he urged students to "distinguish yourself as an initiated Cavalier Crazy by wearing all the orange you can get your hands on."
The decision to encourage students to wear orange dates back to discussions that took place after last season with a public relations firm on how to further promote the football program, Littlepage said.
"We'd like to have everybody in the stands showing solidarity and wearing orange," he said. "I think people find that to be a lot of fun."
Andrew Rader, associate athletic director of marketing, promotions and licensing, said the department has supported Groh's wishes through messages on the Web site as well as other print advertisements.
"When we travel to opposing teams' schools, you see a lot of the teams' colors in the stands," Rader said. "Our main objective is to try and make the most festive environment for our teams to compete in."
Though the presence of orange-clad fans at games has increased as the season progresses, a large contingent of students opted for the traditional, more formal dress.
According to Rader, athletic officials are not necessarily trying to eliminate the tradition of dressing up for games.
"We're not trying to buck that trend, we're just trying to start a new one," he said.
Third-year Education student Shannon Hawrylo said she doesn't own any orange Virginia shirts, but still wore an orange sweater to the game.
"It was going to be cold out and I figured, if that's what everybody is supposed to do, I'd do it," Hawrylo said.
Littlepage said athletic officials have increased promotion efforts recently to capitalize on several factors, including Groh being named Atlantic Coast Conference coach of the year last year, the continuing Heisman Trophy campaign for quarterback Matt Schaub and record-setting season ticket sales.
"A lot of things came together and we saw an opportunity to take advantage," Littlepage said. "There's been a lot of careful thought, a lot of planning, and fans are responding."
Ultimately, Rader emphasized the level of the crowd's excitement as being most important.
"At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what they wear as long as they're loud and enthusiastic," he said.
Despite record-setting attendance numbers, University Police Sgt. Melissa Carter said it was business as usual for security officials.
"The atmosphere was the same as any game," Carter said, adding that some fans were evicted from the game for rowdiness.
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