AS A STUDENT at Cornell, Kurt Vonnegut, one of my favorite writers, worked for Cornell’s student newspaper, The Daily Sun. His reflections on the experience express how I’ve felt for the past year far better than I could:
“I was happiest when I was all alone — and it was very late at night, and I was walking up the hill after having helped put The Sun to bed. All the other university people, teachers and students alike, were asleep. They had been playing games all day long with what was known about real life ... We on The Sun were already in the midst of real life.”
Don’t get me wrong — at a university obsessed with student self-governance, there are plenty of other students whose activities have real effects. The Honor Committee, University Judiciary Committee and Student Council, to mention just a few, all make decisions that affect people’s lives, sometimes in dramatic fashion.
But none of those organizations could function without the sanction of the University administration. They all depend on the University to coerce students into funding them, to provide them with lawyers, or to grant them the power to make binding decisions. And to some degree, they are all subject to administrative approval.
The Cavalier Daily is not. Though few of its readers realize it, The Cavalier Daily is completely funded by advertising revenues, which are raised by students. The work and thought that goes into writing, editing, funding and manufacturing a newspaper for 10,000 readers is daunting. To accomplish it once a week would be impressive — to do it every day is something else entirely. Fortunately, it’s very easy to see all of this happen in person. Just wander into the office and announce that you’d like to help — trust me, they’ll take you.
I think I’ve preached enough now about the virtues of The Cavalier Daily, so I’ll move on to thanking people without whom I would not have survived the past year. First and foremost, the 119th staff of The Cavalier Daily, whose talents are what lead me to bloviate about how awesome the paper is to begin with. A Managing Board can do nothing without a staff that can take care of business on its own, and you guys did so extremely well. Thank you.
There are a few people no longer at the University who also deserve thanks. The two executive editors before me, Herb Ladley and Dan Keyserling, both taught me a lot about writing well and thinking clearly. Their example gave me a standard to live up to, and I hope I came close. Though he probably doesn’t know it, there’s one other writer whose example and encouragement helped me figure out how to approach my job, and that’s David Moltz. His advice helped me become something approaching a “writer.”
Then there are, of course, people not involved with The Cavalier Daily who have helped me get through the past year. My friends at the Yellow House and at U-Forum (and the others who are affiliated with those groups) deserve the most thanks, for tolerating me when I got home at 2 a.m. every day of the week and for entertaining me when I was near insanity.
Though I haven’t been at practice lately, I’m a loyal member of the Virginia Pep Band, and I need to thank them for letting me relieve my stress by banging on a drum every once in a while. For years, I have been prevented from writing about the single issue at the University that I care the most about, because it represented a conflict of interest, but after a year on the Managing Board, I’m allowed to say whatever I want in this “parting shot,” so here it goes: the Pep Band should be allowed to play at varsity sporting events the marching band does not want to play at. Unfortunately, the University’s students only have four years of memory collectively. The Banned, as we call it, was kicked out of Scott Stadium six years ago this semester, so although it was not that long ago, Student Council and students more generally have already forgotten the outrage they felt then. No students on Grounds love the University more than the Banned, and none have been more wronged by it. All they ask now is a compromise – not a return to football and men’s basketball games, but the ability to give sports like soccer, lacrosse and women’s basketball a more energetic environment in which to play. The University should be forgiving enough to grant them it.
I think I’ll be in trouble if I don’t also thank my parents, who were understanding about why I could not be reached on my cell phone most of time and why I had to sneak away to write editorials when I visited them at home. Thanks for the support, Mom and Dad. I love you.
And now, Kate finally gets the shout-out she’s been begging me for all year. I always thought it was cheesy when former Managing Board members mentioned their girlfriends in their final columns, but now that I’ve finished my term, I know that the last year hasn’t been easy for you. Thank you for understanding why I’m gone all the time. I love you. And you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with the Obamas to the White House (sorry, we still can’t get a dog of our own).
Read More
PATEL: Personal development courses support students beyond the gradebook
By Heer Patel | 4 days agoThe University must rethink its approach to education beyond traditional major-specific requirements and mandate personal development courses.
EDITORIAL: Commercialization threatens U.Va.’s educational mission
By Editorial Board | 5 days agoAfter all, measuring the University’s worth in terms of accrued capital, operational efficiency and numerical rankings molds this space into just another cookie-cutter institution.
YOUNIS: Why every U.Va. student should say yes to English
By Ayat Younis | January 9, 2025Every student at the University, regardless of their primary field of study, can professionally and academically benefit from engaging with the English department.
