A commonly expressed sentiment among University students in recent weeks has been to lament the fourth years, whose last year at the University was marred by tragedy after tragedy. While it is true that this year’s graduating class is leaving the University at a difficult time, the Class of 2015 has the unique opportunity to carry the heat of the events of the school year into the outside world.
When I first arrived on Grounds, I heard talk of the U.Va. bubble, which keeps students from contextualizing their experiences at the University on any large scale. Soon thereafter, I found myself within the bubble’s embrace. All throughout my first year, it seemed like the world turned around Charlottesville. While last year I could go days or even weeks without reading the news, this year, the news came to us.
Those of us in the classes of 2016, 2017 and 2018 have the responsibility to move forward in this community. While we must remember the events of this year, the U.Va. bubble will likely form around us again. Certainly, we could not have predicted the events of this year as we moved into our homes in August. We cannot look forward knowing we will not be hit with another tragedy. However, with this potential return to normalcy, we risk leaving this year in the past as a troublesome memory.
The Class of 2015, however, will not have the opportunity to see even the short-term impacts of this year — at least not as students. They will not have the opportunity to forget this school year, as it is their final memory of the University. Rather, they are entering the outside world having experienced large-scale national issues in their own backyard. While I hope the Class of 2015 has plenty of fond memories of their time in Charlottesville, I also hope they will recognize their unique ability to take what has happened this year as more than just a series of tragedies, and continue to think about the issues at hand even after they have left the immediacy of their impact.
While many University students take on active roles tackling social justice issues while at school, we are only here for four years. For there to be real healing and growth in this community, there has to be healing and growth beyond its borders and throughout the country. This has been true throughout the University’s history, and will continue to be true. We cannot solve the issue of campus rape alone, but seeing how it affects our community should inspire recent graduates to engage the outside world with these issues.
Although it may sound cliché, once we leave Grounds we are ambassadors of this University. For the rest of our lives, people will ask us where we studied as an undergraduate. Being at the University of Virginia in the 2014-15 school year is an experience that cannot be replicated or even put into words.
Even now, students struggle to put into words exactly how they feel about this school year. I would never want to attempt to tie the events of this year into a neat package and highlight a single lesson that we have learned. Experiences have been varied and ranging in scale. Doing so would be unfair to the lives lost and the students affected by each of these issues. In many ways we remain frustrated and confused as a community. As ambassadors of the University going forward, the Class of 2015 will be faced with some difficult questions. It is my hope they will respond with empathy, compassion, and hope for our community in a way that inspires them to do work which ensures long-term growth and healing for and outside the University of Virginia.
Mary Russo is a Senior Associate Editor for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at m.russo@cavalierdaily.com.
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