Student Council heard from Matt Weber, chief creative officer and senior advisor to the University president, at their General Body meeting Tuesday, where he spoke about the importance of telling stories and incorporating humor into them. Valentina Mendoza Gonzalez, Student Council president and fourth-year College student, also provided updates about a fundraising campaign to support Student Council’s operations, as well as introduced plans to develop a new Student Council app to give students information about Student Council resources.
Prior to joining the University, Weber was both a graduate student and later a faculty member at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. Weber said that when President Jim Ryan left his role as Dean of Harvard's Graduate School of Education in 2018 to become University president, he invited Weber to accompany him to Charlottesville as his Senior Assistant, tasking Weber with helping lead the institution in a forward-thinking, contemporary manner.
“[Ryan told me] ‘this is a community that needs some healing, that needs some attention, and it'd be great if you could come down and help me become a 21st century president,’” Weber said.
Weber said that the senior assistant role was new when he arrived, and that because his job description was loosely defined, he was often required to adapt to perform different tasks. Now, as Senior Advisor and Chief Creative Officer, he said he aims to creatively share the stories of the President, the University community and even some of his own personal experiences.
“Whatever my job here is, whatever title it is, I think my framework of being in Charlottesville and doing this work is [that] I want to be a good storyteller,” Weber said “Every good story has at least some component of logos, ethos and pathos right? Is it logical? Does it make you feel something, and does it make you want to do something?”
Weber also shared memorable moments working with Ryan, noting that many of the projects he undertakes are not always planned in advance. He recounted how ‘Run With Jim’ came about after a few students casually suggested the idea on X, formerly Twitter, and Ryan unexpectedly agreed. Since the event had a large turnaround, it eventually led the foundation for the University president to run in the Boston Marathon annually to support a meaningful cause at the University.
“This one tweet cascaded all these new things … the most recent [cause Ryan ran for was] the Children's Hospital, and he would get donations for each mile he ran,” Weber said, “That's not just running because he likes running, but it's running to connect with the community. It's running to raise money, it's running to talk about Madison House, about teachers, about nurses … you’re doing this for a cause.”
Additionally, Weber discussed initiatives he has spearheaded at the University, such as collecting balloons from students after graduation to donate to the U.Va. Children's Hospital, supporting sustainability and environmental awareness. In his first year, he gathered over 900 balloon donations and has continued this practice at each subsequent University graduation ceremony.
Another project Weber mentioned was the 2023 April Fools' prank video created by the president’s office, where he announced that the University would rebrand to U.V. He explained that the president believed it was important to lift spirits on Grounds following the tragic shooting Nov. 13 2022, which left three University students dead and two injured. According to Weber, the video was a major success within the University community, using humor to help bring people closer together.
“Jim Ryan was saying ‘I think we could maybe think about an April Fool's prank or something like that.” Weber said, “ We made this whole campaign and on April 1, we released the UV rebranding of the U.Va., and it was the eighth most watched YouTube video in the entire world that day.”
Outside of Weber’s talk, Mendoza Gonzalez provided the General Body with updates on her progress in the fundraising committee. According to Mendoza Gonzalez, the goal of the committee is to secure additional funding for Student Council and remove reliance on the Student Activities Fee — a $58 charge all University students pay to support student activities on Grounds — to fund Student Council’s programs and provide Contracted Independent Organizations with funding.
According to Mendoza Gonzalez, the committee is in an outreach phase, in which they will reach out to the Alumni Association and Student Council alumni for guidance in how to fundraise and secure donations.
Mendoza Gonzalez said that in the final phase of the committee’s work, which is scheduled to begin next semester, she hopes to plan a fundraising gala that will raise enough money to ensure that Student Council can continue its operations. In particular, she said that securing funding for Student Council’s Support and Access Services branch — which provides a variety of resources for students, such as the Textbook Access Office and Student Legal Services — to use in future years is a priority.
Following fundraising updates, Mendoza Gonzalez also discussed her plan to develop a Student Council mobile app called “U.Va. STAR,” which would give students access to centralized source of information about all Student Council resources available to students, as well as other useful information about Grounds and the University’s offerings. Mendoza Gonzalez says she hopes to pitch a prototype of the app to Student Affairs in the spring, and expects the app to be fully functioning by 2026.
“One of the big issues that I've seen at the University of Virginia is … how to be a good student at U.Va.” Mendoza Gonzalez said “[the app will give solutions such as] what's the best study spot … [and] the services that we give in [Support and Access Services].”
Student Council will reconvene Tuesday next week to pass new legislation.
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