The Jefferson Council

Jalane Schmidt

by Walter Smith

University of Virginia President Jim Ryan has repeatedly stated that the Thomas Jefferson statue in front of the Rotunda will not be removed on his watch. However, after reading UVA Today and viewing his personnel appointments, I get the distinct impression there is either an expiration date on this promise or that a parenthetical “for now” is attached.

UVA Today, the administration’s house organ, linked to an NPR interview with Jalane Schmidt, who is director of The Memory Project, a part of UVa’s Democracy Initiative, which was founded by the College and Graduate Arts and Sciences schools and The Miller Center. Ms. Schmidt is described as a religious studies professor and Black Lives Matter activist.

This is The Memory Project’s self-description: Continue reading →

Milania Harris and Zara Alisa

by Walter Smith

After the widely publicized killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police last year, University of Virginia Nursing students Milania Harris and Zara Alisa founded Advocates for Medical Equality. Their mission was to confront bias, bigotry and racism in healthcare. They won a Martin Luther King, Jr., UVA Health System Award for their efforts, and even a got a big splash in UVA Today.

I admire anyone who carves out time from studies and other student pursuits for the goal of making the world a better place. But I do find it ironic that these two ladies won an award named after a man who wanted people to be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin — in this case by creating a program based on measuring outcomes by color of skin.

Moreover, I am not a little dismayed that that administration lauds, and its house organ UVA Today regularly gives a platform to, students, faculty and alumni who excoriate the United States, Virginia, and the university itself for racism while never — and I mean never — profiling members of the university community who might think differently.

Continue reading →

Steven Gillion

by Walter Smith

The politically one-sided “news” in UVA Today makes me wonder if any editor knows anyone who voted for Trump last November, and surely makes me believe there is no chance students get anything other than an indoctrination – not an education from a world-class institution of higher learning.

The March 26th email featured a “fan girl” pre-game of what to expect from President Biden’s first press conference, including this quote from Barbara Perry of the Miller Center: “He seems to me more relaxed now than I ever remember him in his career… He’s both genuine and authentic, but he’s taken on the mantle of the presidency and the dignity of the presidency.” Continue reading →