Brief Lesson on How to Speak Hoo

Living near Charlottesville, you become used the University of Virginia being the largest entity around. Sometimes it seems like UVA owns and operates C’ville for your cultural, economic, historic, academic, and athletic pleasure.

The ‘Hoos or Wahoos, as the Virginia students are also known, have their own vocabulary. I was reminded of this yesterday when I made the mistake of talking about the UVA campus, rather than calling it the Grounds.  At UVA, the students do not graduate, they take a degree at Final Exercises   Instead of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors they are first, second, third, and fourth year students.

The School of Engineering is the Tool School.  The School of Business is the Hook School.

Seniors who live on the lawn (an honor that requires an application process) are called Lawnies.  These seniors have a fireplace, sink, a single bed, desk, chair, and heat in their 19th century rooms.  Bathrooms (including toilets and showers) are a walk away.  Air conditioning is provided by opening the doors and windows.

Do I wish I had attended UVA??–yes, I do.  Hope to get an advanced degree here sometime, as soon as I can narrow down what I want it to be.

I’m sure there are other ‘Hoo-isms I am missing.

If you know some, please comment about them so we can all expand our Hoo vocabulary.

Library Collections–Right and (alt-Right)

“Those who cannnot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana

In the same way that Columbine had become a shorthand for mass school related slayings, Charlottesville has become a shorthand for white supremacy clashes.  “We don’t want another Charlottesville” has become a catchphrase from the local governments when the various white supremacists announce a meeting in their town.

The University of Virginia Special Collections has been collecting stories, ephemera (including left over tiki torches  from the torchlit parade on the UVA Grounds that took place on the evening of Friday, August 11), protest posters, pictures, videos, etc since that weekend in August.  In an effort to capture both sides of the protest and the events, they seek examples from anyone willing to share them.  It will be added to their Unite the Right Rally Archive.

This Saturday, the UVA librarians will have a collection point downtown at the Central Jefferson-Madison Regional Library.  They are seeking stories on “Why did you go?”  Why did you stay away?”.   “It’s really important that we share and preserve the perspectives of everyone that was there that day. We want to know did you go downtown? We want to know did you stay home? Why did you do that? What we’re really trying to do is preserve the stories from the community,” said UVA Library Director Of Preservation Services Kara McClurken.”

I’m not sure if this is a coincidence, but it is also the same weekend as the Virginia Film Festival so there should be more people than normal downtown.