University of Virginia History and Research
Resources for researching the institution and its individuals
Reference Team
Students and Alumni
This page gathers information on current and historic student life at UVA, including online exhibits and archival collections, and alumni organizations.
Contemporary Resources on Students
When researching current student life at UVA, these resources offer an overview of student organizations, called CIOs (c i o s), greek life, and administrative information, as well as some guidance on conducting research with students.
In addition to these student-life specific resources, you should consult newspapers, magazines, and other publications, as well as our essential resources.
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Traditions and ConventionsA list of UVA traditions, plus acronyms and lingo.
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Student AffairsA wide variety of resources and information related to student life, including centers, offices, and programs.
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Clubs and OrganizationsSearch over 1000 student clubs and organizations, called CIOs.
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Secret SocietiesFrom 2012 but still provides a good overview.
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Office of Fraternity and Sorority LifeThe FSL, an office of Student Affairs, supports Greek Life on campus. You'll also find links to Greek councils, committees, and associations.
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Housing and Residence LifeResidence policies and a list of student residences. See also Buildings & Grounds.
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Honor Council"The Honor Code of the University of Virginia is a pledge made by students to never lie, cheat, or steal. Students are bound by the Honor Code in Charlottesville, Albemarle County, the University’s regional centers, and anywhere else that they represent themselves as a University of Virginia student. The Honor Committee and its support officers investigate and try alleged violations of the Honor Code, but the goal of the Committee is not simply to punish students who lie, cheat, or steal; it is to protect our Community of Trust and preserve the freedom it allows us."
The Honor Committee is self-governed, ie, run by students. Find history, procedure, meeting minutes, news, videos, and more. -
DataA variety of contemporary and historic data, including current datasets on admissions, enrollment, and graduation, student demographics, and tuition. Data from Institutional Research and Analytics (IRA) is available in interactive visualizations and for export to excel doc. These generally cover 2010/2012 through the current or prior year. Current UVA students, faculty, and staff can also request data, including historic data, from the IRA. Visit the Library's Research Data Services team for help using data.
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Conducting Research with Students: IRBThe Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviews and supports research with human subjects conducted at the University by faculty, students, and staff. Here you'll find resources for researchers, potential researchers, and participants, including student participants.
Historic Research: Getting Started
For historic research on student and/or alumni life, your best first resources are historic copies of UVA publications, essential resources such as the Clippings Files and Card Index, and the University Archives.
- If you're seeking information about a specific individual, such as a relative, please see 'Finding information on individual UVA Attendees and Graduates'.
- For transcripts and replacement diplomas, consult the University Registrar. Neither the Library nor the Special Collections hold official transcripts. We can assist with course descriptions and degree requirements, especially pre-2005. For course descriptions 2005 to present, please consult the Registrar's archived versions.
- Consult the list of Directories on the University Publications page.
Resources on Historic Student Life
Below is a collection of online resources which collect archival information around a variety of campus events, visitors, parts of grounds, and student protests. These sites, while invaluable, represent only a part of the history of student life on campus. Other groups' materials are collected in the University Archives, with highlights listed below.
Online exhibits and collections:
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Black Fire by Kevin Jerome Everson and Claudrena N HeroldMany important documents, interviews, and information. See especially Black Student Alliance Files page.
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Voices for Equity: 50 years of calls for racial equityA site from the Equity Center in collaboration with the Racial Equity Task Force. Includes a timeline noting events and including archival documents and narrative grouped around thirteen key themes related to calls for racial equity at UVA. Includes bibliographies.
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Index to the University of Virginia (UVA) Library "clippings Files" on African-American Subjects, 1950-2006This index to the clippings files was a student project to document all materials in the clippings files related to Black life and history at UVA.
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Retold: Celebrating the Women of UVAFrom the Alumni Association.
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Take Back the ArchiveA public history project created by UVa faculty, students, librarians, and archivists. It is meant to preserve, visualize, and contextualize the history of rape and sexual violence at the University of Virginia. Includes large amounts of scanned materials from the Women's Center Archive collection and some Cavalier Daily articles on sexual violence and related topics.
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Faulkner at UVA: 1957-58A collection of images, newspaper articles, and audio clips embedded into a narrative of Faulkner's visit, including context of the university, the nation, and Faulkner in that period. Bibliography provided.
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The Jefferson Society, 1870s-2000sThe Jefferson Society's digitized archival collections containing meeting minutes and published articles from the Society's literary magazine, the Spectator then the UVA Magazine.
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50 Years of Black Law Students Association at UVA Law School (BLSA)Chronicling five decades of Black student activism, service, and community at the University of Virginia School of Law.
Recommended books and films on individual students or student life:
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Assuring fair access for all: Vivian Pinn's achievements and legacy2017. Streaming film, 58 min. From the UVA School of Medicine. On 13 September 2017, the University of Virginia proudly dedicates as Pinn Hall the medical education and research building formerly known as Jordan Hall. The building’s new name recognizes UVA medical graduate Vivian W. Pinn MD, Class of 1967, founding director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Pinn was the second African American woman to graduate from the School of Medicine and went on to a distinguished career in pathology and in medical leadership. One of the medical school’s four colleges bears Dr. Pinn’s name, and she is an active presence in Pinn College student life.
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Black Bus Stop2019. DVD, 9 min. By Kevin Everson and Claudrena Harold. "This film pays tribute to the Black Bus Stop, an informal yet iconic gathering spot for black students on the campus of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville in the eighties and nineties. Young people could be found there listening to music, talking politics, dancing, flirting. Today, under the glare of the moonlight, black fraternity and sorority members reclaim these hallowed grounds as they chant and sway to the rhythms and memories of the past. (Claudrena N. Harold)" -- IFFR Website.
Highlights from the University Archives and other archival collections:
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UVA School of Nursing - Individual CollectionsArchival collections from the Bjoring Center focusing on individuals who attended UVA School of Nursing; various collections focus on the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.
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Alderman Library Graffiti CollectionThe Alderman Library Graffiti Collection includes digital images of study carrels in Alderman Library (renamed in 2024 to Shannon Library), created as part of a project for Professor Lise Dobrin's Spring 2019 course Anthropology 5480: Literacy and Orality. The images were captured prior to the renovation of Alderman Library, and document graffiti on 80 carrels.
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Central Advancement PhotobooksCover 2016-2021. Two photobooks chronicling the undergraduate experiences and events of the University of Virginia classes of 2020 and 2021. Include photographs of First Year Convocation, followed by sports coverage, music events, major events On Grounds, the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the residual effects of the 2017 Unite the Right Rally. Also covered within the photobooks is the final year of Teresa Sullivan's tenure as President of the University and Jim Ryan's first year as President. Final Exercises photographs are included at the end of each photobook.
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Health Sciences Research Guide: Student Life and AlumniSelected links from the Health Sciences Library Historic Collections. Includes publications, archival collections, oral histories, and other resources.
Dissertations and Theses
All dissertations or theses written by UVA graduates held by the library are listed in our catalog, Virgo. The library does not hold all dissertations and theses ever written by a UVA student. Use Virgo to search the nearly 200,000 dissertations or theses we hold. If you don't see a dissertation or thesis you expect to find, we suggest requesting a transcript from the Registrar; the transcript should show if the student wrote a dissertation or thesis. You may also try reaching out to individual departments.
If you are the author or related to the author of a dissertation or thesis, please fill out this form to contact Digital Production Group for a complimentary scanned copy. Requestors must be able to show identity or proof of relation.
Athletics
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Wahoowa: The History of Virginia Cavalier Football"Through rare archival photos and film as well as interviews with historians, players, and coaches, get an unprecedented look into how the South's first college program grew from a loose, upstart operation into one that would leave its imprint upon the game of football forever. Uncover not only U.Va.'s history but also the development of the sport of American foot-ball on the very grounds of the University. Experience the despair of the 1950s as U.Va. endured the longest losing streak in college football history and the miraculous rise to #1 three decades later." DVD, available at Clemons or Special Collections.
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Mad About U: Four Decades of Basketball at University HallBy Christopher Graham and Patrick Hite, 2006. In print by request.
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The University of Virginia Football Vault: The History of the Cavaliers"This detailed 'scrapbook' contains never-before-published photographs, artwork and memorabilia drawn from Virginia's athletic department and campus archives. Tucked into dozens of sleeves and pockets, fans will find reproductions of old game programs, historic tickets, numerous postcards and photos."
By Jerry Ratcliffe, Al Groh, and George Welsh, 2008. Available in print in Clemons and by request. -
No Playbook: Athletics and Desegregation in Central VirginiaAn oral history collection from the Albemarle-Charlottesville Historic Society. Interviews are recorded, transcribed, searchable, and tagged by school, topic, individual, and sport. A few discuss UVA.
Contemporary Resources on Alumni
This section includes links to alumni association and alumni magazines and websites around campus. For earlier alumni magazines, please refer to newspapers, magazines, and other publications.
- UVA Alumni Association
- Virginia: The University of Virginia Magazine. The alumni magazine, published by the Alumni Association since 1894. Available online via the magazine's website: 2006 to present
- School of Medicine Alumni Association:
- School of Medicine Alumni Magazine: Virginia Medicine Magazine, online: 2019-present.
- School of Nursing Alumni Association:
- School of Nursing Alumni Magazine: Virginia Nursing Legacy Magazine, online: 2018-present.
- School of Law Alumni Relations Office:
- Law's alumni magazine: UVA Lawyer, online: 2002-present.
- School websites with information on how alumni can stay connected, mentor students, read class notes, and access alumni directories.