The Jefferson Council

Birthday cake concocted by Young Americans for Freedom to celebrate Thomas Jefferson’s birthday.

Robert Henry at the counter of The White Spot Photo credit: https://www.wspot.net/wspot/#

By Don Rippert

Double Gus, all the way. Students who attended The University of Virginia going all the way back to 1953 are likely to be familiar with the White Spot “restaurant.” The term “restaurant” is in quotes because The Spot, as it is affectionately known, is a hole in the wall that originally had 11 stools all in a row along a counter directly across from the stovetop. At some point The Spot expanded to include the adjacent space where a few simple tables sit. As for the food… The Spot never served alcohol but still managed to attract lines of UVA students out the door waiting for a stool. Enough said. The hallmark dish was the Gus burger. The Gusburger was a mainstay of The Spot going back at least to 1977 (and probably much further). It was a cheeseburger or double cheeseburger with a fried egg on top. And this was long before the trend of putting eggs on burgers became a common fad.

Everybody wondered what would become of the beloved Spot given the Coronavirus shutdowns. A cramped space like The White Spot was not expected to fare well. But suddenly … Good news! An icon has come to save an icon. UVa and NBA basketball legend Ralph Sampson has teamed with businessman Bert Ellis to buy The White Spot. Best of all, they insist that maintaining the classic look, feel and menu of The Spot is job #1. Continue reading →

2016 championship women’s golf team

University of Virginia student-athletes enrolled between 2010 and 2013 have racked up the highest graduation-rate scores since the National Collegiate Athletic Association began issuing its annual Graduation Success Rate data.

Cavalier student-athletes graduated at a 95% rate, up one percentage point from last year’s report, a previous high for UVA athletics. The NCAA’s national average this year was 88%, reports UVA Today. Twenty of 21 Virginia athletic programs matched or exceeded the national average. A dozen recorded 100% graduation rates, including men’s basketball. See the NCAA report here.

The women’s golf team and women’s lacrosse team both had their 11th straight years of 100% graduation rates.

Kudos to the UVa athletic program. This is a track record of which the entire UVa community can be proud!

by James C. Sherlock

Sometimes thumbing through the state Budget Bill, HB1800 (Enrolled), one finds something other than what one is looking for.

I was examining the Education budget, and specifically the Department of Education, Central Office Operations, Item 137, Instructional Services (18100).

That is where the massive infusion of federal COVID education dollars are found. The instructional services budget increased from $32 million in FY 2021 (ends Jun 30, 2021) to almost $263 million in FY 2022. The increase is all federal dollars and all for Program Administration and Assistance for Instructional Services (18102).

Readers know I am a graduate of the University of Virginia, but sometimes that causes me some discomfort. This is one of those times. Continue reading →