Student Projects
Bryan
I graduated from McIntire in 2009, and I swam for UVA for four years. For my leadership project, I set out to create the first annual UVA Swimming & Diving Alumni Meet. Many varsity swim programs across the nation hold a swim meet for their alumni every year, but UVA had never had one, despite the team's rich tradition and strong ties to the alumni. The meet gives alumni a unique opportunity to interact with varsity swimmers, and it bolsters alumni involvement in the program. I proposed the idea to two other alumni, Luke Wagner and Chris Coneeney, and we put together a team to set up the meet. The basic concept of the meet was as follows: the alumni would compete against the current varsity team and would be given time handicaps for every year they had graduated to make the meet competitive.
Organizing the event took a great deal or planning, marketing, and communication. We worked closely with the swim team, coaches, alumni, volunteers (for timing and officiating), athletic department, the AFC, and the Virginia Athletic Foundation (VAF) to make the meet a reality. One of our biggest successes was we were able to partner with the VAF to make the meet an official VAF Reunion Weekend event. The VAF loved the idea and helped market the meet through its mailing list. Other avenues of our marketing included the Web site Chris Coneeney set up for us, Facebook, and plain word-of-mouth. Some more responsibilities of running the meet included collecting entries through a Gmail account, setting up an Excel file with all of the swimmers' events and time handicaps pre-calculated, getting the meet approved by the AFC and the athletic department, and ensuring everyone involved was up to speed.
The first alumni meet was held Oct. 31, 2008. More than 50 alumni competed in the meet, and it ran incredibly well. The meet received an overwhelmingly positive response, and as a result, we held the second annual meet Sept. 11, 2009, with 48 alumni in attendance. The third annual meet was held Oct. 15, 2010.
Jessica
I designed my leadership project around The House Inc., a nonprofit organization I helped start and have volunteered with since 2005. The House, located in Woodbridge, Va., about 30 minutes south of Washington, D.C., provides afterschool and weekend programming for at-risk students in middle school and high school.
In addition to working with The House, I was a member of UVA’s Varsity Women’s Rowing Team. My leadership project was to create a rowing camp for the students at The House. Rowing is an expensive sport, and I wanted to give the students a chance to experience something they otherwise couldn’t afford. Rowing is the "ultimate" team sport and requires teamwork as well as dedication, perseverance, physical strength, and mental focus. Since The House is a "Student Leadership Center," rowing would teach the students these essential leadership skills.
I worked with two local rowing clubs and five area high school rowing teams to secure the donated equipments, boats, water bottles, facilities, and volunteer coaches and coxswains to accommodate the 60 students in The House’s summer program for a full week of rowing.
The camp was a huge success! The week ended with a mini-regatta, in which the students were able to practice all the skills they learned and row by all eights in a race. The head coach for the camp concluded the week by saying, “In my 14 years of coaching, this was by far the most rewarding week.” The coaches, students, and organizations involved were so excited with the results that The House’s Rowing Camp has become an annual tradition in our community.
This leadership project was the start of what I want to do for the rest of my life. This project was an opportunity to put into practice the leadership skills I learned at UVA. Since graduation I have been at The House as the Director of Programs and Administration, using leadership skills to develop and implement additional student programs.
Ashby
For my project, I founded the Socially Responsible Investing Organization, a CIO that focuses on introducing the topic of SRI to the University. SRI essentially revolves around the idea that you can align your money/investments with your personal values and beliefs. Instead of having your investments support companies that destroy the environment and rely on child labor, SRI directs your money to support companies that have a positive impact on the world and your local community.
As my capstone project, I put together SRIO's inaugural spring forum, “Valuing Change: The New Challenges and Opportunities of Socially Responsible Investing.” I was able to bring in professionals from some of the country’s most prominent SRI firms to talk to UVA students about the topic. Fellow LEADers Stephanie Hobart and Nick Jordan helped immensely, and the forum was a huge success. (Read a press release about the event here.)
Brandy
I worked with the Dean of Students in the Kaleidoscope Internship Program, leading the interns, with the goal of continuing to bring multiculturalism to the UVA community through events and social gatherings created and produced by the interns and myself. We had events on the political campaign; movie nights focusing on issues such as hurricane relief, strife in Africa, and the Iraqi war; as well as art exhibits of photos and portraits created by UVA students. I organized event reservations, filed paperwork for expenses, led weekly meetings, and reviewed the intern process. During my involvement in this program, I learned a lot about myself and others and what it's going to be like to work with others in the work force.
Amanda
I collaborated with four other UVA students (current and graduated) from the Nicaraguan Orphan Fund spring break trip. After the trip, we brainstormed having an afternoon community concert in Charlottesville similar to an afternoon spent in the city dump of Managua, Nicaragua. The planning committee started organizing an event that would encourage college students to get involved in Charlottesville as well as have an impact in the community. Throughout the spring, we encountered many setbacks, including finding a venue. Slowly, the vision for the afternoon evolved from a large outdoor concert to a smaller-scaled afternoon event specifically involving a low-income neighborhood called Friendship Court, where we established a connection with the community center Urban Vision and its director.
The end result was drastically different than we had originally envisioned but was ultimately better than expected. About 40 college students and adults spent the afternoon at Friendship Court, playing games, eating ice cream, and painting a large school bus. Neighborhood kids came out to play throughout the afternoon, and we concluded with a meal together and live music by a friend of the Nicaraguan Orphan Fund, Brad Corrigan.
Under One Sky intends to continue the relationships established with Friendship Court and Urban Vision by encouraging UVA students to become involved in the greater Charlottesville community. There are several existing programs established in Friendship Court, and we are in the process of helping make students aware of these opportunities. We also are discussing the potential for undergraduate students to continue growing the concert idea and make it their own.
Alberto
As vice president of Towards a Better Latin America (TBLA) in 2007-2008, I worked on building relationships with new UVA student organizations that share common missions.
TBLA expo: The expo is the largest TBLA event planned in the history of the organization. Through this event, I’ll bring together TBLA members and other UVA students who have traveled to Latin America in a student photo competition. For the first time in TBLA’s history, the expo speaker will be a community leader of low income, Ruby Cangrejo, from Cuidad Bolivar, Bogota, who will talk about her personal experiences as a community leader.
Latin parties: This year I co-sponsored these events with ASB Tanzania and Students Helping Honduras. Both raised funds to help people in need.
TBLA clothing drive: I started this campaign last year, intending to bring clothing to Ecuador. Most clothing collected was sent to Ecuador; some was donated to a local Charlottesville community. The campaign’s success made me realize that this was an opportunity for me to help directly those who need the most, and we collected clothing during spring 2008 to donate to all the ASB trips that were going to Latin America and some in the United States. TBLA’s effort reached Costa Rica, Jamaica, Ecuador, and various U.S. locations. Today, with Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, we will donate what is left to pregnant Latinas in Charlottesville.
TBLA programs: This year, I have been able to fundraise, with the efforts of the executive board and the members, $4,632 as of today. This money covers the program in Nicaragua, where we gave 15 ladies in Managua sewing machines to start a new business to sustain their families. We also covered the program of a small school in Quito. We are currently working to fundraise for Laudes Infantis in Bogota, Colombia.
Stephanie
For my LEAD project, I wanted to create more awareness about the resources available for hearing-impaired individuals in the Charlottesville and surrounding communities.
I give presentations to senior centers and assisted-living facilities, providing these centers with information on hearing loss and how it affects their clients socially, emotionally, and medically. I also provide guidelines for applying for each source of funding as well as the applications themselves.
I am developing a similar program for area elementary schools that highlights the benefits of having hearing tested and of getting hearing aids at a young age, as well as hearing loss prevention. I will also provide the applications and materials for obtaining resources to get hearing aids for children.
I have hearing aids myself, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without the intervention of my preschool teachers. I am very fortunate that my family can afford hearing aids for me.
Angela
For my LEAD project, I spearheaded the Inter-Sorority Council (ISC) Scholarship Steering Committee. Greek female students at the University of Virginia have, on average, a higher GPA than non-Greek female students and are involved in more organizations around Grounds. However, there is currently no scholarship program in place within ISC to encourage strong academic performance or reward those who excel above and beyond. With the approval of the ISC Executive Board and Greek Office, I will form a five-member committee in the spring semester to develop a scholarship program and set up an elected position within ISC to continue the scholarship program into the future.