University of Virginia

Virginia, Hail, All Hail!
~ John Albert Morrow
The University of Virginia (UVA), also referred to as Virginia, is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson. Highly selective with its admissions, UVA is known as a "Public Ivy," one of a number of publicly-funded universities academically ranked beside or above the Ivy League universities.
- See also:
- University of Virginia School of Law
- University of Virginia School of Medicine
- University of Virginia's College at Wise

Ten thousand hearts beat high at thy name; ~ John Albert Morrow

Mother of men a queen thou hast stood;
Children of thine a true brotherhood,
~ John Albert Morrow
Long let thy virtues in us abound; ~ John Albert Morrow

Let noonday brilliance crown thee with light;
Let ev’ning sun sink kissing goodnight, ~ John Albert Morrow
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B
- The history of the University of Virginia expands until it embraces the history of the South; and the history of the South contracts until it merges in the history of the University of Virginia.
- Philip Alexander Bruce, UVA Class of 1876, History of the University of Virginia: The Lengthening Shadow of One Man, Volume V (1922), New York: Macmillan Company, Centennial Edition, hardcover, p. 425
- The great power for good which the University of Virginia has exercised, during these first one hundred years, is too subtle, too far spread, and too voluminous, to be gauged to the farthest limits.
- Philip Alexander Bruce, UVA Class of 1876, History of the University of Virginia: The Lengthening Shadow of One Man, Volume V (1922), New York: Macmillan Company, Centennial Edition, hardcover, p. 425
C
- I’d also like to thank the Board of Visitors. Board of Visitors, of course that name goes all the way back to your founder, Thomas Jefferson, who was just trying to put the local Indians at ease. “Just visiting. Should be going home any century now.”
And that’s just one of the many unique, dignified terms that sets UVA apart from other universities. Instead of freshmen, you have first years. Instead of a quad, you call it a Lawn. Instead of saying we are members of a proud educational tradition dating back to our nation’s founders, you say “Wahoowa!” Which begs the eternal question, “Wahoowhy?”- Stephen Colbert, addressing the UVA undergraduate Class of 2013 during the class Valedictory Exercises on 18 May 2013[1]
- And I just want to say the students at UVA are incredible. The men are all gentlemen and the women are all the most beautiful and intelligent in the world. And I’m not saying that because I dated a UVA girl. I’m saying that because I married her.
- Stephen Colbert, addressing the UVA undergraduate Class of 2013 during the class Valedictory Exercises on 18 May 2013[2]
- But of course, the greatest figure associated with UVA is your founder, Thomas Jefferson. TJ. Prez Tommy Jef. The freckly anti-Federalist. Louisiana purchy. Old bible-slicer. Or as most Americans know him, the inventor of the six-inch wooden cipher wheel. In founding this great institution Jefferson wrote, we wish to establish in the upper country of Virginia a university on a plan so broad and liberal and modern as to be a temptation of the youth of other states to come a drink the cup of knowledge and fraternize with us. And according to Playboy, you have lived up to that vision.
- Stephen Colbert, addressing the UVA undergraduate Class of 2013 during the class Valedictory Exercises on 18 May 2013[3]
- So have the courage to follow the example of your founder, Thomas Jefferson, the greatest mind of that most daring generation, to create something new for yourselves and lay its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to you shall seem most likely to affect your safety and happiness. And know that though he wrote these words 237 years ago, that this generation, no less than his generation, has their own opportunity to recognize and seize that moment when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the bands that have connected them with another and assume among the powers of the earth your separate and equal station and for the support of this, mutually pledge to each other your lives, your fortune, and your sacred honor. If anyone can do this, it is the graduates of the university Jefferson founded. You are his intellectual heirs. In fact, some of you may be his actual heirs. We’re still testing the DNA. So thank you for this honor and congratulations to the Class of 2013. Wahoowha!
- Stephen Colbert, addressing the UVA undergraduate Class of 2013 during the class Valedictory Exercises on 18 May 2013[4]
K
- The University of Virginia has moved up in the annual rankings of colleges and universities published by U.S. News and World Report. UVA rose to the No. 3 spot among public universities in the 2023 Best Colleges ranking, after three consecutive years at No. 4. In the rankings, released today, UVA is tied with the University of Michigan. The University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of California, Berkeley are tied for the top position among public universities. Princeton University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are the top two institutions overall.
- Jane Kelly, UVA Advances to No. 3 Best Public in 2023 U.S. News & World Report Rankings, UVA Today, 12 September 2022
- UVA remains the 25th-best university overall for the second year in a row, after climbing two spots in the 2021 rankings. It is the highest-ranked university among all Virginia institutions, public or private. In the overall category of graduation and retention, combining those related metrics, UVA is the top public university in the country and ranked No. 11 among all public and private universities. U.S. News considers six factors in its ranking, including “outcomes” like graduation and retention rates. UVA continues to have an excellent first-year student retention rate of 97%; the graduation rate is 94%. Again this year, UVA graduated 90% of its Pell Grant recipients, whose family incomes are typically less than $50,000 a year.
In other U.S. News rankings, UVA is among the best schools for veterans, staying at No. 9 again this year. U.S. News also ranked UVA’s undergraduate business program eighth in the country. It found UVA has the No. 10 public undergraduate nursing program, in a multi-university tie.- Jane Kelly, UVA Advances to No. 3 Best Public in 2023 U.S. News & World Report Rankings, UVA Today, 12 September 2022
- U.S. News ranks UVA as the 32nd-best value national university, joining other ranking services highlighting UVA’s value. Last April, The Princeton Review ranked UVA as the best public or private university in the country for financial aid, and the No. 3 best value public school. In May, Money Magazine ranked UVA the No. 3 best value college in the United States. UVA remains one of the only public universities to meet 100% of every undergraduate student’s financial need and offers admission to students with no consideration of a family’s income.
During President Jim Ryan’s tenure, the University has significantly expanded its financial aid program so that more lower- and middle-income students can afford to enroll. Under the “SuccessUVA” initiative, for example, Virginia families earning less than $80,000 per year can send their children to UVA tuition-free, and UVA will also cover tuition, room and board for students from Virginia families earning less than $30,000 per year.- Jane Kelly, UVA Advances to No. 3 Best Public in 2023 U.S. News & World Report Rankings, UVA Today, 12 September 2022
- Just last September, Ryan announced the University would invest $50 million in additional matching funds to the Bicentennial Scholarship Fund to further increase access and affordability for undergraduate students with financial need and for merit-based scholarships. Since its establishment, the program has paired donor contributions with institutional matching funds to establish more than 500 endowed scholarship funds for undergraduate and graduate students.
These commitments to excellence and affordability have strengthened UVA’s ability to recruit and support extraordinary students from all walks of life. Among the first-year students who enrolled last month, 16% will be the first in their families to graduate from college, and 36% qualified for need-based aid, including more than 900 from middle-income households. U.S. News relies on self-reported data from schools from fall 2021 or prior year reporting on which to base its rankings.- Jane Kelly, UVA Advances to No. 3 Best Public in 2023 U.S. News & World Report Rankings, UVA Today, 12 September 2022
M
- Ten thousand voices sing thy acclaim;
Ten thousand hearts beat high at thy name;
All unafraid and girded with good,
Mother of men a queen thou hast stood;
Children of thine a true brotherhood,
Virginia, Hail, All Hail!
Virginia, Hail, All Hail!- John Albert Morrow, UVA Class of 1921, "Virginia, Hail, All Hail", alma mater of the University of Virginia, melody and lyrics written in 1921 and utilized ever since by UVA's Glee Club.
- Long let thy praises live and resound;
Long let thy virtues in us abound;
Let morning radiance set thee in sight;
Let noonday brilliance crown thee with light;
Let ev’ning sun sink kissing goodnight,
Virginia, Hail, All Hail!
Virginia, Hail, All Hail!- John Albert Morrow, UVA Class of 1921, "Virginia, Hail, All Hail", alma mater of the University of Virginia, melody and lyrics written in 1921 and utilized ever since by UVA's Glee Club.