UVa. We went over spring break a few years ago expecting to love it and were shocked by the graffiti tags for the secret societies that were EVERYWHERE. I get it that they are on the Greek houses but we saw them on university buildings too and it seemed like a signal that the secret societies run things and the administration isn’t really in charge. Or maybe they are in charge but they don’t mind graffiti on their academic buildings?
We were also surprised by Charlottesville b/c we had expected a cute small town, but it was lots of car dealerships and fast food places with some horse farms every now and then. The little shopping area (the Corner) adjacent to campus was pretty small so it seemed like a student would either need a car or have to take shuttle buses everywhere, and it made my D realize she wanted a more compact campus adjacent to a town so she could pretty much walk everywhere she went. So from that standpoint it was a helpful visit.
This was also right after the poor girl was kidnapped on the mall and was later found dead so the whole town sort of seemed menacing to us. I think the use of the term “grounds” instead of “campus” also seemed offputting to my D (and me, TBH).
Just wanted to thank the poster dad who mentioned that he
. Best quote ever!