Welcome to QVA’s quarterly newsletter, where we celebrate achievements and share news from the vibrant LGBTQ+ UVA community being built by students, faculty, staff, and our global network of alumni. Please follow us on Instagram and Facebook where we’ll post highlights of our work and events!
2024 Fall Weekend Highlights
A couple weeks ago we hosted nearly 150 LGBTQ+ alumni, students, faculty, and staff for a 3-day weekend on Grounds to celebrate QVA’s 25th anniversary. We hope you enjoy looking through photos from the weekend. Please credit @finiphotos and @uva_alumni when sharing on social media.
Dom Fini Photos UVA Alumni Association Photos
It was a heart-warming opportunity to meet and reconnect with UVA friends, celebrate the incredible accomplishments of QVA and the entire LGBTQ+ UVA community over the past 25 years, and commit to continue moving forward together. Highlights included:
- Friday evening LGBTQ Center tour and Rotunda wine tasting with sommelier Erin Scala of Market Street Wine shop
- Small group Saturday gatherings at Jefferson Vineyards, Decades Arcade, and Snugglebutts Petting Farm
- Evening gala at the Omni Hotel on the downtown mall, celebrating our award recipients John Polly (Col ’91), Theresa Davis, Jasmine Hall Ratliff (Col ’99), and Alex Winkowski
- Sunday brunch on the rooftop of the Doyle Hotel featuring QVA with Mayes Award honoree John Polly, Executive Producer of RuPaul’s Drag Race
We thank everyone who helped us recognize and celebrate the incredible progress that we’ve made in building queer community for UVA over the past 25 years, and we recommit to continuing that momentum into the next 25!
Virginia Magazine Queer History Feature
QVA was thrilled to partner with the Alumni Association for an article about 50 years of queer history on Grounds, which was a main feature in the recent Virginia Magazine which gets sent to all alumni. It’s absolutely worth a read!
Please Donate Today
UVA’s queer population keeps growing, with over 10% of the student body now openly identifying as LGBTQ+. Though we have made incredible progress, we are now struggling to meet growing demand and risk falling behind without your help. Please consider making a $100 contribution to the QVA Operating Endowment or the Wavelength Scholarship Endowment using the donate button below.
Support LGBTQ+ Programming and Scholarships
If you would like to discuss how a larger donation could support specific types of needed scholarships or programming, please don’t hesitate to contact me at lance@queervirginia.org.
Thank you all for your support in building a better University of Virginia community. Together we have achieved so much, and I am excited to see where we can build from here.
Sincerely yours,
Lance C. Guthrie