{"id":178,"date":"2024-05-15T10:43:13","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T14:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aig.alumni.virginia.edu\/echols\/?p=178"},"modified":"2024-11-11T10:43:32","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T15:43:32","slug":"stay-connected-echols-scholars-alumni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aig.uvaalumni.org\/echols\/2024\/05\/15\/stay-connected-echols-scholars-alumni\/","title":{"rendered":"Stay Connected: Echols Scholars Alumni"},"content":{"rendered":"

Echols Scholars Alumni,<\/p>\n

I\u2019m excited to share our first newsletter with you.<\/p>\n

When I speak with alumni, I often hear how interested they are in learning more about what\u2019s happening with the Echols Scholars Program and how they can support its mission. We have so much going on, and so many opportunities to connect, that we can\u2019t possibly share them all with you in one newsletter, but we look forward to communicating with you a couple times each year.<\/p>\n

What has stood out to me most in my time as director is the vibrant community that I have encountered. Whether it\u2019s the common life shared by first-year students living in the \u201cScholars Dorm\u201d (currently Balz-Dobie), or the vibrant discussions in our Common Read book groups, or the presentations at our end-of-year Echols Research Symposium, our students embody our motto of \u201cEngaging Curiosity for Life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Echols Scholars continue to enjoy exemptions from UVA\u2019s general education requirements and to receive priority registration, so that they can pursue a curriculum of their own design. But, importantly, Scholars also have the opportunity to take leadership roles in the program, including serving on the Echols Council, working as one of our outreach interns, or sharing their gifts and abilities with us in less formal ways.<\/p>\n

I would encourage you to spend a few minutes catching up on the latest Echols news. I am especially enthusiastic about our new Echols Mentoring Echols initiative, which you can read about below and join if you\u2019re interested. Let me also give special thanks to Ann Brown (Col<\/abbr> class of <\/span>\u201974, Law<\/abbr> class of <\/span>\u201977), our alumni coordinator, for helping us get this initiative off the grounds.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d ever like to know more about the program, I am always delighted to connect with our alumni, so please reach out to me.<\/p>\n

Regards,<\/p>\n

Karl Shuve
\nDirector, Echols Scholars Program
\nAssociate Professor of Religious Studies<\/p>\n

“Echols Mentoring Echols” Announcement<\/h2>\n

We are happy to announce a new program for Echols alumni who would like to mentor current Echols scholars. Our alumni have had distinguished careers in a wide range of professions\/areas and represent a great resource for current Echols students. If you\u2019ve ever thought, \u201cHey, I have had a great career and I\u2019d like to share it with current Echols scholars,\u201d then Echols mentoring is for you.<\/p>\n

As part of the effort, we\u2019re using the UVA Alumni Association\u2019s Wahoo Connect platform<\/a> to create an online community of Echols alumni and students. Please visit the website<\/a> to create or update your profile<\/strong>. Please make sure to check the box for Echols Scholar in the \u201cStudent Activities: Academic Programs, Awards & Honor Societies\u201d section. New users will need to complete an extra but simple verification step.<\/p>\n

When more alumni sign up, we will begin reaching out to current Echols Scholars. The app offers functionality for students to search and find mentors, and for mentors to find them.<\/p>\n

We are very excited to be offering matching of Echols alumni and students through Wahoo Connect and hope you all will sign up!<\/p>\n

If you need technical assistance with Wahoo Connect, reach out to wahoo-connect@virginia.edu<\/a> or the Alumni Interest Groups team at aig@virginia.edu.<\/p>\n

For further questions about Echols Mentoring Echols, contact Jeanine Braithwaite (Col<\/abbr> class of <\/span>\u201982) at braithwaite@virginia.edu. Jeanine is a current lecturer at the UVA Batten School and chairs the Echols mentoring subcommittee.<\/p>\n

Spotlight on Visiting Speakers<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

One of the benefits of being an Echols Scholar is having the opportunity to connect with innovators, experts, and gifted practitioners in many different fields. This year, the Echols Scholars Program hosted two visiting speakers.<\/p>\n

In September, Professor Louis Newman, Dean of Academic Advising and Vice-Provost for Undergraduate Education at Stanford University, joined us for three days to share his research on student success. Over 100 Scholars came out for a dinner presentation, \u201cCritical Thinking: What You Really<\/em> Came to College to Learn,\u201d each receiving a copy of his book, Thinking Critically in College: The Essential Handbook for Student Success<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"In October, UVA alumna and award-winning writer Taylor Harris (Col<\/abbr> class of <\/span>\u201905) hosted a creative writing workshop for the Echols program. Ms. Harris led students through a series of exercises and then shared her own experiences in the publishing industry. All attendees received copies of her 2022 memoir, This Boy We Made: A Memoir of Motherhood, Genetics, and Facing the Unknown<\/em>, which has won multiple literary awards and was a Washington Post<\/em> Best Nonfiction Book of the Year.<\/p>\n

Echols Council Update<\/h2>\n

Did you know that the Echols Scholars Program has a student council?<\/p>\n

Founded in the 1990s, Echols Council has spent the past thirty years working closely with Echols leadership to develop programming for UVA\u2019s roughly 1,000 current scholars, and this year is no different. I\u2019m proud to report the council has been hard at work since August.<\/p>\n

In the fall semester, we managed to put on 10 social, academic, and professional events, send out 13 weekly newsletters, and pair 114 students with on-Grounds mentors. Some highlights include a successful back-to-school social at the Colonnade Club, gatherings at local coffeehouses and a holiday cookie decorating event during finals.<\/p>\n

The spring semester began with an enlightening fireside chat with the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Christa Acampora, in her home. Council held a coffee for mentor and mentee pairs, organized a Valentine\u2019s Day mixer with the Engineering School\u2019s Rodman Scholars (where we all wrote more than 60 letters for patients at Martha Jefferson Hospital), and we put out a midterms snack cart in Balz-Dobie dorm in February. March featured an “escape room” event designed by an Echols Scholar, hosted in the dorm. We wrapped the academic year with an ice cream social hosted by Ben & Jerry’s.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re looking forward to making more memories as a community next year. For more information about the Council, please visit the Echols Council website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My best,
\nAlexandra Pentimonti (Com<\/abbr> class of <\/span>\u201925)
\nPresident, Echols Council \u201923-24<\/p>\n

Alumni Events<\/h2>\n

In an effort to connect recent Echols alumni with current Scholars, our Outreach Interns program organized a lunch social as part of October\u2019s Young Alumni Reunions<\/a> weekend . Millie Pandya (Col<\/abbr> class of <\/span>\u201925), led the project. Scholars and alumni gathered in Pavilion III over a light charcuterie spread from Mona Lisa Pasta. As always, we extended the invitation to all members of the Echols community in the area and were happy to see alumni of all ages. The event gave us the opportunity to celebrate our community\u2019s post-graduate achievements while facilitating connections both new and old. We hope to continue hosting socials every YAR<\/abbr> weekend (with you at the next one)!<\/p>\n

We also have two upcoming receptions that we are excited to share with you.<\/p>\n