Our Grant Proposal form is now available for the 2019-20 annual funding cycle. Submission deadline is October 1, 2019. Learn more and apply here!
Announcing our 2019 Flash Funding Grants
This spring the Jefferson Trust launched a new funding opportunity – Flash Funds. Awarded on a monthly basis as long as funds last, Flash Funds seek to meet more immediate needs of the University community.
Eight awards totaling just over $50,000 were funded in March and April. These flash grants include:
Virginia Quarterly Review Podcast Initiative: $8,000
The goal is to launch a radio storytelling series that brings the magazine’s artful style and civic relevance to a globally syndicated podcast—modeled after The New Yorker Radio Hour and The Daily from The New York Times. VQR, one of the country’s most prestigious literary journals, won a National Magazine Award for general excellence this year.
Lightbulb: $10,000
Lightbulb is a unique web platform for college campuses that connects people with ideas to people who have the skill to implement them—helping overcome the most fundamental problem that aspiring entrepreneurs face. Users can approach the platform with an idea (while looking for the right talent to execute it) or as someone with valuable skills to help others with their ideas.
WICS Hack for the Future: $1,400
Women in Computing Sciences (WiCS) supports and celebrates the growing community of women in computing. Every year, WiCS hosts a hackathon at UVA to inspire coders (specifically targeting minorities in the CS industry) to create innovative projects and build their confidence through various workshops. Funding will expand this hackathon in its second year.
Coding for Kids: $2,400
This program supplements the technology and computer science curricula at Charlottesville City Schools—helping combat the pipeline problem in STEM fields through face-to-face, interactive, small-group lessons led by students and faculty from UVA’s McIntire School of Commerce.
Solar Education Community Outreach Program: $2,850
The program teaches Charlottesville middle school students about the logistics and benefits of solar technology, providing a greater understanding of our society’s options with respect to energy sources.
Community Engagement Training Video: $7,940
The Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Outreach will create a set of short training videos for UVA students seeking community service opportunities.
Echols Scholars Symposium: $10,000
Echols Scholars, while in their final year as undergraduates, will present what they have learned from their coursework in individual fields of study and at the intersection of various disciplines.
Ripple Fellowship: $10,000
This summer intensive is dedicated to training students in venture development, that they might eventually serve as entrepreneurial mentors for their peers—transforming UVA’s entrepreneurial culture as well as pioneering a national model.
Trustee Spotlight: Hanson Slaughter
Hanson Slaughter (COM ’94) joined the Jefferson Trust (the “Trust”) in the 2017-2018 academic year. The impetus for Hanson joining the Trust dates back to his undergraduate years when he approached Alumni Hall for a loan for one of his extracurricular activities. After a meeting with several people regarding the nature and use of the loan, Alumni Hall funded the request, which Hanson ensured was paid back prior to graduation.
As the University continues to grow, Hanson feels strongly about having an accessible resource where those affiliated with UVA may seek reasonable funding for projects that demonstrate creativity and ingenuity, which promote intellectual engagement and the advancement of UVA’s mission as a preeminent institution of higher learning. This passion for grant performance and organizational growth has led Hanson to serve on both the Oversight Committee and Development Committee of the Trust, where he now serves as Chair. Hanson is also a co-chair of his class reunion giving committee.
Hanson is a Managing Director with 1919 Investment Counsel, a boutique investment advisory firm focused on high-net-worth, family office, and institutional clients, for which he opened the Birmingham office in 2015. Previously, Hanson was the President of Trust Company of Sterne Agee and head of the family office group, which he began in 2011. Hanson’s personal and professional knowledge of planned giving and his work developing philanthropic strategies have been a great benefit to the University and the Jefferson Trust.
Hanson is a native of Birmingham, Alabama where he lives with his wife, Melissa, and two children. He also serves on the boards of CommerceOne Bank, Indian Springs School (Chair, Stewardship & Planned Giving), and the Sterne Agee Charitable Foundation (President). He is a member of the Rotary Club of Birmingham and past Chairman of the Birmingham Botanical Society.
UVA Intramural-Recreational Sports Award Winners
Each spring, The Jefferson Trust awards two $2,500 Intramural-Recreational Awards to club athletic teams that excel in the areas of commitment, leadership and service to the community. This year, the Running Club at UVA and Virginia Riding Team were recipients at an early April ceremony.
With over two hundred active members a season, the Running Club at UVA is one of the largest clubs on Grounds. Team members practice six days a week to train for the season’s upcoming meets, following workouts and training runs prepared by the team’s elected workout coordinators. Some members are not competitive in meets, but participate in the club to stay physically active with a fun, social group.
Challenging and dedicated training has made the Running Club competitive, both in their track and cross country meets; since 2016, they have had many athletes earn All-American status. This past season the men’s cross country team earned 3rd place at the National Intercollegiate Running Club Association Cross Country Regionals, and the women’s cross country team had one All-American finisher, with a team finish of 8th (out of 27). The Running Club also hosts an annual track meet in the spring and cross country meet in the fall, and both meets have drawn many teams from the mid-Atlantic region, garnering attention as one of the largest meets in the country.
When not running on the track or cross country course, the Running Club is busy in the Charlottesville running community. Each year they organize a charity 5k for the local chapter of Girls on the Run, as well as this year hosting a “Run-a-thon” for St. Jude’s. Also this year, the club worked with the Charlottesville Track Club to help execute the Charlottesville 10-miler with pre-race and race day volunteer efforts.
The Virginia Riding Team is comprised of 70 team members with varied riding experience, from true beginners to advanced riders. Members can choose to take lessons once or twice a week, ride without instruction as often as they like, and participate in a free clinic with a professional trainer each spring.
The Riding Team competes in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Circuit and Collegiate Cup, with each format offering unique riding opportunities. At IHSA riders draw a horse’s name out of a hat, then ride the horse with no warm-up, and at Collegiate Cup members compete on horses they have practiced with before. Both formats have been successful for UVA Riding; at IHSA the team placed second in the region this year, sent four individuals to regionals, and are sending three individuals to Zones. At the Collegiate Cup, the team has won Champion the last two years, and individual riders have placed highly as well. While some team members choose not to participate in competitions, the team works to cover the cost of showing so that competitors are never chosen based on an ability to financially afford the extra cost.
Additionally, the Riding Team works closely with the Charlottesville Area Riding Therapy (CART), sending volunteers throughout the semester to work with the horses and give lessons to children and adults with disabilities.
Both the Running Club and Riding Team pride themselves on their sense of community, inclusivity, and togetherness. Supporting each other in competition, training, and giving back to the Charlottesville community are keys that make these club sports successful and impactful for team members.
Madison Lane & Rugby Road Charitable Trust Visual Arts Prize 2019
The annual Madison Lane and Rugby Road Charitable Trust Visual Arts Prize is intended to expand students’ opportunities for creative expression and to showcase significant accomplishments in the Arts. A $2,500 award is presented through The Jefferson Trust in partnership with UVA Arts to one undergraduate or graduate student each spring. A student’s submitted work must be created while he or she is enrolled at UVA, and eligible medias include: drawing, painting, watercolor, film/video, photography or sculpture.
The 2019 Madison Lane and Rugby Road Charitable Trust Visual Arts Prize was awarded to Kirsten Hemrich for her painting Celestial Spheres #2. This 54” x 54” piece was created using oil, spray paint, and charcoal on canvas. Kirsten’s paintings are made over the course of many weeks during which she layers diaristic drawings, text, and abstractions of celestial bodies. This particular painting references early astronomical diagrams, as well as the Roman god of doorways, “Janus.” Over time each layer gets buried and beaten back into the surface. Parts of the painting fall away, get reborn, and change entirely through an intuitive process. Even after the painting is finished, the surface will change ever slightly over time due to the materials used. For Kirsten, this ever-changing surface is a metaphor for our own personal narratives- “for how we weave the abstractions of our experiences into story and furthermore, identity. The story of the past is unending, always changing. This phenomenon is what I chase through my creative practice.”
Jefferson Trust Announces $800,000 in Grants for Innovating Education
The Jefferson Trust, an initiative of the University of Virginia Alumni Association, approved 13 new grants totaling $800,579 after a dedicated review process.
Many of the grants this year sought to provide innovative educational experiences for University of Virginia students.
Established by the Alumni Association in 2006, the Jefferson Trust has invested in 192 initiatives, representing over $7.8 million, brought forth by students and faculty representing all 11 schools and a myriad of programs and organizations at UVA. With grant awards ranging from as little as $2,500 to as much as $100,000, all of these seed-funded projects add exceptional value to the UVA experience. Many evolve to become a permanent part of the fabric of the University’s life and legacy
The 2019 grants include:
Rotunda Planetarium: $30,000
The Rotunda Planetarium reconstructs Thomas Jefferson’s inaugural vision for the Rotunda Library’s dome room. The Rotunda Planetarium will run from November 2019 until June 2020.
Infectious Disease in 3D: $99,945
The proposed “Infectious Disease in 3D” program aims to build VR and AR content for teaching complex biological information in UVA classrooms. The end product will directly benefit UVA classrooms by enhancing motivation and retention of material.
Religion, Race, and Democracy: An Undergraduate Multimedia Research Project: $100,000
The Religion Lab will offer to undergraduate Student Research Collaborators: 1.) Regular training and mentorship; 2.) Funding and technology; 3.) A website to publish the research. They will also benefit from the expertise and guidance of Religion Lab faculty and staff.
Cadaver-specific virtual dissection table: $70,491
An initiative to provide state of the art interactive and psychometric learning to students in Kinesiology for the enhancement of knowledge in anatomy and patient care leading to the development of unparalleled clinical skills.
Developing Tools to Transform Student Experiences: $141,173
To develop and use web-based observation tools to not only shed light on how UVA faculty teach in their classrooms, but also to use the data from the tools to work with instructors and the broader university to improve teaching at UVA.
UVA Medical Design Program: Phase II: $81,500
The UVA Medical Design Program (UVAMDP) provides first-year medical students with hands-on instruction in the application of design thinking to address healthcare challenges.
Student Veteran’s Support Initiative: $60,000
The Veteran’s Support Initiative is seeking support to set up a structure to better meet the needs of student veterans.
Data for the Social Good: $50,000
With support from the Jefferson Trust, faculty, staff, students and alumni of the Data Science Institute will develop a set of tools to match community non-profits needing data analysis help with students and service-learning classes that can provide it.
Concussion and Headaches: $25,837.02
This project proposes to study administration of magnesium and riboflavin (two common supplements) as agents to reduce the length of time a student might experience headache following concussion.
The Flux Poetry Series: $21,800
The project proposal is a three-semester-long poetry series that will invite award-winning and influential poets to host workshops, performances, consultations, and more, bolstering the already-thriving art community at UVA.
Madayin Aboriginal Art Catalog: $56,000
The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia seeks funding to produce a fully-illustrated scholarly catalog to accompany the touring exhibition “Madayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Bark Painting from Yirrkala, Australia.”
Reshaping Public and Archival Space: $32,260
The project is the first attempt to capture testimonies video graphically about the Black nursing experience, to be made available to a large audience. The project aims to enhance visibility of Black nurses in archives and public spaces via written documents, photographs, videos, and exhibitions.
Minority Youth Development Program: $31,573
This program aims to increase the number of underrepresented minorities, especially African-Americans, pursuing careers in architecture.
In Memoriam: Jack Syer & Bo Moore
The Jefferson Trust family lost two founding members last month. Both men provided key leadership, support, and service to the Trust and Alumni Association. We extend our condolences to both families during this time.
Jack Syer served as President of the UVA Alumni Association from 1993–2006 and was instrumental in the creation of the Jefferson Trust. Learn more about his influence here.
Garland P. “Bo” Moore was a founding member of the Jefferson Trust, serving from 2007–2013, and was the Finance Committee’s first Chair. Learn more about his UVA/Trust experience here, when he was featured in an e-newsletter, and his professional life here.
New Grant Cycle: Flash Funding!
The Jefferson Trust is excited to launch a new grants cycle: Flash Funding! The inaugural round of submissions will be accepted through February 28, 2019, with funding decisions announced on March 15, 2019. Flash funding will subsequently be available on a monthly basis until the funds are depleted.
Priority will be given to student-led proposals, and immediate-use to short term projects. Awards are capped at $10,000. The link to the proposal system and more information can be found here.
Grant Recipient Receives Forbes Under 30 Recognition
Ryan Keen (COL ’18), a 2018 Jefferson Trust grant recipient for The Human Library initiative, was recently selected as a Forbes Under 30 Fellow, and attended the Under 30 Summit in Boston. The summit focused on bringing together young professionals and leaders from around the world for an opportunity to connect and meet established leaders from various fields. Ryan wrote about The Human Library in his Forbes application, as it greatly shaped his experience while on Grounds and continues to grow as an engaging platform at UVA and in the greater Charlottesville community.
“As a Forbes Fellow, I was allowed to choose a “track” so that I could connect with leaders in a specific field. I chose healthcare as my track, which essentially allowed me to hear from individuals who have co-founded their own health-related initiatives and those who are leading innovative research from the nearby schools MIT and Harvard. It was amazing to be invited into a network of ambitious individuals with similar goals and to be able to share the mission of The Human Library. I’m proud that it has become such a strong and inclusive platform to share all of the amazing stories, and, with the strong support of the Jefferson Trust, it continues to grow and inspire dialogue. I’m really looking forward to seeing the organization’s development in the coming years.” Keen shared.
Ryan will attend Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health next fall to pursue a Masters of Science, after working in a lab at Harvard this year. He also plans to seek a medical degree in the future. Congratulations to Ryan for this distinguishing honor!
Planned Giving: The Gift that Keeps on Giving
We hear the term ‘the gift that keeps on giving’ so much it becomes cliché, and few of the cited examples really muster the label. For Tom White, however, it is a fitting description. Tom established a Charitable Remainder Unitrust (CRUT) at UVA using appreciated stock. By giving stock, Tom avoided paying lump sum capital gains tax, gained a tax deduction, and also receives a seven percent annual return on the CRUT’s assets. Tom allocated the CRUT to the Jefferson Trust, which allowed him to give his daughter Elizabeth White Boutry (COL ’92) a seat on the board of trustees. Liz now has a vote in distributing nearly $1 million dollars in grant funding to students, faculty, and staff projects across Grounds each year.
Although Tom did not attend UVA, his father, T. Aubrey White, was a triple-Hoo; and his two daughters Elizabeth White Boutry (COL ’92) and Linda White Banta (COL ’82) as well as his granddaughter Isabel Banta (COL ’19) are also proud alumni. Tom wanted to carry on the tradition of leadership in the family by making his gift to the Jefferson Trust.
As the stock market continues to climb, a CRUT can be a great way to give to UVA, minimize taxable income, and maximize a return. It can truly be the gift the keeps on giving!