Facilities Management teams have supported multiple recent projects that promote equity in UVA’s physical and historic landscape.
Recent projects include the Gooch-Dillard cemetery signage project, the removal of the George Clark Rogers statue and the UVA Memorial Benches Initiative.
Superintendent of Specialty Trades and Special Events Warren Wood operates a forklift to carefully install a 1,100-pound memorial bench at McLeod Hall with the help of General Services Supervisor Ben Lane and Plumber Kit Turner (Photo by Jane Centofante / Facilities Management). A contractor used a large crane to remove a statue of George Rogers Clark in July 2021 (Photo by Sanjay Suchak / University Communications).
In July 2021, Construction & Renovation Services staff and the General Services crew assisted with a contractor’s removal of the George Rogers Clark statue on West Main Street near the Corner. The removal was a move that faculty members, staff and students have long advocated and that was recommended in 2020 by the University’s Racial Equity Task Force. It is part of ongoing efforts to recontextualize parts of UVA’s historic landscape, including both changes to names and memorials and the addition of digital tools providing historical context, both governed by a Naming and Memorials committee.
In recent years, a UVA Student Council project to improve signage and landscaping surrounding a burial ground near Gooch-Dillard residence hall received a grant through the UVA Equity & Environment Fund. The fund — which is facilitated by the Civic Engagement Subcommittee of UVA’s Committee on Sustainability — supports projects that explore the intersection of social equity and environmental sustainability.
In the summer of 2022, new memorial benches were installed by Facilities Management staff in support of a student-led project to make the built environment on Grounds more inclusive of all students. The UVA Memorial Benches Initiative was started by fourth-year student Sanjeev Kumar to highlight underrepresented women and people of color that have made an impactful contribution to either the University of Virginia or the world.
Kumar and his team partnered with seven of the University's colleges to build consensus for selecting alumni and alumni groups to be honored by each school. Facilities Management's Construction & Renovation Services team and the Office of the Architect worked with Kumar and his team to identify the proper placement of the benches and coordinated and performed the installations of the seven 1,100-pound engraved, concrete benches.
