Hereford College
Encyclopedia
Hereford College is a self-governed residential college
at the University of Virginia
that houses 500 students, mostly in single-occupancy rooms. Its stated core values are environmental sustainability
, cultural diversity
, and community
outreach.
Named after physicist Frank Hereford
, who was President of the University between 1974 and 1985, the college opened in 1992 as New College, U-Va.'s second residential college. It consists of five strikingly thin dorm buildings, a principal's building, and its own residential cafeteria. Hereford was designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
, which also designed the American Folk Art Museum
in New York, the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, and the Student Art Building of Johns Hopkins University
.
. This may afford more privacy than other housing on Grounds. However, first years still typically share a room, which given Hereford's unique structure, can lead to lifelong connections and unions.
As Hereford is located behind the Dillard House complex and basically hidden from the rest of Grounds, it can feel quite remote. In actuality it is less than ½ of a mile from Scott Stadium
and the first-year "New Dorms" along Alderman Road, and within 1 mile of virtually every undergraduate class taught at the University.
One night each month, Hereford members all dine together at a scheduled time in the banquet hall. The dinners are usually themed, with examples over the years including Crab Fest, Japanese Night, Latin Cultures Night, and Pumpkin Feast.
, hiking in the Shenandoah National Park
, private viewings at the Fan Mountain Observatory
, baseball games of the Washington Nationals
and Baltimore Orioles
, and weekend trips to Atlanta
and New York City
. Programs are organized by current residents as well as alumni. For example, last year, Hereford alumnus Nathan Cook hosted a showing of the movie 8 Seconds
in the amphitheatre.
, and the potential of using vegetable oil as automotive fuel
.
home game, there is a BBQ cookout open to all Hereford students. Usually this is a couple hours before the kickoff at nearby Scott Stadium
.
at Hereford, in front of the Runk dining hall. Free attractions include a mechanical bull
and a freefall slide.
said glowingly "it is more different from Jefferson than anything that has been built at the University in generations, but it rises to challenge him" and in a later article the New York paper seemed to imply that all of New York City
was jealous of the new dorm complex, stating "but for an international city, New York is sadly lacking in contemporary world-class buildings. And the lack is especially glaring considering how many world-class talents live here. Where are the buildings that can compare in formal intelligence to... Williams and Tsien's New College at the University of Virginia?"
arrangement. This was due to the razing of the Alderman Road "New Dorms" first-year housing area and a need to relocate students during the disruption.
The members of Hereford fought back against the administration, and won back their college in a stunning reversal. The Cavalier Daily praised Hereford students for being "role-models of student activism" and the "epitome of grassroots action rarely seen at this institution" after Hereford students wore I AM HEREFORD t-shirts for days and flooded administrative offices with phone calls and emails about the subject.
Many of the displaced first-years were instead housed at Dillard House, a former upper-class housing area located just down the hill.
Projects planned by the award winners in its first year include studying locally available restaurants and Runk Dining Hall to quantify the amount of high fructose corn syrup
, designing a Smart Meter to charge electric car
s at the least expensive and most environmentally friendly off-peak hours, analyzing reading comprehension materials from local schools and their effectiveness for children of socioeconomically diverse backgrounds, and experimenting to find the most efficient dispersal methods for waste water.
plaza was designed for the entrance to Runk Hall in August 2009 by a pair of Hereford students, Nathan Foley and Kate Goodman. Indigenous vegetation
such as sweetbay magnolia
and black gum trees, as well as blueberry
and chokeberry
bushes were utilized in the design and, as always, sustainability
was a prime consideration for the project.
The buildings were named after the following faculty members at the University.
Residential college
A residential college is an organisational pattern for a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship with the overall...
at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
that houses 500 students, mostly in single-occupancy rooms. Its stated core values are environmental sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
, cultural diversity
Cultural diversity
Cultural diversity is having different cultures respect each other's differences. It could also mean the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole...
, and community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
outreach.
Named after physicist Frank Hereford
Frank Hereford (UVa)
Frank Loucks Hereford, Jr. was the president of the University of Virginia from 1974–1985. He died in 2004 at the age of 81...
, who was President of the University between 1974 and 1985, the college opened in 1992 as New College, U-Va.'s second residential college. It consists of five strikingly thin dorm buildings, a principal's building, and its own residential cafeteria. Hereford was designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects are a husband-and-wife architectural firm founded in 1974, based in New York....
, which also designed the American Folk Art Museum
American Folk Art Museum
The American Folk Art Museum is a museum devoted to American folk art, as well as the work of international self-taught artists. It has branches at 45 West 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, in Midtown Manhattan .In May 2011 the Museum of Modern Art bought its 53rd Street location...
in New York, the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, and the Student Art Building of Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
.
Student life
The college is unique among U-Va. housing in that most of the rooms are single occupancy, meaning that most Herefordians do not share a room with a roommate or suitemateRoommate
A roommate is a person who shares a living facility such as an apartment or dormitory. Similar terms include suitemate, housemate, flatmate , or sharemate...
. This may afford more privacy than other housing on Grounds. However, first years still typically share a room, which given Hereford's unique structure, can lead to lifelong connections and unions.
As Hereford is located behind the Dillard House complex and basically hidden from the rest of Grounds, it can feel quite remote. In actuality it is less than ½ of a mile from Scott Stadium
Scott Stadium
Scott Stadium , located in Charlottesville, Virginia, is the home of the Virginia Cavaliers football team. It sits on the University of Virginia's Grounds, east of Hereford College and first-year dorms on Alderman Road but west of Brown College and the Lawn...
and the first-year "New Dorms" along Alderman Road, and within 1 mile of virtually every undergraduate class taught at the University.
One night each month, Hereford members all dine together at a scheduled time in the banquet hall. The dinners are usually themed, with examples over the years including Crab Fest, Japanese Night, Latin Cultures Night, and Pumpkin Feast.
Programming
Paid for in part by a small membership fee, Hereford students regularly go on free or heavily subsidized trips together. Past examples have included trips to MonticelloMonticello
Monticello is a National Historic Landmark just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was the estate of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia; it is...
, hiking in the Shenandoah National Park
Shenandoah National Park
Shenandoah National Park encompasses part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the U.S. state of Virginia. This national park is long and narrow, with the broad Shenandoah River and valley on the west side, and the rolling hills of the Virginia Piedmont on the east...
, private viewings at the Fan Mountain Observatory
Fan Mountain Observatory
Fan Mountain Observatory , an observatory operated by the Astronomy Department of the University of Virginia in southern Albemarle County, Virginia...
, baseball games of the Washington Nationals
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
and Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
, and weekend trips to Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Programs are organized by current residents as well as alumni. For example, last year, Hereford alumnus Nathan Cook hosted a showing of the movie 8 Seconds
8 Seconds
8 Seconds is a 1994 biographical film about American rodeo legend and world bull riding champion Lane Frost. It details his life from his youth learning how to ride bulls, until his death in 1989. It was directed by John G...
in the amphitheatre.
Short Courses
Hereford offers weekly short courses open only to its residents. In the fall of 2009, topics included Japanese animation, underground hip hopUnderground hip hop
Underground hip hop is an umbrella term for hip hop music outside the general commercial canon. It is typically associated with independent artists, signed toindependent labels or no label at all....
, and the potential of using vegetable oil as automotive fuel
Vegetable oil used as fuel
Vegetable oil is an alternative fuel for diesel engines and for heating oil burners. For engines designed to burn diesel fuel, the viscosity of vegetable oil must be lowered to allow for proper atomization of the fuel, otherwise incomplete combustion and carbon build up will ultimately damage the...
.
Pre-Game BBQ
Before every Virginia footballVirginia Cavaliers football
Virginia Cavaliers football is a college football program that competes in the NCAA Division I-FBS and the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference...
home game, there is a BBQ cookout open to all Hereford students. Usually this is a couple hours before the kickoff at nearby Scott Stadium
Scott Stadium
Scott Stadium , located in Charlottesville, Virginia, is the home of the Virginia Cavaliers football team. It sits on the University of Virginia's Grounds, east of Hereford College and first-year dorms on Alderman Road but west of Brown College and the Lawn...
.
Runk Carnival
At the end of classes each year, there is a carnivalCarnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
at Hereford, in front of the Runk dining hall. Free attractions include a mechanical bull
Mechanical bull
A mechanical bull, also known as a rodeo bull or bucking bronco is a machine that replicates the sensation of riding a bucking animal, such as a rodeo bull or horse. It is usually powered by a variable-speed electric motor...
and a freefall slide.
Architecture
The modernist architecture of Hereford College won great acclaim when the residential college was unveiled. The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
said glowingly "it is more different from Jefferson than anything that has been built at the University in generations, but it rises to challenge him" and in a later article the New York paper seemed to imply that all of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
was jealous of the new dorm complex, stating "but for an international city, New York is sadly lacking in contemporary world-class buildings. And the lack is especially glaring considering how many world-class talents live here. Where are the buildings that can compare in formal intelligence to... Williams and Tsien's New College at the University of Virginia?"
2008 Battle with Housing Division
Hereford College nearly ceased to exist when in November of its 17th year of operation, housing officials declared that Hereford would begin to house only first-year students and they would not be part of any residential collegeResidential college
A residential college is an organisational pattern for a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship with the overall...
arrangement. This was due to the razing of the Alderman Road "New Dorms" first-year housing area and a need to relocate students during the disruption.
The members of Hereford fought back against the administration, and won back their college in a stunning reversal. The Cavalier Daily praised Hereford students for being "role-models of student activism" and the "epitome of grassroots action rarely seen at this institution" after Hereford students wore I AM HEREFORD t-shirts for days and flooded administrative offices with phone calls and emails about the subject.
Many of the displaced first-years were instead housed at Dillard House, a former upper-class housing area located just down the hill.
Hereford Scholars Research Award
In fall 2009, a Hereford Scholars Research Award was established with five recipients. Each researcher, chosen only from among Hereford College members, will receive $2000 for equipment and travel to work with a faculty adviser over the course of a year and present a final research paper at a Hereford Scholars research symposium.Projects planned by the award winners in its first year include studying locally available restaurants and Runk Dining Hall to quantify the amount of high fructose corn syrup
High fructose corn syrup
High-fructose corn syrup — also called glucose-fructose syrup in the UK, glucose/fructose in Canada, and high-fructose maize syrup in other countries — comprises any of a group of corn syrups that has undergone enzymatic processing to convert some of its glucose into fructose to produce...
, designing a Smart Meter to charge electric car
Electric car
An electric car is an automobile which is propelled by electric motor, using electrical energy stored in batteries or another energy storage device. Electric cars were popular in the late-19th century and early 20th century, until advances in internal combustion engine technology and mass...
s at the least expensive and most environmentally friendly off-peak hours, analyzing reading comprehension materials from local schools and their effectiveness for children of socioeconomically diverse backgrounds, and experimenting to find the most efficient dispersal methods for waste water.
Other Student Projects
An alfrescoAl fresco dining
Al Fresco dining is eating outside . In temperate climates it is especially popular in the summer months when temperatures and weather are most favorable. It is a style of dining that is casual and often party-like in its atmosphere...
plaza was designed for the entrance to Runk Hall in August 2009 by a pair of Hereford students, Nathan Foley and Kate Goodman. Indigenous vegetation
Indigenous (ecology)
In biogeography, a species is defined as native to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention. Every natural organism has its own natural range of distribution in which it is regarded as native...
such as sweetbay magnolia
Sweetbay Magnolia
Magnolia virginiana, most commonly known as sweetbay magnolia, or merely sweetbay , is a member of the magnolia family, Magnoliaceae...
and black gum trees, as well as blueberry
Blueberry
Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium with dark-blue berries and are perennial...
and chokeberry
Chokeberry
Aronia, the chokeberries, are two to three species of deciduous shrubs in the family Rosaceae, native to eastern North America. They are most commonly found in wet woods and swamps. Chokeberries are cultivated as ornamental plants and also because they are very high in antioxidant pigment...
bushes were utilized in the design and, as always, sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
was a prime consideration for the project.
Grounds
The five dorms are arranged in rows of two, two, and one, ascending a hillside. Left to right, from the bottom to the top, they are Weedon, Whyburn, Norris, Malone, and Johnson. Vaughn Hall is the principal's building where the principal of Hereford College lives, and also has some space available for student activities. Runk Hall is the dining facility.The buildings were named after the following faculty members at the University.
- Nathan Johnson, Sr. (1909–1980) — professor of EducationCurry School of EducationThe Curry School of Education is a public school of education in the U.S. Located on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, the Curry School offers professional programs designed to prepare individuals for a variety of careers related to the practice of education...
- Dumas Malone (1892–1984) — professor of History
- Betty Norris (1927–1984) — professor of NursingUniversity of Virginia School of NursingThe University of Virginia School of Nursing, established in 1901, is a world-renowned school of nursing education. For more than one hundred years, it has been at the forefront of nursing education, service, and research. It has an enrollment of approximately 681 undergraduate and graduate...
- Benjamin Runk (1906–1994) — professor of Biology and University Dean
- Joseph Vaughan (1905–1999) — 1st Provost of the College, 1956–1960
- William Weedon (1908–1984) — professor of Mathematics and Philosophy
- Gordon Whyburn (1904–1969) — professor of Mathematics
Principals
Since 1992, there have been four Principals of Hereford College. They and their families have lived in Vaughn Hall at the top of the hill. Oddly enough, so far each Principal has been a professor of either Architecture or Physics.- Melvin Cherno — Physics (1992–1996, 2000)
- Daniel Bluestone — Architecture (1996–1999)
- Louis Bloomfield — Physics (2001–2007)
- Nancy Takahashi — Architecture (2007–present)