Cavalier Daily report finds new UVA Board of Visitor appointee helped bring prominent white supremacist to campus

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Friday, Aug. 26, 2022

It was the first day of school this week, and across Charlottesville thousands of students made their way on foot and in cars. There were no more than six buses on the roads at any given time.

Charlottesville is enduring a severe bus driver shortage that is creating issues for children across the district. Our education and families reporter, Tamica Jean-Charles, spent the week speaking with students, families and administrators about the plans for getting kids to school — and the issues that are quickly arising. Her story is coming next week, with photos by Tristan Williams.

In the meantime, if you are a parent who is struggling to get your child to school without a bus, we want to hear from you. Hit reply to this email and share your story.

For your Friday reading, we’ve got two of the stories from our colleagues in town that we think are worth the clicks.

This week, the University of Virginia student newspaper, the Cavalier Daily, published a shocking article in which the journalists used newspaper archives and interviews with former students to reveal some of Board of Visitors appointee Bert Ellis’ conduct as a student at the UVA in the 1970s.

Ellis led a student organization that brought prominent white supremacist William Shockley to campus to talk about eugenics and the inferiority of Black people during Black History Month in 1975. Ellis then defended the decision despite the protests of Black student leaders.

More recently, in 2020, Ellis said he knocked on a student’s door and was “prepared to use a small razor blade” to remove part of a sign that criticized the university’s history of enslaving people. UVA ambassadors told him that they would restrain him if he damaged property.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointed Ellis to the Board of Visitors, which governs the University, in July. UVA’s Student Council has called for his resignation.

The Charlottesville City employee who apologized for participating in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has a history of aggressive behavior, police records show.

The Daily Progress reports on a 2020 road rage incident in which Donald Allen Groat II, who works in IT for the city, pleaded guilty to reckless driving. Albemarle County General District Court documents show that he was ordered to turn in his firearms and receive counseling after pointing a handgun at another motorist on the U.S. 29. Interim City Manager Michael Rogers has said that Groat has not been charged with any crimes related to Jan. 6, which is part of why he has not faced disciplinary measures as an employee.

Thanks for joining us this week,

Angilee Shah, Editor-in-Chief