About the UVA Brand

The University of Virginia was founded in 1819 as the model for modern universities that has been emulated all over the world. While the University’s history mirrors the struggles and growth of a nation – both bold experiments that challenge us to realize the best version of ourselves – its story is its own, reflected in the innovative and humanistic ways UVA serves its communities, the country, and the world.

Excellence here goes everywhere. We live on Grounds but reside in the hopes of people we’ve never met. We are of a place and time but the promise of what happens here transcends both. After 200 years, this iconic institution of higher learning endures because it is fully immersed in meeting the greatest challenges of our time, day in and day out.

Democracy. The environment. Data science. Precision medicine. Neuroscience. Digital technology and society. And many others, including the unending desire to better understand what it means to be human. We are living through moments that will define us – ones that require a relentless pursuit of truth and real-world solutions that have everyone in mind.

At the University of Virginia, serving the public is our heritage and culture. It shows up in our volunteerism and civic leadership. It’s our original, animating purpose. We’re here to create citizen-leaders while promoting access so a meritocracy of talent can participate in shaping our society. We’re here to study democracy, but to also ensure that democracy endures for all Americans. We’re here to do transformational work that responds to the needs of society and improves the quality of life.

Our “bold experiment” continues because it evolves. It evolves because we ask the right questions. What is the truth? What really matters? How can we help? Answered honestly and fearlessly, these questions drive us, draw us in, and give us the focus to get things done. Our impact can be measured in scientific breakthroughs, new medical treatments, opportunities created, and innovations across all disciplines through collaborations that allow us to achieve what we never could on our own. Then there are the hard to measure things. Empathy. Compassion. Decency. Understanding. Without these we would never discover the best version of ourselves.

As an institution, our strength comes from being steadfast in our beliefs while being open-minded to the change that keeps us relevant and makes us better. This balance is essential to finding new inroads without losing who we are along the way. The best version of UVA is literally a work in progress, a place where great minds are put to good use. Doing what you do best, for the benefit of others, is where greatness comes from. Achieving excellence on Grounds and helping people everywhere are not mutually exclusive goals. They are one, both great and good. This is why, at the University of Virginia, we strive to be great and good in all we do.

Brand essence is the fundamental nature or quality without which you would not be who you are. It is constant, timeless. It acts like a nucleus, defined as “the central and most important part of an object, movement, or group, forming the basis for its activity and growth.” Therefore, an effective brand essence is not just an identity but a source of energy for the actions that define us.

The University of Virginia’s brand essence is LIVING IDEALISM.

LIVING is rooted in the practical. It’s the work and play, the learning and growing. It’s the daily life experiences and the relationships we form, on Grounds and off. It’s being fully engaged with each other and the world, doing so with enthusiasm, clarity, courage, and empathy. IDEALISM conveys the aspirational. Present at our founding, it gives us a profound belief in the future and our ability to shape it. The relentless pursuit of high ideals and ideas, to the best of our abilities and with noble intention, is the only way we can move forward. LIVING IDEALISM is aspirational and pragmatic, creating an essential, dynamic and creative tension between our living reality and what could be.

It provides endless energy for a vibrant community of people determined to be heard and make things better. It inspires transformational ideas and experiences. It reflects our culture of volunteerism and civic leadership. It aligns our pursuit of knowledge with our original purpose: to serve the common good. Connecting action to idealism is a practical way to achieve the world we aspire to live in. LIVING IDEALISM is our potential, in practice.

UVA remains a vibrant and relevant institution as long as it defies easy categorization. Our Academical Village is a constellation of diverse people and ideas that creates a creative tension and energy as we each find our voice and expand our capacity to help others, all with a shared sense of purpose. “And” is among the most powerful words in the English language. We aren’t limited to this or that; we are this and that and more. Only by inviting a rich, diverse array of possibilities can we strive to be as limitless as the human mind. We’re an uncommon community of many that identifies as a unified one: Hoos.

Reasons to believe:

• We are citizen-leaders who serve others.
• We are accessible and we are exceptional.
• We are uniquely American and belong to the world through advancements we’ve made in technologies and medicine and achievements by UVA alumni.
• We are academics and focused on solving real-world problems.
• Our student-athletes are championship-caliber athletes and high-performing students. UVA Athletics as a program is among the nation’s best for student-athletes across all sports receiving All-Academic Team recognition for maintaining a GPA above 3.0.
• Our admissions are highly selective and welcoming to the best and brightest from all walks of life.
• We are steadfast to our beliefs and traditions while being open-minded to progress and change.
• We are conservative and liberal (and everything in-between).
• We are firmly rooted in history of this nation while actively shaping its future.

Serving the public is in our DNA. As a proudly public institution and Virginia’s flagship university, it’s our original, animating purpose. Doing what we do best, for the benefit of others, is where greatness comes from. Which is why, at the University of Virginia, we strive to be great and good in all we do.

Reasons to believe:

• We’re creating the citizen-leaders of today and tomorrow, and they come from all walks of life.
• We’re preserving and strengthening democracy, here and around the world.
• We’re bringing innovative medicine and research to the world while promoting the health of the communities in which we live. As a renowned research university, countless discoveries across disciplines at UVA hold the promise to make life better for people both near and far. Our work is never finished; our science is ever dedicated to solving real-world problems. 
• We’re continuing a service-oriented culture that attracts those interested in volunteerism and civic leadership. Approximately 9 of 10 first-year students already had community volunteer experience prior to arriving at UVA.
• We’re elevating and advancing the role of higher education in shaping society.
• We’re improving the Commonwealth through significant economic impact, the arts, education, public health initiatives, and research.
• We’re dedicated to being a good neighbor to the communities in which we live and work. A few examples: our annual Give Where You Live campaign galvanizes the UVA community to support local nonprofits with direct donations. The Community Bridges 5K Walk/Run connects Grounds with Charlottesville both physically and in spirit, and the funds raised support local nonprofits. Pancakes for Parkinson’s is a student-run and UVA president’s office-endorsed fall event that generates funding for the Michael J. Fox Foundation and heightens awareness of the disease. UVA lives in Charlottesville and is committed to helping purpose-driven organizations in our community succeed.
• We take one step beyond intellectual inquiry to humanistic inquiry so we can answer the questions: “What truly matters?” and “How can we help?”

Over 200 years ago, Thomas Jefferson said that he wanted students at this University to reach for “destinies of high promise.” Today, the University of Virginia is one of the top public universities in the nation because we remain committed to inspiring excellence in thought and action from those who come here.

Reasons to believe:

• We’ve established and are running 12 schools (so far), many representing thought leaders, research preeminence and academic achievement in their respective fields.
• We’re promoting achievement by all who attend UVA by offering the best financial aid in the nation (among public colleges and universities) and by meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need. Higher education is only an opportunity if motivated students and their families can afford it. 
• We’re celebrating well-rounded students who exhibit academic excellence, moral character and leadership qualities, producing among the most Fulbright and Rhodes Scholars. The U.S. Department of State named UVA as a Fulbright U.S. Student Program Top Producing Institution in 2023-24. In 2023, UVA’s 56^th Rhodes Scholar was named, making UVA the public university with the highest number of Rhodes Scholars.
• We’re providing great value for our students in higher education, ranked #3 among public universities in the nation by The Princeton Review and the best value in Virginia by U.S. News & World Report.
• We’re offering world-class patient care through UVA Health, ranked the #1 hospital in Virginia by Newsweek. UVA Children’s is ranked the #1 children’s hospital in Virginia by U.S. News & World Report. UVA Health is one of 57 national comprehensive cancer centers, recognized for leadership and a depth of applied research and resources to help patients with advanced treatments.
• We’re championing researchers who are bringing life-changing innovations to those in need, such as an artificial pancreas for Type 1 diabetics. Another example of UVA’s research preeminence is the use of focused ultrasound for brain surgery to cure essential tremor and treatment to provide relief from the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. More recently, the UVA Cancer Center became the first health care provider in Virginia to offer a newly FDA-approved immunotherapy to treat small cell lung cancer.
• We’re attracting and retaining faculty who both excel in scholarship and whose work has had a lasting impact on students, on other scholars, business, and society, from a political pundit to a poet laureate.

At the University of Virginia, we are not just students or faculty or researchers or staff – we are stewards of an iconic institution and the authors of its ongoing legacy. As communicators, we have a deep sense of responsibility to document and impart insight and context on UVA’s unique culture, history, and traditions. As we chronicle its evolution, we become part of it. It's the powerful feeling of belonging to something bigger than yourself and also having it belong to you.

Reasons to believe:

• We’ve codified genuine student self-governance and a student-administered honor code.
• We have a history of students initiating vital change that disrupts the status quo and drives the University forward. At UVA, our students can take an already powerful and meaningful institution and help make it into something that’s even better.
• We foster relationships founded on trust and betterment throughout the UVA community – in classrooms between students and faculty, in sports between coaches and athletes, in the hospital between patients and providers, and through interactions amongst colleagues.
• We are keepers of the traditions and rituals that are unique to UVA and bring Wahoos together.
• We’re each entrusted with and carry forward the values and reputation of an iconic American institution; it’s a responsibility our community takes seriously.
• Our high alumni engagement proves that the orange and blue don’t fade. What it means to be a Cavalier and the connection to UVA extend beyond Grounds and long after graduation. Our alumni are deeply engaged and committed to the ongoing endeavors of UVA.

Many colleges and universities champion innovation. But how many can claim their very founding was an innovation that forever changed higher education? The University of Virginia was the first of its kind, anywhere. Born of revolutionary ideas and ingenious design, it was destined to become the model for modern universities all over the world. An important point: ingenuity implies application. The University’s purpose to serve society is directly dependent upon the application of knowledge to solve real-world problems. The ingenuity continues.

Reasons to believe:

• Thomas Jefferson was a bold innovator who designed the University of Virginia to create an informed citizenry to ensure the survival of America’s fledgling democracy.
• The Academical Village is at the heart of Jefferson’s design, a physical representation of the cross-disciplinary exchange of ideas that is central to the collaborative nature of UVA.
• Collaborations within our uncommon community create a flinting of expertise from an intentional collision of disciplines, leading to innovation and new solutions.
• Students are encouraged to go beyond fulfilling requirements. We will challenge them to expand their thinking, examine their own beliefs, pursue truth as empathetic listeners and thoughtful debaters, and take with them an appreciation of lifelong learning.
• Scholars and researchers are provided the freedom and resources to apply unconventional thinking to tackle the greatest challenges of our time.
• Considering the unending march of great advances across the University to the benefit of people in our community and beyond – such as developing new treatments in medicine, advanced cell therapies, new strategies in sustainability, new ways to harness natural energy, discoveries in educational development, insights into utilizing big data, a new Institute of Biotechnology and regional business hub, to name just a few – the spirit of ingenuity is alive and well at the University of Virginia.

There’s something in the soil, in the living history beneath your feet, and in the air you breathe. A feeling of possibility permeates the Grounds, a call to change things for the better. Don’t be lulled into complacency by the classic beauty of your surroundings. This is no artifact – it’s an instrument of change that challenges what has come before for future benefit. Even on the most beautiful spring afternoon with the fragrance of blooming dogwood lending a softness to the air there remains an underlying urgency to make the most of your time in this special place, to improve your future – then everyone’s.

Reasons to believe:

• The Academical Village design continues to represent and energize the collaborative spirit that characterizes life on Grounds.
• The University of Virginia is a World Heritage site, the only educational institution in the world so designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
• The conversion of accepted students to enrolled students dramatically increases once they set foot on Grounds.
• Walk around and see for yourself.