Professor Sabato Donates $1 Million to UVa

<p>Yet, another reason why I think UVa alumnus and former Rhodes Scholar Larry Sabato rocks. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031780653352&path=%21news&s=1045855934842%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031780653352&path=%21news&s=1045855934842&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>For those who'll be attending UVa, definitely take one of his classes. He's amazing!</p>

<p>I've copied & pasted an email that I got from Mr. Sabato:</p>

<p>--</p>

<p>Dear friends,</p>

<p>I am exceptionally happy to announce that after saving for a lifetime, I am making a gift of one million dollars to the University of Virginia as a thank you for all of her gifts to me, as a student, staff member, faculty member, and alumnus. Over 35 years I have had the incomparable privilege to be associated with Thomas Jefferson’s proudest legacy. I see this as an opportunity for me to repay my beloved University--the best public University in the country--for giving me so many wonderful opportunities over the years. No one succeeds without a lot of help, and U.Va. has always been there for me.</p>

<p>I am also making this gift because of the relationships I’ve had at the University with individuals that have meant a great deal to me. One such person was the late Edgar Finley Shannon, Jr., who served as president of the University from 1959 to 1974. How lucky I was to have such a humane and brilliant mentor! Inspired by his example, I first promised him some thirty years ago that I would try to make a substantial gift to the University, should life give me the opportunity. I’m delighted to fulfill that promise.</p>

<p>As Edgar’s able successor, President Casteen, seeks to raise over $3 billion to take the University to the next level, it is vital that all of us who love the University step up to the plate. While the Commonwealth of Virginia will continue to make contributions to the institution’s welfare, the golden age of state funding is over--and it is not coming back. This inescapable fact creates an urgent reality. Now is the time for all loyal alumni and good friends to come to the aid of their University. We all need to remember how much our lives were enriched, intellectually as well as financially, by means of the education U.Va. delivered to us. There are so many ways to give, so many needs that must be met if future generations of students are to realize the fruits of a first-rate education, as we did. Any great University must always be about the students--to my 14,000 present and former students, I want you to know how much I have enjoyed teaching you, advising you, and watching you grow and develop into the kind of citizens and human beings the University of Virginia can be proud of. </p>

<p>Every University alumnus has favorite causes, as well as cherished memories of certain professors, departments, and student organizations. The capital campaign gives each of us the opportunity to create a legacy somewhere within this wonderfully diverse University. </p>

<p>My gift is designated to help the University become the national leader in youth and adult civic education by strengthening the U.Va. Center for Politics and providing it a permanent home at a restored Birdwood Pavilion. Through innovative research and by promoting politics as a good thing, the Center for Politics is assuming an increasingly expansive and prominent national role in teaching the value and importance of active and engaged citizenship. This year, the Center for Politics has over a million elementary, middle and high school students from all fifty states participating in the Youth Leadership Initiative, the Center’s flagship program. </p>

<p>Surely Thomas Jefferson would have been especially supportive of this goal, given his political career and his hope that the University of Virginia would be a beacon of enlightenment for the entire nation. It is a small but significant point of history that both the University and Birdwood were opened in 1819, and their futures are now firmly tied together. The University and the Center for Politics intend that substantial space in Birdwood be reserved for the constant use of classes, student organizations, faculty departments, and staff members. Birdwood will now become what we have all hoped it would be for decades: a major, new extension of Mr. Jefferson’s academical village for the enjoyment and education of all.</p>

<p>I wanted you to hear from me directly about this gift, and let you know why I’ve chosen to do it. I hope that the University has touched your life as powerfully as it has mine.</p>

<p>Sincerely,</p>

<p>Larry J. Sabato</p>