“A home for every Hoo,” named for one Hoo
We believe it is safe to say that for every living UVA alumnus, their only memory of Alumni Hall is that glorious and iconic white building in Colonial Revival style set back on Emmet Street across from another iconic UVA structure — Memorial Gymnasium, constructed between 1921–1924 as a memorial to those UVA students and alums who died during WWI. Alumni Hall as we knew it began around 1912 as a private residence, served as a fraternity house, and in 1936 became a home for all UVA alumni.
Apparently a few years ago, the powers-that-be at the Alumni Association and the University decided that this historic and classical structure had outlived its usefulness and that rather than attempt to renovate the building, it should be torn down and a new larger updated structure built in its place for an estimated $63 million. We have heard various background stories as to why this decision was made, but in our opinion none of them justify obliterating a beloved location that housed so many wonderful memories for thousands and thousands of alums. And in attempting to understand the decision, it is also important to understand that while the Alumni Association is supposed to be an independent entity, it is in reality a vassal of the University administration.
But while we are not pleased with the decision to replace this iconic landmark with yet another modern brick and glass building that more or less looks like every other recent UVA structure constructed over the past few decades, the real tragedy is that Alumni Hall is no longer Alumni Hall. Read that again: UVA no longer has an Alumni Hall. Rather, what will be unveiled in Spring 2027 is Aggarwal Hall. While we don't know Reggie Aggarwal, and the size of his gift – the largest single donation in the Alumni Association's history – has not been disclosed, what we do know is that in our humble opinion the decision to name the new Alumni Hall after a donor was absolutely inappropriate.
Alumni Hall is appropriately named because it belongs to all alumni — young and old, Virginians and non-Virginians, rich and poor. It is improper and tactless to name it after any one individual — particularly when the only basis for such a decision is an amount of money donated. It is particularly insulting to the thousands of alumni who over the decades have given both substantial amounts of their wealth and time for the benefit of the University with little or no recognition. Mr. Aggarwal could have easily been recognized for his generosity by naming a room in the building in his honor.
For so many of the sons and daughters of the University, the values we hopefully took away with us from our time on Grounds were honor, integrity, character, service and camaraderie. It appears that over the past decade or so, those have been replaced by wealth, vanity, and power.