Community Building: Rethinking UVA Law’s Relationship with Charlottesville

What does it mean to be part of a community?

For many UVA Law students, that question rarely extends beyond the Law School’s walls. As the demands of legal education intensify, it becomes easy and comfortable to remain disconnected from the communities we surround ourselves with. This is a reality too familiar to the community in greater Charlottesville. Distance comes at a cost: the risk of missing, or even perpetuating, long-standing inequalities and missed opportunities for meaningful connection.

On September 30, the Orientation to C’ville series sought to bridge that gap for students working in clinics and on pro bono projects in the community with a panel. The discussion was moderated by Professor Sarah Shalf and featured Ben Allen, Executive Director of UVA’s Center for Community Partnerships; Ed Brooks, Program Coordinator at the Yancey School Community Center; and Teresa Pollak, a member and former Council Member of the Monacan Indian Nation. Each brought a deeply personal and grounded perspective on how UVA has historically impacted the people and communities surrounding it, for better or for worse.

Ben Allen, a native of Charlottesville and a first-generation quadruple ’Hoo, opened the conversation with reflections on his early impressions of UVA. Despite growing up nearby, Allen didn’t understand UVA as an academic institution until participating in a mock trial event as a high school student. “It felt like there was a glass wall,” he said—a symbolic barrier that kept many locals, especially from Black communities, from ever seeing themselves as part of UVA’s world.

This sense of exclusion has deep roots. Allen pointed to past harms, including discriminatory treatment of Black patients at UVA Hospital, and broader patterns in which the University’s prestige and resources benefited only a narrow demographic. Community members often viewed UVA as something “other,” or even indifferent to the challenges Charlottesville faces.

Ed Brooks added another layer to the historical narrative. Raised in southern Albemarle County in the 1960s, Brooks described attending integrated schools, watching UVA’s first Black football players take the field, and participating in UVA’s Upward Bound program. His mother, active in the NAACP, believed fervently in the promise of a UVA education—even as the University remained an elite, largely unwelcoming space. “We coexisted,” Brooks said, “but we didn’t always coexist equally.”

Teresa Pollak shared the experience of the Monacan Indian Nation, whose history with UVA and the state of Virginia has been shaped by erasure and resistance. Citing the 1924 Racial Integrity Act—which reclassified many Native Americans as “colored” in official records—Pollak explained how the law effectively erased tribal identities and made it difficult for communities to prove their heritage or gain recognition. For the Monacan Nation, it took until 1989 to achieve state recognition and nearly two more decades to be recognized at the federal level. These delays were not merely bureaucratic—they were deeply personal, cutting off access to resources, community visibility, and institutional respect.

Pollak emphasized that Native students, even when given scholarships to attend UVA, often struggle with the transition. “They don’t have the same support systems here,” she said. “Back home, they’re part of a community. Here, they’re isolated.” For the elders, even leaving the county for university to support their community can feel daunting. Thus, the Native students at UVA can be viewed as if they’re excluded from two different groups.

Despite this painful history, the panelists acknowledged signs of progress—and pointed toward a better future.

Ben Allen described the mission of the Center for Community Partnerships: using UVA’s wealth, research capacity, and human capital to support K-12 education, improve college readiness, and create meaningful job pipelines. These are not one-off initiatives, Allen emphasized, but efforts rooted in humility and ongoing engagement. “We’re not here to ‘save’ communities,” Pollack added. “We’re here to partner.”

Ed Brooks echoed this need for consistent presence. He cited figures like Dr. Rick Turner, a former NAACP president and Dean of African-American Affairs at UVA, who made a point of being visible and active in the community outside of the academic institution. Today, Brooks sees fewer faculty building those same bridges. Many care deeply about social issues, he said, but struggle to turn ideas into direct community impact. Pollak offered a powerful example of what true partnership can look like. She recalled UVA anthropologist Dr. Jeffrey Hantman, who regularly visited the Monacan Nation to speak with elders, ask questions about what the community wanted to see, and follow through on their requests. When asked to write a book on the Monacan people, he did—resulting in Monacan Millennium. “Sit with us, and listen,” Pollak stated.

The panel concluded with reflections on what it will take for UVA to truly earn the community’s trust.

Allen pointed to the need for relational, not transactional, engagement. He emphasized that merely relying on degrees and credentials won’t fix everything, but consistent, principled action will. UVA’s long history of exclusion isn’t personal to any one individual, but it is the responsibility of the institution—and those who now represent it. Brooks highlighted UVA’s potential role in closing the region’s vast educational and economic gaps. “This is one of the most elite schools in the country,” he said. “But it’s surrounded by communities that don’t share in that prosperity.” Pollak circled back to support systems—or the lack thereof. She described how Native students feel pressure to succeed in environments that often fail to recognize their unique needs or cultural backgrounds.

For UVA Law students, the message is clear: being a good student of the law also means being a good neighbor. As this panel made plain, we cannot ignore the history and present realities of the community in which we live and learn. To be part of a community is to listen, to show up, and to engage with humility. Charlottesville doesn’t just surround UVA; it shapes it. The inverse is also true, and it may be time for UVA to step up and start to shape a Charlottesville we all want to see.