2022-23 Lawn Applications Available

Dear Third-year Students:

On behalf of the members of the Lawn Selection Committee, I invite you to consider applying to live on the Lawn. Life on the Lawn is an incredible, unique experience, and the committee will soon begin the difficult task of choosing the 2022-2023 Lawn residents.  The application is now available on the Office of the Dean of Students website.  

Perhaps the most valuable aspect of living on the Lawn is the opportunity to meet and spend time with such a dynamic and dedicated community of individuals, your neighbors for a year. Please use your response to application question 3 to display your creativity--- what will you bring to the Academical Village? The Lawn is a community that values diversity in all aspects of a person’s identity and respects efforts to be inclusive and welcoming.

Applying to live on the Lawn should be something to which you devote a considerable amount of thought. Living on the Lawn imparts both privilege and responsibility and should not be taken lightly. You become a representative of what the University values – honor, student self-governance, and responsibility. You become a custodian of a historical physical space. And most importantly, the passions and energy that you bring to the space will help to fulfill a longstanding goal to cultivate a Lawn community that reflects all the talents, knowledge, and backgrounds that the student body has to offer. For this reason, we ask that you reflect on your time here at the University, consider the aspects of your UVA experience that have brought you the most joy, and leave your most authentic self on the application.

You are expected to make your Lawn room your primary overnight University residence and place of abode if selected. In addition, it is expected that students selected to live on the Lawn will not study abroad during that academic year, other than during J-Term.

We ask that no student allows their GPA to prevent them from applying for the Lawn. As you’ll notice, there is a brief space on the application for you to explain your GPA if you were affected by extenuating circumstances. Although academic success is one of the criteria for selection, the Committee recognizes that University students may experience personal circumstances that occasionally lead to a student experiencing a rough semester. If that is the case for you, feel free to use this space to explain your circumstances. However, by no means should you feel compelled to use it.

As a result of a gift from The Seven Society, a limited fund exists to assist students with financial need who wish to live on the Lawn.  Financial need should be no barrier to living on the Lawn.  Please contact Interim Dean of Students Julie Caruccio at [email protected] if you would like more information on how this process works.

Students enrolled in the joint College of Arts & Sciences/Batten School BA/MPP program should apply in their third year for residency in their fourth year.  

I will be hosting three information sessions about this process:

1. 5:30-6:30 pm, December 2nd- Newcomb 376
2. 10-11 am, December 3rd – Newcomb 177
3. 4-5 pm, December 6th over Zoom

These sessions are entirely optional and are designed to answer frequently asked questions about living on the Lawn, the selection process, and the application.

Please remember that your application must be submitted by 12:00 noon on Wednesday January 5, 2022, to be considered by the Committee. Should you have questions, you are welcome to contact me via email at [email protected] or stop by my room, 26 East Lawn, and catch me in person. 

Best of luck with the application process and with the remainder of your time at the University.

Sincerely,

Shreya Chappidi
Lawn Senior Resident, 2021-2022