Rugby Road facts for kids
Rugby Road is a well-known street in Charlottesville, Virginia. It's a central spot for the University of Virginia's student groups called fraternities and sororities. This means it's often a lively place for student activities.
The road starts near the Rotunda, a famous building at the university. It then stretches out to the 250 Bypass. Rugby Road is also one end of The Corner, which is a street with many restaurants and shops popular with students. Along Rugby Road, you'll see many interesting old houses. Many of these houses are now used by fraternities and sororities. A famous writer named William Faulkner even lived on Rugby Road for a time!
Besides being a social hub, Rugby Road is home to several important places. These include Madison House, the University of Virginia School of Architecture, Mad Bowl, Beta Bridge, and the Bayly Art Museum. You'll also find official university buildings like Fayerweather Hall and the President's House on Carr's Hill.
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Madison House: Helping the Community
Madison House is a special place at the University of Virginia. It's a center where students volunteer to help others. They work to connect students with community projects, help students become leaders, and encourage a lifelong habit of volunteering.
This organization is run by students and helps them give back to both the university and the wider Charlottesville community. Madison House is unique because students lead most of its activities. Over 3,000 volunteers take part in 19 different programs every week. University alumni (former students) also help by donating money to support these programs. Madison House has even won national awards for its great work.
The History of Madison House
Madison House started from a YMCA group formed in 1856. The YMCA focused on religious values and believed in volunteer service. In the late 1960s, the group almost stopped, but some members still wanted to volunteer. They formed a new group called the Masters and Fellows of Madison Hall. At the same time, another group called Madison House was also focused on community service.
The Masters and Fellows group grew quickly. To keep going, they sold their property to the university. In 1975, these two groups joined together to officially form Madison House as we know it today.
How Madison House Programs Work
Madison House runs many programs, such as:
- Adopt-a-Grandparent (visiting older adults)
- Animals and Environment (helping animals and nature)
- Big Sibling (mentoring younger kids)
- Cavs in the Classroom (helping in schools)
- English as a Second Language (teaching English)
- Tutoring (helping students with schoolwork)
- Youth Mentoring (guiding young people)
Each program has student leaders called Head Program Directors. They set goals, manage money, and train other student leaders. About 200 Program Directors work under them, each guiding 10-25 volunteers. These volunteers are undergraduate students who commit to working a few hours each week.
Professional staff members at Madison House oversee everything. They help connect the programs with the Charlottesville community. There's also a Board of Directors, made up of students, university staff, and community members, who guide the overall mission of Madison House.
Awards for Service
Madison House has received several important awards for its service. In 1990, President George H. W. Bush recognized Madison House as a "Point of Light." This award celebrates people and groups who make a big difference in their communities. In 2000, Madison House was the only youth volunteer group in Virginia to win the Governor's award for community service.
Madison Bowl: A Green Space for Students
Madison Bowl, often called "Mad Bowl," is a large grassy area located behind Madison Hall. It sits between Rugby Road and Madison Lane. This field has a long history of student use.
Originally, in 1895, the YMCA owned Mad Bowl, and it had five tennis courts. Later, in 1914, a running track was added. For many years, students have used Mad Bowl for various fun events. These include club and intramural sports, especially rugby. It has also hosted carnivals, festivals, and events for fraternities and sororities.
The Easters Celebration
Back in 1898, university students started celebrating "Easters." This was a week-long event with dances and games to help students shake off the winter blues. It also often celebrated Thomas Jefferson's birthday, which is on April 13.
By the 1960s, fraternities took a bigger role, and Easters became a huge gathering in the fraternity houses along Rugby Road and in Mad Bowl. It attracted people from all over. The last Easters celebration happened in 1982. During that year, a gas pipe broke on a nearby street. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt, but the danger of a big accident led to the event being stopped for good.
Mad Bowl's Makeover
For many years, water from nearby buildings would collect on the field, earning it the nickname "Mud Bowl." This made it hard to use the field for sports and other events. In 2006, the university and the city of Charlottesville worked together to fix this.
They dug up Mad Bowl to install new drainage systems and utility lines. They also added fresh soil and new grass. Now, the field has much better conditions for student activities. Since no stadium lights were installed, the field is used only during the daytime.
Fraternity and Sorority Houses on Rugby Road
Rugby Road and the streets nearby are home to many fraternity and sorority houses. These houses are where members of these student organizations live and hold events. Some of the groups with houses here include Delta Gamma, Theta Delta Chi, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Gamma Delta, St. Anthony Hall, St. Elmo Hall, Pi Kappa Alpha, Sigma Chi, Phi Delta Theta, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Kappa Sigma, Kappa Alpha Order, Chi Phi, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Sigma Nu, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
In 1983, the university noticed that many of these houses were getting old and needed repairs. So, they created a program called the Historic Renovation Corporation. This group helped to own, fix up, and then sell the houses back to their original owners, often alumni of the university. This program still helps manage and maintain eleven houses on Rugby Road today.
Carr's Hill: A Historic Spot
Carr's Hill is a small hill located at the corner of Rugby Road and University Avenue. It faces Mad Bowl and the Rotunda. This area has always been important to the university community. When the university grew too big for its original dorms, Sidney Carr's boardinghouse on Carr's Hill helped house extra students starting in the 1840s. Later, by 1877, Carr's Hill had dormitories where students could eat together in dining clubs.
During the Civil War, Carr's Hill was used as a training ground for soldiers. The Confederate flag even flew there for a short time.
The university bought Carr's Hill in 1867. Over time, two important university buildings were built there: Fayerweather Hall and the President's residence. Fayerweather Hall, built in 1893, was the university's first indoor gym. Today, it's where the university's Art History department is located.
The President's House was built on Carr's Hill, starting in 1907. It was finished in 1909, two years after the university got its first president, Edwin Alderman. The house was designed by famous architects who also designed other important buildings at the university.
Beta Bridge: A Canvas for Students
An important part of Rugby Road is Beta Bridge. This bridge crosses over train tracks. The current bridge was built in 1923 as part of a project to improve Charlottesville's streets for cars. It was first called the Rugby Road Bridge. But when the Beta Theta Pi fraternity built their house nearby in 1927, the bridge became known as Beta Bridge.
In 1971, the Beta Theta Pi fraternity moved out of that house. The Delta Upsilon fraternity moved in and became the unofficial "monitors" of the bridge. They would paint over messages they didn't like or messages that didn't include "THX DU" (for "Thanks Delta Upsilon"). In 2011, Beta Theta Pi moved back into their original house next to the bridge. Now, messages often include "THX Beta."
The Painting Tradition
The tradition of painting bridges at the university actually started in 1901. Students would paint the railroad bridge near The Corner. When the railroad tried to stop them, students moved their messages to Beta Bridge. The first recorded painting on Beta Bridge was in 1926, when students reportedly splashed it with green paint.
For a long time, messages were mostly about sports scores. But on St. Patrick's Day in 1967, things changed. Supporters of the holiday painted the bridge green. Then, others painted over it with red and wrote "God Save the Queen." The green supporters changed "Queen" to "Green," and the tradition of changing messages took off! Today, many university groups paint the bridge to promote their events and activities.
Messages and Meanings
Beta Bridge is technically owned by the city of Charlottesville. In 1971, some fraternity members were arrested for painting it. But since then, the city has given students more freedom. Messages about many different topics appear on the bridge, from important social issues to announcements for career services, and memorials for people in the community.
In August 2005, some offensive images and words were painted on the bridge. The university president asked the FBI to investigate. The FBI found that the graffiti was not racially motivated. The bridge has continued to be a place where people can express their ideas, and the usual response to a message is simply another message painted over it.
After the tragic Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, UVA students painted Beta Bridge to show their support. This message stayed on the bridge for the rest of that school year, which was unusual since the bridge is often repainted several times a week.
In October 2007, a large piece of paint, about 4 feet high, 10 feet long, and 3 inches thick, peeled off the bridge wall. It was so heavy that workers had to cut it in half to remove it. This was the second time this had happened in 13 years, likely due to summer heat, moisture, and the many layers of paint.
After the sad UVA shooting in 2022, which took the lives of three victims, half of the bridge was painted as a lasting memorial. This message honoring the victims has remained on the bridge for at least two years.
