An Insider’s Look at Virginia

The official nickname of Virginia is Cavellier but they are also known as the Wahoos or just ‘Hoos. According to the UVa media guide, “legend has it that the Washington & Lee fans dubbed the Virginia players “Wahoos” during the fiercely contested rivalry that existed between the two teams in the 1890s. Over time, “Wahoo”s has come to refer to University students or events relating to them, and has been shortened to the more popular “Hoos” of recent years.

According to Cal team videographer James, a graduate of Virginia, a wahoo is a fish that can drink twice its body weight in water and the fans were termed “Wahoos” because they were quite inebriated during a Virginia sporting event.

Here are some more random facts about Virginia that James shared with me:
There’s an honor code at Virginia which extends to the town and county. If anyone is caught lying, cheating or stealing, they are expelled from school (following a hearing that is). It stems from a murder of a professor in the late 1800s that no one would fess up to)

Thomas Jefferson designed the heart of campus, which is affectionately known as the “lawn.”

There are no freshmen, sophomores, junior or seniors but first through fourth years. Credit to Jefferson on this one again for he thought that one never stopped learning.

UVa is home to the JAG school.

The original colors of the school were maroon and silver.

The logo was designed by the son of a former football coach.