Ethan Brown ‘25
Features Editor
A few weeks ago, the class of 2026 participated in Dandelion, a perennial fixture of life at UVA Law that brings together 1Ls, 2Ls, and 3Ls for a rousing display of songs, dances, and skits from each 1L and LLM section. Every year, there are at least thirty students at the Law School who can claim the spoils of Dandelion victory—this year, it was the lucky members of Section H. But since Dandelion only invites participation from new 1Ls each September, there is no way to “win” Dandelion more than once. Or at least, so I thought.
It turns out there is one person at the Law School who might have a credible claim to winning Dandelion every year—first as a 1L, and then twice as a peer advisor whose respective 1L sections went on to claim the Dandelion trophy for themselves. James Hornsby ’24 was a part of the class of 2024’s Section C, which won Dandelion in fall 2021. He then was a peer advisor for the class of 2025’s Section H,[1] as well as the class of 2026’s Section H, both of which won Dandelion in their respective years. Since peer advisors are often responsible for helping to guide their sections through Dandelion and provide choreographic insight, Hornsby will have left his mark on the competition when he graduates in May.
What, if anything, has been Hornsby’s unifying influence on the 2021, 2022, and 2023 competitions? And what can that influence tell us about success for future 1L cohorts? Join me as we walk down memory lane for a retrospective look at the Dandelions of years past, with commentary from Hornsby on each of his victories.
Pictured: Section H Cinches Gold at This Year's Dandelion.
Photo Credit: James Hornsby ‘24
2021’s Competition
Hornsby’s first Dandelion win came through his 1L section’s impeccable performance of “Juice,” one of Lizzo’s breakout songs. His section boldly disregarded the tradition that sections pick a song that starts with the same letter as their section, instead opting to subtly style their performance as “juiCe” as an homage to their section’s letter.
The performance itself is a classic, with drops, twirls, and sashays perfectly timed to Lizzo’s clarion call to “blame it on [her] juice.” But looking back it’s hard not to credit Section C’s victory at least partially to Hornsby’s display in the final seconds of the performance, in which he ceremoniously drenched himself in half a gallon of grapefruit juice from the Barracks Road Harris Teeter as his sectionmates crowded around him. It made for a stunning show-stopper, with just the right amount of theatrical camp to cinch that year’s competition.
Hornsby weighed in with his thoughts on his first win two years ago. “This was the first time Dandelion occurred since the beginning of Covid, and we knew we needed to come up with a stunt to make it memorable. You can clearly see that there wasn’t much guidance as the song didn’t match up with any sort of ‘C’ theming, the costumes were nothing but colorful exercise clothes, and the dance was honestly a glorified Zumba dance. Nevertheless, that year all we needed was some grapefruit juice to secure the win. Still, I hesitate to recommend to future 1L sections that they should use grapefruit juice, as it burns the eyes and, unsurprisingly, it isn’t much fun playing softball covered in juice.”
2022’s Competition
Hornsby returned to Park 6 in fall 2022 not as a 1L, but as a peer advisor for the class of 2025’s Section H. And he brought a desire to continue his winning streak to the section as it prepped for Dandelion that year. Your humble author, along with John Henry Vansant ’25, was one of Section H’s softball captains last year tasked with choreographing the section’s routine. Hornsby’s influence was huge. We knew two things from his performance a year earlier. First, victory would come from taking things just a little too far; and second, having people get drenched in some sort of liquid at the end of the skit—grapefruit juice or not—was a game-changer.
And so our section gave its all with a rendition of Britney Spears’s “[Hit Me] Baby One More Time.” Inspired by Hornsby’s juice stunt, our section shotgunned non-alcoholic[2] beer during the final chorus and splattered it across ourselves and audience members. We also dialed up the camp by pretending to spank each other, dressing in drag, and having an uninterrupted ten seconds of hula hooping. It was glorious. Hornsby, as one of our peer advisors, had claimed victory a second time, this time by proxy.
“In my opinion, last year’s competition was the most chaotic of the three I’ve been involved with,” Hornsby said. “It clearly built on the success of Juice the year earlier, but it multiplied its effects by ten as the entire group ended up hosing down themselves (and the audience) with non-alcoholic beer. This is also where we see the beginning of the incorporation of drag elements, cohesive costumes, and pop icons’ influences in Dandelion, as this group masterfully channeled the talents of Ms. Spears.”
2023’s Competition
Hornsby was again assigned to serve as a peer advisor for Section H[3] this fall. Again, his PA section took the crown—making him possibly the first-ever UVA Law student to be involved with a winning Dandelion team three years in a row. Familiar themes came up in this year’s first-place performance.
“This year’s show was the most technically sound of the group, and it was the most cohesive in terms of concept, costuming, and choreography,” Hornsby said. “This year’s group brought together the best elements of the previous two shows, and they came up with the ingenious idea to channel Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance. I am probably most proud of this group as I wasn’t able to give them as much help as the previous two years, and they still managed to absolutely knock it out of the park.”
Looking back on his three years of involvement with Dandelion, Hornsby had a few parting words of wisdom for future 1L sections.
“You have to ‘commit to the bit,’ because the moment you let self-consciousness creep in, you’re sunk. The key to Dandelion is realizing that it’s absolutely ridiculous and that the purpose is to have as much fun with your section as possible.
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bwj2cw@virginia.edi
[1] Executive Editor Andrew Allard ‘25 and myself both were in Section H last year, so clearly there is a culture of Dandelion winningness at the Law Weekly. As if we needed another reason for why our publication is so elite.
[2] We respected the institution of Dandelion so much that we didn’t even smuggle alcohol into the event. You’re welcome, NGSL.
[3] Who I’m sure are great and all, but not as fantastic as last year’s.