Christina Luk ‘21
Editor-in-Chief
Hello and thank you for picking up the Virginia Law Weekly! We are the Law School’s one and only student newspaper and you are in for a treat. Inside these pages you will find the heart and soul of the UVA Law community. As Editor-in-Chief, it’s my privilege to introduce you to what we’re all about and to entice you into our ranks.
Now, in years past, welcome letters have tended to be pretty upbeat and funny—but nothing about this year has been ordinary. I mean, we started the year with an entire continent on fire, and no one really expected it to ramp up from there. COVID-19 has forced us all online, impacted our communities, and tested our resilience, kindness, and care for each other. The events of this summer unfolded like a slow-motion fever dream. Disease, death, police brutality, protests, and, of course, the ever-ramping up election. We are buckling in for the second half of an already crazy year.
What an incredible time to attend law school. So much has changed. A look around the Law School reveals a different space. There are stickers on the floors and tables, cameras and plexiglass have been installed in every classroom, and a thousand hand sanitizing stations litter the halls. Folks are wearing masks (or they had better be!) and many of us are online this semester.
The start of the year brings everything rushing back—the excitement, the nostalgia, the burning curiosity of whether the snack office will still provide snacks. Old and new students alike, we’re grappling with social isolation, missing people closest to us, and deciding on the next stage in our legal career. We’re all trying to figure things out. Now is the time for community, solidarity, and laughter. Now is the time for optimism—to say that we will meet each new challenge with grace and perseverance. That we are all here because we were called to something outside of us.
We at the Law Weekly are called to “community.” When our back is up against a wall, our first impulse is to put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard) and write. My goal for the paper is to build our community, celebrate our triumphs, discuss room for improvement, and give voice to every member of the Law School. Over this year, I want to introduce you to your classmates and professors, spotlight clubs, inspire laughter and hope, and above all, show that we are a community of thoughtful and caring individuals. That we are unafraid to share our opinions and that we respect all voices, especially those who have had the fewest opportunities to speak.
So, to the 1Ls, welcome to the Law School. In the time-honored tradition of upperclassmen giving unsolicited advice, I urge you to look for joy in your lives. The passions that sustained you before law school will nurture you the next three years. You will find like-minded individuals who share your values—people who will be your dearest friends and fiercest champions. I encourage all of you to grab this school year by its horns. Reach out to people, get virtual coffee, go to office hours, and join a student organization that sparks joy for you. There is no dearth of extracurricular offerings at this Law School. I should know, I’ve spent the last two years writing about them.
Speaking of extracurriculars, I’d be remiss not to invite each and every one of you to join the Law Weekly. We publish once a week, twelve editions per semester, and we welcome new members throughout the year from every class. Historically, we met in Slaughter Hall 279 to edit articles, listen to tunes, and eat free Domino’s pizza. In this brave new Corona world, I’m inviting all of you to join us virtually Monday nights at 7 p.m. Please email me if you are interested in joining our mailing list.
If you have a qualm, a passion, a joke (good or bad), or even just the itch to write—we want to hear from you. Please. Regale us with your views on attending class over Zoom, your awkward virtual hallway encounters, or your funniest professor quotes. Are you discontented with a school policy? Do you have an opinion on the upcoming election? Maybe you have a complaint for our widely cited Court of Petty Appeals? We want it all. Get in touch with us at editor@lawweekly.org.
To ensure you never miss an issue of our rip-roaring fun, please register with us at: https://www.lawweekly.org/register. You can also like our page on Facebook or add us on Instagram or Twitter. We don’t have a TikTok yet, but the shenanigans we get up are certainly meme-worthy.
On behalf of the staff of writers and editors at the Virginia Law Weekly, good luck and welcome to UVA Law! We can’t wait to meet you all!
---
cl3eh@virginia.edu