The disappearance of Mechanicsville teenager Theresa Marie Meadows languished in relative obscurity from the time she vanished in September 2004—until she was located alive last week in South Carolina. On the flip side, the case of missing 20-year-old Virginia Tech student Morgan Dana Harrington has received intense state and national attention since she disappeared Oct. 17 after a Metallica concert in Charlottesville. A three-day search last weekend involved more than 500 volunteers.

The University of Virginia says its Class of 2013 is filled, with 3,308 first-year students accepting offers of admission. Sixty-seven percent of those students are Virginians. U.Va. expects about 60 students will drop out before the official census in October, which will bring the total to the target enrollment of 3,240. The admissions office last week notified wait-listed students that the class is full for both first-year and transfer applicants. About 420 first-year students were accepted from the waiting list.

University of Virginia President John Casteen is warning the U.Va. community that deeper budget cuts are almost certainly on the horizon. Casteen also signaled that tuition increases are likely and didn’t rule out layoffs if the state economy continues to worsen, but said the university intends to do everything it can to avoid them. College of William and Mary President Taylor Reveley sent a similar notice to his campus last week, although he said that compared with most other colleges and universities, W&M “has come through the recession relatively well to date.“

March 9, 1990—Casteen is named U.Va. president after a five-month search that included 150 candidates. He is inaugurated Oct. 6.
  Jan. 29, 1991—U.Va. makes public a decision by Casteen to broaden its nondiscrimination policy to include homosexuals.
  Feb. 12, 1991—Casteen orders the university’s law school to rescind its ban on recruiters from military and government agencies.

University of Virginia President John T. Casteen III will retire next summer after 20 years at the helm of one of the nation’s Public Ivies. Calling his time at U.Va. “magical,“ Casteen, 65, told the board of visitors yesterday that he will step down Aug. 1, 2010, and said he is “eager to applaud what comes next.“ Under Casteen’s leadership, the university founded by Thomas Jefferson has consistently ranked at the top of academic standings.

Virginia State University has received a $200,000 donation to establish a scholarship in honor of Millard D. “Pete” Stith Jr., Chesterfield’s deputy county administrator. The gift is from William H. Goodwin Jr. and his wife, Alice. Stith served on the VSU board of visitors from 1994 to 1998 and as rector from 1996 to 1997. He was instrumental in organizing Chesterfield County’s annual Black History Month concerts at VSU.

CHARLOTTESVILLE—The University of Virginia is poised to take on an estimated $250 million in debt to finance a long list of construction projects. The finance committee of the university’s board of visitors voted unanimously Thursday to issue up to $300 million worth of bonds in April to help pay for the projects. Final approval of the measure is expected today.

John A. Blackburn, whose 30-year tenure at the University of Virginia brought fundamental changes in admissions and financial-aid policies, died Tuesday. He was 67. Mr. Blackburn, known as “Jack,“ spent his entire career at the university working in the admissions office, serving as dean since 1985. He was the longest serving admissions dean in U.Va.‘s history.

University of Virginia employees were among the top contributors to freshman Democratic Rep. Tom Perriello, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. U.Va. employees gave Perriello $26,679 for his campaign to unseat Republican Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. in the 5th District, according to data compiled by the center. Perriello, who was a lecturer for one seminar at U.Va.‘s law school in 2007, had a victory margin of 727 votes after a recount.

With a $1 million gift from television personality Bob Barker, the University of Virginia will establish an animal law program at its law school. Dean Paul Mahoney said Barker’s gift will allow the law school to expand its curriculum in “this important and rapidly developing area of the law.“ The law school this fall will offer its first formal course focused exclusively on animal law.

The University of Virginia offers students the best value among the nation’s public universities, and the College of William and Mary is ranked third in The Princeton Review’s “Best Value Colleges for 2009” rankings.

In September, a 24-year-old Chesterfield County man shot and killed his estranged wife then himself. The couple’s two children, ages 3 and 1, lost both parents.

Health care providers with the University of Virginia’s Infectious Disease Clinic are piloting a text-messaging program they hope will improve contact with HIV patients living in rural areas. The program was launched this summer after Mary Rafaly, a U.Va. clinical social worker doing outreach work with HIV patients, found those living in rural areas missed appointments and fell out of treatment more often than patients living in urban areas.

A University of Virginia project exploring the relationship between Christian spiritual beliefs and social practice has received a $2.1 million grant from the Lilly Endowment. The grant will finance the Project on Lived Theology for an additional five years, from 2010 through 2014. It is the fourth major grant from the endowment. Craig Dykstra, senior vice president for religion at Lilly, said the project is helping individuals and communities carry forward the practices and wisdom of the Christian tradition.

Two initiatives designed to help make college more affordable have received financial boosts. The University of Virginia announced yesterday that it has received $1 million for scholarships to help older students complete their degrees. And the College of William and Mary board of visitors said last week that the Gateway endowed fund for need-based aid has reached $10.7 million.