Two initiatives designed to help make college more affordable have received financial boosts. The University of Virginia today announced it has received $1 million for scholarships to help older students complete their degrees. The award from the Bernard Osher Foundation will aid students working on their first bachelor’s degrees after having been out of school for at least five years. The Osher Reentry Scholarships, worth up to $5,000, will help 10 to 20 students annually at U.Va.

Red Bull, the industrial-strength caffeinator that’s a staple among college students, has a yet-to-be-published book charting its iconic rise—thanks to engineering students at the University of Virginia.

Nuclear engineering studies is making a comeback in Virginia. Some of the state’s universities have added programs, are planning to do so or are considering it because of renewed interest in the nuclear industry.

The University of Virginia is mourning the passing of former lacrosse standout Will Barrow, who was found dead in his apartment Saturday in Charlottesville. Barrow was 22. A resident of Long Island, N.Y., he was one of the nation’s finest defensive midfielders during a four-year career at U.Va. that ended last season. As a sophomore in 2006, Barrow helped the the Cavaliers win the NCAA title.

Before Jane Iris Crutchfield died in 2006, the retired Virginia schoolteacher and librarian had quietly decided what to do with the considerable sum she had tucked away throughout her life: She would give it to two universities where she got her education. Crutchfield, or “Miss Iris” as she was known, left more than $2 million to be divided between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Virginia.

CHARLOTTESVILLE The vaunted rooms on and around U.Va.‘s storied Lawn are being gently redone for the sake of historical authenticity. “We’re trying, at a basic level, to freshen up the rooms,“ said Brian Hogg, the school’s senior historic preservation planner. “Where significant features were removed, we’re trying to put them back.“ Though the rooms are about 185 years old, they don’t look much different from when they were new, though settling over time has left little of the floors or walls plumb.

While his fellow “Jeopardy!“ contestants were hit-and-miss, David Hudson Jr. was unerring in providing the questions to 11 answers. “Actually, I was lucky enough not to get any wrong, except for the Final Jeopardy! question, but everyone got it wrong,“ he recalled yesterday morning at a Starbucks near the University of Virginia campus.