Virginia

MINNEAPOLIS — A year after exiting the court as a picture of embarrassment, the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 in the men’s N.C.A.A. tournament, Virginia left wearing a crown on Monday night. The Cavaliers defeated Texas Tech, 85-77, in overtime for the university’s first national basketball championship, which carried with it immeasurable redemption. “Forget last year,” Virginia’s Ty Jerome said. “This is everything you dream of since you’re a little kid.” This title game was the first in 40 years between men’s teams that had never been there before. The last one was the showdown in which Magic Johnson’s Michigan State team beat Larry Bird and Indiana State in Salt Lake City. Monday night’s game did not offer anything near that level of star power. Instead, viewers got a matchup of teams that rely on a throwback style of play — methodical offense, lunch-pail defense and rosters long on experience. … [Read more...] about One Year Later, Virginia Finds Redemption and Wins the N.C.A.A. Title

A Virginia high school teacher who was fired for refusing to use a transgender student’s new pronouns has filed a lawsuit. The Washington Post reported that Peter Vlaming filed suit on Monday against West Point Public Schools, a system outside Richmond. The French teacher was fired in December 2018, having told superiors at West Point High School his religion prevented him from using male pronouns for a student who had informed the school of his transition during the previous summer. According to Vlaming’s suit, in October 2018 the student approached the teacher and said: “Mr Vlaming, you may have your religion but you need to respect who I am.” Vlaming, the suit says, replied: “I’m sorry, this is difficult.” The suit says he reported the exchange to the principal, who told him: “You know what you do to diffuse a situation like that? You say, ‘I'm sorry, I meant to say him.'” Principal Jonathan Hochman later told a school … [Read more...] about Virginia teacher sues after being fired for refusing to call trans student ‘he’

MINNEAPOLIS — Braxton Key was in Pittsburgh readying for Alabama’s second-round game against Villanova on the evening of last March 16, when he got an “upset alert” on his phone. Virginia was trailing the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. “I was like: There’s no way. They’re playing a 16 seed,” Key recalled Monday night. “I turned the game on, and, sure enough, they did.” Virginia — for the seven of you who still don’t know — lost, 74-54, in the first round of last year’s N.C.A.A. tournament, becoming the first top seed to lose to a bottom seed in 33 years of the full-size men’s bracket. Key texted his condolences to Virginia’s Kyle Guy, a friend from summer basketball in years past, immediately after. “He didn’t text me back for a couple days,” Key said. “I could understand.” Alabama lost to Villanova the following day, and Villanova won the … [Read more...] about Virginia’s Historic Defeat Was Fundamental to Its Title

MINNEAPOLIS — If it can defeat third-seeded Texas Tech on Monday night, Virginia would not become the first national champion that had lost in the first round of the N.C.A.A. tournament the previous year. Duke did it in 2015, and Indiana in 1987. Connecticut won the 2014 title a year after it had been barred from postseason play for poor academic performance. But nonetheless, a win by top-seeded Virginia (34-3) would be different. Of course it would be different. Not all losses are created equal, and Virginia’s tournament experience last year was quite a moment to overcome. So many factors compounded last March to make the result of Virginia’s game versus the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, so awful for the Cavaliers. There was the sheer history of being the first No. 1 seed ever to lose to a No. 16 seed in the men’s tournament. There was the fact that the game itself was not close: The Cavaliers lost by 20 points. There was the size of the fall, as … [Read more...] about In First N.C.A.A. Title Game, Virginia Savors Shot at Redemption

NEW YORK—Tilda Swinton can boast of many achievements, having performed in more than 70 films, including Michael Clayton, for which she won an Oscar in 2008. In a way hers is the broadest of careers, stretching from her salad days of the 1980s working with acclaimed independent director Derek Jarman to her appearance in this year’s Avengers: Endgame, which is already one of the highest-grossing movies of all time. But until now Swinton, 58, has never organized an art exhibition. The show, Orlando, which opens Friday at the Aperture Foundation and features nearly five dozen photographs by 11 artists, is Swinton’s first foray into art curation. The works, some commissioned especially for the project, tackle the themes of identity and transformation explored in Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel Orlando and Sally Potter’s 1992 film adaptation, whose lead role was a breakthrough for Swinton. The list of artists includes established names like Mickalene Thomas, Lynn … [Read more...] about Tilda Swinton curates Virginia Woolf inspired art exhibition