Guides come from all around the world, across all the schools at UVA, and from any program of study. We are involved in so many different groups, organizations, and clubs at the University, but what brings us together is our love for giving tours. Beyond that we also strive for Guides to be a community that members love to be a part of.
What We Do
Members of the University Guide Service (“Guides”) have the incredible opportunity to serve as keepers of our University’s history and to also act as ambassadors of UVA to prospective students and their families. As they give admissions tours, we encourage our Guides to share their personal UVA experience with prospective students in a candid and constructive way. Every member gets to write and continually update their own tours with their lived experiences just as we craft our paths at UVA! Likewise, all Guides give historical tours of our University, integrating stories from across our school’s 200-year history into a unique and cohesive narrative that speaks to both the Guide and their tourists. Members of the University Guide Service give hundreds of tours each semester to prospective and current students, faculty and staff, alumni, community members, and visitors from all across the world!
Why We Do It
Every Guide chooses to join for so many different reasons and being a member of UGS has benefits that reach beyond what you may expect. As a member, you’ll have the opportunity to:
- Give admissions and historical tours of the University. The opportunity to serve as the "face of UVA" to so many visitors leaves an indelible impact on our Guides and to the visitors that they have the privilege of interacting with.
- Collaborate with other organizations across Grounds to spread a passion for and understanding of our University’s multi-faceted history. For example, we recently worked with other organizations and students on Grounds to establish the History of Enslaved African American Laborers (HEAAL) tour for first years to learn about the University’s history.
- Dive into a topic of history that very specifically speaks to you. Some of our members have chosen to do deeper research and work relating to topics such as the history of women, the history of Asian Americans, LGBTQ+ history, the history of African Americans, and the history of medicine at UVA.
- Develop friendships that last a lifetime. So many of our members have found best friends, mentors, roommates, or even just a friendly face in class. UGS feels like a family to us all and the relationships we make here last us for years beyond our time on Grounds.
- Attend the unforgettable Colonnades Ball! The University Guide Service hosts the Colonnades Ball, a formal event for the University and Charlottesville community to raise money to support the community around us. The event is open for anyone to attend, but is a wonderful way for all the Guides to get together and dress up for a good cause.
- Join a community that goes back decades and now eagerly awaits to welcome you too!
Shreya and Mahdin make the most of golden hour on Carter’s Mountain
Guides visit the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Museum
Mandy, Alexia, and Rachel on their way to Colonnades, our annual charity event!
Guides enjoying the view!
Follow us on Instagram to see a closer look at the regular happenings of UGS and be able to see students spotlights and takeovers to hear from current Guides themselves.
Interested in joining Guides? Learn about the Spring 2024 recruitment process here and feel free to reach out to our Recruitment Co-Chairs Jack Giese (jg9gy@virginia.edu) and Hewan Kasie (tnt9ad@virgina.edu) with any questions you may have.