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After a stint as a legislative aide in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Alec Scicchitano (BA ’21) recently started a new job as the head of politics, press, and public affairs at the British Consulate General in Boston, where he works to strengthen relations between the United Kingdom and United States across New England.

Our guest speaker for Batten Hour this week was U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Mark Coulson for the Maryland District who presides over the busiest docket for federal misdemeanor charges in the country.

UVA Batten hosted the “Annual Behavioral Science Across Grounds Conference” earlier this month, bringing some of the brightest minds of UVA’s research community to Garrett Hall to exchange ideas, interests, and insights. Associate professor Ben Converse gave the keynote.

At this week's Batten Hour, professor, entrepreneur, and former star athlete Deborah Stroman unpacked the history and policy implications of the "seismic shifts" in college athletics in recent years, including Name, Image, and Likeness rights and the NCAA transfer portal.

The path to a new job for new graduates and alumni comes with twists and turns, and plenty of stress. A key skill that we impart here at UVA Batten is the ability to remain flexible and open to unexpected opportunity, pivoting as needed. Meet Jimmy Flood (BA ’23), who has successfully shifted his plans.

Congratulations to UVA Batten associate professor Benjamin Castleman who has received the 2024 University Public Impact Focused Research Award for his outstanding scholarship and public service to improve college success and job opportunities for America’s lower-income populations.

The Black Student Leaders in Policy hosted M'Balu “Lu” Bangura, a dynamic leader in civil rights and equity advocacy, during a special Batten Hour this week. She was interviewed by second-year Batten MPP student Priscilla Akpalu.

In her conversation with Dean Ian Solomon at this week's Batten Hour, lawyer, scholar and global leader Anne-Marie Slaughter reflected on how the country can move forward from this moment of extreme political polarization and economic and environmental uncertainty across the globe.

UVA Batten, under the guidance of Chief Innovation Officer Christine Mahoney, will facilitate a broad range of economic development and environmental resilience projects in Appalachia through a recently announced federal grant for almost $20 million. The funding will bolster the ongoing work of local governments, universities and non-profits on initiatives including childcare centers, healthy housing, community centers, telehealth hubs, river stewardship and more in multiple localities in Southwest Virginia.

Batten students and staff joined the director of the Federal Executive Institute, Michael Shonrock, on Monday for the first Batten Hour to kick-off the Spring semester. A key takeaway he shared was that a chief trait of values-based leaders is that they are nice to others.

Meet Grace Makin, MPP ‘25 and community engagement chair of the Batten Graduate Council. She leads efforts to plan monthly service opportunities for all Batten students with local organizations, including last semester's projects with Habitat for Humanity and the Boys and Girls Club.

Meet Kiara Rogers, BA '19, who was among the first full graduating class of UVA’s Blue Ridge Scholars. After receiving a degree from Columbia Law School, she’s now an associate at Williams & Connolly in New York City. She was recently featured in the StoryBooth video series by UVA’s Division for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.