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About The Row Informally organized in 1999 by William and Mary, JMU, and UVa, University Row started as a modest string of three adjacent tents hosting independent events. Cooperation increased in 2000, and Virginia Tech joined as the fourth member school when it shared a tent with UVa.
2001 was the breakout year for University Row, with over 900 alumni and friends joining together to watch the races. In 2001 the Capital Alumni Networkgreatly increased its active organizational assistance to the effort, and this helped effect rapid growth. Virginia Tech transitioned to a full anchor, leading a list of new anchors that included Purdue, Wake Forest, and the University of Texas. Catering was equalized across the entire space and common areas were defined and enclosed by fencing, and the shared walls of each tent were symbolically removed. Wristbands were standardized and the anchors agreed to a strict visitor policy to apply to all tents. Finally, an innovative common "bus pool" was created and a "leave as they fill" policy was developed for buses so that passengers from any participating anchor tent could leave the departure venue or the event site within a much more convenient window of time.
The festivities began in mid-April when one school's previously-planned happy hour grew into a 7-way event, with alumni from William and Mary, Georgetown, JMU, Notre Dame, Texas, NC State, and UVa mingling and scrambling for remaining tickets.
On May 5th, 2001, with the Blue Ridge Mountains as a backdrop and with a bright Spring sun above, University Row played host to alumni and friends from over seventeen schools. A total of seven tents were anchored by the local alumni chapters of the College William and Mary, James Madison University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Purdue, Wake Forest University, and the University of Texas, with participation from tent partners Arizona State University, Georgetown University, Hampden-Sydney College, NC State, University of Connecticut, University of Pittsburgh, University of Massachusetts, Penn State University, Georgia Tech, the University of Notre Dame, and other members of the Capital Alumni Network. This confederation of chalet tents was not only the largest CAN event, it was the biggest single gathering in the history of the Virginia Gold Cup.
As a sign of its "arrival", style editors from The Washington Post were our special guests, and University Row was included for the first time on the map of the official 2001 Virginia Gold Cup program. We also received special signage from VGCA. Since then, University Row has been officially recognized and assisted by the Virginia Gold Cup Association. In 2002, University Row was the only place to be, with nearly 1,800 guests in 15 tents and two viewing areas. We had the official participation of 40 alumni organizations, a two-fold increase from 2001. New anchor tents from the American University, Boston College, GWU, Penn State, the University of Central Florida, the University of Michigan, the University of Richmond, and the University of Notre Dame were added. Unfortunately, regional economic pressures, security concerns caused by 9/11, the anthrax episodes, and by the DC area sniper resulted in reduced overall demand.
University Row and the larger event survived 2002, and
2003 brought about the involvement of 46 schools for our fifth anniversary, and
The Washington Post recognized the Row as "the primary social area" along North Rail.
Fun and Frolic at the Virginia Gold Cup
Requires Apple QuickTime or compatible player. In 2004 a combination of new state policies and reinterpretations of established banquet regulations made hosting such a large event more difficult and inefficient. These obstacles had a negative impact on all North Rail gatheringsyet we still mustered the involvement of 43 alumni groups in ten tents and tickets sold out at a record pace, proving that demand is strong and that even quirky government regulations can't keep the people away from the Races! University Row prospered in 2005, under the management of the Alumni Events Alliance, a new interalumni umbrella organization chiefly created to serve this purpose. The regulatory challenges of 2003 and 2004 were reduced, as well as the collateral problems associated with third party sales. Economic conditions continued to improve, which also served the overall Virginia Gold Cup event, and the effects of the enhanced security concerns of the past few years stabilized to a near transparent level. 2006 was another pivotal year. We set new records in a number of categories, including sponsorship, alumni group recruitment, press coverage, and sales. We sold out with over two weeks remaining and it became the first year that we had an organized central waiting list. |
1999-2008 Participants Allegheny College American University Arizona State University Auburn University Baylor University Boston College Boston University Bridgewater College Bucknell University Carnegie Mellon University Catholic University of America Claremont College Clemson University Coastal Carolina University College of William & Mary Colorado State University Cornell University East Carolina University Elon University Emory University Florida International University Florida State University Fordham University George Washington University Georgetown University Georgia Institute of Technology Grand Valley State Hamilton College Hampden-Sydney College Harvard University Illinois State University Indiana University I.U.P. James Madison University Kansas State University Lafayette College La Salle University Lehigh University Marquette University Marymount University Michigan State University M.I.T. Mount St. Mary's University NC State University Northeastern University Northwestern University Old Dominion University Oregon State University Penn State University Pepperdine University Providence College Purdue University Rhodes College Roanoke College Southern Methodist University Stanford University St. Mary"s University Sweet Briar College Syracuse University Texas A & M University Texas Tech University Tulane University University of Alabama University of Arizona University of Arkansas University of California, Berkeley University of California, Los Angeles University of California, San Diego University of Central Florida University of Cincinnati University of Colorado University of Connecticut University of Delaware University of Florida University of Georgia University of Iowa University of Kansas University of Kentucky University of Mary Washington University of Maryland University of Massachusetts University of Miami University of Michigan University of Minnesota University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University of Notre Dame University of Oregon University of Pennsylvania University of Pittsburgh University of Richmond University of San Diego University of South Carolina University of Southern California University of Texas University of Texas San Antonio University of the South University of Virginia University of Washington University of Wisconsin Vanderbilt University Villanova University Virginia Tech Washington and Lee Washington State University Wake Forest University West Virginia University Xavier University |
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