who were among the first to graduate after the University went coeducational in 1970. (Photo by Dan Addison, University Communications)

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe greeted the audience after Sullivan, noting that the occasion was honoring the vision of one of his predecessors, the second governor of Virginia.

“Thomas Jefferson was a revolutionary, and this university is a revolution, of learning, of thought, of leaning in on the issues,” McAuliffe said. He thanked the “UVA family” for their contributions to the City of Charlottesville, the Commonwealth, the country and the globe, emphasizing that the current UVA student body represents 150 countries.

The University Singers and the Charlottesville Symphony performed a specially commissioned piece, "We Hold These Truths," focused on Jefferson's authorship of the Declaration of Independence. (Photo by Dan Addison, University Communications)

“Asdid in 1895, when a massive blaze destroyed the iconic building and a nearby annex as students and faculty rushed to rescue books and artwork.

The Martha Graham Dance Company performance included both dance and projection mapping onto the Rotunda. (Photo by Sanjay Suchak, University Communications)

There was also reverent silence as UVA faculty member and former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove read her poem, “The Bellringer,” about Henry Martin, who was born in slavery at Monticello and worked as the University bell ringer, waking students every morning at dawn and marking the hours of every day. The Chapel bell – the same that Martin rang – tolled as Dove finished her poem.

Odom, the first of the night’s special guest performers, took the stage to loud cheers at around 8