In addition to pursuing advanced degrees in economics and law, Benvin Lozada is chair of the Range at the University of Virginia.
But Lozada is not the lone Ranger. The Range is a series of historic rooms reserved for 52 graduate students living in 鶹ƽ Academical Village, a UNESCO World Heritage site designed by Thomas Jefferson. Lozada was elected this year to lead the Rangers, as he enters his third year living there.
“Moving to the Range in my second year, I really got to experience that rich diversity of intellectual curiosity that makes UVA what it is,” he said.
Like many residents of the Range and Lawn, Corbin Poyer decorates her door with messages welcoming conversation. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
As students move back to Grounds or move in for the first time, Lozada will lead programming for the Range’s graduate student community.
After graduating with bachelor’s degrees in economics and mathematics from the University of Utah in 2023, he moved to Charlottesville to pursue a master’s degree in economics. He applied to live on the Range in his second year and stayed on as he transitioned into a program that will lead to a combined law degree and doctorate in economics.
He said the housing choice has helped him meet people outside his department.
“Some of my closest friends are engineers, master’s students in statistics or accountants at the McIntire (School of Commerce),” he said. “The Range is a truly unique environment because it creates space for you to meet amazing people who are passionate about completely different things than you are, and you get to share in that intellectual excitement with them.”
Unlike their undergraduate counterparts on the Lawn, residents of the Range run their own selection process every year to choose the next residents. “The biggest thing we look for is people who are excited to build community,” he said.
The Range is divided into eastern and western sides, each with a reputation.
“The West is known to be the more social and active side, and the East Range is really chill,” said Niamh Clarke, an East Range resident and second-year graduate student studying English. “Last year, someone nicknamed us the ‘retirement community’ because it’s where a lot of the final-year people end up.”
Born and raised in Houston, Clarke moved to Virginia for her master’s program, making it her first time out of state. She said she was happy to have the Range as a “cushion community.”
“It is really special to know that you’re a part of a long-lasting community and the support network that doesn’t end with your time here,” she said.
In his spare time, Lozada enjoys photography. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
Through a program last year called Legacy Letters, Clarke and others have been recruiting Rangers from the ’70s and ’80s to write letters to this year’s newcomers, welcoming them to the community and graduate school experience.
“The rooms are very individual,” she said. “Each room has something special to it.”
Corbin Poyer is living on the West Range while completing a master’s in environmental and urban planning. Living close to the Poe Room, the former room of Edgar Allan Poe, hers has been a special experience.
“I get a lot of tourists and school tours coming by to tour the room,” she said. “I personally love these opportunities to interact with the public, and try to keep my door open a lot.”
Every year, new students, like Adan Youngblood, move into the 52 rooms for a living experience found only at UVA. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
After graduating from the University of Mary Washington with a bachelor’s in political science, philosophy and pre-law, she worked for nonprofits before joining the city of Fredericksburg’s building and planning department.
Having volunteered for community service projects since high school, she realized many of the issues she was trying to address, such as food insecurity, were the result of poor urban planning. That led her to apply for a graduate program at the School of Architecture, concentrating on historic preservation.
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