The University Guide Service announced in a statement on Instagram on Wednesday that the university has suspended it from conducting entrance and historical tours due to concerns about attendance and quality of the tours. According to the statement, the Guide Service will continue The group will work with the university to develop an agreement to allow for future tours led by the Guide Service. The group will also continue its recruitment activities for the semester.

The Guide Service is a student-run organization on campus that provides admission tickets and historical tours to prospective students, families, and visitors. As a special status organization, the group is one of a few other groups on campus—such as the Honor Committee and the University Judiciary Committee—that trustworthy to act as representatives of the university. This designation means that they are obliged to hold close cooperation with a university advisor.

University spokeswoman Bethanie Glover said in an email to The Cavalier Daily that instead of members of the Guide Service, student interns employed by the admissions office will conduct the admissions tours for prospective students and their families. According to Glover, the university has been in “close contact” with the Guide Service and its leadership over the past two years, working together to develop plans for the future of the Guide Service and admissions tours.

“The University Guide Service has a long-standing, proud tradition of providing guided tours on behalf of the University,” Glover said. “To continue that tradition, we are working with the (Guide Service) on a performance improvement plan that will extend through the fall 2024 semester and review the University’s expectations for guide attendance and the content and delivery of the tours.”

According to the Guide Service, the suspension of tours is a result of the university administration’s belief that the organization is not fulfilling its assigned tasks. The Guide Service rejects this view, claiming that the administration is giving an incomplete picture of its performance, as the group conducts its own internal accountability measures.

“The rationale for these suspensions is based on the administration’s view that UGS is not fulfilling its assigned responsibilities, particularly with respect to reliability and quality of tours,” the statement said. “Our own accountability measures – including tour feedback collected from all admission tour visitors – suggest that this is an incomplete view of our tours.”

The Jefferson Council, an alumni group whose specified The goals are to promote a culture of civil dialogue at the university and to preserve Jefferson’s legacy, has in the past criticized the Guide Service for Insert to incorporate “radical views” and “seditious opinions” into his tours.

In 2022, the co-founder of the Jefferson Council and former president Bert Ellis was appointed to the Visitors Committee. Both before And after Since his appointment to the board, Ellis has been a vocal critic of the content of the Guide Service’s tours.

“The University Guides now seem intent on ‘contextualizing’ Mr. Jefferson as a slave owner and rapist, completely undermining his role in the founding of America and our university,” Ellis said in a 2021 article published on the Jefferson Council website.

According to the Guide Service’s statement, the group plans to continue working with the administration to resume offering tours in conjunction with the university.

“We believe we can better fulfill our mission when we can offer tours in partnership with the university,” the statement said. “That is true as long as that relationship does not interfere with our ability to provide an honest and complete account of U.Va. and its history.”

This is an evolving story.