Rugby Road - Beta Bridge

An integral part of Rugby Road is Beta Bridge. In the 1850s, a bridge was erected over the Chesapeake and Ohio train tracks in the location of what is now Beta Bridge, but the current structure was built in 1923. The bridge was a part of a citywide paving and improvement project to prepare Charlottesville area streets for the automobile. Although it was originally known simply as the Rugby Road Bridge, when the Beta Theta Pi fraternity built their house at the corner of Chancellor and Rugby in 1927, it took its current name. In 1971, that fraternity location was closed, and the Delta Upsilon fraternity moved into its current location at 180 Rugby Road. Though their fraternity had no claim to the bridge save that of proximity, brothers and pledges of DU would paint over messages which did not contain 'THX DU' (for "Thanks Delta Upsilon"). In 2011, Beta Theta Pi moved back into their original house next to the bridge, and now messages typically contain 'THX Beta'.

The tradition of bridge-painting at the university actually began in 1901 with students painting the railroad bridge crossing over University Avenue at The Corner. When the railroad tried to discourage the practice, students moved their messages to Beta Bridge on Rugby. The first recorded painting occurred in 1926 when a group of students reportedly splashed the bridge with green paint. Sports scores and praises for athletes remained the most common messages on the bridge until St. Patrick’s Day of 1967. Holiday supporters painted the bridge a "festive" Irish green, but supporters of the English crown painted over the green with red, also writing "God Save the Queen" in white. The Irish patriots responded by changing the word "Queen" to "Green", and the tradition took off from there. Today, many University organizations paint the bridge to promote their activities.

Some legal and censorship issues have arisen concerning messages and graffiti displayed on Beta Bridge. The bridge is technically property of the city of Charlottesville, and in 1971, five fraternity members were arrested by city police after painting the bridge. Since then, the city has gradually ceded more freedom to students, and messages concerning everything from gay rights to violence against women, career services announcements, memorials for deaths in the community, and fraternity and sorority events have appeared. In August 2005, however, students reported that offensive images and words were painted on the bridge, and University President John T. Casteen III asked the FBI’s Civil Rights Unit to investigate the incident for racial implications. FBI Special Agent James Lamb determined that the graffiti was not racially motivated. The bridge has been allowed to remain a de facto "public forum," where the only response to speech is more speech.

Following the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, UVA students painted Beta Bridge to show their support. This stayed on the bridge for the rest of the school year (normally Beta Bridge is painted at least five times a week.)

On Oct. 2, 2007, UVA Today reported that a sheet of paint approximately 4 feet high, 10 feet long and 3 inches thick separated from a wall of the bridge and fell off. The piece, the second peel-off in the past 13 years, was so heavy that it had to be cut in half before being hauled away by Facilities Management workers. It is suggested that a combination of summer heat, moisture, and weight of layers prompted the peel-off.