The 2024 Unite Award, which honors efforts to encourage racial equity and social justice through service to orchestrate systemic change, was given to a pair of prominent Cavaliers who have made a large impact on the community since their arrival on Grounds.

First is UVA Athletic Director Carla Williams.  Williams, the first female, African American athletic director at a power-five school, and the first to be named to the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, has recently found a new location for the Center for Citizen Leaders and Sports Ethics, to be housed within the new Harrison Family Center for Olympic Sports.  Williams also created the Pathways Program, to help foster goals, skills, and leadership abilities among UVA’s student athletes.

UVA’s second winner of the Unite Award is Elijah Gaines of UVA Football.  Gaines has worked tirelessly within the collegiate sphere, the local Charlottesville Community, and on the national stage, to further the causes the Unite Award celebrates.  He has worked as President of the Black-Student-Athletes Offering Service and Support organization on Grounds.  He has volunteered locally with Ronald McDonald House, UVA Campus Cleanup, UVA Equity Center, Blue Ridge Food Bank, Colby’s Crew Rescue, Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry and Greer Elementary School. Gaines also attended both the Black Student-Athlete Summit and the ACC Unity Tour in Washington, D.C in the last three years.