On October 18, Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey showed a crowd of nearly 8,000 in the John Paul Jones Arena the importance of doing your homework. Spacey, speaking as part of the President’s Speaker Series for the Arts, which was launched in 2013 with Tina Fey, sprinkled his highly-entertaining speech, (complete with a slide show presentation tied to his award-winning role on the Netflix hit series House of Cards entitled “Frank Underwood’s Guide to Surviving College”), with U.Va. and Charlottesville references. After being introduced by President Sullivan, he high-fived Guinness Book of World Records high-five record holder Dean Allen Groves, gave a shout out to former Wahoo hoops star Joe Harris, and even mentioned streaking The Lawn. The multi-talented and wildly entertaining actor also treated the crowd to his uncanny knack for impressions, expertly mimicking the late talk show giant Johnny Carson, his beloved mentor Jack Lemmon, and President Bill Clinton, among others. In the midst of the entertainment, Spacey also spoke eloquently and movingly about the importance of the arts in education and in our society, including saluting U.Va. for being on the front lines of this effort. “I would like to read you a quote from our second president, John Adams,” Spacey said. “‘I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, theatre, architecture, tapestry, and porcelain.’” The President’s Speaker Series for the Arts is supported by the Offices of the President and the Executive Vice President and Provost, the Vice Provost for the Arts, and The Joseph & Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation. The evening featured performances by students from the U.Va. Dance Program and the University Singers, and featured the announcement by U.Va. Vice Provost for the Arts Jody Kielbasa of a new Arts Endowment Trust to fund signature programs and series in the Arts.