YEAR
AFTER YEAR

hen Joseph (Col ’79) and Teresa Roseborough (Col ’80) met on Grounds, it was the beginning of a lifetime of love for each other, illustrious careers in the law, and a lasting loyalty to UVA.

“I had a special experience at Virginia from the start,” remembered Joseph. He was a recruited football player who planned on becoming a lawyer. “I came to Virginia, and for the first time somebody else got excited about that,” he said. “They took me to the law school and introduced me to the dean. I knew they were most interested in me as a person, and so I selected Virginia.”

A year later, Teresa, who grew up in Memphis, was choosing where she would study after high school. “I always had the ambition of going to college one day but had never seen a college campus until I was a senior in high school and got invited to visit UVA,” she said. “I saw this campus that looked like every campus I’d ever dreamed of. It was a very romantic experience to think about being a student there.”

Teresa was awarded a Minority Presence Fellowship. “It was a boost for my family to have the opportunity to go tuition-free to a university like Virginia,” she said. She went on to become an Echols Scholar. “UVA was a great place for me to go to school, and of course I met the love of my life there,” she said. “Joseph was a big part of refreshing my journey through UVA, introducing me to more African American students, and broadening my view of the University and its place in the world.” The Roseboroughs were married in the University Chapel six days after Teresa walked the Lawn.

Joseph joined the Army and served in Germany for four years. Teresa joined him there and worked as a counselor for the Department of Defense in a community drug and alcohol assistance center for soldiers. Both Roseboroughs earned their master’s of education while in Germany through a Boston University program that sent professors abroad to teach. “It allowed us to read, study, and write together, which was a great experience,” remembered Teresa.

The Roseboroughs returned to North Carolina, where Joseph had grown up, and both attended law school at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Joseph practiced law for a small firm in Atlanta, then moved on to corporate practice. In [year] he started his own firm and is the longest-serving member of the State Bar of Georgia Board of Governors. “I believe that lawyers are the ones who will always keep the ship righted and headed in the right path,” he said.

While still practicing law, Joseph is now attending seminary school. “I’m very active in my church, and very faithful,” he said. “I love history, and theology is all about history, beliefs, and faith, so it’s been a great experience.”

“From day one of law school I felt I was in the right place doing the right thing,” said Teresa. “That being a lawyer was my calling.” She clerked for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge James Dickson Phillips Jr. and for U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, then worked in private practice in Atlanta. During this time the Roseboroughs welcomed a daughter, Courtney.

Teresa was appointed to work for Janet Reno as a deputy assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel. “The issuances of executive orders, the resolution of disputes between the agencies of the United States about the scope of their powers—all those issues and questions came to the Office of Legal Counsel,” she said. “It was a remarkable vantage point for learning about the how the Constitution works in real life.”

The Roseboroughs in their Atlanta home. Joseph Roseborough is attending seminary school while still practicing law.

After a return to private practice and 15 years as the chief of litigation for Met Life, Teresa joined Home Depot as executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary in 2011. She recalls taking a class in constitutional law with Larry Sabato, who had recently arrived at the University. “I had always thought of the Constitution as sacrosanct, and he brought a critical eye to looking at the constitutional guarantees.”

Joseph, who majored in psychology, cites professors Joe Tavormina and E. Mavis Heatherington and assistant dean Gilbert Roy as his academic mentors. “They helped me focus on the academics of the school and the benefits of it,” he remembers. “Even though I was a student-athlete, my favorite memories are of these academic professors.” He also admired the way Head Football Coach Dick Bestwick led the way in emphasizing academics for his players.

Both Teresa and Joseph expressed deep appreciation for William Harris, dean of the Office of African American Affairs, which had been established in 1976. “When we were there, there were maybe 200 or 300 African Americans at UVA,” said Teresa. “He met all of us. He made sure that we were meeting each other, that we knew him as a resource, that we were inspired by where we were and what we were having the opportunity to do.” “We can’t revisit our time at the University without highlighting that experience,” added Joseph. “Dean Harris created opportunities for us to have community. He was invested in all of the students’ lives.”

The Roseboroughs have been faithful supporters of the Virginia Athletics Foundation and the College of Arts & Sciences. They stay connected to the University by attending Black Alumni Weekends on Grounds and UVA events in Atlanta.

“As the years have gone by, the opportunities presented by having an UVA education have grown as its stature has grown, the campus has expanded, more and more people have gone through there and the networks have grown,” said Teresa. “It not only was a great experience at the time, it’s an experience that’s gotten better year after year.”