My husband attended UVA back in the 80's, too, but he
never mentioned that racial slurs were ever tossed at him. There was some tension at UVA at the time, but probably not any more so than anywhere else, and not to the extent in this article, as far as I was told, anyway.
There was the whole shanty on the Lawn thing--a la Dartmouth. I knew one of the guys who tore it down and he was an incredible racist. We tried to pledge a black girl to my sorority and he went bananas about it. (Not that it made a difference!) Yuck.
But I don't remember anything overtly racist like this.
I know there is talk this is fake, but knowing that guy makes me think anything is possible.
There is a conservative bent in a lot of the students which I loved, but some good old boys could take it too far.