University of Virginia Library

Residential College System
Presented At Council Session

By Tom Adams
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

A proposal for residential colleges
at the University was presented
to Student Council by Ron
Hickman, chairman of the master
plan committee of the Council.

The draft of the proposal begins:
"In 1819, Thomas Jefferson
established the University
'based on the illimitable freedom
of the human mind.' Mr. Jefferson's
emphasis on the 'illimitable
freedom of the human mind'
was evidenced not only in the
classrooms of the original University
but also in the living
facilities of his 'academical village.'

Environmental Integration

"The emphasis was on total
education, intellectual and social.
As the need for more facilities
arose, housing followed the
original trends of close integration
into the environment of
learning that the Lawn and
Ranges began. Not until the
construction of the McCormick
Road dormitory complex was
there a real break in this trend.

"At that time, the University
seemed to abandon all efforts to
have the living facilities play a
vital role in the student's education.
The ever-increasing need for
dormitory space over the past
decade has seen the construction
of the Alderman Road and Observatory
Hill dormitories.

"These are certainly an improvement
over the McCormick
Road dorms but still leave much
to be desired. It is time for a
return to the original Jeffersonian
aims."

Report of Trend

Two years ago the Long
Range Planning Committee of
the Student Council presented a
report of general trends in housing
here and at other universities.

The committee hopes that
their report will be a logical extension
of the report submitted
two years ago.

At present, the University is
experiencing a lull in the need
for construction of dormitory
space. "This offers the University
an excellent opportunity to
examine fully the role housing
should play in this educational
environment," the report states.

The report continues: "One of
the major goals of a residential
college system at this University
would be to have housing play a
truly significant role in a student's
education. The student
would have the opportunity for
closer, more informal relationships
with the faculty."

Many smaller, private colleges
have had residential college systems
for years. But recently,
larger state universities have begun
to use residential college
systems. Schools such as Michigan
State University, the University
of Massachusetts, and the
University of North Carolina
have established residential college
systems primarily as an effort
to overcome the problems
of "bigness."

Overcoming "Bigness"

The University has not yet
reached the stage of "bigness,"
but the day is rapidly approaching
when it will. The report
states, "The University is in a
position to avoid the difficulties
of "bigness" if it takes the proper
precautions now. But if the
chance is missed in the next
building of dorms, it seems inevitable
that just such a problem
could arise.

Elliott Perkins, in the Founder's
Day Address he gave in
April, 1965, was very concerned
with the use of residence as an
educational force. In particular,
he recommended the residential
college system as a means of
acquiring the objectives of higher
education:

Moral Values

"Learning can be imparted by
lecturers and libraries; but manners,
which in this context mean
more than deportment, for they
mean moral values, and that
whole complex of standards by
which a man judges himself and
himself in relation to other men,
must be acquired.

"They must be acquired
through association, and, in the
context of collegiate education,
association requires residence."

Mr. Perkins spoke from his
experience with the House system
at Harvard, where he had
been a House Master.

The report defines the term
"residential college" as "a variety
of living-learning systems.
These systems begin with the
literal 'college' that involves student
residences, faculty residences,
classrooms, its own faculty
and curriculum, and that awards
its own degree (while still being
a part of a larger university).

"At the other end of the scale
is the college that is purely residential
involving student residences
and related facilities but
little or no faculty participation.

"These may be just very adequate
dormitories in the strictest
sense. In light of existing trends
and developments at Virginia,
this proposal is for a residential
college that would fall between
the two extremes.

Type Of Plan Dictated

The present physical plant of
the University dictates to a large
extent the type of residential college
system which would be most
practical.

The individual colleges of the
system would need no classroom
facilities as adequate classroom
space either exist or are in the
planning stage. The Law School
and the Business School will
move to new facilities in the
near future, providing additional
space for undergraduate instruction.

Experimental College

But, in the early 1970's, with
the projected increase in enrollment,
the University will have
need for additional dormitory
space. The Committee recommends
that the University construct
on an experimental basis
a residential college designed to
house 500 students.

If the first college proves successful,
additional colleges could
then be added. The Committee
would not recommend designing a
college to house more than 500
students.

The Committee proposal includes
the construction of a complex
which in addition to student
living quarters would include
facilities for a limited library
collection designed to encourage
the habit of reading, a common
dining area to promote association,
recreational facilities, social
area, space for a limited number
of faculty and graduate tutor
offices and a house for a faculty
and graduate tutor offices and a
house for a faculty residence.

A residential college system
which closely resembles the one
the Committee recommends for
implementation at the University
is in operation at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill.

To pay for the residential
college an additional $750,000 to
$1,000,000 will be needed above
the room rents. The Committee
suggests that a special fund-raising
campaign be launched at
once through the office of Redevelopment
and Public Affairs
to raise funds from alumni and
friends of the University to subsidize
the construction of the
residential college.

Concerning the role of fraternities
under a residential college
system the report reads: "It
is our considered opinion that
the systems of residential colleges
and fraternities are not
mutually exclusive.

Changing Fraternities

"There is no reason that one
should mean the demise of the
other. However, the Committee
is aware that the role of fraternities
on college campuses is
changing. These changes are evident
at every university in the
country that has fraternities associated
with it. Also, the majority
of fraternities here at Virginia
face problems of physical
expansion and the need for new
development in the near future.

The Committee recommends
that the Inter-Fraternity Council
undertake an investigation of
fraternity situation with regard
to the possible implementation
of a residential college system
and the problems fraternities
face with the need for expansion
and new development."

In conclusion, the committee
warns that "proximity alone will
not assure good inter-personal
relations. An opportunity to have
a meal together or just a cup of
coffee is a step toward stronger
student-faculty integration. But
the success of the system will depend
on much more.

"It requires a sincere effort
made on the administration, the
faculty, and the students alike.
The Committee hopes this report
will be a beginning."