University of Virginia Library

Council Endorses Schenkkan Plan
Allowing Student Dorm Control

By Tom Adams
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Last night the Student
Council passed the second of
three motions presented by
Peter Schenkkan at their first
meeting this year. Mr.
Schenkkan's motions, if
approved by the Board of
Visitors, would allow the
residents of University
dormitories to set and enforce
their own regulations.

As presented originally, the
motion passed by the Council
last night permitted first-year
students to set the rules for their
dormitories but left the
enforcement of these rules up to
the counselors.

But an amendment by
Jackson Lears was approved by
the Council making the
enforcement of the rules in
first-year dormitories identical
with those in the upper-class
dormitories.

The motion, as amended and
passed, reads "The power to
make and enforce dormitory
rules and regulations other than
those concerning visitors of the
opposite sex shall be delegated to
the residents of the dormitory
areas to the extent and in the
manner prescribed below:

"Initial policy-making shall be
the responsibility of committees
of the individual dormitory areas
and, in the case of married
student housing, of the Married
Students' Association.
Recommendations from these
organizations shall be used by
the Student Council in
negotiating final rules with the
relevant authorities.

Enforcement of Rules

Enforcement of these rules
shall be the responsibility of the
Dormitory Residence Councils of
the dormitory areas, where they
now exist, or in parallel
organizations to be created where
needed. Appeals may be made to
the Review Board and from that
body to the Dean of Student
Affairs, who may reduce but not
increase penalties imposed.

"Dormitory counselor
programs that exist in these areas
shall be removed completely
from the authority of the
Housing Office, and their
Executive Committees shall
report directly to the Committee
on Students. Counselors in these
areas shall have no disciplinary
functions or powers not enjoyed
by any other resident of their
dormitory area."

Visitation Rules

The first of the three
motions, which passed last week,
dealt with visitation rules in the
dormitories and allowed student
committees to make and enforce
rules concerning visitors of the
opposite sex in much the same
way the second motion would
allow for other rules.

Mr. Schenkkan did not bring
his third motion, dealing with
student membership on
committees that would regulate
appeals in cases of dormitory
misconduct, off the table because
of a need for more information
on the exact duties of these
committees.

Titus Present

Chester Titus, Director of
University Housing, was present
at the Council meeting to answer
questions over the rights of the
landlord in the dormitories.

"I think this thing is great,"
he began. "I don't think there is
in any way complete agreement
that we have the best system."
Mr. Titus was unable to state or
give examples of "the minimum"
rules the Housing Office would
require for the dormitories.

He did comment on giving
first-year men control over
enforcement of dormitory rules.
"I think that the fact that
first-year men are separated from
others makes them a special
case," he said. He continued
saying, "I don't think first-year
men have the maturity or
capability to enforce rules in the
dormitory."

Similar To Apartments

Peter Schenkkan suggested
that the Housing Office could
protect its property by
establishing rules similar to those
in area apartments.

In other business, George
McMillan presented two motions
concerning the use of motor
vehicles on the Grounds. His first
motion asked "that the Student
Council request the Traffic
Control Committee to reinterpret
the following regulation (which
was passed by the Board of
Visitors this summer):

'A student shall be eligible to
operate a motor vehicle if he has
a grade point average of a 2.00,
except undergraduates with less
than two semesters of residence,
transfer students with less than
one semester of residence, and
students on academic or social
probation;' to allow any
undergraduate with the
aforementioned exceptions to
operate a motor vehicle if he has
a 2.00 cumulative average or if he
has a 2.00 average for the last
regular session of his attendance
at the University.

Motion Passes

He said that he presented the
motion because the current
interpretation of the rule denies
the privilege to a student "with
perhaps a 2.8 cumulative average
but who received a 1.9 his
previous semester." The motion
passed unanimously.

His second motion had to do
with the use of the parking
facilities on Route 29. He asked
that they be cleared at certain
times for a month as part of an
experiment. This motion was also
passed.