University of Virginia Library

New Recruiter Plans
'Honest, Sincere Effort'

By Jay Steer
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

"I plan to make an honest
attempt to recruit as many
qualified black students and black
athletes as I can," said Fred T.
Stokes, new part-time assistant to
Admissions Dean Ernest Ern in an
interview with The Cavalier Daily
yesterday.

Active Role

"My role in this office will not
be of passiveness. If I did not plan
to make an honest effort in my new
capacity, I would not have taken
this position," Mr. Stokes added. "I
hope to see the black enrollment at
the University triple in the very
near future."

Mr. Stokes, the first Negro
admissions officer in the
University's history, was hired last
December from the University's
department of central personnel
where he supervised last year a
program of special training and
education for black employees of
the University.

Richmond Concentration

Mr. Stokes said yesterday that
he will concentrate his recruiting
efforts on the black students from
the Richmond area. "In the past,
schools from the North, especially
the lvy League schools, have been
the ones to recruit successfully
black students," he added. "Efforts
have just not been made by the
University to talk to these black
students and convince them to
come to the University

Mr. Stokes also said that often
family ties and other factors
influence a large percentage of
black students to go to Howard
University, a predominantly black
University in Washington, D.C.

"For example," he added, "five
black students from one Richmond
High School were all given
scholarships to the prestigious lvy
League universities. In fact the
secondary school system fro black
students in Richmond is second to
none."

Personal Contact

Mr. Stokes noted that in the
next few weeks he plans to review
all the applications for admission to
the University by black students. I
plan to make some sort of personal
contact with all the black
applicants." He added that more
black students applied for
admission to the University this
year than last year.

Mr. Stokes emphasized
yesterday that he does not intend
to be a "puppet" explained to
The Cavalier Daily that he had been
through the school integration
problem in the 1950's. "It's too
late to change my attitude in
mid-stream. I have to live will
myself," he said.

Immediate Steps

Speaking on the immediate
steps which led up to his being
hired by the admissions office, Mr.
Stokes said that "the efforts of The
Cavalier Daily, and other interested
student organizations may have
speeded up this process, although
the admissions office has been
contacting people for my job for
quite a while.

Hard Feeling

"How a black student enrolled
at the University feels is quite hard
to describe." Mr. Stokes said. "But
I would say that the black student
here feels ignored - socially
ignored - by other students, the
community, and by the entire
atmosphere of the University. This
condition would exist among all
schools, undergraduate and
graduate, of the University."

Some Help

Mr. Stokes confided to The
Cavalier Daily that he only plans to
stay in this part-time position until
the end of August or September,
He said that he is obligated to
return to the Richmond Public
school system where he has been
teaching for the past 14 years.

But he did say yesterday that he
would not leave without trying his
hardest to add to the black
enrollment at the University and
without trying to help the
University obtain a full-time black
admissions recruiter.

Valuable Position

Mr; Stokes felt that his new
position will be of some value.
"While we're waiting to find a full
time recruiter, a person working on
the staff part-time can only help
improve the racial situation at the
University," he said.

Mr. Stokes said that he will be
leaving Charlottesville tomorrow
for a few days to go to Richmond
and the surrounding area to make
good his promise to contact every
black student that has applied for
admission to the University.

He said that during Spring break
he plans to take a trip down to the
Norfolk area to get in touch with
and recruit qualified students from
that area.

Fortunate

Dean Ern of the Admissions
office told The Cavalier Daily
earlier that "we are fortunate that
Mr. Stokes is already on the
University staff and thus can assist
us immediately in handling
applications for next year's class."

Mr. Ern continued to say that
Mr. Stokes' background and
experience, particularly in
secondary schools with
predominant Negro enrollments,
"will enable him to improve the
accuracy of our evaluations of the
"academicbility" of applicants and
of potential applicants from
deprived situations.