University of Virginia Library

1968 — University Events In Review

By Thom Faulders
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

The year of 1968 was significant
not only to the world
in general, but also to the
University, as changes such as
the hiring of a Negro admissions
officer and a release
of a major faculty report favoring
coeducation took place on
the Grounds.

Reviewing this past year, the
news staff of The Cavalier Daily,
paralleling the writers of the wire
services, nominated and voted for
the top news stories at the University.
The voting took place in two
categories: The top news events and
the most significant news stories.

The news events from 1968 that
the staff felt held most student
interest are as follows:

1. The "borrowing" of the torch
from the 1968 Olympic Games in
Mexico City by the editors of
Rapier magazine;

2. The hiring of Fred Stokes as
the assistant to the Dean of Admissions
for the admission of Negro
students;

3. The faculty committee report
favoring coeducation at the University;

4. The Student Council's passage
of a rule forbidding University
organizations from using segregated
facilities;

5. The rescinding of the requirement
for installation of sprinkler
systems in three story buildings in
which students live.

Rapier Torch Fiasco

While the top news story on the
AP and UPI wires was the historic
lunar orbiting of the Apollo VIII,
the presence of the real Olympic
flame in Charlottesville captivated
the attention of most of the members
of Mr. Jefferson's academical
village during October.

According to the editors of
Rapier magazine, members of their
staff allegedly intercepted the real
torch in route from Vera Cruz to
Mexico City and substituted a replica
that had been lighted from a
Zippo lighter for the Mount
Olympus flame.

As a gesture of good will, the
flame was run to Washington and
the Mexican Embassy by as many
as forty students, who ran a mile
each; it was to be presented to
whomever would accept it at the
front door of the Embassy. The
flame was extinguished after no one
appeared at the door.

The story received national
coverage from television and wire
services, but was plagued by
rumors. Perhaps the most prevalent
question asked by most was, "Is
this for real? The only official
answer obtainable was, "You'll
never know, will you?

The hiring of Fred T. Stokes
occupied the number two spot on
the poll as he was the first Negro
assigned to the Office of Admissions.
His job, according to an
admissions office spokesman, is to
assist part-time in the recruiting of
"disadvantaged high school juniors
and seniors interested in higher
education."

Hired After Demonstrations

Mr. Stokes was hired after a
number of demonstrations and
many discussions on the matter
from the Virginia Council on
Human Relations, Black Student
Union, and the Student Council.
The announcement which appeared
in The Cavalier Daily in mid-December
noted that Mr. Stokes
hoped to be successful in recruiting
Negro students, possibly tripling
the present enrollment.

Already a member of the University
staff, Mr. Stokes indicated
that he would concentrate his
efforts on the Richmond area and
added that more Negro students
have applied to the University this
year than last. He promised an
honest, sincere effort and planned
to personally contact all students
that might wish to attend the University.

Admission of women to the
University's College of Arts and
Sciences came a step closer with
the issuing of the 18-month-long
study of Dean T. Braxton Woody
Committee on Coeducation.

The Committee's conclusion
was that, "If the University of
Virginia at Charlottesville is to
fulfill its function as a state university,
it must open its doors to all
qualified citizens of the state without
discrimination with respect to
race, color religion, national origin,
and sex.

The report opened by testing
the legality of an all-male institution,
and noted the possibility of
being forced to admit female students
by court orders. The report
summed up the problem: "discrimination
has legal as well as moral
implications."

The use of segregated facilities
prompted the number four news
item of the year. The Student
Council prohibited the use of discriminatory
facilities by University
organizations with the passage of a
resolution in January, Outings at
such places planned by two University
groups caused dissension on the

Council regarding its enforcement.

Temporary suspension of the
motion was voted at the next meeting
to study the situation. Because
of the alleged inaction of the
Council, many students as well as
faculty members petitioned to it to
reinstate the motion; the following
meeting was held in Cabell Hall
Auditorium to accommodate the
large crowds, and the motion
passed along with several other
non-discriminatory motions.

The sprinkler system controversy
rounded out the top five news
stories, as the University's housing
committee required that any building
with University students living
on the third floor must install an
approved sprinkler system.

The rule was seen as a direct
threat to the future of fraternities
by the Inter-Fraternity Council because
it would most affect fraternity
houses and would have cost
each house $6,000 or more to
obey. The IFC's housing committee
researched the problem to the point
of hiring architects to determine
whether each house qualified under
the Housing Committee's rule and
to find out which of the University
buildings needed to have sprinkler
systems.

With the fraternities unable to
install the protective systems, the
Housing Committee reconsidered
their ruling and rescinded it but
stressed that other means would be
explored to protect the students'
safety.

The other category for the
University's news was that of significant
events that will most affect
the future of the University. The
top five selected were:

1. The coeducation report;

2. The student leaders meeting
with President Shannon at
Mountain Lake Biological Center;

3. The Student Council's
passage of the segregated facilities
rule;

4. The hiring of Fred Stokes as
an assistant to the Dean of Admissions
for the admission of Negro
students;

5. The University Housing
Committee passage of the sprinkler
system ruling, and the $100 deposit
for dormitory rent for second-year
men.

Honorable mention was given to
the barber boycott, the winning
football season, and the record
number of first-year men pledging
this year.

The Mountain Lake Conference
between student leaders, President
Shannon, and members of the administration
was a major step in the
entire liberalizing movement on the
part of the student body and the
administration. The student leaders
were able to establish new depths
of understanding with administrators
on many issues that they
would face in the following year.
The Conference also had the effect
of cutting much of the red tape
that would develop as the issues
were raised.

Barber Boycott

Boycotting the barber shops of
Charlottesville which would not cut
a Negro's hair involved many University
students. Prompted by a
letter appearing in an editorial in
The Cavalier Daily from a professor
describing a small Negro Boy who
was refused a hair cut, students
groups and the Student Council
initiated committees to boycott the
discriminatory shops. Faced with
adverse publicity, the barber shops
on the Corner issued a joint nondiscrimination
statement.

The 7-3 season of the Cavalier
football team was one of the most
enjoyable news events of the year.
The Wahoo gridders posted the best
season in 16 years with promises of
good years to come.

While a December issue of
Newsweek magazine showed how
fraternities around the country are
declining, fraternities at the University
attracted more first-year men
this last year than in any year in the
past. A total of 608 out of 1,428
first-year men pledged making 42.5
per cent of the class members of
Greek letter societies.

There were many stories that
were considered for top honors.
Dean Runk retired from the position
of Dean of the University and Dean
D. Alan Williams replaced him as
Dean of Student Affairs. Last
spring's Student Council election
saw a victory for the Anarchist
Party, while the University Party
placed three out of four winners in
the fall election.

Two Rhodes Scholars

Saturday classes were abolished
for the first time at the beginning
of the semester, and grade requirements
for operating automobiles in
Charlottesville were made substantially
lower. Academically, the
Experimental University was
successfully established, while two
students, Charles Calhoun and
Pieter Schenkken, attained high
academic honor by winning Rhodes
Scholarships.

Although the serious vein held
most of the news of the year,
humor and satire were not entirely
engulfed, as the Cadre, demonstrating
for recognition, kept a small
crowd well entertained with a strip
tease to the "Star Spangled Banner"
on the steps of Minor Hall.