University of Virginia Library

Coalition, Relations Council Reply To Shannon Letter

The following letter was written in response to the
letter sent by President Shannon to Student Council
President Ponrend Hichman which appeared in yesterday's
issue of The Cavalier Daily.

The letter was drafted by Bud Ogle and was approved
by both the executive committee of the Martin Luther
King, Jr. Chapter of the Virginia Council on Human
Relations and the Student Coalition.

In warning against the increasing polarity between
black and white people in the United States, the
President's Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders
stressed that there was no middle ground for concerned
individuals and institutions — you are either part of the
problem or you are part of the solution.

Unfortunately, despite recent efforts and decent
intentions, the University of Virginia still remains part of
the problem in the Commonwealth and nations' attempts
to provide equal opportunity for all men. Remedial steps
have been taken but not enough of them fast enough.
This is not the place to question President Shannon's
motives or intentions. The coalition and Human Relations
Council do, however, question President Shannon's
understanding of the University's problems and his
methods of dealing with them.

Shannon Challenged To Debate

We, therefore, challenge President Shannon and/or any
members of his administration to a public
debate/discussion on the proposals forwarded to him by
the Student Council. We will meet anytime, anywhere and
have reserved Cabell Hall Auditorium for next Thursday
evening, March 6, for 8 p.m. Because we feel that the
issue are of such crucial importance to the University's
future we solicit your suggestions and assistance, tactical
and substantive. Since the need for the proposals
presented by the Student Council is prima facie, we are
disappointed at the Administration's wavering response.
Mr. Shannon's immediate reconsideration is necessary.

Our concern has been, and will continue to be, that all
citizens of the Commonwealth and all students at the
University shall have equal educational opportunity; that
all University employees have a right to receive a living
wage. At this level of rhetoric we are in full accord with
President Shannon, but Mr. Shannon fails to understand
the particular problem we face. We are not contending
that Black students and faculty are discriminated against
after applying to the University, that is, until they
actually arrive at the University. We continue to belabor
the obvious, despite non-discriminatory official policy.
Black people are not presently attracted to the University.
The problem is not one of blatant discrimination but of
subtle discouragement which, compounded in a racist
state and a racist society, becomes a more sinister form of
discrimination. In other words, rather than constantly
reiterate non-discriminatory pledges, the University must
provide creative leadership to encourage Black people to
participate fully in University life. At a conference for
high school guidance counselors sponsored by the School
of Education November 8, 1968, representatives from at
least fifteen schools were surprised, some even amazed, at
the Human Relations Council's invitation to encourage
Black students to attend the University of Virginia. In
1968 they were still operating under the assumption that
Black people are unwelcome in Charlottesville's
University. If we seriously desire more Black students,
better faculty, better conditions at the University, we
must work extra hard to create an atmosphere which will
encourage all qualified students in Virginia to feel
welcome. We are not asking for a quota, nor are we
demanding a non-discriminatory pledge, we are insisting
that the University must work overtime to overcome a
longstanding feeling held by many people that the
University of Virginia is a school for well-to-do white
gentlemen.

President Shannon's first mistake is to misunderstand
the problem. The problem is not one of blatant exclusion
of Black people. Rather, it is a positive problem. We must
actively encourage Black students and faculty, we must
create a positive atmosphere at the University. The
University of Virginia must prove itself to the Black
community, we must not only open the doors to all
qualified students, we must actively and persistently
encourage full participation by people who have felt
excluded.

President Shannon's second mistake is one of method,
specifically the Student Council proposals. Reaffirming
commitment to equality is necessary but not sufficient.
The University's activity as outlined by Mr. Saunier in
The Cavalier Daily of February 25 is necessary but not
sufficient. We applaud the University's continued concern
about wages and President Shannon's suggestion that a
student-faculty administration committee be established
"for furthering equal opportunity and racial harmony at
the University." But these are not sufficient either. Any
reasonably intelligent man can see the blatant failure of
past efforts to attract Black students and faculty to the
University of Virginia.

President Shannon has failed in methods because his
letter of February 25, 1969 (Cavalier Daily, February 26) represents no major escalation of commitment on the part
of the Administration. To be specific:

Employees Forced To Moonlight

Employment. Mr. Jenkins, University Director of
Personnel, has indicated that nearly half of University
employees at the maid-janitorial level must moonlight
with another job, some up to an additional 40 hours per
week, in order to support their families. Maids and
janitors, many with families of 5-8 children, begin with a
yearly wage-scale from $2640 to $3456. This ought not
to be tolerated.

Employee Organizations. While we do not have a copy
of the directive, we understand that Commonwealth
Attorney General Button has instructed State institutions
not to bargain collectively with employee associations.
This is in clear support of Senate Joint Resolution No. 12,
February 8, 1946, which prohibits dealing with public
employees as members of a union or employment
association. There is, in addition, a state statute which
prohibits strikes and boycotts by state employees. We
appreciate. President Shannon's endorsement of the right
to join unions, but this right is of little value without the
concurrent right to collective bargaining and striking.

Flippant President

Enrollment of University at Charlottesville. President
Shannon's flippant dismissal of this point by arguing its
absurdity — a microcosm of the state would require a 90%
female enrollment in the college — purposely befuddles
the real concern that the incoming student body represent
the qualified high school graduates in the state — poor,
women, Blacks, etc.

Board of Visitors. While President Shannon's
reluctance to recommend particular individuals to the
Governor is understandable, a forthright statement on his
behalf that future appointments to the Board should
represent the interests of the Commonwealth's Black
community and the Commonwealth's poor, would help
alleviate any suspicions of the Board's sincere concern for
equal educational opportunity. As Larry Fortune,
President of Lane High School's student Human Relations
Committee, stated so eloquently at Tuesday evening's
Student Council meeting, the Black community sees great
hypocrisy at a University whose Board of Visitors is 100%
white, whose faculty is 99.9% white, whose student body
is 99% white.

Black Studies. While the Administration gives the
illusion of movement here, the ethnic studies program
proposed by President Shannon seems to be a far cry
from the Black Studies program proposed over a year ago
by the Black students at the University and advocated
earlier this year by Professor Wesley Harris, the Black
student association, and the Human Relations Council.
Mr. Shannon's proposal makes no reference to hiring
Black faculty — even on a part-time basis — to coordinate
the program and conduct seminars on the Black
experience in America. The University's present white
instructor in Black history can give eloquent testimony
for the need to have Black teachers. President Shannon's
proposal appears to do little to educate present students
about the Black experience or encourage Black high
school students to attend.

Temporary Transitional Program

Transitional Program. Clearly the University needs
Foundation or Federal support for a $600,000 five-year
program. This is not what the faculty committee on
educational opportunity is asking. Dean Alan Williams has
agreed that with volunteer faculty and staff support the
program can be temporarily established for $25,000. With
the Student Council already in support and the recently
formed Students for the Transitional Program '69 the
University need only commit $15 to $20,000. If the great
enthusiasm for equal educational opportunity can not
even carry a $20,000 price tag the depth of the
Administration's commitment is questionable. Again, the
transitional program will serve to attract highly capable
students to the University if we really want them. It is a
question of priorities — Mr. Shannon's decision again
indicates a willingness to stand on a past losing record.

Photographs and Fees. The request to make
photographs optional on applications for admission stems
from a deep-seated carry-over of a tradition that if a
picture was requested Blacks need not apply. Many
people still feel that a required photograph says "not
welcome." If optional, any student who felt it would
work to his advantage could still send a picture. The
requirement would no longer discourage some from even
applying.

Application Fee.

The controversy over the $10 application fee
illustrates the confusion surrounding the search for
methods to encourage Black people to apply. Because
Black people traditionally to not apply to the University
but send their $10 fees to Virginia Union, Virginia State,
etc. We ought to do all we can to encourage them to also
apply to the University of Virginia. The $10 fee is just
one additional discouragement for low-income students,
especially Black low-income students. It should be made
optional at the discretion of a high school guidance
counselor or University recruiter to be paid only after
acceptance. President Shannon's offer to pay the fees
after the expense incurred would relieve the financial
burden presently carried by the Human Relations Council
but would not encourage low-income students to apply.

Assistant Dean. It is indeed amazing that one day Mr.
Saunier can say "In December, in response to many
students' petitions Ernest H. Ern, dean of admissions,
named Fred T. Stokes, a Negro, as an assistant to the
dean. Mr. Stokes has a background in counseling and
Virginia public school administration. He works half-time
in the admissions office while he is completing his
master's degree. He administers a special program of
communication with and evaluation of black and
disadvantaged applicants." (CD, Feb. 25, 1969) and the
next day President Shannon can reply, "no positions
specifically for black admissions officers, or for any other
officer designated by color, have been or will be
established by the University." (CD, Feb. 26, 1969). The
need is self-evident, Mr. Stokes' excellent work so far
proves its feasibility. We really did not think that battle
had to be fought all over again.

Escalation Of Commitment

Because we ought not let Presidential
misunderstanding block the actual, not theoretical,
integration of the University, we require an escalation of
commitment by the University Administration.

Further discussion, Human Relations Council meeting,
tonight at 8 in the South Meeting Room of Newcomb
Hall.