The Cavalier daily. :: Friday, March 21, 1969 :: University of Virginia Library

Approximately $7,040 of the
$23,000 required to finance the
transition program for next summer
has been collected, so far. The sum
collected consists of $5,300 initially
contributed by the University,
$400 collected in Newcomb Hall on
the two "fast days," $450 donated
from the graduate school of Government
and Foreign Affairs, $550
donated in the law school, and
$340 thus far donated by fraternity
houses.

Deadline Changed

The deadline for the fund drive
was to have been today, but since
at least another $17,000 is still
needed the date has been moved up
to April 15. Rawles Jones, a
coordinator for the drive, stressed
that April 15 would not necessarily
be the final deadline; it is merely
the date on which the coordinators
of the drive would like to have the
necessary sum of money or pledges
in.

The deadline was extended also
because people who know about
fund raising are optimistic and
because the administration is planning
to throw its support behind
the program, Mr. Jones said "President
Shannon has said that he will
write a letter to be printed in The
Cavalier Daily urging students and
faculty members to contribute to
the transition program," Mr. Jones
continued.

The facets of the fund drive that
are now in operation are the drive
in the fraternities, sponsored by the
Inter-Fraternity Council, the drive
in the graduate and business
schools, and a drive among the
general student body and business
schools, which, since the fast days,
has only taken the complexion of a
public request for students to
contribute.

Fraternity Contribution

The IFC is acting as collection
agency for the transition fund and
is asking fraternities to contribute
in any manner that they wish -
either by houses or as a whole or as
individual fraternity men. "The
emphasis of this drive is on
individual contributions from fraternity
men to be turned in to the
IFC in a lump sum in the name of
the fraternity, without any direction
from the IFC as to how the
money or how much of it is to be
collected," Bob Fisher, president of
the IFC said.

As of 7 last night, $340 had
been donated by eight houses, and
other houses will have until 5 p.m.
today to turn in whatever contributions
their members may have
made.

Small Sum

"On the surface $340 seems like
a small sum; however, considering
that the fraternities were not
notified of the drive until this
Tuesday and that it usually takes a
good deal of time to raise any
amount of money in a fraternity
house, $340 is a pretty good sum
for the first two days of the drive.

Alexander Sedgwick, associate
professor of History at the University,
is coordinating the transition
fund drive among the faculty and
the graduate schools and, according
to Bud Ogle, is in the process of
contacting as many schools and
faculty members as possible in
order to promote the maximum
number of contributions.

"The fund drive in the general
student body is to be greatly
intensified after spring break," Mr.
Jones said.

He wasn't sure, but he said that
a door to door canvass in the
upper class and first-year dormitories
would probably be initiated
when the school returned from the
break.

Mr. Jones and Mr. Ogle both
told The Cavalier Daily that it is
felt that the Charlottesville community
and all people who are
concerned about the University will
soon join the program and keep the
fund drive going. "Mayor Vogt and
the Charlottesville city government
are in the process of investigating
the feasibility of a community
drive, but nothing definite has been
planned as of now," Mr. Ogle said.

The transition program was
conceived as a pilot study to
determine whether careful recruitment
plus special tutoring in the
post-high school summer and the
first year of college can launch
disadvantaged students toward
earning a B. A. with average or
better than average grades within
the normal four years.

The type of student sought for
the program is one who, despite his
cultural and educational disadvantages
shows motivation, character,
and spark, though not necessarily
academic directions.

Thirty disadvantaged students,
black and white, are to be admitted
each year for two years. At the end
of this period an evaluation will be
made and a decision reached
whether to admit new students into
the program.

The scholarship funds now available
to students at the University
are limited and are entirely distributed
with even-handed justice by a
faculty Committee on Scholarships.

Disadvantaged students would
not at first be eligible for such
scholarship funds because their
objective academic credentials
would be, by definition, substandard.
Consequently, the University
must look elsewhere for support,
especially during the student's
first years.