University of Virginia Library

Two Student Groups Meet
With Governor's Aides

By Peter Shea
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Taking advantage of Governor Linwood
Holton's campaign promise to
make the Capitol accessible to youth, two
delegations of University students have
arranged meetings with aides of the
Governor to discuss issues which concern
students.

A group of Student Council members
met with two aides just before exams and
discussed problems at the University and,
in particular, the Council recommendations
to the Board of Visitors.

A second group will talk with the
same aides on Thursday in a meeting
arranged by T. Braxton Woody, an
association dean at the University. Dean
Woody said yesterday that he did not
know who would comprise the delegation or
what would be discussed at that meeting.

Biennial Report

The Councilmen, at the pre-exam visit to
Richmond, delivered the biennial Council
report to the State Legislature and presented
that body with copies of the dossiers on each of
the persons whom the Council had recommended
for nomination to the Board of
Visitors.

The same day, the Councilmen, Bud Ogle,
Jim Roebuck, Paul Hurdle, and Tom Gardner,
met with Staige Blackford and John Ritchie,
two of Mr. Holton's aides to discuss those
nominations and problems at the University.

Mr. Ogle, outgoing Council President,
reported that the meeting was divided into two
segments; however, most of the time was spent
on the Visitor recommendations. The students
stressed the urgency of nominating young
people to the Board, including at least one
black.

Visitor Qualifications

Mr. Ogle said the Councilmen claimed that
any potential Visitor must satisfy three
qualifications: he must be "concerned with the
University and State colleges in the Commonwealth;"
he must be "qualified as a person;"
and he must "be able to communicate with the
blacks and youth of Virginia."

Mr. Roebuck, the newly elected President,
said yesterday that he felt the meeting "went
really well. There was fairly good, open
discussion, quite a contrast to the Godwin
meeting last year."

Last Year's Meeting

Mr. Roebuck was referring to the time
last year when a group of students spoke to
then Governor Mills Godwin. Reportedly, Mr.
Godwin told those students that since they
were students, they should go home to study.

Dean Woody reported yesterday that he
arranged the second meeting shortly after the
Councilmen's conference at the request of "a
student at the University." He refused to reveal
who made the request and said that he did not
know more than one or two of the delegation.

Mystery Group

Staige Blackford, one of the Holton aides,
also said that he himself did not know who
would make up the group. However, Mr.
Blackford said that Dean Woody described the
group as "representing conservative thinking,
whatever that's supposed to mean."

Mr. Blackford added that he received the
impression that Dean Woody would not be one
of the members of the group. Apparently, Mr.
Blackford limited the number of participants to
five although Dean Woody requested about a
dozen.

Dean Woody said that he would not divulge
who requested the conference because he
thought the students did not want the meeting
to be publicized.

Mr. Blackford said that this was in no way
to be a secret meeting, nothing that the press
would probably request a brief statement
concerning the meeting as it did following the
Council's meeting.

Mr. Blackford said that he also did not know
what the second group desired to discuss at the
11 a.m. conference. He said that his job was to
talk with students who had legitimate proposals
and that he had met with similar groups from
VCU as well.

Mr. Blackford seconded Mr. Roebuck's
appraisal of the pram meeting which, in
addition to the Visitors question, also covered
the problems of black enrollment at the
University, desegregation in the state, and
unemployment.

Concerned Aides

According to Mr. Roebuck, both Mr. Ritchie
and Mr. Blackford were "very concerned with
the question of blacks at the University and
on the Board of Visitors."

Mr. Blackford said that the Council
recommendations and any recommendations by
the other group will be considered along with
hundreds of others. He stated that Governor
Holton will make his nominations at the end of
the month.