University of Virginia Library

Shannon
Defends Push
For Expansion

By RICHARD PETTY

President Edgar F. Shannon told the
Jefferson Literary and Debating Society
Friday night that the pressure for
expansion was coming, not from the
University administration, the Board of
Visitors, or the state legislature, but from
qualified Virginia applicants who feel that
they can compete at the University, but
are denied admission.

Mr. Shannon explained that several
years ago the University was able to
defeat a bill introduced into the state
legislature that required a ceiling of 25 per cent
on out of state students only by proving that
the University was admitting all qualified
Virginia applicants.

"Pressure is coming from qualified
applicants," Mr. Shannon stated. "If you turn
down Virginia students who are clearly
qualified, another bill may be introduced into
the legislature that will require us to take in less
out of state students."

In his speech to a capacity audience in
Jefferson Hall, Mr. Shannon discussed the
relationship of the University to the state
government and explained in great detail the
procedures that the University must follow in
order to obtain funds from the state. He traced
the requests for funds from the individual
departments at the University, through the
various committees of the state, and finally
through the legislature in Richmond.

The University's biennial budget was
presented to the state legislature on August 15
of this year and Mr. Shannon expects action on
the 1972-1974 request in January or February,
but passage is not assured. Mr. Shannon stated:
"The political climate is uncertain. It will be a
new General Assembly with a new lieutenant
governor, and higher education is not very
popular across the country."

After the conclusion of the twenty minute
speech, a panel questioned Mr. Shannon on the
expansion issue and several questions were
fielded from the floor.

On the growth issue, Mr. Shannon
conceded that "we have run a bit ahead, but
some expansion is due to the fact that fewer
students at the University are dropping out, and
there was an unexpected increase in the
graduate enrollment. Some expansion is also
due to coeducation."

Mr. Shannon received the greatest applause
of the evening when he spoke on the Jefferson
Society's policy of not admitting women. "I
would hope," he said, "that one day the
Society will be as much for coeducation as I
am."

A charge that the University's standards
were declining due to expansion was denied by
Mr Shannon. He declared that in the past four
years the number of students on the Dean's list
increased substantially, and that the number of
entering students ranking in the top fifth of
their class has also risen steadily.

In response to a question, Mr. Shannon
stated that he felt his primary responsibility as
president of the University was to provide a
stimulating academic environment for the
students.

When asked if he was concerned about the
effects of growth on the Honor System, Mr.
Shannon replied that he was, and that "we have
to watch it carefully, and like anything worth
preserving it will take work. The residential
colleges should help to bring back smaller
groups at the University."

In some more general comments on
University growth Mr. Shannon stated that "the
University has had a slow expansion in
comparison to other state universities, and
outside of the University of Colorado we have
more out of state students than any other state
university."