University of Virginia Library

Admissions Changes Urged

IFC Elects Two New Officers

By Thom Faulders
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Elections for two offices of the
Interfraternity Council took place
last night with Jack Rhoades and
Brian Shankman being elected
secretary and treasurer respectively.

The IFC also took a stand on
the admission of Negro students to
the University. In a two point plan,
a motion was passed by the
fraternity body to urge the Office
of Admissions to hire a Negro
recruiter and reconsider the present
admissions policies in favor of those
applicants who come from
underprivileged backgrounds.

In the campaign for secretary,
Mr. Rhoades defeated Jay Costen
by a margin of ten votes, 19 to
nine. Mr. Rhoades stressed that the
office needed an objective person
who was interested in promoting
the IFC through a variety of
opportunities that the office
offered. Mr. Costen felt that there
was a need to bridge the
communications gap.

Mr. Shankman was elected
unanimously as there was no other
candidate to oppose him.

Rod MacDonald introduced a
motion to the body urging the
IFC's approval on the admissions
question. The final motion was
stated as follows;

"Resolved: That the
Interfraternity Council, recognizing
its obligation to the strengthening
of the University community, urges
the administration of the University
to enact the following:

1. The hiring of a Negro recruiter
in the Office of Admissions;

2. The Admission Office's use of
different criteria for determining
admission of a student whose
cultural and social background
makes present standard
inapplicable."

After two motions to table the
resolution for further discussion in
each fraternity house and a motion
to split the two points so they
would be voted on separately, the
resolution passed.

Second Part

The second part of the motion,
which originally read, "the waiving
of high admission standards for
those students who show promise
but lack of a normal level of
cultural opportunity," was subject
to much debate. Several
representatives noted that the
Scholastic Aptitude Tests, which
are used by the Admissions Office
to initially cut the list of applicants,
were aimed at the white, middle
class cultural level and hindered
students from less cultured
backgrounds from doing as well as
possible.

One representative urged the
immediate and forceful passage of
the proposal to dispel any ideas of
discrimination among fraternities
and to push the administration
from their presently slow action.

Lower Standards

Another representative
countered with an argument based
on the fear that the motion
advocated the lowering of
admissions standards for a select
few. President Ed Hayes stepped
from the chair to say that
fraternities have been notorious for
discriminating against minority
groups, and added that he felt the
IFC should pass the motion to erase
any doubts in that area and to
support active recruiting on a
nondiscriminatory basis.

In other business, the IFC as a
group supported the soliciting of
money on the Grounds for starving
children in Biafra and the passage
of the coeducation issue in the
coming election.

Aid For Biafra

Today and tomorrow all students at the University are invited
to participate in the United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF)
campaign to aid the starving in Biafra by depositing the cost of
one meal in one of the ballot boxes located about the grounds.
All contributions will help defray the burden involved in sending
emergency relief supplies into the fighting zone.