University of Virginia Library

Jefferson Party Established
By Student Study Committee

By Donn Kessler
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

A new political party has formed on
the Grounds to "represent all groups of
college students." Its name is the
Jefferson Party.

The party was created by a study
committee that was formed in September
to examine the activities of the two
student political societies and the "failure
of the caucuses to elect many candidates
in last year's Student Council elections."
The study group, which met openly this fall
was chaired by Rod MacDonald, Vice President
of Skull and Keys.

Reasons for Party

Joel Gardner, newly-elected President of the
Jefferson Party, stated the reasons for the study
group's decision to form a new party. "We saw
that the caucuses were not fulfilling a realistic
political function. They were only representing
a select number of people around the Grounds
and were not electing their candidates on a
regular basis.

"Due to the imminent demise of the
caucuses," continued Mr. Gardner, "we felt
that a new party was needed to represent the
college students that had gone to the caucuses
and those disenfranchised students such as the
first-year men and the independent students
living off-grounds."

Mr. Gardner felt that "no student political
party now has a democratic way of nominating
candidates. The caucuses only represent fraternities,
and the Virginia Progressive Party
nominated their candidates last year in a smoke
filled room. We intend to do things differently."

One Man - One Vote

"In the Jefferson Party, every man will have
his own vote. Candidates will be nominated in a
convention of which the party will have three.
The first convention will be this fall to
nominate candidates for the Student Council
and Judiciary Committee. The second convention
in the fall will be to nominate College
officer candidates and new officers of the
party. The third convention, which will also be
in the spring, will be to nominate candidates for
the spring election to Student Council and the
Judiciary Committee."

"Right now," said Mr. Gardner, "the party
will only be made up of students from the
College. This may change in the future,
however."

Permanent Organization

The party seems to be organizing an
extensive structure of committees that may
help the party develop into a permanent
student organization. Mr. Gardner commented
on this structure by saying that "the party is
not a one-shot affair. It will be a strong party.
That's why we're setting up committee
structure and what we believe will be a
permanent, legitimized party."

The Jefferson Party now has three standing
committees; a campaign committee, a finance
committee, and a membership committee. It
also plans, according to Mr. Gardner, to
"establish captains in each dormitory, in each
fraternity, and in off-ground housing areas."

No Set Philosophy

"The party," stated Mr. Gardner in response
to a question on party philosophy, "will, we
hope, not be dedicated to any particular
philosophy, but will reflect the beliefs of its
members. Hopefully, however, the party will
not be seeking to nominate people that we
believe to have extremist views, such as Tom
Gardner."

"We are hoping," said Mr. Gardner, that the
caucuses will abolish themselves. We hope to
represent those people which they represent
but we also intend to represent all facets of
student life; first-year men, fraternity men, and
other independent students.

Whitt Clement, President of the Skull and
Keys Political Society, stated that he feels that
the formation of a new party was "a long
over-due improvement."

Steve Hayes, President of the Sceptre
Society, said that he feels that there is "a
question whether the caucuses can provide a
continuous function in the University. If my
caucus decides to abolish itself, I would be
happy to see at least two parties nominating
candidates."

Mr. Gardner stated that there was a "massive
membership drive" about to begin and anyone
wishing to join the party should contact one of
the party's officers. Besides Mr. Gardner, who is
president of the party, fourth-year man Greg
Hodges is vice-president, third-year man John
Rose is secretary, and Steve Edwards, a
first-year man, is the treasurer.