University of Virginia Library

Community Service Center
Given Madison Hall Home

By Peter Dinehart

Madison Hall, formerly the home of
the YMCA at the University, has taken on
a new look this year as a center for
community service.

The change took place officially in
late September when University President
Edgar F. Shannon Jr. designated Madison
Hall as the Office for Volunteer Community
Service in the University.

Changes in the organization itself were
necessitated in July, 1968, when Daniel
L. Gibbes Jr., advisor to the YMCA for 15
years, resigned his post. According to Samuel
Manly, a third-year law student and now
executive director of Madison Hall, the
organization had faltered in its programs due to
troubles in handling its financial asses.

Manly Recommendations

On the suggestion of an interested undergraduate,
Mr. Manly said he made certain
recommendations to the Board of Directors of
Madison Hall. Mr. Manly added that the board
did not seem particularly interested and wasted
two or three months on fruitless negotiations.

Members of Madison Hall then amended the
organization's bylaws, consisting of three pages
of general rules which members felt were not
adequate for the corporation. Mr. Manly was
then elected executive director of Madison Hall
without the consent of the board.

The board disputed the election, but it was
discovered that the board's election had been
"faulty and subject to challenge" because the
election had been held without a quorum. As a
result, the old board was dismissed in March
1968 and a new one elected.

Reorganization Work

Initially, the new board spent most of its
time in reorganization work, Mr. Manly said.
With the beginning of the present school year,
Madison Hall began its community work.

Ralph Brown, a first-year student at the
Madison Extension center of the University,
and a Charlottesville resident, had previously
looked into the prospect of a tutoring program.
Through William Elwood, assistant to President
Shannon on Special Programs, he contacted Mr.
Manly, who had also been contemplating such a
program.

From this starting point, Eugene M. Lyman,
a second-year graduate student in the College,
was asked to run the tutoring program. In early
October Paul DeVries was employed as Director
of Community Service to coordinate and
develop student and faculty involvement in
community.