University of Virginia Library

Shannon Refuses Law Admissions Plan Change

University President Edgar
F. Shannon Jr. told Law
School Dean Monrad G.
Paulsen in a letter June 25 that
despite law faculty protest, he
will not after a June 7 order to
increase the 1973 entering law
class by 20 Virginia residents,
bringing the law school's total
enrollment to 951.

As a response to a letter
from State Sen. William F.
Stone (D-Martinsville) sent to
Mr. Shannon and to College of
William and Mary President
Thomas R. Graves Jr., the
Marshall-Wythe School of Law
at William and Mary
announced Monday that it,
too, will increase its ratio of
in-state student   in the
1974-75 academic year.

Mr. Stone is chairman of
the state legislative
Commission for Higher
Education. In his letter to the
two presidents, he requested
that their law schools
accommodate more Virginia
residents or face a quota
system on out-of-state

students, or possibly,
establishment of a third
state-supported law school.

The Cavalier Daily reported
last Tuesday that University
law faculty members had
vigorously opposed Mr.
Shannon's order, noting that
the school's reputation rests
largely on its national
reputation, and that in-state as
well as out-of-state students are
attracted to attend because of
the diversity of a national
student body.

Monrad G. Paulsen

The faculty letter, written
June 15, also referred to the
possible damages to the
school's curriculum that might
result from enlargement of the
student body. It stated that
current small seminars would
be impossible to hold with
large numbers of students, and
that large classes are an
impediment to law students,
who need to develop facility
for discussion and varied
participation.

The letter also referred to
space shortages in Clark Hall
which would, they said, be
strained by increased
admission. It requested Mr.
Shannon to reconsider his
decision, and requested that in
the future, he consult with the
faculty on matters of
educational policy, and "not
again be subordinated to the
exigencies of the moment."

However, Mr. Shannon
responded that the faculty
state "tends to ignore" the
Board of Visitors policy of
admitting all qualified
Virginians to the University.
"As President of the
University, I consider it
incumbent upon me to carry
out within reasonable limits
the established and publicly
announced policy of the
Board," Mr. Shannon stated.

He noted that he believed
that the faculty was
"misinformed" on faculty
student ratios. He told Dean
Paulsen that the budget
allowance for faculty for
1973-74 for the law school
comes to a total number of
faculty which would preserve
the 20:1 student-faculty ratio
which the law school now
maintains.

William and Mary President
Graves said Monday that the
law school there is prepared to
move toward a ratio of 70 per
cent in-state students and 30
per cent out-of-state students
"as long as the quality and
quantity of Virginia
applications hold up."

Regarding the proposed
third state-supported law
school, Mr. Graves said that he
believed that it would be
unwise to invest in a third law
school when most observers
believed that the crush of law
school applicants would ease in
the next few years.

The State Council of Higher
Education has reported that
state and private law schools
plan expansions which, by
1977, will provide 380
additional places.