University of Virginia Library

By Student Council

Coeducation Suggestions Offered

By Tom Adams
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Now that the Woody report has
been made studying the desirability
of coeducation, another committee
appointed by President Shannon is
making a study on the feasibility of
coeducation. In reply to a letter
from President Shannon asking for
suggestions on that subject the Stu-
Student Council's Committee on
Coeducation, as its meeting just prior to
he semester break, sent a list of
recommendations to Mr. Shannon.

The reply to President
Shannon's letter was drafted by
Ogle, chairman of the Council's
Coeducation Committee, and
was approved unanimously by the
Student Council after only one
minor change.

Council's Reply

The Council's reply recommended
that coeducation begin on
a scaled basis in the fall of 1969. To
help in the admission of women
next semester, it asked that application
deadlines for women be extended
until March 30, and that
first preference should be given to
the over 1,500 women who have
already made inquiries about being
admitted on the strength of the
Woody Report's recommendations.

The letter suggests that a target
goal of approximately 150 women
seems "essential" to minimize the
"cultural and psychological shock"
for the women, as well as the rest
of the University.

It also recommends that the
women not all be chosen from the
"top of the academic ladder," but
rather "over the same academic
range as their male counterparts.

Same Criteria

At the Council meeting, Rick
Evans objected to this section and
moved that it be deleted from the
letter. Both George McMillan and
Jackson Lears pointed out that the
admissions policy now is not always
to take the "brightest" men, and
that women should be selected on
the same sort of criteria as the men.
The motion to have this section
deleted failed.

The letter goes on to suggest
that resident Charlottesville-Albemarle
girls and student, faculty
and staff wives should be encouraged
to attend the University to
help relieve housing and accommodations
pressures.

Curriculum Changes

The letter suggests that curriculum
changes will be necessary with
the admission of women, especially
in general humanities and in physical
education.

Also, "a good internist (specializing
in gynecological medicine) at
the University Health Center" is
needed, as are special parking privileges
near Tuttle;" menu modifications
for women, "especially at the
contract cafeteria;" and the "addition
of rest rooms for women."

After next year, 150 additional
female student would be admitted
each succeeding year, according to
the letter. That is the normal
expansion of the University each
year.

"If the additional 150
undergraduate students each year
are all female," the letter reads,
"and the percentage of out-of-state
students is dropped from 40-45 per
cent to 35 to 40 per cent, the goal
of a student body 35 per cent
female could be achieved without
drastically curtailing or limiting any
segment of student population.'

The letter named four areas that
will be subjects of a long-term
study by the Student Council: the
implications of coeducation for the
honor system, the need for and
desirability of sororities, the
implications for the School of
General Studies, and the
implications for the public and
private women's colleges in the
state of Virginia.