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Favoring Jefferson Party

Caucuses To Consider Dissolving

News Analysis

By Rod MacDonald
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Skull and Keys and Sceptre Society,
the College's two "traditional" political
societies, will meet Wednesday night and
will most likely dissolve in favor of the
fledgling Jefferson Party.

The meetings, set for 8 p.m. in Wilson
Hall and Maury Hall, respectively, are
ostensibly to discuss the joint study
committee's recommendations to the
twin fraternity-dominated societies.

But that recommendation proved the kiss of
death as the study committee voted to form a
new party and ask the caucuses to dissolve
when they meet tomorrow night.

The caucus meetings tomorrow night will,
then, constitute the first test of the JP's
strength, as it seeks to hold on to the fraternity
voters while expanding into the rest of the
College.

At present, there seems little opposition to
the plan of ending Skull and Keys and Sceptre.
Neither party is considered strong enough
structurally to remain an influential party, and
the few members that do attend will probably
vote both out of existence with little delay.

Nor does the prospect seem likely that one
potential fraternity politico, seeking to keep
one caucus as his personal platform for Honor
Committee Chairman, will pack the meeting
with his followers and vote to keep one group
alive. At least, there have been no traces of that
prospect.

The caucuses have been dying for two years,
despite several attempts to revive them. They
have not won a Student Council election since
spring 1967, although they have defeated two
strong challengers in the annual College Honor
Committee elections.

Last year both presidents of the societies,
Whitt Clement and Steve Hayes, tried to bring
the parties into more relevant campaigning
procedures. Skull and Keys set up campaign
committees under its Vice-President, and drew
up a platform for the fall elections. Sceptre
generally tried to have its candidates stump as a
team.

But both societies found that its members
were fraternities, not individual students, and
that those members were not really willing to
participate. With no set individuals as members,
the officers were unable to provide coherent
programs that would last beyond the immediate
election.

Most students have since begun to think that
the two societies overlapped and should
consolidate. Accordingly, the officers
established a study committee this fall before
new officers could be elected, and directed the
committee to bring up specific recommendations
for a new political base.

The committee, feeling the caucuses no
longer held student respect, responded by
forming a new party based on individual
membership. The JP will meet for its fall
nominations later this month, and hopes to
draw many members from the defunct caucuses
before that time.