University of Virginia Library

Moratorium
Enlists Faculty

Support for the nationwide Moratorium
on October 15 has been called for by
thirty-six faculty members from twenty-two
departments and six schools of the
University.

The Moratorium, which has been
endorsed by Senator Eugene McCarthy,
Mark Hatfield, George McGovern and
Charles Goodell, is designed to influence the
Nixon administration to take more concrete
and immediate measures to withdraw American
troops from Vietnam. Is is expected to be
observed in different ways on different
campuses across the nation.

The statement of the Virginia group calls for
making October 15th a day of "concern," but
it does not explicitly ask faculty members to
dismiss classes. According to John W. Israel,
associate professor of history and coordinator
of the group, the statement will be circulated
among the entire faculty for additional
signatures next week. The preliminary list of
signatories includes eight department chairmen
and seventeen full professors. The statement is
as follows:

We the undersigned faculty members at the
University of Virginia believe that the Vietnamese
War has too long been allowed to
dissipate America's material resources, vitiate
her moral reserves, and destroy the lives of her
young men.

We are disappointed that the present
administration in Washington seems to have
failed to alter the premises underlying our
protracted involvement in this tragic and
unproductive conflict.

We cannot believe that the administration
will remain indifferent to nationwide demands
for a decisive withdrawal of American troops.

We therefore support the national moratorium
of October 15. On that date we will
participate in activities that will enable us to
express our concern while advancing the goals
of education in its broadest sense. We shall,
moreover, encourage students to join in
discussion of this critical issue on that day.