University of Virginia Library

VIAC Issues Request
For Program Volunteers

A call has been issued by the
University's Virginia Interfaith
Action Community for any
students who would be interested
in tutoring underprivileged students
in nearby Cumberland County.

The program would involve
working with one student between
the ages of nine and 16 on a "Big
Brother" basis on two Saturdays a
month. The V.I.A.C., founded this
last October, is a branch of a
state-wide organization of Christian
students involved in charitable
activities.

Cumberland County is a
community located about 40 miles
from Charlottesville between here
and Richmond. It is a 100 per cent
poverty-stricken area with a 65 per
cent Negro population and ranks as
the 35th poorest county in the
nation.

The Community Action Agency
in Cumberland has initiated this
program to aid the children of
many Negro families who have run
into difficulties in securing an
adequate education for their
children.

The 75 children that enrolled in
the program, most of whom are in
high school, have asked for this aid
themselves. They are trying to
apply for admission to college even
though their teachers have
described their reading abilities as
equivalent to those of normal third
grade students from more affluent
environments. The V.I.A.C. wants
to provide tutors for these students
to help them with reading, math,
etc, to prepare for College Boards
and other entrance examinations.

If enough volunteers are
available, each Negro student will
have two tutors working with him,
the tutors alternating Saturdays.
Those students in the highest grades
would get priority, however, should
only a limited number of teachers
sign up for the program.

The V.I.A.C. is working in
conjunction with the IFC
Community Service Committee
here at the University while similar
groups at Longwood College in
Farmville and Virginia
Commonwealth University in
Richmond are also sponsoring the
project.

Chairman Bill Nixon of the
Community Service Committee
asks all houses to urge their
brothers to take part in the
program. There are no requirements
for those interested in volunteering
for the project, but as Mrs. Jean
Cason of the Columbia, Va., CAA
says, the sponsors are looking for
"people who care".

The program will start this
Saturday and continue throughout
the school year. Tutors will meet at
the Wesley Foundation on Lewis
Mountain Road at 9:00 Saturday
morning. From there, they will go
to Columbia for conferences with
the students' teachers and for a
general orientation session.