University of Virginia Library

Challenge And Change; Triumph And Trauma

By MARGARET ALFORD
and
BILL BARDENWERPER

"A University is an entity
designed to serve society. It
cannot isolate itself and
perform its functions. It must
be alive and responsive to the
needs of the community
beyond its gates – be that
community local, regional,
national or even global."

Edgar F. Shannon's concept
of an "alive and responsive"
University, which he expressed
in his 1959 inaugural address,
became the key to his
performance as president.
Local and outside concerns
penetrated the University
community and greatly
affected the direction in which
it moved,

Growth, out-of-state
enrollment, coeducation,
integration, and the 1970
student strike brought these
concerns into focus.

When the students went on
strike in May 1970 protesting
the U.S. invasion of Cambodia
and threatening to close down
the University, Mr. Shannon
did not renege on his inaugural
commitments to a
"responsive" University.

Standing on a wall along
University Avenue before
marchers who had come to
Carr's Hill chanting "Join us!",
Mr. Shannon remarked, "I
come to join with you in what
I know is your desire and my
desire for a peaceful resolution
of the war.

"I understand your interest
and your concern as citizens of
this University and of your
country. And I do wish you
well."

Two days later Mr. Shannon
told a gathering of some 4000
students that "there are times
in every nation and in every
institution when personal
neutrality – failure to express
convictions on issues gripping
the nation and the University
community – can be fatal."

Throughout these
emotional times, he managed
to keep the University open.
His public statements,
however, drew much sharp
criticism.

A Richmond News Leader
editorial chided Mr. Shannon
for "siding with a reactionary
strident minority," and
accused him of "vacating his
position of leadership and
opening his campus to riot and
anarchy."

Following such criticism,
many alumni pressed for Mr.
Shannon's resignation. Talk of
relieving Mr. Shannon,
however, subsided after Gov.
Linwood A. Holton received a
petition with the signatures of
some 3100 students supporting
both the President's concerns
for free speech and his efforts
to keep the University open.
After a Board of Visitor's
meeting in June, 1970, Mr.
Shannon found himself still
firmly in place as head of the
University.

This was not Mr. Shannon's
only crisis during his tenure as
president, though. On Oct. 19,
1971, students staged an all
night sleep-in on the Lawn
protesting the planned
expansion of University
enrollment to 18,000 by 1980.

Unlike 1970, however, Mr.
Shannon was now the target of
much student criticism and
outsiders were giving him their
support.

Mr. Shannon this time
labeled students action as
"hasty and irresponsible."
Such a demonstration, Mr.
Shannon said, can do "nothing
but injury to the University
and its students."

He warned that the protest
will be ill received by the
Board of Visitors and by state
officials who have hitherto given
generously of their time and
attention to student
representations." These
officials, said Mr. Shannon,
"expect something more from
the University of Virginia
students than frustration."

President Shannon's plea
whil it failed to halt the
demonstration, was not
however, illustration of any
lack of sympathy for their
concern. As early as 1960, Mr.
Shannon emphasized that

expansion must be "controlled
and deliberate, so that the
character of the University is
not warped as provisions to
expand are carried out." Again
in 1965, Mr. Shannon urged
the state legislature to "plan
now so that haste later
would not reduce the quality
of higher education in the
state." And already in 1964,
Mr. Shannon was battling
legislative attempts to restrict
the admission of out-of-state
students to the University.

In his Report to the
University, Mr. Shannon
indicated the most significant
achievement during his tenure
has been the improved
academic stature which has
accompanied his efforts toward
controlled physical growth.

"The quality of the faculty
and student body is notably
enhanced," Mr. Shannon told
the Faculty Senate yesterday.
In purely physical terms, the
University's total enrollment
has more than doubled since he
took office, and the graduate
and professional enrollments
more than tripled. The faculty
has also tripled in size.

Indicative of increased
quality, average faculty salaries
have nearly doubled, allowing
the University to attract an
eminent faculty.

Special attention to
admission of women and
blacks has been a priority
during Mr. Shannon's
administration. Through
appointment of an assistant to
the president for special
programs and several assistant
admissions deans, the
University has furthered its
commitment to equal
education opportunity. In 1970
the University became fully
coeducated with no restrictions
on the number of women in
this year's entering class.

Expansion of facilities on
the Grounds in the past 14
years has brought new
dormitories, University Hall,
new chemistry, biology,
engineering, medical and
education buildings, with new
law and graduate business
schools now under
construction.

Without a doubt, the years
which Mr. Shannon has served
the University as president
have been ones of challenge
and change, triumph and
trauma. The University is
virtually unrecognizable from
the days when he took office.
It was then a very small and
relatively passive place with an
uncertain purpose.

Times have changed during
Mr. Shannon's administration.
The University has so far
survived the trend toward
grandness without sacrificing
its pursuit of greatness, to
President Shannon's credit.