University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor

University Responsibility
For Present Students

I am writing this letter in
response to some of the
comments made by David
Shannon, Provost and
Vice-president at U.Va., in your
November 16 edition. He
maintains that expansion is
necessary due to the increased
number of qualified high
school graduates from Virginia,
both male and female. He also
points out the possibility of
reprisals from the state
legislature if such students are
turned away, while at the same
time decrying the "elitists"
who wish the University to
remain small.

It is my contention that by
its very nature, the University
is an elitist institution. Even
the most idealistic accept the
need for some type of
admissions requirements at a
University of this type. I am
not concerned as to whether
U.Va. turns into a mass
diploma mill like so many
other state universities in the
next 10 years. I am concerned
about the quality of my
education now. At the present
time, the quality of my
education is lowered because
of overcrowding. It is my
contention that the
University's greatest obligation
is in improving the present
student generation's physical
facilities before it worries
about expanding to meet
future generations. The
University's primary
commitment is to the students
presently enrolled, not to
future high-school graduates.

Utopia

Mr. Mittleman's "Go to
Hell, David Shannon" in The
Cavalier Daily of November 19,
1971 did attract my attention.
The reasons why Mr.
Mittleman selected this
University instead of Harvard,
Michigan or Chicago, like
"freedom from crowds, from
dirt,.....from impossible
prices,.....decaying city",
show his "elitist" tendency,
with which, I am afraid, he is
still unfamiliar. In my opinion,
he is really attempting to find
an utopia of old, that no longer
exists, and is attempting to
oppose the modernization of
the University. Every person,
institution, nation and species
is modernizing these days, and
hence, there should not be a
grievance against it. I am