University of Virginia Library

Pat Graney

Presidential Selection In A Vacuum

It has been a little over six
months since University
President Edgar F. Shannon
announced his resignation on
Feb. 2,and the anxious
University community has not
yet been rewarded this summer
with any startling revelations
about Mr. Shannon's successor.

The Faculty and Student
Steering Committees,appointed
by Rector Joseph H.
McConnell in early March, have
completed their tasks of
exploring the necessary
qualifications for, and
expectations of the University
presidency in the coming year.

They also have submitted
their lists of "likely and
unlikely" nominees to the
Board, and are now waiting for
additional assignments.

Since the committee work
was finished in early June,
their recommendations have
disappeared into the
in penetrable depths of the files
of Weldon Cooper,Liason to the
Board of Visitor's Presidential
Selection Committee, kindling
a curiosity that has swept the
Grounds. Name-throwing and
current rumors indicate the
decision is near, and that the
candidate will almost certainly
come from within the
University.

From this forboding-miasmic
cloud of "inoperative
or non-information" hovering
over the Grounds, an
incredibly sophisticated and
competitive "point-scoring"
system has developed over the
past few weeks, awarding the
man on the "cocktail circuit"
who has the most
contemporary "inside"
information with the respect
and admiration of his peers.

For example,at a recent
cocktail party, one faculty
member approached a
long-time rival and very
casually asked if he had heard
the "latest" action of the
Board. The rival, striving to
appear unaffected, said he had
not, but had really been "out of
touch" for a couple of days.
With a victorious gleam in his
eye, the faculty member
said,"Well just between you and
me a friend at the top let me
in on a new decision to
approach..."

More importantly, in the
midst of confused speculation, it
becomes increasingly
difficult after plugging the
wrong candidate, to admit
"your man" has been dropped
because he has not been
mentioned on the circuit for
three or four weeks.

Some theories are so
advanced that the field has
been limited to two or three
names around which
"in-house" power struggles are
developing among various
University factions lining up
behind a particular candidate.

It is doubtful whether many
of the theories are near the
truth, however. As one
member on the Student
committee told me, he has
been approached three or four
times a week by speculators
fishing for leads to the
front-running candidate, but
hasn't heard a correct guess
yet.

Although the unfounded
and obscure theories of the
supposedly elite, "in-the
know" speculators have at
times bordered on the outer
limits of absurdity, the point is
that the community is
concerned.

Many important and
faithful faculty and alumni
gauge the importance of the
University presidency as
second to none, and certainly
it is one of the most
"precious" positions in
Virginia's web of 'Higher
Education', and to a large
extent, even in the nation's.

Moreover, given the
president's power of
appointment as in the case of
the University, vice presidents,
it would seem a necessary
courtesy for Mr. Shannon's key
administrative assistants to step
down or offer a resignation to
allow the new president the
freedom to chose his own
administration. It is therefore,
not unlikely or impossible to
assume that with the new
selection comes a new
administration on all fronts,
hence the great concern within
the faculty and administrative
ranks.

But more importantly,
given the position's strong
traditional emphasis, (the
University has had only four
presidents), it's changing
orientation in the realm of
Virginia's political scene, its
necessary requirement as a
fund-raiser- diplomat, and the
unparalleled honor and prestige
of being chosen for the coveted
position by a select group of
students, faculty and
the Board, the candidate must
be readily accepted and prevail,
beyond all question.

And with a deadline
drawing near,(presumably
they would allow a "grace"
period for an individual to
disengage himself from present
activities), the pressure is more
intense than ever.

Faced then, with the
difficult task of operating
above irrational suggestion and
pressure from the cocktail
circuit or from state politicians,
as well as, pressing deadlines,
the selection process has been
drawn together and now
operates in a secretive
close-knit vacuum.