The Cavalier daily :: Monday September 14, 1970 :: University of Virginia Library

The coat and tie is gone; the
gentlemen's club is dead; traditions
are disappearing-every
day. But one time-honored
practice at the University is
alive and well and will probably
continue until we evolve
to a higher state of biological
development.

Until that time students will
undoubtedly Go Down The
Road on weekends, reading
days, or just whenever the spirit
moves.

The most perceptive among
the entering first-year men will
soon discover that there are
not many women on the Grounds.
Even the small step towards
coeducation made by the
University this year has not been
nearly enough to balance the
one-sided male to female ration. So
the student must go to the mountain,
under it or over it or however
he gets there to visit the neighboring
girls' schools.

As recently as three years ago,
students going down the road dressed
in coats and ties and carried
flasks of bourbon: Even though the
dress has changed to jeans and work
shirts and the most common refreshment
carried is marijuana, the
art of going down the road has
changed little in spirit.

Rare Photo Of Two Young Ladies Going Down The Road For A "Roll"

Even This Custom, The Last Sanctuary Of Male Chauvinism, Has Been Invaded By Women

The roads running north, east,
south, and west out of Charlottesville
will still be jammed of
Friday and Saturday nights with
students hitch- hiking to the common
attraction no matter how they
are dressed or what they have in
their pockets. Young men will still
see what Crozet looks like at 2
a.m., suffer frostbitten thumbs,
make lasting friendships, and watch
their egos get damaged- all part of
the tradition.

The fall mixer season will soon
begin, and although many first-year
men will decide there is little
future in mixers after attending the
first one, experience has shown that
first-year men are an exceptionally
tough group and are very hard to
discourage.

Although this information is unverified,
Mary Baldwin College in
Staunton is usually the first girls'
school to have a mixer. It is also the
closest girls' school - only 35 miles
west on route 250.

If you are ever going to Mary
Baldwin and change your mind on
the way there, you can turn north
on route 81 (outside Staunton) or
route 11 (in Staunton) and go
another 30 miles up to Madison
College in Harrisonburg. Madison is
a state school and produces mostly
liberal arts majors and teachers.
Madison can also be reached by
going north on route 29 and turning
west on route 33 at Ruckersville.

Travelling north on 29 and turning
east on route 3 will take you to
our sister school, Mary Washington,
about 70 miles away in Fredericksburg.
Just as the University is
accepting women students this
year, so our sister is accepting
men-but-not-very-many.

Down in Farmville sits Longwood
College, a state teachers
school. Take 250 east and turn
south at Zion's Crossroads and if
you get lost on the way just ask any
truck driver how to get to Farmville.
It's about 60 miles from here,
somewhere.

Thanks to the state's road-building
program, route 29 south is
one of the most pleasant roads to
travel. About 60 miles down 29
you will find Sweet Briar College
guarded by groves of dogwoods and
Pinkertons in lovely Sweet Briar,
Virginia.

About five miles further on in
Lynchburg you will find Randolph
Macon Women's College.
Randy-Mack has an excellent academic
reputation (if you happen to
care) and fairly liberal dating hours.

And if you are very ambitious,
another 60 miles further south on
route 81 will find you at Hollins
College outside Roanoke, where a
lovely campus and lovely student
body awaits the weary traveler.

And for the first-year women-if
you plan to go down the road, just
follow the men to the mixers. They
will always tell you there are about
three times too many guys from
W&L, VMI, and VPI at the mixers.