University of Virginia Library

Kevin Mannix

Era of Change With Edgar Shannon

President Edgar F. Shannon
has presided over the
University of Virginia since
1959. His recent
announcement that he will
retire from that position in
August, 1974, has been greeted
with a tide of praise.

The praise is appropriate
and deserved, but some
balanced reflections are in
order.

When Edgar Shannon
became President, the
University of Virginia was a
small, largely male, all-white
institution wallowing in a mire
of traditions which had lost
much of their original value
and importance. Academic
excellence consisted of the
"Gentleman's C" and the
University was best known for
its drinking habits.

Only the schools of Law
and Medicine and several
departments had achieved
national recognition. The
University was small enough to
be a single community; it had a
large percentage of out-of-state
students which gave its studies
a broader perspective.

In the years since Mr.
Shannon became President, the
University has changed
drastically. The enrollment will
soon be three times that of
1959. Women are here in large
numbers and the proportions
are increasing. A huge building
program is in progress.

Blacks are finally
significantly represented in the
student body, although their
numbers are still much too
small. University regulations
over students have also
changed drastically: examples
are the establishment of dorm
visitation (virtually
non-existent until 1968),
automobiles (prohibited to
most undergraduates in 1959),
student government (yes,
except for the Honor System it
was even less powerful in 1959,
and students had relatively
little say in University affairs).

The litany of change is
endless. The question is, what
was Edgar Shannon's role?

In regard to the
co-education of the
undergraduate schools, Edgar
Shannon sided with the Board
of Visitors in adopting a
go-slow approach. It took three
major committee reports and,
finally, an ACLU court suit to
get the University to
implement an equal admissions
policy.

However, once it was
accepted that co-education had
to come, Mr. Shannon must be
credited with having moved
forcefully to make sure that
the transition was as painless as
possible, both for the women
who came and for the
University. Had Mr. Shannon
moved only grudgingly, women
would face many more
problems than currently exist.
Hopefully, Mr. Shannon's
successor will be able to move
toward a better representation
of women and blacks in the
faculty, where problems still
exist.

It was the movement
towards equal opportunities
for blacks where Shannon's
mettle was truly tested. He was
initially caught between an Old
South go-slow Board of
Visitors and a New South
Positive Action NOW Student
Coalition. Battle lines were
drawn on the question of
positive action programs to
recruit Blacks, with the Board
preferring the "equal
opportunity" approach which
left untouched the effects of
150 years of racism (how many
blacks would have ever thought
of coming to the University of
Virginia based on our past
traditions?).

Shannon's approach - that
of moderation – must be
weighed in terms of results. We
have succeeded in integrating
(partially) with little rancor,
although many difficulties
remain. Shannon's preference
for the Committee approach to
implementing positive action
programs is better understood,
with hindsight, in light of the
problems which have
developed elsewhere. He may
have gone slower than we
wanted, but his commitment
was honest and he managed to
deal with a state legislature and
a variety of other groups
particularly alumni - who were
not even happy with
integration much less the
recruitment of black students.

However, Shannon's success
in placating opposing groups
had its negative side effects
insofar as those of us who
oppose expansion are
concerned. Shannon believed
that expansion was necessary
and he has been entirely
successful in convincing most
of those who have questioned
his policy. He has been
tremendously successful in
employing the resources of the
University in achieving
whatever he felt was necessary.

The problem which
developed was that Shannon's
efficacy at achieving goals
meant that he sometimes
couldn't or wouldn't listen to
his critics. That made things
very difficult for those
students who tried to convince
him, for example that
expansion was not necessary.
He would discuss the means,
but he felt the ends were
already firmly established.

Edgar Shannon's
persistence - some would say
stubbornness - in sticking to
certain goals meant that he was
willing to juggle the legislature,
the Governor, the Board of
Visitors, the alumni, the
faculty, students, and God
knows who else in seeking the
academic development and
social improvement of the
University.

He was successful to a large
extent. Academic excellence is