University of Virginia Library

Year In Review

Shannon, Williams Resignations Emphasize Change

Analysis

(The following is an analysis and commentary on the events
of the 1972-73 school year by Cavalier Daily News Editor John
Epps.-Ed.)

The University's growth and change took a few more steps
to insure the permanent face lifting of Mr. Jefferson's
University.

Most notable among the year's changes was the surprise
resignation announcement of President Edgar F. Shannon Jr. on
Feb. 2. Mr. Shannon, who began his tenure as President in
1959, said in a letter to University Rector Joseph H. McConnell
that he wished to return to his "first love of teaching and
scholarship" while he was in "full force of physical vigor, and
unimpaired enthusiasm, and strength of mind and spirit."

Mr. McConnell promptly authorized the formation of a
faculty committee and a student committee, both designed to
aid in the selection of Mr. Shannon's successor. Both
committees have met but are remaining tight-lipped about
names of those they have considered.

Mr. Shannon was joined in his desire to step down from
office by Student Affairs Vice President D. Alan Williams, who
last fall also said he wished to put administrative duties aside
and return to full-time teaching.

Mr. Williams said at the time of his resignation he wished to
be replaced by next fall, but a committee to seek a replacement
has found the process exceedingly slow and Mr. Williams has
expressed concern that he may still be occupying his desk in
Dabney next September.

Names have been suggested to Mr. Shannon, but Committee

CD/Saxon Holt

Chairman Robert T. Cross, Dean of the Faculty, has been
pessimistic over an early announcement of a successor.

The results of rapid growth of the University became evident
in the emergence of a varied student profile. Homosexuals
stepped out of the closet and thrust their existence on the
community by forming the Gay Student Union late last year
and requesting funds this year from the Student Activities
Committee (SAC).

Though originally granted $45 by the committee, the
decision has since been overruled by the Board of Visitors. In
their ruling, the Board handed down a revised set of guidelines
for dispensing the Student Activities Fee, which in turn opened
the door for appeals of almost all organizations funded by the
SAC.

Third-year law student Christian White led a small band of
students in appealing some 60 funded organizations, including
The Cavalier Daily and WTJU, but Student Council turned each
down in a marathon meeting last March.

Mr. White is still fighting Council's action, and a ruling by
the SAC is expected soon.

An ever growing University created headaches for Security
Head Wade Bromwell and the entire Security Department.
Rapes and abductions occurred on the Grounds and placed the
Department in the spotlight as students and faculty began to
question Security's ability to prevent crime at the University.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police,
commissioned last year to study the department and offer
suggestions for improvement, released its findings this Spring,
saying Security officers could
not perform their duties of
"preventive patrol and criminal
investigation" because they are
hampered by having to
perform menial chores such as
delivering messenger mail and
handling out the thousands of
parking citations (17,688 in
1972) written on the Grounds
each year.

Mr. Bromwell has said the
report will be studied "very
closely." The University is
waiting, however, while this
"studying" is going on, to see
if the Security can come up
with a solution for the
dangerous situation in which women often find themselves
anytime after dark.

CD/Arthur Laurent

Christian White

The Security Department is not the only department at the
school which faced problems this past year. Food Services and
its director, Bernard C. Fontans, witnessed a boiling over of
student worker discontent. On Thursday, April 26, students
working for Food Services met in the Chemistry Building and
expressed extreme bitterness over the way in which employees
are handled and in the way in which Food Services is run.

Since that meeting the Food Services Committee has met
with Mr. Fontana, and Student Council has requested in vain
that he appear before them to explain some of his actions, but
as of yet, the situation seems nowhere near resolved.

Administrative headaches were not reserved for the
University administration. Students experienced them all year
long in yearly fiascoes called student elections. Elections
Committee chairman Paul Freeman had his hands full trying to
keep elections organized and fair. In one instance, a candidate
for College President may have lost his election for allegedly
breaking what Council Vice President Larry Sabato called the
"spirit" of election rules by calling supporters and urging them
to vote after the polls were supposed to be closed. The Elections
Committee had mistakenly left one ballot box open for an
hour.

With the arrival of Spring, students became increasingly
agitated over the parking lot situation in the McIntire
Amphitheater. Traffic and Parking Committee member Lynn
Ivey, a fourth-year man, coupled with Council member Greg
Luce to prompt Council to initiate a "Greening of the
Amphitheater Day" last month.

Though few students attended, over one-third of the student
body signed petitions which were sent to Mr. Shannon calling
for the amphitheater to be restored to its natural grassy state.
The Traffic and Parking Committee subsequently recommended
that the parking be removed and the faculty decided yesterday
to support Mr. Shannon if he decides to order the re-grassing of
the parking lot-amphitheater.

The University has not only suffered scrutiny and criticism
from within. State Senator William Stone has been studying the
University and its admissions policy fairly closely in the last
year. Heading up what has come to be known as the "Stone
Commission", the Senator has criticized the University for its
high out-of-state ratio of students.

He claims the University should reduce its percentage of
out-of-state students to allow more qualified Virginia students
to gain admission. No legislative action was taken in this year's
General Assembly, but Mr. Stone is reportedly building his
forces for a possible bill requiring this next year. As of yet, he
lacks the support of his colleagues to see such legislation pass.

Masterfully Arranged Programs

Administrative troubles and committee foul-ups have not
been the whole story for the year, however. The University
community has profited by the brilliant work of Student Legal
Forum President Chuck Robb, who has masterfully arranged
numerous programs with some of the nation's top speakers.
Such names as Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey (D.-Minn.), Vice
President Spiro T. Agnew, New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller
and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D. - Mass.) have appeared and
addressed the University free of charge.

Sports fans this year have seen the regular run-of-the-mill
teams that the University and its supporters have become
accustomed to. The Cavaliers placed a weak fifth for the ACC's
Carmichael Cup, awarded to the best over-all athletic program.

Bright spots have emerged in this realm too, however.
Although experiencing one of his poorer years in basketball,
Barry Parkhill still emerged as the premier athlete on the
Grounds and has since signed a no-cut contract with the
American Basketball Association's Virginia Squires, who picked
him second in their secret draft last winter.

He was not alone on the court, however. As coach Bill
Gibson builds his program, U-Hall fans have been delighted by
the stellar play of first-year man Wally Walker and second-year
man Gus Gerard. With several heralded recruits slated to play
next year for Virginia, Mr. Gibson seems to be adequately
prepared for the loss of All-American Barry Parkhill.

The Lacrosse team, the
defending national champions,
although stumbling to
Maryland and Washington and
Lee in their last two games, has
emerged as one of the finest in
the nation and is preparing to
defend its title in the NCAA's
annual tournament. They play
Hofstra in New York in the
first round of that tournament
Saturday.

In the social world in
Charlottesville, the highlight of
the year had to be the last
Restoration Ball. With
restoration of the Rotunda due
to begin sometime this
summer, the annual event has
been discontinued and, the
success of the programs is
evidenced by the decision to
restore it as the focal point of
the University.

Apathy of the student body
has seemed be the key factor
of life at the University this
year. Following a national trend, students here have been hard
to arouse, even over some very crucial issues which face the
nation and the state.

President Richard M. Nixon has escaped any real trouble on
college campuses throughout the nation for his intensive
bombing of Communist positions in Cambodia. He also escaped
unscathed during his Christmas bombings of North Vietnam.
This marks a very different
trend than that which the
nation and the University
witnessed just three short years
ago, when the President first
invaded Cambodia.

It is not just national issues
that have been ignored by
students here. Council
elections and Honor
Committee elections have
witnessed an embarrassingly
low voter turnout. Third-year
man George Allen recently
won the senior class election
with a mere 191 votes. It
would come as no surprise if
many candidates this year
believed their campaign efforts to have been in vain.

CD/Dan Grogan

Agnew Addresses Legal Forum

Whether it was the war in Southeast Asia, national or
student elections or Senator Stone's commission sitting in
judgment of the University in Richmond, students here seemed
to either care little or be completely unaware. The bureaucracy
which has come to rule this and almost every large University,
which seems motionless at times when quick action could solve
immediate problems, appears to satisfy the student body.
Nothing arouses people anymore. They seem content to allow
the same people year after year to dictate policy and are
content to let a few interested students do all the work for
them. It is quite a change from just a few very short years
ago.

CD/Jim Brunetti

Attendance Of The "Greening Of The Amphitheater Day" Demonstration Was Small