University of Virginia Library

'Fight'

What does that leave us? It leaves us
with ourselves. The students of this
University are the only group in
this Commonwealth who are
apparently willing to take a stand
against expansion and the
concomitant destruction of our
sense of community caused by
expansion.

Some of us are opposed to
expansion per so. Yet we are willing
to accept the idea that reasonable
men and women might possibly sit
down together and devise a long
range plan for the expansion of the
University which might prove to be
practical, intelligent, and of benefit
to this University and the
Commonwealth which it serves.
Such a reasonable plan has not yet
been developed.

The original Master Plan for this
University called for the University
in Charlottesville to have ten to
twelve thousand students. Since
that plan was devised in 1965, no
plan has been substituted for it.
Instead, the enrollment projections
have been jacked up to 18,000 by
the administration and building
plans have been developed
helter skelter, with little
consultation with faculty, staff,
students or the Charlottesville
citizenry. Until a general committee
is developed, reporting directly to
the Board of Visitors (i.e., no veto
by President Shannon) and
composed of representatives of all
elements of this University
community, and until such a
committee carries out a complete
study of the expansion question
there should be no further
expansion of the University. A
policy of expansion at this time is a
policy and propagated by only one
group: the University
administration.

If this University administration
spent as much time dealing with the
question of expansion as it does
trying to propagate the concept of
expansion, "University Tuesday"
might never have been necessary.

Yet one University Tuesday is not
enough-other actions-yet to be
decided-must be carried out. The
fight has just begun.