University of Virginia Library

Past Must Be Appreciated
But Not Tolerated

By Jeff Werner

As a parting U.Va. fourth-year man, I
submit that during this 2 month intermission
every individual insider and evaluate the
concept and mg of a student movement.
Its purpose its its validity.

There is such thing as a "international
student movement" as much of the media and
political surveyors like to intimate. Rudi
Dutschke, Cohn-Bendit and Tom Hayden are
not linked in any concerted effort. Virginia or
any student body is quite capable of developing
an indigenous movement peculiar to its
environment and applicable to its own situation
without falling into a "student movement"
syndrome.

Before offering a justification and need for
such a movement one must caution against the
complete politicization of the universities (i.e.
appointment and promotion according to
political views and party in power) which
would destroy the most vital and effective
powers the University has - its independence
and free intellectual atmosphere. If the
university is to be a cogent effective force in
society it must avoid total politicization as
witnessed in Latin America (1966 Gov.
takeover of Central University, Venezuela).

This being said, we must however consider
the university and integral part of our society
with an appropriate role. When Universities are
involved in the forming of our Foreign Policy,
as at the University of Michigan, forming our
Defense Program, (as in John Hopkins, MIT,
two thirds of university research funds come
from the Defense Dept. NASA, Atomic Energy
Commission) or do not pay property taxes as at
Harvard or own slum areas as does Columbia,
then the university automatically becomes a
very definite part of the community, of our
society and a concern to everyone, in the
academia or not. It is the University, the
academic community which must be cast in a
leading role in society just as the business or
labor community has a role. It should endeavor
to educate to introduce the rest of society to
what it may not be aware of. Student unrest is
a reflection of social disorder, not a cause of it.
There is a gap and it must be bridged, but it is
not so much the generation gap as much as the
gap between the deception and conceit often
offered by today's establishment and the actual
state of affairs. There is no need for a call to
violent revolution, for it is for the scholarly
community, the student body, to help bridge
this gap by pointing out inequities and not idly
stand by as a disinterested spectator. The
student body should help society see itself as it
is and as it should be.

Probably the main obstacle and problem for
any student movement is the administration.
After this restive year it has become obvious
that the president of a university, or any
member of the administration, has an incredibly
arduous, intricate job dependent partially
on various political and economic forces yet it
was also clear, as at Virginia among other
places, that the administration is not willing to
accept a student movement as a viable new
channel of communication and to work with it
and in good faith. From the evasive, vague reply
to the Coalition and Student Council proposals
to the rigid tactics on Founder's Day shows the
administration's definite lack of willingness to
communicate or to commit itself. Respect for
authority becomes difficult and strained when
one recognizes the inevitability of Wilbur Mills,
the Johnson A.B.M. spoof that was almost
pulled off (before Safeguard program) Mr.
Shannon's evasiveness, Gov. Godwin's indifference
and the Founder's day edict.

ROTC, the draft etc. are not in themselves
of decisive importance but represent manifestations
of our society's problems. Student
movements merely ask that we recognise our
racism, the superficiality of mass culture, the
pitiful state of our cities, the shallowness of
political rhetoric and the sterility of leadership.
It is because the Administrations do not have
the wisdom or audacity to anticipate social
change that change sometimes come more
violently. Administrations and politicians don't
mean badly, the problem, is that usually they
don't mean anything. If there were initiative on
the administration's part, then we would not
have to look at each other because we would be
both looking in the same direction. Unfortunately,
when those who have power feel it
slipping away, as one can see throughout
history, they often tend to substitute violence
for the slipping of power (thus the unnecessary
violence of this past year - "violence breeds
violence"). An added complication, I feel, is
that the administrations themselves are not sure
of their own legitimacy. The problem culminates
when they are not certain of their power
but try to govern, while the faculty or students
have power but cannot govern.

Moral judgement concerning the quality of
students' character is a potentially dangerous
attitude often taken by administrators and
politician ("Academic thugs," "hooligans").
For once this type of environment is
established and if the authority should
disapprove of something, they are constantly
tempted to and justify resorting to the ultimate
sanction, force. Equally unperceptive and
unfortunate is the Administrations policy of
ostracizing or outlawing student protest as its
only possible action. The administration or any
authority becomes irrelevant if it is only able to
place taboos (law and order) on actions and
concepts it cannot manage. It must delve into
the causes the whys for student unrest. This
would help alleviate the sterility in leadership
and statesmanship.

A student movement at Virginia. Traditions
are fine but it is time to initiate new traditions
and not to dwell on those of the past which
may be appreciated but no longer tolerated in
1969. We must not ignore the originality,
initiative and radicalism of those who were able
to set precedents. We must be masters of the
future and not its victims. We should join
together in a joint concerted effort to establish
our new traditions our new heritage. It could be
argued that the basic rights students and other
groups are fighting for cannot be offered but
simply exist and that to conceive of giving
rights is an insult, but let us be satisfied if we
and others are at least given them and then
work from that juncture. Democracy manifests
the interaction of a great many interest groups
and interesting opinions and from this interaction,
if you like the "synthesis," inevitably
comes change. Democracy is thus committed to
change, and accordingly next year and in the
future let us all be committed to constructive
change.

"LET THE VALUE OF EVERYTHING BE
DETERMINED AFRESH BY YOU."