University of Virginia Library

Tom Gardner

Faculty Politics

—ed.

At least two faculty members who have involved
themselves in movements for change at the University and
in the Charlottesville community have turned in their
resignations. The circumstances surrounding these
resignations raise questions of crucial importance both to
faculty members and to students. The faculty members
are Kenneth Ross of the Sociology Department and James
England of the Mathematics Department. Let us first
examine each case separately.

Kenneth Ross attended C.U.N.Y., N.Y.U., and
received his M.A. from Princeton in 1964. In 1965 he
traveled on a research project to the U.S.S.R. and Eastern
Europe, and in 1966, Mr. Ross joined the Sociology
Department here at the University as an Instructor. In his
short time here, Mr. Ross has become one of the most
popular and respected teachers, of any rank, at the
University. In the recent course evaluation, no Professor
drew higher praise from his students. Even in
introductory courses, Mr. Ross's classes maintain constant
capacity attendance, while other introductory courses in
Sociology have dwindled over the semester to half their
original size. Ask a number of Sociology majors why they
decided to major in Sociology, and you will find that Mr.
Ross's presence on the staff was a determinant factor for
many of them.

Mr. Ross has also contributed to the forces for change
at Virginia. He has acted as an advisor and public lecturer
for students and townspeople active in attempts to
overcome racism. He has also been outspoken against the
war in Vietnam and is currently one of the directors of
the newly-formed anti-ABM group. Why is he leaving?

A rather common grievance — over-worked and
underpaid. For next fall, Mr. Ross was given a four-course
load, including a 300-student introductory course. The
absolute maximum for almost all other faculty members
is three courses. He has not been offered a promotion or a
pay-raise commensurate either with his value as a teacher
or his increased work load. And what is the reason we got
from the chairman of the Sociology Department that he
hasn't been promoted or offered a raise? — "He doesn't
have a Ph.D." That is true, he doesn't have his Ph.D.;
however, he is merely lacking the dissertation which he is
working on, and he plans to have his Ph.D. from
Princeton by June 1970. With the work load planned for
him, however, he would not have been able to finish his
dissertation and thereby gain the all important criteria for
advancement — he would, therefore, have been stuck in
the Instructor status with low pay and no avenue of
escape in sight. Mr. Ross was therefore forced into a
position where he could only resign. Thus, our renowned
University has rid itself of another troublemaker,
another non-Ph.D. Faculty member, and one of the most
enlightened, concerned, and skillful teachers that has been
on the University faculty in recent years.

What was his "mistake"? Maybe he got too close to
the students. Maybe he threatened the integrity of
academic aloofness from the lowly student class. Perhaps
he was more concerned about the teaching and learning
process than he was about his own professional careerism.
Maybe by breaking the barrier of ivy-covered
non-involvement he threatened the purity of the
profession. This was his main "error" — a refusal to be
just another cog in the rote-learning, mass-production line
of "knowledge". This is why the system couldn't absorb
him and had to spew him out in order to keep running
smoothly. And it is we the students, not just Mr. Ross,
who suffer the real loss.

Let us look at another non-adjuster, Dr. James
England, Ph.D. Dr. England, after receiving his Ph.D. at
Missouri, came to the University as an Instructor in 1964.
After his first year, he was awarded a three-year contract
as an Assistant Professor. Dr. England was one of the few
faculty members at that time, or any other time, who was
willing to act on his beliefs. He became faculty advisor to
the Students for Social Action, the first radical activist
student group formed here in the wake of Berkeley. He
presented embarrassing motions in the Faculty meetings —
with such unpopular requests as recruiting at black high
schools, desegregating off-grounds housing, recruiting
black athletes, integrating the faculty, etc. He was also
one of the organizers of the Charlottesville Freedom
Movement which led Civil Rights marches in
Charlottesville and which filed a criminal complaint with
the Justice Department and HEW against discriminatory
practices by the University, especially in the situation of
hospital employees. This attack on the purse strings did
not endear Dr. England to the powers-that-be.

Dr. England, in 1967, was one of the eight

mathematicians in the country to receive an N.S.F.
Post-doctorate award and in 1967-68, he took a leave of
absence to study at the Institute of Advanced Studies in
Princeton. While he was on leave, Dr. England was
recommended for promotion by the Mathematics
Department and was denied promotion by the Faculty
Committee on Promotions (i.e., the Administration). Dr.
England returned in 1968, and was again strongly
recommended for promotion by the Department. If he
had remained quiet, he may have gotten the promotion.
The slots were available for Associate Professor within the
Department. Dr. England was eminently qualified. He has
dutifully published about nine articles and research papers
in professional journals over the past five years; he is in
charge of the first two years of the Math program at the
University; Faculty Advisor to the Echols Club; and an
M.A. and Ph.D. advisor in Mathematics. He was strongly
supported by his Department and everyone in the
Department expected him to receive the promotion. The
Associate Professor's position remains unfilled. What
happened?

Dr. England, considering the need to improve
student-faculty relationships and the need to continue his
support for students and others combating racism, just
couldn't keep his mouth shut. Early in the year, he had
introduced a motion in the College Faculty to allow
representatives of the student press (CD, WUVA, etc.) to
attend and report on Faculty meetings. Now you
wouldn't think that allowing students to attend meetings
where their educational framework is being decided upon
would be such a hot point in a democratic, Jeffersonian
University. But for some reason, the
Faculty-Administration establishment exploded in fury at
the suggestion. Indicative of some of the sentiment was
an impassioned speech by the Secretary of the College
Faculty which deserves quotation in full: "We all know
about the mass hysteria that is sweeping the student
bodies of this country. We know why the students want
this information. It is not in the better interests of the
University. It is to pursue their morally dubious goals. I
will resign my position as Secretary if this motion (a
watered-down of Mr. England's motion) is passed." The
motion failed.

At the same time, the SSOC-inspired Coalition
activities were getting underway, and Dr. England at the
request of the Coalition delivered a supportive address on
the steps of the Rotunda in which he strongly chastised
the Faculty and Administration for their inactivity, and
called on the faculty to change that situation. The
Faculty Committee on Promotions (the anonymous
members of which are appointed by Fredson Bowers, Dean
of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences) met subsequent to
these events. Promotion denied. The Mathematics
Department asked Bowers' Committee to reconsider.
Several members of the Mathematics Department Faculty
have said that they see no reason for the denial other than
political grounds. So, Dr. England is leaving and they have
rid themselves of another troublemaker and a
nationally respected mathematician.

Progressive, enlightened, talented and active faculty
members are not easy to find. As students we cannot
afford to allow the depletion of the already small-enough
numbers of inspiring teachers. When students
unanimously agree on the value of Mr. Ross' teaching
quality in the course evaluation, we have to be willing to
demand that the University make an effort to keep him
rather than squeeze him out over a matter such as the
timing of his dissertation work. We might also ask, for
instance, why is this the determining criteria for Mr. Ross
when it is not for some other faculty members, and it is
certainly not considered when non-M.A. and
nonPh.D.-holding ROTC teachers are given full rank as
Associate and Full Professors. Students, especially in the
Sociology Department are not going to take this loss lying
down; and, if this trend continues, they may decide to
take it "Sitting-In".

But the Faculty is the group that most seriously needs
to wake up to the facts of their powerlessness. This
University is run on the myth that the Faculty and the
Administration are one and the same (somewhat parallel
to the "Solid South" mythology used to divide and
control the Southern working people). That is why you
notice all the Deans and some other officials teaching one
obscure course. The absurdity of this myth becomes
especially apparent in the Faculty meetings. When several
faculty members were trying to get Faculty support for
the Coalition demands, for instance, was it not somewhat
ridiculous for the Faculty to think that they could adopt,
as an independent body, resolutions (some of which
implied criticism of President Shannon's past failures) to
forward to the Administration, i.e. Mr. Shannon, when
President Shannon himself (as a member of the Faculty,
of course) was, himself, chairing the meeting?

Teacher is usually supposed to know best, both for
himself and the student, but in this case, it is in our own
interests to direct some friendly advice to the Faculty.

Wake up, Professors! You have, at best, a company
union. You have, in fact, no independent bargaining
power with the Administration. You are not the
Administration. At other universities the Faculty is
getting organized. At Duke University, the faculty
members created this year a Free Academic Senate
organized on a Departmental level, and a University-wide
Free University Council which in alliance formed the
FAS-FUC. Not until the Faculty is organized separate
from the Administration, or at least, not until there is
some independent organization of progressive Faculty
members will any meaningful change be brought about or
sustained at this University.