University of Virginia Library

Essence of Coalition

The change in the coalition is
the result of a learning process in
which factions that had never met
or tried to meet before found a way
to work together to resolve common
areas of concern. This process
in many cases involves a bending of
wills on the part of each coalition
member and the coalition members
who found that for personal reasons
they could not change, compromise
or bend their views, eventually
dropped out of the coalition.

This is the essence of the
coalition - a unity and a firm resolution to bend to a common
purpose.

One part of the coalition that
has not changed is its basic working
structure, which operates not by
voting but by consensus or compromise.
It is felt within the coalition
that to make decisions by majority
vote would alienate the losing side
of an argument, and the coalition
cannot afford to have a split in its
membership.

Somehow the coalition manages
to hash things over and over until it
reaches a decision that is agreeable
to everyone and is somehow a
rational, working solution.

All of this is not to say that the
coalition's structure has not been
challenged, for its meetings have
their mud-slinging and threatened
walkouts. In the past members have
flatly refused to go along with the
consensus, and although the problem
was resolved, similar ones will
undoubtedly arise in the future.

The loose structure of the
coalition incorporates no assigned
speaker or chairman and no definite
membership and is considered by
its members to be a key factor in
keeping the body together. It is a
theme of equality; however, in the
future the coalition may be forced
by the nature of its program of
build a more definite structure to
present to the public.

It might be said that the
coalition has not progressed far in
fulfilling its goals, and outwardly
this is true enough. If one notices,
though, that no one except Gov.
Godwin has denied the existence of
racial imbalance, sub-standard
wages, and the racially unrepresentative
make-up of the Board of
Visitors at the University, he sees
that the coalition is making progress