University of Virginia Library

Knowledge Of Events

Mr. Spong said that he had been following
the events here at the University in the paper,
and was glad to hear that we had agreed on
something. He said he shared some fears of
anti-intellectualism, and that he expected the
relationship of the senate to the President
would be the subject of a debate in the Senate
very soon.

After the reading of the letter, the meeting
with Mr. Byrd became a general discussion,
primarily on the Vietnam War. Mr. Byrd said it
was "a grave error of judgment to become
involved in a war on the Asian Mainland," the
way the war was conducted by Johnson and
MacNamara was not good, and that we should
give "full support to whatever troops are in
Southeast Asia."

When asked if he would vote to repeal the
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Mr. Byrd said he
would be somewhere inclined to, but wouldn't
want to make a categorical statement." He
remarked that Mr. Nixon says he is removing
the troops as fast as possible, and "we have to
leave the decision to somebody.

One student asked about the draft, and Mr.
Byrd answered by saying, "I don't think each
individual citizen can make his own as
to which war he will fight in" which seems to
imply that there is not only a war in Vietnam,
but also one waged by the youth at home, and
that students are not capable of deciding which
war they will fight in. When asked by another
student to comment on the rather unrestricted
use of State Police at the University, Mr. Byrd
said he really didn't know what was happening,
except he had heard something about an
American flag being misused. At this point,
there was some rustling among the students.

Mr. Spong said he had met with a group of
law students on Friday, so he was pretty aware
of what was happening. A student congratulated
Mr. Spong on his vote against Judge
Carswell, and Mr. Spong replied, "I'd like you
to answer some of my mail;" Mr. Spong joined
heartily in the laughter which followed.