University of Virginia Library

Strike Rally Draws Record Crowd

Cameraman Skips Out

By Steve Grimwood
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

The main crowd had formed by
eleven, the center sitting, the sides
standing, milting about, still unsure.
The brick walk around the statue of
Jefferson had disappeared under
the center core, and was to stay out
of sight for the entire time.

Many came up through the
lawn, swarming around the Rotunda
then merging into the spreading
crowd, finding a place to sit or
standing on the slopes near the
front steps of the Rotunda. Some
headed for the porticoes, standing or
sitting above the crowd and the
speakers.

Many cameras were present.
Their owners roved about, looking
for shots. A marshal stopped one
student photographer. "Avoid taking
any pictures of individual
people. They might not understand
why you're taking them, and we
want to keep this quiet."

The Chase

One man with a camera was
being watched carefully by two
marshals. He had a fairly large
camera, but never took it completely
out of its case, and always
returned it to the pocked of his
brown suit jacket after every
picture. Suddenly he turned and
darted through two of the many
boxwoods that surrounded the
rally. The marshals followed.

The man walked towards the
Corner, stopping occasionally to
glance over his shoulder. When he
reached the street, he stopped and
waited for the marshals to overtake
him.

"Nice day, isn't it?" he said to
the marshals. They agreed and the
three stood for a moment. The
man then turned and ran into the
street, opening the door on a
passing Pepsi truck and climbing
inside. He said something to the
driver and "the Pepsi truck hauls
ass," but not before one of the
marshals took a picture himself.

'What A Circus'

"What a circus," comments one
person as he saw the rally. He stood
by a white-jacketed med student
who wore a small placard on his
chest that read: "NOT ON STRIKE-
Just Work Here."

Inside the Rotunda it was
business as usual. A guide was
conducting a group of high school
students around the circle. Several
looked out the front door at the
cheering crowd, some curiously,
some apprehensively. Soon they
moved on.

The weather was cool, the sun
disappearing behind a cloud occasionally,
the cameramen adjusting
their exposures frantically with the
shadow. A group of coat-and-tied
individuals were sitting on the
Rotunda steps facing the lawn. One
was studying a picture he had just
taken with his Instamatic. It was a
pastoral scene of the empty lawn.

Crowd estimates were often
discussed, the figure of 3,000 being
the agreed consensus. This was,
according to most observers, the
largest group ever to gather at the
University for a political event.

'Anything Goes'

"We will march to University
Hall tonight to hear Kunstler. And
after the speech, anything goes!"
Tom Steele's remark drew a few
cheers, but the rally was ending, the
crowd peeling off at the edges.

A Congressional candidate began
to speak, and the first heckling of
the day is heard. The speaker
following him received even more
comments from the few people that
are still left. Now the center was
breaking up, only the interested
and out-of-towners still remained.

They were still unsure of where to
go.

A sign of authority finally
appeared. It was a unicop standing
within earshot of the rally. He was
writing out a parking ticket.

To the right of the Rotunda,
workmen were setting up for the
upcoming concert, working along
with the long-hairs from the groups.

***

A break for lunch, then off to
the Concert. The atmosphere there
was easy on the surface, yet
underneath lay the feelings of the
day.

The crowd there was even more
diversified than the one at the rally.
Free music can draw all points of
the political spectrum. A small
group sat in the center of the
mostly standing crowd, talking
eating, smoking, listening to the
music.

Free Peanut Butter

Others stood around, many
drinking beer from cups and sometimes
from gallon jugs. A group
near the fountain were busily
making hundreds of peanut butter
sandwiches, which they distributed
free to the crowd, along with
gallons of Kool-Aid.

The good times were to continue
5:30, when the crowd
would leave for the law school,
where President Shannon was expected
to speak, then the march to
University Hall.

After that, nobody was making
predictions.