University of Virginia Library

Application Photographs

In considering the issue of whether or not a
photograph and a $10 application fee should be
required of all applicants, we must realize that
we are trying to attract to the University two
groups that have not traditionally been part of
the University community - the black and the
poor.

The "race" question was removed from
application forms several years ago because its
removal left no doubt as to whether or not the
black applicant would be discriminated against.
In this spirit, many universities, at the same
time, made the photograph in the application
optional. The demand presented by the Martin
Luther King chapter of the VCHR and by the
student coalition and other groups was simply
that the photograph be made optional.
Unfortunately, Mr. Shannon seems to have
either misunderstood or evaded the actual
demand in his reply that "discontinuing the
picture would be detrimental to the best
interests of disadvantaged applicants." The
implication from Mr. Shannon's reply and other
administration responses is that they need the
picture so that they can give special preference
to black applicants. If valid, the implication is
that we would be hurting our own cause by not
requiring photographs. (Also, if valid, this
implication contradicts that great principle of
"equal opportunity" used by Mr. Shannon to
reject the hiring of a black assistant admissions
director). However, all evidence indicates that
the University is not using pictures to
discriminate in favor of blacks. They used that
same argument in favor of keeping the pictures
in 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1968, and we
have seen no appreciable increase in the number
of black students accepted over those years. If
this makes us suspicious, what does it do for
the black high school senior who considers
applying here? It tells him that as long as the
photograph is required he need not bother
applying. If however he does believe that it
would aid his chances for acceptance, he may
include a photograph. That is why we ask that
the picture by made optional; and we hope that
in his next reply, Mr. Shannon will respond to
that request rather than to a request that we
did not make.

Regarding the ten dollar application fee, Mr.
Shannon states that the fee is State policy and
that he personally would raise funds to pay for
the application fee (or photograph cost) of any
student who couldn't afford them. We therefore
request a change in the State policy and an
announcement of public support for that
change by the University Administration. The
reasons are simple. Any student applying from
a racial group or economic level that is not
heavily represented at the University will have
serious doubts about his chances for acceptance;
this means he will apply to two or three
other schools. That is probably what most of us
did. That means an outlay of $30 to $40, which
for a family making under $3,000 a year is a
tremendous hardship. Rather than have Mr.
Shannon be burdened with having to decide
whether a student in Roanoke needs the
President's personal help in financing his
application, we propose what we feel to be a
more practical and effective program. The local
guidance counselor or University recruiter
could decide whether or not the applicant was
in need of a waiver of the application fee. If the
applicant is accepted, he or she could be billed
the $10 at registration. This would entail a
minimal financial loss for the University and it
would encourage both poor black and poor and
working class whites to apply who might
otherwise not have been able to apply.

We are not calling for a discontinuance of
either the photograph or the application fee.
We have made reasonable and constructive
proposals and we would like a reply based on
reason, not rhetoric.

-Tom Gardner