University of Virginia Library

Avoid Communication

The 85 students at the meeting
voted to allow the undergraduates
to stay. Mr. Jordan promptly left,
removing his opportunity to
communicate with the students in
his department. The remaining
students then elected an ad hoc
committee to take the issue to
Dean of the Faculty Dean Shannon.
Why Mr. Jordan would not speak to
the graduate and undergraduate
dissidents together is still not
known.

The Government department's
official reaction to the affair has
been largely to avoid direct
communication, at least on the
Ritter case. Rumors were floating
around, unsubstantiated rumors,
that some professors were trying to
intimidate the graduate students
who signed the initial petition by
hinting that fellowship grants might
be difficult to renew. One student
also expressed his concern that
Professor Inis Claude, who he said
is a reader of graduate dissertations,
showed up at Mr. Jordan's meeting.
But the department apparently was
in communication with Dean
Shannon, for the students found
him well informed on the
department's position.

In contrast to the difficulty they
had seeing Mr. Jordan, the ad hoc
committee walked into Dean
Shannon's office Wednesday
without an appointment and
secured a 90 minute meeting with
him the same day. He told them
Mr. Ritter had originally been hired
as a specialist in comparative
government, particularly that of
Western Europe, and since he has
since shifted his emphasis to
political theory, he is less necessary
than before from the department's
point of view. (Mr. Ritter has
maintained that he was also told he
would be phased into the political
theory classes as well). But what
most impressed the student group
was getting a 90 minute audience
to discuss the problem and to be
heard.