University of Virginia Library

U-Explosion

With the release today of President
Shannon's Report to the University
Community on construction it appears that
the administration is taking an aggressive,
positive stance on the question of expansion.

Before all the proposed buildings and plans
go off the blueprints into existence we would
ask, as many other groups have already asked,
for a reconsideration of proposal to nearly
double the size of this University.

It would be elitist and unrealistic to
demand that the size of this University be
frozen at its current stage of development.
However, we find it extremely difficult to
give President Shannon the green light in his
program to create an institution vastly
different from the one we know now.

In the current master plan for the
University, emphasis is given to quality
graduate schools in many fields. It seems the
philosophy is that not only should the
University of Virginia at Charlottesville offer
admission to every qualified Virginian, as
stated by Ernest H. Ern, Dean of Admissions,
but that it should also be prepared to provide
him with graduate schools in a wide range of
subject areas.

We hold this concept to be absurd. This
University should not feel compelled to admit
all qualified students to the Charlottesville
campus (an attitude which implies the
inferiority of the other campuses in the
system), nor should it attempt to build
quality graduate departments in practically
every field at the expense of undergraduate
and other existing programs. Yet the
likelihood exists that much of the money
received from an increased undergraduate
enrollment will be diverted toward building
superior graduate departments, to the
detriment of the undergraduate education.

The California system of universities,
although much larger institutions than we
would like to see arise, could serve as a model
for the state of Virginia. As the Student
Council Report on Expansion has suggested,
such branches as Mary Washington and
Patrick Henry College could be given more
funding and made more attractive to
prospective students. Each of these schools
could develop specific areas of graduate
studies which were particularly strong.

For the Charlottesville campus to
significantly increase in size and number, the
only way is up. Either high-rise dorms and
classrooms are going to be necessary to keep
the campus a workable, convenient size or the
Grounds will have to be divided up and
segmented. The idea of the "loss of
community spirit" resulting from such steps is
a nebulous concept, but it is already making
itself apparent in the current strain on the
Honor System and other elements of
University life.

Solving the problem of lack of space in
Charlottesville for expansion would prove far
more expensive than simply expanding
enrollment at other campuses which have
access to easily developed and relatively lower
priced land. Housing, parking, and classroom
space here, despite the administration's
claims, are at a critical point of strain, even
now. If Mr. Shannon feels we can handle
increases in size, he has yet to demonstrate it.

Instead, the burgeoning expansion noted
thus far has been marked by an almost banal
lack of foresight. Any future growth which
occurs without improved planning will be
disastrous both for Charlottesville and the
University itself.

Despite the administration's arguments, we
fail to see the logic in moulding the
Charlottesville campus into a super-university.
Those who demand growth whether in the
General Assembly or Pavilion VIII should
explore seriously the chance that a more
reasoned alternative plan exists for providing
college educations for Virginians and for out
of state students.