University of Virginia Library

Hypocrisy?

The rallying cry of the conservative
student faction here, and the statement that
President Shannon always uses as a cop-out
(after he shares his "grave and deep concern"
with the students) when he is pressured for a
commitment, is that the University should
remain an "open" and "non-political"
institution.

For the University to remain apolitical in
all situations is one thing, but when the
administration secretly allies itself with
governmental repression, the situation
changes - the University takes a political
stand.

This week four students were questioned
by the Criminal Investigating Department of
the Department of Defense (CID). We are not
questioning the right of the two CID agents to
question the students, but what we do find
objectionable is the University
administration's role in aiding these agents.

The four students are members of the
Virginia Veterans for Peace. Some time ago
they were among five members of the V.V.P.
who gave a news conference in Richmond and
stated that atrocities committed by the
military in Vietnam are a common occurrence,
and that Lt. Calley and other "war criminals"
are being used as scapegoats by the military to
cover up the real extent of the military
atrocities.

Obviously the CID got wind of it and
decided to question these people. Two agents,
Messrs. Wood and Yerby, came to
Charlottesville to "ask some questions."
Unfortunately for the agents, two of the
students were in class and couldn't be found
right away.

By their own admission, the two agents
went to the Registrar where they were told
where they could find the two students.
Actually this isn't true. The Registrar denies
giving them that information. The Registrar's
office referred the two to the academic deans
of the students' respective schools (Commerce
and Engineering). Later the agents went to
the rooms where the students were in class
and had them called out for questioning.

Dean Irby Cauthen of the College, who
was not connected with this affair, said that
the University's policy is not to release a
student's records (which include his schedule)
to an outsider under any conditions unless a
student has given permission, or information
is needed on a student's application for
graduate school, or transfer, etc.

Now, obviously, this policy was broken
when the information directing the agents to
the students' whereabouts was released. Who
exactly released the information is not, and
probably never will be, known with any
certainty. But it had to be released by
someone with access to the student files, and
that means someone in the administration.

This example of collusion between the
administration and military authorities (who
are pursuing the students on a political
matter) is contradictory to the idea, not only
of an apolitical University, but of honesty.

Now we do not know whether the release
of this information was merely an example of
bureaucratic bumbling or collusion. But we
do know that if this University intends to
follow its announced neutrality on political
issues it had better take steps to insure that
examples such as the one described will not
occur in the future. If they do students will
have ample cause to charge the administration
with hypocrisy of the worst type.