University of Virginia Library

Meet With The Board

A call from Ron Hickman to Acting
President Frank Hereford can accomplish
many wonders. Mr. Hereford said Wednesday
that there was no way that the Board of
Visitors could squeeze representatives from
Student Council into its Friday agenda. But
yesterday, when it seemed as if Council was
going to request that no students see the
Board if it couldn't, Mr. Hickman got on the
phone, the impossible became possible and
Bud Ogle and Paul Hurdle were invited to
confer with the Board. Ah, the miracle of
modern communication!

The whole affair came about as a result of
Council President Ogle's and Rector of the
Visitors Frank Roger's failure to come to an
understanding about the manner in which
Student Council representatives are to be
invited to Board meetings. Perhaps Student
Council was in error when, on the basis of
President Shannon's statement that an
invitation to its president and vice president
would be a "regular practice," it did not
formally respond with a written acceptance.
But had the Board been truly interested in
communicating with students, it certainly did
not go out of its way to find out why the
Council had not responded to its invitation.
The Board's actions would seem to indicate
that it is not exactly eager to deal with a
Student Council which it considers
dangerously radical, and, in the words of one
Board member, "immature and irresponsible."
At any rate, whatever communication there
will be today will be largely perfunctory.

All of which points out the absurdity of
charging a group of politically appointed
businessmen who get to the Grounds every
couple of months with the penultimate
responsibility for running the University. Even
if the Board were representative of the people
of Virginia, in all of the people's
socio-economic and racial diversity, its ability
to make decisions on the course of the
University would be hardly salutary. The
Board members are not here often. They are
in touch with only a select and small group of
faculty-administrators and, once in a while,
students.

We do not wish to deny that the counsel
and judgment of such persons as those who sit
on the Board can be of value to the
University. But in vesting final power in such
a group, a University structure is created
which in effect excludes any real influence
and power from faculty, students and staff.
Decisions in most University-wide issues are
decided by administrators tied to the
President's office which in turn is ultimately
responsible to the Board. There is a small
amount of representation near the bottom of
the power structure. Any attempt to move
this representation further up the scale is
balked at, as evidenced by the Board's
apparent unwillingness to meet regularly with
elected student representatives and engage in
real discussion and dialogue.

As matters stand now, there is no formal
body which equitably represents the various
factions of the University community. The
Board is a body appointed by the Governor
and is intended to make final judgments and
give advice on the running of the University.
Unfortunately it was never designed to be
closely involved with people making up the
University.

If the Board is not the proper body to
equitably consider affairs of the University
community, then what body is? There is a
proposal currently afoot on the Grounds to
restructure and revitalize the University
Senate. It is likely this body would include
students, faculty members, administrators,
and alumni; its powers would contain many of
those of the present University Senate, the
difference being that this Senate would
exercise them. This seems to us to be the most
logical organ to exercise the powers that the
Board presently wields over the University.
There are functions which the Board fulfills in
terms of liaison with the State government,
investment of funds, etc. The Board is well
equipped to handle these. But it is not well
equipped, and it is structured in such a way
that it never can be well equipped, to be well
informed on such matters as coeducation,
admissions policy, and problems unique to the
University Community. The Board would be
doing the University a service if it endorsed
the University Senate proposal.