University of Virginia Library

Disgrace

Last year the Commonwealth of Virginia
ranked . . .36th in State aid to higher
education, thus demonstrating clearly that the
0.6 per cent (or less) of its per capita income
devoted in recent years to supporting colleges
and universities is not enough. Indeed, if the
Carnegie Commission on Higher Education
gives any indication in its 1971 report, it is not
difficult to understand why Virginia provides
less than 30 places (in public and private
institutions) for every 100 of its college-age
citizens.

Despite a notable effort by Governor
Holton, who in his budget request to the
legislature sought to correct the imbalances of
the past and bolster the state's sagging
educational rank in the nation, conservative
legislators have once again neglected their
responsibilities. Mr. Holton's recommended
allocation to the University for
1972-74-except for the prevailing tightwad
atmosphere on Capital Hill- would have
boosted the University's state aid by almost
40 per cent over that allocated for the
1969-1971 biennium.

In slashing 4.3 million dollars from the
University's request for maintenance funds
and in demolishing the yet unbuilt Graduate
School of Business with a deletion of $3.5
million in construction .. funds, the
General Assembly's House Appropriations
Committee earlier this week affirmed that
Virginia's national ranking may decline even
further. The proposed Business School, which
would have been located on the Duke tract
northwest of the Grounds, was cited by
Edwin Crawford, Vice President for Public
Affairs, as a project "vital to the development
of the graduate business program" and one
which had already gained approval by the
voters in a 1968 bond issue.

Instead of the necessary funds for
construction, the committee laid aside a
meager $70,000 for further planning of
a facility the need for which is firmly
established. Charles C. Abbott, Dean of the
Business School, went even beyond Mr.
Crawford's estimation of the setback: "This is
obviously no way to encourage young men to
contribute to the economic development of
the state," Mr. Abbott added.

Noting that stopgap measures-including
the addition of more mobile trailer-type
classrooms such as those already in use
adjacent to Monroe Hill-will be necessitated
by the budget cut, Mr. Abbott conceded
somewhat stoically that "we'll make out."
But, according to William H. Fishback,
director of University Information Services,
"major efforts will be made toward having
funds for the project restored." It can be
assumed that President Shannon's frequent
visits to Richmond this week are geared
exactly to help effect immediate restoration
of the funds.

Elsewhere in the state, similar cuts were
the cause of justified consternation at other
state-supported institutions. VPI lost $18
million, at VCU in Richmond, a fine
arts center, which would have cost $2.6
million, met the legislature's knife; and in
Norfolk, ODU was set back to the tune of $3.4
million. The pattern is clear, and promises to
enhance the hardships being felt generally in
the groves of academe these days.

As one University administrator observed,
"the momentum of the sixties may find itself
replaced by a new wave of mediocrity in the
seventies if Virginia fails to face its
responsibilities to higher education." How the
budget slash will effect the University's policy
regarding expansion in the coming decade is
uncertain. Some believe that projected
estimates of 18,000 students enrolled in the
University by 1980 will remain unchanged,
with a concomitant rising shortage in facilities
and decrease in quality. Others are more
optimistic, citing rumors that the fund cut
will spur the Committee on the Future of the
University to redraw its expansion profiles,
possibly with a reduction to 15,000 students
by 1980.

In any case, the legislature once more has
shown a crippling lack of awareness in failing
to deal adequately with the problems of
Virginia's colleges. Should the state's
disgraceful 36th place in public aid drop even
lower in the coming year, let no one wonder
where the blame lies.