University of Virginia Library

Colloquium

VPP: Running On A Record

Stuart Pape

The Student Council campaign
this Fall has pointed out several
distinctions between the major
parties. The Virginia Progressive
Party is running on the record of
the Council, while the Jefferson
Party is supposedly running against
that record. Based on an apparent
peripheral knowledge of the
activities of Council, the JP
candidates have unfairly
Council as ineffectual and unrepresentative.

In doing this, though, they have
stayed clear of the most important
issues which Council has faced and
instead have concentrated on matters
which Council realized were of
little importance. Led by the
College representatives, Council has
produced several successes for students
this year. The efforts of
Kevin Mannix in regard to coeducation
were responsible for an accelerated
implementation of the plan.
This means that women will come
to Charlottesville while the present
students are here, not five or ten
years from now. Other efforts have
resulted in curriculum reform, pressure
for increased black admissions,
recruiting efforts, better communications
with the Board of Visitors,
cars for first year men, girls in the
dorms, and a host of other matters
which affect students directly.

Considering the wide implication
of these actions, it is surprising,
indeed disappointing that
the JP has not seen fit to engage in
a debate over the important matters
before the Council. Their campaign
strategy has been to attack the
Council without facing the issues,
and to avoid making suggestions of
any significant import. The so-called
platform, which appeared in
Thursday's Cavalier Daily, presented
no new suggestions and was
extremely limited in scope. What
was extremely disappointing was its
failure to commit the JP on the
significant, controversial issues. No
substantial statements regarding the
Board of Visitors, students on
faculty and administration committees,
student social facilities, or
the complex problem of black
admissions appears. Surely we are
past the stage where it is necessary
or even acceptable to say that
coeducation, curriculum reform, or
increased black admissions are
favored. What is needed is action
and programs to bring about agreed
upon goals, not mere endorsements
of these goals.

It is in this area that the
differences between the VPP and
the JP become crystal clear. Every
VPP candidate can honestly say
that he has been active in attempting
to accomplish the goals set
forth in the VPP platform of last
Spring. In addition, the VPP has
proposed new programs, broken
new ground, and attempted to
explore as many of the areas
concerning students as possible. A
few examples will highlight this
difference. The JP endorses the
basic concept of cars for first-year
men. Fine, but VPP members were
responsible for the original proposal
and have been doing the fighting to
achieve this objective. The JP
supports the Board's three year
coeducation plan. Well, it was
originally the Board's ten year plan,
and it took a Court case, and
subsequent battle led by VPP
members, to point out not only the
illegality of such a plan, but its
ludicrousness. The Student Council
Constitution is also endorsed, but
where were the individuals who
now belong to the JP when the
groundwork was being done? I
could go on forever, but the point
is nearly self evident. It is unfortunately
all to easy to criticize on
the one hand, and support the
major accomplishments on the
other. The VPP placed qualifications
on its posters to emphasize
this point. In addition our detailed
platform has been widely distributed
and discussed.

In the final analysis, the VPP
campaign has been an attempt to
publicize the notable achievements
of the Council, and to propose new
approaches and new areas of
problems. The JP has been content
to attack the minor aspects of
Council's record (only two pages of
a total of fifty pages of minutes this
fall were devoted to non-University
matters), while falling to come up
with any noteworthy examples
which demonstrate the willingness
and intent of their candidates to
work in the direction which the
student body indicated it desired in
last Spring's election.

Every single JP poster is noticeable
by the lack of qualifications,
fairly good indicators of the direction
in which one intends to go
(may be there is no direction?) or
proposals. Instead catchy, cute
phrases appear, criticizing the
Council, but providing no constructive
suggestions. The JP has stayed
clear of the issues in this campaign
- not wanting to appear too liberal,
or conservative, or moderate. As a
result it has appeared bland, hypercritical,
and afraid to tell the
students what its position is.
College students, before they go to
the polls on Tuesday and Wednesday
will have to decide whether
they will vote for the VPP, with a
definite, comprehensive program
and proven candidates, or the JP,
with unproven candidates nominated
by small blocs of students and
only a few weak planks to stand on.
I feel confident that the students
will choose wisely.

—ed.)