University of Virginia Library

Vacancy

It appears that the concept of
the cloistered university shut off
from the rest of the community
lives on here in Charlottesville.
Early Sunday afternoon we
witnessed campus security officers
ask two non-student town's kids to
leave an almost deserted Memorial
Gym. Obviously the University has
legitimate reasons for excluding
non-university people from
university facilities. Among those
reasons are security and lack of
facilities. But it escapes us why
non-students should be excluded
from university facilities when
those facilities aren't being utilized
by students.

The University is a state
institution supported to a great
extent by general revenue funds
collected from all the citizens of
this state. It should, therefore, to
the greatest extent possible be open
to those who help support it with
their tax dollars.

An "open" Memorial Gym will
possibly require more work on the
part of the athletic department. It
will entail better communications
with non-students using the gym so
that no misunderstandings will
arise. In spite of possible
impediments we still believe that if
facilities are not being used by
students they should be available
on a reasonable basis to
non-students who want to use
them.