University of Virginia Library

In response to Mr. Donald
Lovett's letter I would first like to
say that I am not "intent on
destroying" anyone, least of all
Dean Woody. If my letter, written
in a state of high indignation, was
so interpreted, I am deeply sorry.

However, Mr. Lovett, it is you,
not I who are lacking in logic, and
as for truth, your recounting of the
story simply put flesh on the
skeletal accounts I drew from The
Cavalier Daily.

Your whole letter was a reinforcement
of my position. Instead
of acting through the proper
channels as the administration so
parsimoniously preaches, you
aided by Mr. Woody (a member of
that administration as a Dean)
circumvented the proper channels. I
did not claim that Mr. Woody
instructed you in what to say (that
charge reflects a poor reading of my
letter), I simply said that Mr.
Woody arranged the meeting in
near secrecy, which is true.

You state that Dean Woody was
familiar with your political convictions.
This again reinforced my
position. He was obviously aware of
the views you would carry to
Richmond. Mr. Blackford, assistant
to the governor, is quoted in The
Cavalier Daily of Feb. 4 as saying
Mr. Woody indicated you would be
"representing conservative thinking,'
whatever that's supposed to
mean." Be honest, would Mr.
Woody have arranged such a meeting
for Tom Gardner and Thurm
Wenzel? Let's be realistic, in all
likelihood they would have been
instructed to go through "proper
channels." Why should he go to bat
for you? Last year when Ron
Hickman was president of the
Student Council I took my complaints
about representation I disliked
to the council, the proper
channel. I got no response from the
conservative council president but I
did not hunt up a "liberal"
administrator to circumvent the
Council.

You stated your primary concern
at that time were your exams,
that is as it should have been. It is
regretful that you could not take
the hour required to make a phone
call to Richmond (for future
reference the governor's office is
770-2211). Instead, you asked
Dean Woody to arrange the meeting.
I hope that didn't take up too
much time.

Finally, Mr. Woody said in The
Cavalier Daily that he did not know
the names of the members of the
delegation. If this is true are we
then to presume that he did not
know your name Mr. Lovett? How
then did he know your political
convictions? No semantics games
please, honor is not derived from a
play on words but from intent.

Thank you Mr. Lovett, once
again for your strong reinforcement
of my position. I could not have
found a better source. It is now
clear that you and Mr. Woody did
not go through the proper channels
and that you attempted to arrange
an unpublicized meeting.