University of Virginia Library

Bateman Names 'Temptation'
As Threat To Student Morality

By George Wilkinson

Colleges all over the state are
currently up in arms over the
proposed resolution in the Va.
General Assembly by Senator
Herbert Bateman of Newport News
that moves to restrict the dorm
policies of all Va. state supported
schools so that they will be more in
line with the moral standards of the
citizens of the state of Virginia. The
resolution, if adopted, would advise
state supported colleges that the
General Assembly advocates
parietal hours which would not
encourage 'increasing sexual
promiscuity' among students of
those schools.

Senator Bateman's resolution
was brought about by his
investigation of an undisclosed
Virginia College. Reliable sources
indicate the school under
investigation was William and Mary
College in Williamsburg.

W and M Incident

Last year W and M was the scene
of a much publicized incident
involving parietal rules and the
enforcement of those rules.
According to Bill Sizemore,
executive editor of the W and M
semi-weekly newspaper, the Flat
Hat, two couples were caught in
the dorms during non parietal hours
and were subsequently suspended
for the remainder of the semester
by the Judiciary Committee.
However, when appealed to the
Federal court in Norfolk, the
students were reinstated by Judge
John Mackenzie because the
enforcement of the dorm rules was
applied arbitrarily. The judge went
on to reaffirm the constitutionality
of the college's dorm regulations
such regulations required uniform
enforcement. Hence, the students
were re-enrolled in the college.

During the incident, however,
there occurred a sit-in at the
administration offices by some
'couple of hundred students.'
Several of the students were
subsequently arrested for rifling
one of the dean's offices. This was
well publicized by the local
newspapers and served to increase
parental and administration
concern over W & M's policy as
regards dorm rules, parietal hours
and the enforcement of such
regulations.

Abuse Of Parietal Rules

According to Richmond and
Hampton Roads newspapers, an
incident involving a woman in a
certain state supported college
(presumably W and M) who claimed
that she had been raped
(supposedly so that she would be
eligible for an abortion in Va.) led
to the investigation uncovered
several abuses of the parietal rules
in that college and add that one
dorm mother almost resigned her
post in protest to the liberalized
dorm rules at W and M.

In a telephone interview with
Sen. Bateman, the senator affirmed
that his resolution would suggest to
Va. supported schools that they
adopt parietal rules which would
not generate an opportunity and
exposure to temptations which
students have fallen victim to from
the beginning of time. There is
nothing to force the schools to
conform with the resolution but
many people believe that, if
adopted, the act would put enough
pressure on the schools to ensure its
adoption in the various Va.
colleges.

Great Temptation

The major question in this
controversy seems to be whether or
not college students are mature and
moral enough to adopt and follow
their own parietal hours. When
asked about this, Sen. Bateman
stuck to his theory that the
maturity of the students was not in
question but rather the
"temptation" was too great for the
students to refuse and that the
parietals should be revised so that
this temptation is eliminated.