University of Virginia Library

Variety of Virginians

On this point, Mr. McConnell
seems to be more realistic by saying
that "we have recognized that the
four-year college is not the answer
for every Virginian. Nor can any
one school or type of school even
hope to meet the educational
challenges that lie ahead. We will
need our four-year colleges with
their emphasis on the liberal
arts...the four-year military
institute...the land-grant
institutions...the regional
university...the community
colleges...and the
comprehensiveness of a state
university offering major graduate
and professional opportunities."

Without these two rationales
underpinning present plans for
growth at the University, growth
becomes an end in itself rather than
a means to a higher end. And, with
growth as the end, wisdom easily
eludes the planning of
administrators below the Governor's
office. It is here, in the specific
plans for growth in Charlottesville,
that the results of unwise planning
will be felt most severely. Let us
therefore, briefly look at the results
of growth as presently planned and
see who can be held responsible.

One result that does not seem to
be in the offing is a lowered
standard of admission
requirements. Ernest Ern. Dean of
Admissions, and an able staff of
admissions personnel, have
seemingly reversed a former
downward trend in the average
Board scores of entering students
and actually raised these averages to
a new high. The admissions staff
has been helped, of course, by an
ever increasing applicant pool from
which to select students.

The only complaint that can
seemingly be made with admissions
policy concerns in-state enrollment.
According to an article in last year's
The Cavalier Daily the number of
Virginians in past entering classes
averaged around 55 per cent of the
class. Last year, the ratio jumped to
64 per cent. The jump was
explained by the admission of
women who were mainly from
Virginia and assurances were made
that future growth would not affect
the instate-out of state ratio.

Two recent facts, however, cast
some doubt on these assurances.
First, reports have been received by
this writer that information sent to
interested women applicants
stressed the fact that Virginia
women were preferred at the
University. Also, the recruitment of
an ever-increasing number of
minority group students has been
centered in Virginia due to financial
limitations. The Office of
Admissions, at the same time, has
attempted to deal on a rather
low-key basis with alumni groups in
other states, some of which do not
favor or encourage applications
from minority group students. With
assurances from the Office of
Admissions, one can only hope that
these two problems will be rectified
in the near future.