University of Virginia Library

Systematic Ignorance

Even more appalling than
the ignorance of a system that
could send them to their death
at the age of 19, or put them in
prison for up to five years, is
the hostility prevalent in the
society and directed against
those people who would offer
technical assistance, or point
out the shortcomings of the
draft. More than once at this
University the term
"irresponsible" or
"communist" has been
caustically applied to a person
offering a confused registrant
assistance, and many members
of this community feel secure
to let this characterization
stand, unchallenged. The
Charlottesville Draft
Counselors have for several
years provided their time, their
energies, and their concern to
help the members of the entire
community understand the
concept and intricacies of the
draft.

Operating out of the
conference room behind the
main desk of Newcomb Hall,
this organization attempts to
help students trying to find a
way to complete their
education, tries to help those
who feel that they
conscientiously cannot, for
moral or non-moral reasons,
comply with the draft or enter
military life.

Becoming a Draft
Counselor is not extremely
difficult. Primarily it requires
that a person be willing to
spend two to three hours a
week first learning the
operations and technicalities of
the system, and then applying
his knowledge to the people
and situations he meets.