University of Virginia Library

Whither Lambeth?

Growth may well be the ultimate
anathema for the University. Horrid images of
throngs of people, clogged corridors, and a
depersonalized community atmosphere flicker
in many students' minds as they contemplate
the present crowded reality and President
Shannon's promise of increasing numbers in
his Report to the University Community. Yet
our inevitable growth could send the
University into an exciting and rewarding
spiral of relative advancement during the next
two decades while other institutions that grew
without experience or adequate planning
flounder in a financial quagmire.

Very few of the recent events on the home
front, however, fill us with optimism. When
members of the Administration appeared
before the Student Council to answer
inquiries into the necessity of growth and the
direction that it would take, they either
refused or were unable (which is more likely)
to effectively attack the salient issues: why
growth has to be "inevitable" and assurance
that the administration recognizes the effects
growth will have on each of the University's
integral parts (the Library, the Honor System,
housing, classroom space, student relations,
etc.). All that students have heard thus far is
that growth is necessary and the University
will benefit from it.

Everyone now deserves more than vague
affirmations that the University will make
great strides from growth. The Lambeth Field
Project is doing nothing to bolster confidence
in the Administration's capability in guiding
the University to the absolute premier group
of American universities. The Committee,
which operated so clandestinely that we still
do not know exactly what its members did
and did not consider, has recommended the
immediate construction of high rise
apartments, which will be copies of the new
nursing apartment buildings to save money. A
form of residential college was mentioned as a
possibility in the distant future.

We have not heard any explanation why
Charles Whitebread, an Associate Professor of
Law, a Resident Advisor, and champion of
residential colleges, was not appointed to the
Committee. After hearing student committee
members' protests over six-man apartments,
we do not know why they were
recommended. After presumably witnessing
the depersonalization and the destruction of
community spirit and interaction at other
growing universities, we do not know why the
Committee settled upon apartments that
would further fractionalize the "academical
village."