University of Virginia Library

Legislature Consulted

Well, then, if the administration
showed such a poor response, why
didn't we go to the legislature? We
did. In April of this year a
Student-Legislator Open Forum
was held in Richmond. This forum,
held for the first time, was designed
to improve communications and
relations between students and
legislators. Alan Botsford, then
Student Council Treasurer, served
as vice-chairman of this conference.
The expansion of the University of
Virginia was a major topic. We were
pleasantly surprised to find that
most legislators were not seeking
the expansion of the University,
and in fact were often opposed to
such expansion. Certainly President
Shannon is not being showered
with expansion funds which he has
not requested.

However,—the legislature is not
the only influential group in the
state. Did we ever bother going to
the Governor's office? In February,
Kent Ross and Phil Chabot, the two
Student Council coordinators on
the expansion issue, met with Mr.
Hetrick, a special assistant to the
Governor, regarding the expansion
problems at the University. Their
main concern was discerning the
source of the pressure to expand.
According to Mr. Hetrick, the
source was not the General
Assembly or the Governor's office.

Perhaps, then, Student Council
should have gone to the Board of
Visitors. It did. In a series of
meetings throughout the year, the
officers of Student Council
discussed all aspects of the
expansion problem and sought the
aid of the Board in curtailing the
expansion of the University.