University of Virginia Library

To The First-Year Men

As a word of explanation, this special issue
of The Cavalier Daily is prepared each year
exclusively for entering first-year men as our
way of welcoming you to the University of
Virginia. In it we try to touch on as many
aspects of the University of interest to you as
we can, but we hardly presume to cover
everything there is about this institution or to
have in any way captured its spirit. We do
hope, however, that the issue can be of some
help to you in providing information which
you cannot find elsewhere without asking and
in exposing you to various phases of
University life to which you might not otherwise
be exposed.

It is on the "spirit" of the University of
Virginia that we wish to reflect now. We feel
that the spirit here is unique. Without doubt
the primary force behind this unique spirit is
the Honor System, traditionally the
University's most cherished and valued
possession. The concept of such a system will
be new to many of you, but we cannot
imagine that it will be foreign to you. Rather
than elaborate on the virtues of our honor
system (for that we refer you to other articles
on this page, page one, and to Mr. Woody's
speech on page four), let us say only that we
encourage you to seek to understand the
system and all its implications as well as you
can; if you do try earnestly to understand the
system you will find, as generations have
before you, that there are certain limitations
and weaknesses within it. It is because the
members of the University community readily
admit these weaknesses that the system, with
all its strengths, is so effective. We urge you to
support the Honor System with all your
heart-it needs your support-and if you do,
we guarantee that the fact that you have lived
within it will come to be one of the single
greatest sources of personal pride in your life.

As important a factor as the Honor System
contributing to the unique spirit of this
university is the tremendous heritage of its
beloved founder, Mr. Jefferson. His influence
on the Grounds never wanes, for it is he
that has given us the concept of unrestrained
freedom of the mind within a gentlemanly
society. We are ever reminded of his words:
"For here we are not afraid to follow the
truth, wherever it may lead us, nor to tolerate
error, so long as reason is left free to combat
it." Happily the University today is entering a
new era in its pursuit of the truth. Gone are
the days of romantic magnolia-and-mint-julep
conformity to established traditions; gone are
the days of the "gentleman's C" and all the
implications thereof; gone are the days of
automatic acceptance of the established; gone
are the days of unbridled apathy.

Never before in its history has the
University and everything for which it has
always stood undergone the scrutiny it
undergoes today. The students and
administrators of Mr. Jefferson's institution
are finally waking up to the fact that the
University must keep up with the world
around it; those who would defend the old
concept of the University of Virginia are
finally waking up to the fact that this concept
and all aspect of it are no stronger than their
ability to withstand challenge and change.

Of course the University does not have a
corner on the market of change. Everyone
knows that what is going on here is going on
everywhere to varying degrees. The
all-important difference, however, is that here
it is able to go on within a framework of
gentlemanliness and honor. We would betray
our founder if we allowed the pursuit of "the
truth" ever to be a cause of the type of
activity which has occurred at some other
institutions. Change and gentlemanliness are
not irreconcilable; rather they complement
each other in that the former is more easily
attainable in the realm of the latter.

These are turbulent times; the University
of Virginia is properly caught up in the
turbulence thereof. It is up to you, the
first-year men, to see that in this year and in
the coming years the turbulence which
characterizes pursuit of truth is not allowed to
die here; at the same time, however, you must
not allow it unnecessarily to interrupt the
daily course of an institution which need not
be interrupted. Respect for others and for the
property of others must always remain
supreme. There is no doubt that you will meet
resistance in your search for the truth and in
your attempts to implement your findings,
but you must overcome that resistance by
principle rather than by force. Such is the way
of the gentleman; such is the way of the
University of Virginia.

With all this talk of gentlemen and
gentlemanliness the matter of daily dress
comes to mind. You all know that the coat
and tie has been the traditional dress for
students and faculty of the University. You
all know also, however, that many coats and
ties have been replaced by alligator shirts,
beads, and . We would not presume to
pass judgment on either, but certain
implications of the matter should be
mentioned. No one should ever accept
something such as a matter of dress just
because it has always been the order of things;
if you come here and wear your coat and tie
faithfully without even wondering why, you
make a mockery of the whole system.

Many people feel that wearing a coat and
tie is a matter of standards or taste or
common decency or cleanliness; we feel that
wearing a coat and tie at the University of
Virginia is a matter of displaying your respect
for your university and for those around you.
In view of the gentlemanly tradition which
characterizes the University and of which you
were aware when you decided to come here,
we do feel that failure to wear a coat and tie is
representative of a lack of respect for this
particular institution which it would not
indicate at others. Whatever the case, we must
not condemn anyone for his dress, for to do
so would be to deny that freedom of the
individual on which the University was
founded. (From a practical standpoint,
however, we can assure you that a coat and tie
will come in handy when having interviews
and attending classes with many of the deans
and professors around here).

As a few final words of subjective advice,
let us urge you to make the best of your years
here by taking advantage of everything the
University has to offer. An excellent academic
education is yours for the having if you work
for it; further, there is unlimited opportunity
to broaden that education by activities out of
the classroom. Whether you like to explore
caves or engage in formal debates, whether
you want to learn karate or sing in a chorus,
whether you want to hold demonstrations or
write creatively, there is adequate opportunity
for you to do it here. In fact, we suspect that
there are few, if any, activities which someone
might want to engage in that he could not
find here. Remember always, you will get out
of the University no more than what you put
into it.