University of Virginia Library

The Mountain Lake Conference

The University's Mountain Lake biological
testing station is a cluster of unimpressive
wooden cottages about an impressive stone
laboratory building in the middle of the
woods on top of a mountain on the
Atlantic-Mississippi water divide. Used only in
the summer months, the laboratory building is
a well-equipped facility with a small assembly
room and several modern labs. The cottages,
however, are rough, airy structures which have
hot water and plumbing but no heat. Except
for the laboratory building, one would think
the whole complex were a seldom-used
hunting camp or a rough-and-ready boy scout
camp.

It was to this rather unlikely establishment
that Mr. Shannon took his troupe of
administrators and student leaders for a
weekend of free discussion away from the
distractions and responsibilities of
Charlottesville. The location was perfect; the
whole idea of the retreat and the way in
which it was carried out was brilliantly
conceived.

Mr. Shannon had sent all those who were
to attend background literature on the whole
college crisis during the summer as a common
basis for discussion. Everyone received a
portfolio containing the names and positions
of everyone else, about fifty in all. The
meetings were held in a round table fashion
(but with no table) in the laboratory building
beginning Friday night. Everyone who wanted
to was able to speak, whether he had helpful
information to offer, a specific proposal to
make, an opinion to express, or a simple
question to ask. Students and faculty were
mixed together in the circle and were able to
mingle further in coffee breaks, in
"refreshment" periods after the meetings, at
meals (which were first class in quality and
quantity), and in games and other activities
during recreation breaks. Dress was informal
to suit the locale and the atmosphere. As a
result of it all the atmosphere was golden.

Students and faculty were able to get
together informally, on a man-to-man basis, as
individuals or in groups. Those whose
opinions were particularly divergent on a
given issue were able to exchange views in a
truly productive and constructive fashion-at
any time during the non-meeting periods one
could see a student and an administrator
trying to understand and work out their
differences, a group of students trying to
convince a particularly "hard-headed"
administrator to accept their position, an
administrator setting down certain
fundamentals to a group of students, or just a
group of students planning for the next
meeting. Often these discussions took place
while passing a football or tossing horseshoes.
The informality and the absolute freedom
from considerations other than those which
developed on the mountain combined to
create an optimum situation for the type of
exchange which occurred.

There were, of course, times of bitter
discord. After one meeting student members
of the conference were practically ready to go
back home and riot. But there was no walking
out of this conference. Because of the remote
location no one had any choice but to stay on
and go to the next meeting. Happily some of
the meetings after the bitterest one were the
most harmonious and productive. The
participants found out that they could get
along after all.

Thus the weekend was a study in the
concept of "when communication ceases,
battle begins" in reverse. Communication
never ceased, and, as a result, we suspect that
many battles in the future have been averted.
It is all-important that the members of the
two groups got to know each other on a
personal basis; when they did, those of each
were surprised at the humanness and
rationality of the other, none of which they
could ever have discovered under other
circumstances.

No decisions were made on the mountain,
but the groundwork for many future decisions
was laid. We suspect that students who seek
changes in the future will find a more
receptive audience than they have had in the
past; similarly, they will respect the positions
of those from whom they seek changes more-so
than ever before. And why not? They will
be dealing with men with whom they are now
personally acquainted, men with whom they
have shared a unique and edifying experience.

The ever-expanding generation gap can
never be closed, but it has certainly been
bridged effectively at this university. May that
bridge never collapse, for without it the
University might well follow it down.

Everyone who went to Mountain Lake will
be ever grateful for the opportunity. We
extend to Mr. Shannon and to the others who
made the weekend possible our warmest
thanks and congratulations. We hope and trust
that the occasion will become an annual one.