University of Virginia Library

In The Balance

Despite a series of last-minute gestures
from Edgar F. Shannon-including at least
one concession, some strange recriminations,
and the hint of possible disciplinary action
against "irresponsible" student leaders-organizers
of "University Tuesday" have
decided to proceed as scheduled.

In adhering to their previously announced
call for actions tonight and tomorrow, Tom
Collier and other Student Council leaders
have shown themselves acting in the best
interests, not only of their student constituents,
but of the University itself. Faced
with the subtle yet chilling threat of retaliation,
the demonstration organizers have
reasserted the valid reasons which impel the
protest. In this way they have served notice on
Mr. Shannon that his weekend negotiations
are but a product of the crisis already upon
us: if they are a beginning of the solution,
they are certainly not the last of it; if too
little, let us hope not too late.

In a positive vein, Mr. Shannon reintroduced
the Committee on the Future of the
University as a potentially valuable clearinghouse
amid the administrative committees
whose role it is to study all aspects of
expansion and its impact on University life.
The Future Committee, in conjunction with a
special steering committee, may monitor and
coordinate most phases of what one hopes
will prove an extensive review of the entire
growth issue. Such a study should include
within its scope the fundamental assertions
underlying Mr. Shannon's expansion plan,
that is, regardless of available facilities,
whether the University should grow at all in
meeting its obligation of the Commonwealth.

Among the more disturbing aspects of the
weekend talks, which started Friday and
continued intermittently until yesterday
afternoon, was the feeling among some observers
that Mr. Shannon's sudden responsiveness
was more a play for favorable publicity
outside the University than a direct answer
to student representatives. The disclosure
Friday that press releases including a letter to
Mr. Collier (enumerating Mr. Shannon's reservations
concerning the demonstration) were
distributed to the outside media before Mr.
Collier himself had a copy, tend to support
the belief that the move was intended primarily
to enhance the administration's public
image.

Moreover, Mr. Shannon's continued
insistence that "University Tuesday" would
be "disturbing," if not disruptive, coupled
with repeated warnings phrased in terms of
Judiciary Committee language were interpreted
by Student Council representatives as part
of a calculated chill strategy to quell the
protest before it starts.

Important is the administration's attitude
toward "University Tuesday" in advance:
should Mr. Shannon interpret the coming
actions in terms of their disruptive potential,
he will have missed the whole point. Should
he take the "precaution" of attempting to
"secure" the Grounds from the students who
inhabit them, he may but hasten the advent
of serious trouble. Needless to say, the
presence of police or outside security forces
during tonight's sleep-in on the Lawn or
tomorrow's actions would be almost certain
to provoke a dangerous confrontation.

But confrontation is not the object of the
Council's plan. This point, above all else, is
the one Mr. Shannon seems likely to be
missing. Organizers of the protest have gone
to great lengths to clear up any misunderstanding
on that score: the aim, rather, is to
dramatize and illustrate the magnitude of the
threat posed by expansion-not only in the
future-but right now. The goal is a constructive
one, the method peaceful. If the
outcome seems to hang in the balance, let no
one say it is because the Student Council
failed to make its purpose clear in time.