University of Virginia Library

Theme of "Difference" Introduced

(11) How might this work? Is this not asking for sheer
chaos? Let's consider a bit further what the implications are. If
a student is going to exercise a preference, then there must be
decisive differences in the two places. Otherwise a flip of the
coin would do, or arbitrary fiat from the Housing Office.
One of these differences seems to be assured: I do not see how
the Commonwealth of Virginia can afford to duplicate or even
approximate Alderman Library, Gilmer Hall, Physics, and
Chemistry at Birdwood. Some rudimentary lab equipment I
can conceive of, and certainly a few books (or else an
electronic information-retrieval system), but that's about all.
Which means then that already the unlucky folk out there are
clearly second-class citizens educationally, aren't they—and
that the difference is already so big as to make free choice a
hypocrisy? Not so. Only if you are determined to operate
with the premise that sophisticated equipment and tens of
thousands of books are sine qua non for a first-class education.
I for one am not.

(12) A preliminary conclusion, then: Students whose
majors or interests demand quantities of equipment and the
proximity of a million books will self-select themselves on the
Grounds or in apartments nearby; they will not come to
Birdwood, and we should not try to plan for them. Birdwood
does not have to be all things to all men.