University of Virginia Library

'Decision' Structure

I do not mean to suggest that
the other schools should not be
represented in a University-wide
"decision" making structure
(though I might suggest that some
schools like Graduate Business
should not exist). Even if the
Student Council were reapportioned
to accurately represent the
University population, the College
should still have its own voice. It
makes much more sense, for instance,
both practically and in
terms of democratic theory, for the
nomination of student members to
committees of the Faculty of the
College of Arts and Sciences to be
determined by representatives from
the student body of the College of
Arts and Sciences rather than by
representatives from Law, Medicine,
and Graduate Business.

In these changing times, with
the increased size and diversity of
the University and the imperative
for progressive change, it is difficult
to imagine that the College students
will continue to tolerate this
archaic "rural" structure. Each
year's entering class brings a sharper
social awareness and a more radical
force for a truly democratic University.
Whether the issue is women's
rights, racial equality, or student
power, students in the College are
bound to be more and more
insistent upon having a clear
channel through which to be heard
without having their collective
voice muffled by an entrenched and
unrepresentative student establishment.

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