University of Virginia Library

XLIV. Student Life—Physical Side

Previous to the inauguration of the first President, the
control of the athletic sports of the University rested
nominally in the hands of the student body, but, in reality,
of the General Athletic Association, on the supposition
that every collegian, immediately upon his matriculation,
was ipso facto a member of that organization.

Unfortunately for the soundness of this theory, the association
was in reality mere putty in the manipulating fingers
of a few dominating men. This subservience was
universally admitted; but the students at large, impatient
and suspicious though they were, were at a loss to find a
means of throwing off this personal ascendancy over
them. A committee on athletics was annually appointed
by the chairman of the Faculty, but rarely held
a meeting. There was no regulation which defined
eligibility, and no sportsman-like rule which governed
the games. Many of the young men taking part in
them had matriculated only to participate in athletic
contests. Some were professional athletes in disguise
who had registered from every section of the country.

President Alderman, recognizing the disconcerting
features of the situation, promptly decided, with the sympathetic
cooperation of the Faculty, to take steps to remove
all these evils, which were causing such just complaint.
Indeed, the University of Virginia was one of
the first institutions to apply a drastic remedy to conditions
which were damaging the standing of American
sport everywhere. A committee was appointed to make
a searching investigation, and to recommend the measures
to be enforced for carrying out the necessary reform.
This committee consisted of Professor Echols,
its chairman, Professor Minor, and Dr. Lambeth. The
report which they submitted forms one of the most
honorable landmarks in the history of the University of
Virginia.

The committee earnestly counselled that the following
resolutions should be at once passed: (1) that, in the
opinion of the Faculty and students, the only proper
basis of inter-collegiate athletics was that spirit of pure
amateur sport which animates contests between gentlemen

the world over; and that the true criterion which
differentiated amateur sports from professionalism was
the spirit which plays the game for sake of the game
itself; (2) that membership in a team should be held
only by actual students,—a rule which would exclude all
who carried about them the odor of professionalism,—
and by young men whose class records demonstrated
their keen interest in their scholastic work; (3) that it
was the part of gentlemen engaged in any amusement,
sport, or game, to remember, at all times, that they were
gentlemen first, and only incidentally, players,—that
they were to follow, not the bastard honor which calls
for victory at whatever price of fraud or brutality, but
the voice of true honor, which prefers an hundred defeats
to victory purchased by chicanery or unfair dealing,
—that the Faculty and students were determined to
discountenence and brand with their disapproval any
intentional violation of the rules of the game by members
of the University teams or any improper advantage
taken by them of their antagonists, and that it was
entirely immaterial whether these were detected by
umpire or referee; (4) that it was to be assumed that
the opponents of these teams were gentlemen equally
with themselves,—that every presumption of honorable
dealing was to be accepted in their favor until the contrary
was conclusively shown,—and that they were to
be looked upon as guests, and as such to be always protected
from rough and inequitable treatment; (5) that
the spectators on the home grounds should show fairness
and courtesy towards opposing players and officials
of the game; and that the more considerate and generous
the behavior of the University teams on such
occasions, the more nearly would their members approach
proach the ideal of the true gentleman and the true
sportsman.

The committee further counselled that the following
regulations should be put in practical force at once: (1)
that before any student could become a member, or substitute
member, of any athletic team of the University
of Virginia, and take part in any inter-collegiate contest,
he should be required to apply to the committee on
athletics for a formal approval of his petition; and that
this approval should be refused without further inquiry,
if he was not an unconditioned matriculate of
the institution; (2) that the applicant should appear
before the committee and answer on his honor such
questions as its members should consider proper to ask;
and that his athletic experience should be carefully
looked into and recorded; (3) that he should give a
pledge in writing, supported by his word of honor, that
he had never accepted, directly or indirectly, remuneration,
compensatory gift, valuable consideration, or a
promise thereof, for his athletic services; and that he
was, in a strict sense of the term, an amateur player in
collegiate athletic sports; (4) that no student who had
been a member or substitute member of any athletic
team at another college should be permitted to become
a member of a similar athletic team at the University of
Virginia, unless or until he had been residing in that institution
for at least five months; (5) that no professor,
instructor, or officer of the University of Virginia should
be a member of any athletic team organized within its
precincts; (6) that it should be the duty of the president
of the General Athletic Association, the advisory
board of that association, the manager of the team, the
captain of the team, and the director of the gymnasium,

to furnish, on request, a statement to the effect that each
member of an athletic team about to take part in a contest
was open to no suspicion as to the propriety of his
representing the University on that occasion; and without
such clearance, he should not be permitted to participate
in it; (7) that this privilege should be withheld
from all students whose general standing was discreditable;
(8) that, after September 15, 1907, no coach who
was not an alumnus or officer of the institution, should be
employed for the purpose of training or instructing any
of its various teams; and finally, (9) that the Faculty
committee on athletics should be authorized to establish
a maximum period, after which a player in any branch
of athletic sport should be ineligible to a place on the
corresponding team of the University.

In January, 1906, these recommendations were
adopted by the General Faculty, and the new code was
declared to be in operation from that date. The athletic
committee were warned to allow no inter-collegiate game
to be played with any contestants who refused to conform
to these rules. Their enforcement created a revolution
in the history of the athletic teams. At once, a
complete harmony sprang up in the relation of the
Faculty's committee and the students' committee on athletics,
which showed no sign of weakening until 1909–10,
when a radical ticket was announced, upon the platform
that the domination of the Faculty must be checked;
that publicity of athletic affairs must be assured; and
that a professional baseball coach must be employed.
This opposing party succeeded in electing only two members
of the advisory board, which would seem to indicate
that the sympathy, on the whole, ranged on the
side of the then prevailing policy of the existing committees
on athletics.

The committees were empowered to recommend, from
time to time, any new regulation which appeared to them
to be needed. Among the new rules adopted were, (1)
that no collegian should be admitted to any University
team for an inter-collegiate contest unless he had passed
satisfactorily a physical examination by the director of
the gymnasium; and that if he was under twenty-one
years of age, he must first obtain his parents' written
consent to his participating; (2) that each professor was
to report weekly on the class-work of any one or more
of his students who were actual members, or substitute
members, of any athletic team; and if they were declared
to be neglectful of their books, they were to be compelled
to sever their connection with the team; (3) that
no games were to be played except on the grounds of
some institution of learning; and finally, (4) that no
student whatever was to be permitted to become a member
of a team until there had been an interval of five
months since his matriculation.

In 1916–17, the rule was adopted that no collegian
in his first year should be admitted to any of the University
teams. This was an absolutely certain guarantee of
the exclusion of the professional player. All members
of the teaching staff were also shut out as well as all
students who had been members of a University team
for a period of four years.

Two different incidents which took place after the introduction
of the Presidency reveal the strictness with
which the rules were enforced. First. The University
of Virginia had, during some years, refused to enter
into any athletic contest with Georgetown University;
but finally resumed the old relations with that institution,
on condition that its teams should rigidly observe
the following regulations: a student of that University

was not to be eligible to play with the teams of
the University of Virginia, if he had taken any part in
athletics for compensation; or had been a member of a
professional team; or had gone out with a summer team;
or had participated in a game under an assumed name;
or had not attended a course of lectures that occupied at
least nine hours weekly; or had been actively associated
with college sports during four years.

Second. There matriculated at the University of Virginia,
during a certain session of the Ninth Period, a
student who had been dropped from the roll of Columbia
University for deficiencies in his classes; and there was
no reason to infer, from his general record, that he
would show more industrious habits in his new environment.
When he offered himself as a candidate for a
place on one of the teams, his application was turned
down on this ground. It was said, at the time, that
notice was thus given to the student body, as well as
to all young men who were looking forward to admission,
that the acquisition of knowledge and mental discipline
were the fundamental purposes of the University
of Virginia; and that sport was considered by this institution
to be completely subordinate to these purposes.
The following table reveals the respective grades of the
students who were members of the athletic teams, and of
the students who were not members:

               

	1909–10	1910–11	1911–12	1912–13	1913–14	1914–15	1915–16
Football team	68.6	68.6	73.7	75.7	83.2	80.9	82.5
Baseball team	74.6	74.6	74.4	78.	80.7	77.4	81.7
Basket-ball team	72.2	72.2	78.8	83.	79.8	79.	83.9
Track team	76.5	76.5	79.8	76.6	75.6	80.5	83.2
Relay team	77.4	77.4	77.3	80.7	...	...	...
Average for all	74.8	74.8	75.6	78.8	81.2	79.	82.8
Non-athletics	74.5	74.8	74.8	84.7	82.3	85.1	85.1