University of Virginia Library

A Confession of Conservation

(82)It begins where we are now, without trying to evade
realities, and it assumes a relatively slowly-changing academic
program on the Grounds. It is in no sense
"experimental"—there is nothing of the ambiance of a
share-the-work commune or the unstructured ex nihilo
philosophy that damned SUNY at Old Westbury ("Well, here
we are, all together, preselected for sparkling brilliance and
creativity; now what shall we study and how?") Nothing
remotely resembling an elitist selection process on the one
hand or "open admissions" on the other is visualized. Nor is
any "trendy" area of study proposed, or any quota system, or
the absence of traditional grades and faculty qualifications.
(The new Governors State University in Illinois has 35% black
or Latin-American staff, no grades, and no professorial
ranking.)

(83)The proposal is conservative, furthermore, in that it
accepts as a starting point the present University growth plans
toward a minimum of 18,000 total students—a figure which is
unlikely to be revised downward by the new Future of the
University Committee. It accepts as given the need for
discipline and restraint, assuming that a town of 3000 is a
manageable and humane size, even though one of the
University's planners has stated that the Birdwood tract can
accommodate 18,000 persons easily. As stated earlier, we do
not do everything that we can do; we make decisions about
what is appropriate to our ends. Finally, I have not here
presented a final design, a fully-researched proposal, or a
scheme so well-constructed and integrally-conceived that
removal of one clerestory window brings down the whole
Habitat.

(84)I am pleading implicitly and explicitly that we decide
what we want to achieve before we begin to talk about what
buildings are necessary. Absent from the proposal, for
example, is a classroom building, since classes are to be
scattered in rooms of various shapes and locations among the
student and faculty living quarters. Yet the first impulse we all
will have—in the absence of reflection on our goals—will be to
throw up some sort of classroom building! (Feeling that surely
this is a sine qua non.)

(85)Conservative as it is, it does seem to me that there is
much that is both sensible and appealing in the community
here envisioned. To me, such an arrangement would be an
enormously exciting and stimulating place in which to live and
teach and think. I would hope that there is some shared
sentiment among persons who have taken seriously the
question of what environment and what mix of people are likely
to contribute most effectively to learning, so that my personal
opinions do not appear foolish or unrealistic.

Photo By Lovelace Cook