University of Virginia Library

Blacks Find Hostility

But the reaction to the
increased black enrollment was
not good. Blacks reported
incidents of harassment by
city and University police,
students and University
employees. They charged that
police were indiscriminately
stopping black students in
checks for student
identification. Despite these
discouraging signs, blacks had
established themselves at Mr.
Jefferson's University, but the
process had just begun.

Last year the admissions
office reported some difficulty
in attracting black students to
the University resulting in
little, if any, increase in black
enrollment.

The number of schools
actively recruiting blacks and
the relatively small percentage
of blacks who accepted
admission to predominantly
white schools have made it
difficult to increase the black
student percentage, according
to Ernest H. Ern, dean of
admissions.

Charges of police
harassment flared into a major
issue when the Black Student
Alliance demanded the
dismissal of University Security
Officer Walter Chaffin.