 |
|
 | Board of Visitors minutes September 24, 1955 |  |
A called meeting of the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia was held on this
date at 10:00 a.m. in the Office of the President of the University, at Charlottesville, with the
following present. The Rector, Barron F. Black, President Colgate W. Darden, Jr., and Visitors
Barksdale, Berkeley, Dunn, Emmett, Gravatt, Gray, Hartfield, McWane, Mears, Pollock, Mr. Smith,
Talbott, and Wheeler. Absent: Visitors Coxe, Howard, and Mrs. Smith.
The minutes of the meeting of 9 September 1955, previously distributed, were approved.
MEETINGS OF THE BOARD
The Board resolved that the day of Board meetings be changed from the second Friday of the
month to the second Saturday, that in addition to the Annual meeting on the second Saturday in
June, meetings should be held on the second Saturday of October, December, February and April,
the April meeting to be held at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, and the next meeting
of the present session to be held on 10 December 1955.
ELECTIONS
The Board adopted the following resolution
RESOLVED by the Board of Visitors of The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
that the following persons be and they are hereby elected to the faculty.
Mr. Alexander V. Thelen as Part-time Lecturer in Economics for the session of 1955-56, at a
salary of $1,200.
Mrs. Charles D. Shelden as Acting Instructor in Nursing for one year, as of September 20,
1955, at a salary of $3,456, as a replacement for Miss Lipchak, who will be on leave.
Mr. Roger Durgin Johnson, Jr., as Instructor in Mathematics for the session of 1955-56 at a
salary of $4,000.
Mr. John Winfield Litton, Jr., as Acting Associate Professor of Engineering at the Clinch
Valley Branch, part-time, at a salary of $3,750.
Captain J. B. Goode (USN, Ret.) as Lecturer in Mathematics for the session of 1955-56 at
the Clinch Valley Branch, at a salary of $4,160.
Miss Lucia Sveltana Kegler as Instructor in Romance Languages for the session of 1955-56 in
the Clinch Valley Branch, at a salary of $3,780.
LEAVE OF ABSENCE
The Board adopted the following resolution.
RESOLVED by the Board of Visitors of The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
that Miss Amelia Lipchak, Assistant Professor of Nursing, be and she is hereby granted leave of
absence without pay for one year beginning September 25, 1955, to accept a scholarship at
the University of Chicago
CANCELLATION OF ELECTION
The following resolution was adopted by the Board;
RESOLVED by the Board of Visitors of The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
that the election of Dr. Henry E. Funk as Assistant Professor of Modern Languages at the
Clinch Valley Branch, be and it is hereby cancelled, Mr. Funk having resigned to accept an
appointment elsewhere.
STUDENT NURSE DEPOSIT ACCOUNT
The Board adopted the following resolution
RESOLVED by the Board of Visitors of The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
that the balance in the Student Nurse Deposit Account, amounting to $16,053.61, be added to the
consolidated endowment funds of the University, the income to be used for the Department of
Nursing
SECURITY CLEARANCE
The following resolution was adopted by the Board:
RESOLVED by the Board of Visitors of The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
that the members of the Board, listed as follows - all of them citizens of the United States of
America - do not presently require access to classified security information. A. D. Barksdale,
Norborne Berkeley, Barron F. Black, Whitwell W. Coxe, Miss Belva T. Dunn, John M. Emmett, Horace
A. Gray, Jr., John Segar Gravatt, Joseph M. Hartfield, Dowell J. Howard, Henry E. McWane,
Benjamin W. Mears, Herbert Pollock, Mrs. Herbert McKelden Smith, Howard W. Smith, Frank Talbott,
Miss Lucille Wheeler
WHITE ARBORETUM AT BLANDY FARM
It was resolved by the Board that the name of the Orland Emile White Arboretum at the
Blandy Farm be changed to the Orland E. White Arboretum
ATHLETICS RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS
Mr. Talbott led a discussion of the "Report of Receipts and Disbursements, Intercollegiate
Athletics, for the Period July 1, 1954, to June 30, 1955". On his motion, seconded by Mr. Gravatt,
who commented on the importance of complete frankness on all details of athletics expenditures,
the Board resolved that the Report be approved and a copy filed, and that the Secretary be
directed to submit the original and two copies to the Director of the Budget in Richmond
ATHLETICS - ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE
President Darden reported on conversations he had held with President Gordon Gray of the
University of North Carolina pursuant to the proposals made to the Board last winter by the
University Senate for an effort to bring about a greater spirit of amateurism in Atlantic Coast
Conference football and other major sports. Mr. Darden said that President Gray favors a shift
from special athletic grants to general scholarships, and has proposed a joint meeting with
President Hollis Edens of Duke University. Mr. Gravatt commented on the advantages of the N.C.A.A.
plan and the hypocrisy of the concealed subsidization that might arise under a system of general
scholarships.
LEASE TO EQUITABLE REALITY CORPORATION
President Darden laid before the Board and recommended approval of a Contract dated 15
September 1955, with attached plat by Henry L. Kinnier, leasing for five years, at fifty dollars
($50.00) a year, to the Equitable Realty Corporation of Charlottesville a triangular strip of land
approximately 103 feet in length, lying on the east side of the tract occupied by the Howard D.
Johnson Company, to be used for a driveway and for no other purpose, the Contract to be subject to
cancellation by the Lessor on thirty (30) days' notice at any time should the tract be needed by the
University, otherwise to remain in force from year to year after 15 September 1960 unless notice to
the contrary shall be given by either the Lessor or the Lessee sixty (60) days prior to that date or
to any annual anniversary of that date
The Board resolved that the Comptroller of the University be authorized and directed to execute
the proposed Contract as drawn and approved by the University's Attorney and exhibited to the Board
STUDENT COUNSELING AND ENROLLMENT
President Darden reported increased enrollments in all of the undergraduate schools, a continuing
falling off of Virginia students in the School of Law, and an unexpectedly large initial enrollment
in the Graduate School of Business Administration. The President and Mr. McWane commented on the work
to be done among business men in the State by Mr. Keller.
The President reported also on the separation of student counseling in the Engineering School and
in the College and the selection of Mr. McKay to assist in this work, the agreement of Professor
Mallett to continue as Associate Dean of the Lower Division for one more year to assist Dean Dren,
and the choice of Professor B. F. D. Runk to handle student discipline, in conjunction with the
Judicial Committee of the Student Council, and to supervise the proposed changed plan of fraternity
chaperonage upon the forthcoming resignation of Mr. Fletcher as Director of Student Affairs. The
Rector, Mr. Gravatt and others praised the President's choice of Mr. Runk for this work
MARY WASHINGTON COLLEGE MATTERS
GRELLET COLLINS SIMPSON ELECTED PRESIDENT
Mr. McWane laid before the Board the following report:
Pursuant to its assignment, the Special Committee on the selection of a president for Mary
Washington College respectfully submits this report to the Board of Visitors.
For the purpose of determining organization and prosedure, our first meeting was held in the
Office of President Darden on May 5. After full discussion, the Chairman was empowered to
employ such stenographic assistance as he considered necessary and to enlist the services
of an executive secretary for conducting and handling the correspondence essential to the
completion of our assignment. It was also decided that letters inviting suggestions and
nominations should be written to college presidents throughout the South and to the heads of outstanding
women's college throughout the nation. Similar letters were sent to the officers of
the Alumnae Association and to all faculty members at Mary Washington College, and to faculty
members of the University of Virginia.
As a result of these letters we received many helpful suggestions and compiled a list of 137
names for consideration.
At a meeting on June 21, it was concluded that, inasmuch as the Board of Visitors had determined
upon a policy of emphasizing the liberal arts and sciences in the Mary Washington Collete
curriculum, all prospects not possessing a background in the liberal arts and sciences should
properly be eliminated. Further screening of the list for other reasons reduced our number of
prospects to six.
It was decided that these prospects should be interviewed individually with sufficient time between
interviews for reflection and discussion of each person's qualifications. A schedule
of meetings with each prospect was arranged by the Committee in order to provide ample time for
full and complete consideration. These meetings started with the first prospect present at an
afternoon session on Friday, September 9. They continued with a dinner meeting on Friday evening,
breakfast on Saturday morning, a mid-morning and luncheon session, and concluded with the
last prospect appearing on Saturday afternoon. President Darden sat with the committee throughout
these interviews and participated in the deliberations
Following this procedure, I think that it is significant that your Committee found itself in
full agreement in its choice of a candidate. We unanimously recommend the election of Dr. Grellet
Collins Simpson to be the chief executive of Mary Washington College.
Dr. Simpson is a native Virginian, born in Norfolk on April 20, 1909. He is the son of Mrs. Johnne
Mabyn Branch Simpson and the late John Calhoun Simpson, a Norfolk businessman. He was married
to the former Miss Dorothy Cottrell of Richmond in 1939
He was awarded the Bachelor of Arts degree at Randolph-Macon College in 1930 and, after serving
successively on the faculties of Randolph-Macon Academy, Bedford, and Randolph-Macon College,
where he taught English and German, he received his Master of Arts degree at the University of
Virginia in 1936, following several summers of study at Charlottesville.
During the course of his graduate work at the University, he studied under the late Dean
John Calvin Metcalf, former Dean James Southall Wilson, and others. He prepared his dissertation
under Archibald Hill, now of the University of Texas, on the manuscript versions of The Seven
Penitential Psalms, ascribed to the early fifteenth century Thomas Brampton. Dr. Simpson received
the Dortor of Philosophy degree from the University of Virginia in 1949. He held the duPont and
Bradshaw fellowships during his graduate study.
Dr. Simpson was made professor of English at Randolph-Macon College in 1942 and served
collaterally as director of counseling from 1946 until 1952, the year he became dean of the
faculty.
During a four-year leave of absence he served with the American Red Cross and was director
of relief to families of Allied personnel in southern Italy.
Dr. Simpson is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Raven Society, Omicron Delta Kappa, the Modern
Language Association, and of Phi Delta Theta social fraternity. He is a steward of the
Duncan Memorial Methodist Church, Ashland, and is serving his second term as a member of
the Ashland Town Council
It is the firm conviction of the Committee that he possesses in abundance all of the
qualifications requisite to this important position.
Selection of a President for
Mary Washington College
Following discussion by the Visitors of various candidates considered and praise by the
Rector and the President of the work of Mr. McWane and his Committee, the following resolution,
moved by Judge Barksdale and duly seconded, was adopted by the Board.
RESOLVED by the Board of Visitors of The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
that the Report of the Special Committee on the Selection of a President for Mary Washington
College as set forth above be and it is hereby approved and adopted, and that it be spread upon
the minutes of the Board
RESOLVED further that Dr. Grellet Collins Simpson be and he is hereby elected President of
Mary Washington College effective 1 February 1956, at an annual salary of $9400.00 in addition
to use of the President's House at an estimated valuation of $1200, or a total annual compensation
of $10,600.00.
ELECTION
The Board adopted the following resolution
RESOLVED by the Board of Visitors of The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
that Mr. Elmer E. Hoskins be and he is hereby elected as Instructor in psychology at Mary
Washington College for the session of 1955-56 at a salary of $3,240.
MEETINGS OF THE BOARD
The Board resolved that its annual meeting in Fredericksburg should be held on the second
Saturday in April, that its Annual meeting in Charlottesville be held on the second Saturday in
June, and that additional regular meetings be held in Charlottesville on the second Saturday of
October, December, and February.
ENROLLMENT AT THE COLLEGE
The President commented on present and future dormitory arrangements at the College, and
said that enrollment may fall about fifty short of maximum capacity during the present term.
On motion the meeting was then adjourned
Rector
Secretary
| Board of Visitors minutes September 24, 1955 | |