University of Virginia Library

Political Groups Express
Views Of Both Extremes

By Rick Pearson
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

While first-year men are scurrying
around the Grounds making
their Orientation rounds, established
and not-so-established activist
organizations are digging
trenches for the year-long round-robin
of political name-calling;
mud-slinging, and rabble-rousing.

The University was founded by
a man who never made a habit of
concealing his opinions on any
issue, national or local, and Virginia
men since Mr. Jefferson have
continued, this heritage. Any new
student with strong convictions will
quickly find an organization that
suits his own political head,
whether it be radical, moderate, or
conservative.

Moderates Organized

The majority of University men
tend to classify themselves as
"moderates," and this fact has had
a tempering effect on the extent of
political activity on the Grounds.
But even the moderates have
organized, and the two major
national political groups at the
University are the Young Democrats
and Young Republicans.

The Young Republicans in the
last few years have become one of
the largest organizations on the
Grounds, and each fall the two
groups traditionally engage in a
battle to enlist the most new
recruits. Last year was especially
active because of the Presidential
election, and both groups promise
even fuller schedules this fall during
the already-heated gubernatorial
campaign.

Rise Of Activists

But perhaps the most colorful
additions to University life in the
last few years have been the birth
and growth of activist groups of the
right and left. In some cases these
organizations, some recognized and
some underground, concentrate on
University and local issues, and
other groups function as part of
regional and national networks in
bringing to Virginia "the truth" as
they see it.

SDS And SSOC

On the left, there are the
University chapters of Students For
a Democratic Society (SDS) and
the Southern Student Organizing
Committee (SSOC), two organizations
of whom most new students
have probably heard. Last year,
their members returned to school
early and began a flood campaign
of words and leaflets.

Although they were laughed at
in September, these groups initiated
several issues that later acquired
wide popularity. The black studies
and Transition Fund campaign
achieved great success through
demonstrations and fund raising.

Two other groups which have

been associated with some of the
campaigns of SDS and SSOC are
the Martin Luther King Jr., Chapter
of the Virginia Council on Human
Relations, headed by Dick Boot,
and the Black Students for Freedom,
whose leader is George
Taylor. These groups, plus the
Wesley Foundation's Virginia Interfaith
Action Community, took an
active part in the Transition Fund
and the controversy over the-housing
and wages in Charlottesville
of University employees.

Radical Union

A new organization is also likely
to be formed here this fall, the
Radical Student Union. It is rumored
that this group will unite
SDS and SSOC into one organization.
There will also be a Black
Student Union at the University.

United Students for Action,
formed last spring, is already
present and active and on the Grounds.
Headed by Chuck Wheeler, the
group hopes "to bring the University
into the twentieth century
through non-violent practicing of
its Constitutional rights."

A final organization of this kind
is the Charlottesville Draft Opposition,
a group which explores
alternatives to the present form of
the draft.

Besides the great number of
organizations that could be described
as "left of center," there are
several that lean heavily to the
right.

The Young Republican Club has
always been a haven for conservatives,
but other groups have
sprung up recently. There will be an
Americans for Freedom, an organization
that has always been known to try
to demonstrate the "true" picture
of the American Youth, a picture
they feel has been distorted by the
hippies with long hair and weird
beliefs.

Apparently, the YAFs plan a
series of "constructive sit-ins" that
will be held to show that they do
not believe in the sit-ins of other
groups.

A third group is the Radicals for
Capitalism, whose members did
some campaigning for President
Nixon last year on the Grounds.
Their major activity, however,
seems to be the detailed study of
the works of Ayn Rand, author of
such books as The Fountainhead
and Atlas Shrugged and founder of
the Objectivist philosophy.

Two final groups that have
added to the University scene are
equally ambiguous about their
beliefs and goals.

WITCH, a women's organization
with headquarters in Mary Munford
Hall, hopes for increased popularity
after co-education takes effect.

The Stanford White Society has
done little except place stickers in
Wilson Hall and pass out state
doughnuts.