Letters to the Editor: Fall 2023
From the Grounds Up
The summer issue of Virginia Magazine was outstanding. Thank you for doing all the research and effort required to write “From the Grounds Up.” The article mentions the law office of President James Monroe constructed in 1790. Is there any of the original structure still standing? What stands of the site today in 2023? Please publish a street map of Grounds with all the major street names.
Andrew Thompson (Engr class of ’61)
Newport Beach, California
I am greatly enjoying the “From the Grounds Up” piece in your summer issue. FYI, there is a minor error re: the dating of the “New Dorms” off Alderman Road (facility #61 in this piece). The dating is shown to be 1964-66; however, the first dorms (three, if I remember correctly) in this complex first housed students, including yours truly, during the fall semester of 1963. I entered UVA that semester after completing two years at George Mason College of the University of Virginia in Northern Virginia. Even though I was technically a third-year, I and the other incoming students from GMCUVA were required to reside in University housing for one year, and the University kindly assigned us to the brand-spanking-new Alderman Road dorms.
Val Kehl (Com class of ’65)
Manassas, Virginia
BRAVO! An outstanding article and information of the beautiful historic journey of the University. A few of our old alums can still remember when the University was all boys, and now having a few of our favorite professors having their names on important buildings of the Grounds, Professors Slaughter and Bice, is pretty special! The only neat information still missing is when the Z and the IMP signs were painted on the steps and the walls of our University’s lovely Grounds.
John A. Docherty III (Educ class of ’61)
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Hats off to [St. Anthony’s] Hall, but it is not on Grounds. A better representative would have been those fraternities that are: Sigma Phi Society, Chi Phi, Kappa Sigma, Zeta Psi, Delta Kappa Epsilon or Sigma Nu.
George Snyder (Col class of ’81)
Charlottesville
Missing from your overview: In the late ’70s, UVA bought and ran for students an ice hockey rink on Route 29 North. There was an intramural league. It was a lot of fun. There was also some talk about a club team leading to an NCAA team. However, I heard later that they converted the rink into a storehouse for food services.
Rob Harris (Com class of ’79)
New York, New York
Very interesting articles with bylines about the placement and construction of UVA’s buildings. However, there is a notable omission of the architects who designed those structures over that time. Particularly UVA-educated architects or the lack thereof, particularly the lack thereof. It’s a bit like lauding a poem or essay without mentioning the poet or author.
Phil Worrall (Arch class of ’69)
Afton, Virginia
Letters to the Editor
The railroad track letter really hit a nerve with me. From 1968 to 1971, I walked safely almost daily round trip from Cabell Avenue to Cabell Hall, crossing the railroad tracks between 17th Street Northwest and Mad Lane. Even with a modest GPA, I understood that the shortest distance between here and there was a straight line. This was particularly important the year I had six days of 8 a.m. classes! With due respect to the work of Operation Lifesaver, merely publishing their letter (mission statement) illustrates the incredible cultural changes between then and now of overregulation and the extreme hysteria for safety regarding common, frequent and natural activities, all of which reduce societal productivity and reduce individual freedom.
Jay Westendorf (Col class of ’71)
Honeoye, New York
Opening Soon
I love hearing about all the great new things going on at UVA. The new facilities look exciting, and I am heartened by the change to the Honor Code! Carry on.
Dolly Prenzel, former faculty
Nashville, Tennessee
New Honor Code Restores Expulsion [UDigest]
When I entered UVA in 1976, they were actively recruiting African American students, stating that their goal was to increase to 300. The Honor Code was in full effect back then—and Black students were one of its primary targets. It was thrown around arbitrarily and used as a threat. Unofficially, the slogan was, “24 hours and the door” if you were accused. My roommate, James Boyd, known as JB, and I experienced this firsthand. While I was able to withstand and overcome this hostile environment, he wasn’t. He died during our second year under what to this day are mysterious circumstances. His parents quietly came to retrieve his body. No posthumous degree, memoriam, scholarship for striving first-generation students in his name—nothing. I have never forgotten JB, and I often think of what may have become of him had there been a more supportive, welcoming environment. Given the decision by student voters and the University, a caveat should be added: “When applying to the University, understand the environment and enter with care.” Please consider posthumous recognition of James Boyd.
Charles Idris Webb (Col class of ’80)
West Orange, New Jersey
UVA President’s Letter
It is astutely observed in the President’s Letter that “A university designed around the library, rather than the chapel, was a bold innovation that would shape the future of higher education.” Very true. And this likely explains something of what seems incoherent and directionless in modern college life. Yet many other of Mr. Jefferson’s innovations were instead both fruitful and wise and have greatly benefited the University.
James Brewer (Med class of ’80)
Lovingston, Virginia
UVA Assesses Affirmative Action Ruling’s Impact [uvamagazine.org]
I read about UVA’s commitment to diversity despite the ruling. I certainly hope that is the case, since UVA is far less diverse than it was in the 1980s and 1990s, when about 12 percent of the school population was African American. When I was visiting UVA in 2017 during Black Alumni Weekend, the Dean of Students shared that the Black student population at that time was only 6 percent, about half of what it was when I chose to go to UVA from out of state. I chose the school not only for its reputation but also because there was a large Black student population and their presence was seen every day. I loved the Peer Adviser program, which is even more important today with a smaller population.
My understanding is that the state of Virginia changed financial aid funding, which may have seemed to help more Black students attend school but just allows more white and Asian students who had lower income levels than the African American students. The African American students had typically been middle to upper-middle class and no longer were able to afford to go to school, and the population dropped. This decision is just another blow on the already unlevel playing field, which most see as the illusion of being equitable.
Candy Wongsam (Col class of ’96)
Laurel, Maryland
Colorblind admissions to individuals based on achievement and merit are the ideal. Let’s support discrimination based exclusively in favor of motivated and talented applicants. All other indexes, especially in favor of or against immutable characteristics, discriminate against groups of people. It’s time to embrace meritocracy and its benefits. Competition has made all the difference for America.
Joseph Bennett McCoy III (Col class of ’74)
Colorado Springs, Colorado
After the Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action, perhaps colleges should consider parents’ income or education in determining whether or not to grant admission. That might accomplish what they are after without being considered discriminatory. With some work, perhaps statistics for wealth and education could be determined by ZIP code, and students could be given priority if their ZIP code had low numbers.
Eugene A. Groshong Jr. (Col class of ’69)
Sperryville, Virginia
I am disappointed that my University finds itself behind in pursuing constitutional diversity. Universities in Florida did away with affirmative action for enrollment in 1999. Other stellar higher education systems that have already moved to constitutional enrollment methods include California and Texas.
Bob Ramay (Engr class of ’64)
Blairsville, Georgia
Affirmative action is not dead. It can now refocus its commitment on students based on documented disadvantages like coming from low-income households, rural students, public school participants, students with disabilities, and other students who have had actual disadvantages. This is the way it should have been implemented from its inception.
Michael Darren Ullman (Com class of ’84)
Bangkok, Thailand
The Unique, Colorful Caps and Balloons of Final Exercises 2023 [uvamagazine.org]
I loved seeing the ornate and touching cap messages, but I was disappointed by the positive spin it put on graduation balloons. As festive as balloons are at a party or a holiday parade, I think they distract and detract from the proud tradition of walking the Lawn. Unlike the personalized artwork on the caps, the balloons were all standardized caricatures irrelevant to the occasion.
To call balloons a “longstanding UVA tradition” by referencing a photo from 2011 mocks what “longstanding” means at UVA. Interesting that Gov. McDonnell’s speech that year included the Boy Scout rule of “Try to leave the campground a little better than you found it.” These balloons spoiled the view of the graduation “campground” for many of the families of those graduates, and they ended up in landfills or stuck in trees and yards.
I helped collect balloons after Sunday’s graduation to donate to the Children’s Hospital, but I’d rather graduates show their charity in other ways. I hope future classes will decide to dignify the event and respect both the spectators and the environment by leaving the balloons out of the procession.
Mike Merriam
Charlottesville
Nevermore [Spring 2019]
I read with great interest your account of the thefts from the McGregor Room at Alderman Library, as at the time I was senior assistant for rare books, and my desk was located directly in front of the vault.
I would like to correct the cause given for the discovery of the missing Tamerlane. It was not because a reader had requested it. I discovered Tamerlane and the Tales volumes missing while I was giving a tour to a visiting librarian from the Bancroft Library. It was not unusual for a guest to be allowed into the vault accompanied by an entrusted staff member. Since Tamerlane was such a highlight, it would be among the first items to be taken out and shown to the visitor.
I can remember as if it were yesterday the sinking feeling of not finding it in its place. I then noticed that the Tales were also missing. I could not recall that either had been requested by a researcher in some time, so I made an excuse to curtail the tour. I then informed the bibliographer and curator. I was unaware that the manuscripts department had been noticing items missing prior to this. Once it was established that the Poe volumes were gone, a more systematic review of manuscript holdings and indeed of all holdings began, and the police were called in. It appears from your article that the mystery remains unsolved and is likely to remain so.
Cynthia Sinnott Griffin (Grad class of ’71)
County Clare, Ireland
