IMAGINE the ever-stoic President John T. Casteen, III walking down the hall while muttering the words of R&B heavyweight and fraternity party lyricist, Nelly, "I am number one." This past week, admissions officers and administrators throughout the University breathed a collective sigh of relief thanks to the U.S. News & World Report release of its annual college and university benchmark rankings. For better or for worse, the overall value and prestige of institutions of higher education hang in the balance based on these well-known albeit superficial rankings. This year, the University was fortunate to actually move up in the rankings, reclaiming the spot at the top of the public university totem. However, retreating general funding support from the Commonwealth coupled with dismal economic forecasts in Virginia leaves the task of preserving the University's national preeminence in the hands of students, both present and former, and friends of the institution.
At the founding, Thomas Jefferson depended on such favors as controversial political maneuvering in the General Assembly and significant financial assistance from his friends -- the University depended on private support simply to open the doors. Since then, loyal Wahoos have elevated the school to the level of excellence it now enjoys: the finest among public colleges.
However, the receding support of the Commonwealth over the past decade has brought about a new challenge. The future prosperity of a University-conferred degree now depends upon the buttress offered by new generations of students who currently stand on the shoulders of such giants as Joseph Cabell, Colgate Darden, David Harrison and Carl Smith. All these men bolstered the school through gifts of time, talent and treasure so that Jefferson's legacy of a liberal (note: little "L") public education might endure.
Greatness in an institution requires loyal devotion from those whose talents were born of the school's cultivation. A student may stroll to class past edifices of red brick and white columns bearing the faceless names of former students -- not unlike themselves -- without giving so much as a thought to the men who placed them there. Without these gifts, generously returned to their alma mater, a first place ranking might never have been awarded. The commitment brought forth by former students now offsets the shrinking political will in Richmond to support a nation-leading public higher education system.
In this, the first week of classes, take a fleeting moment to remember those who have provided the bricks and mortar of the education offered in this wonderful place. Too often students leave after four or so years believing that a gift of an amount that doesn't merit mention in newspaper headlines is not appreciated. This is not the case. In these difficult times for the University, every penny truly counts. More students graduate each year than the year before. It falls upon students now to give what we can so that the degree conferred today will continue to inspire respect and a sense of proud accomplishment years after having left Charlottesville.
Though the ranking system is a hopelessly complex algorithm of factors, the rankers acknowledge that alumni devotion is a factor in computing the ranking. Obviously, the more loyal a former student to the institution, the higher quality of all-around educational experience offered by the school. If only such loyalty could be represented by football and basketball season tickets. However, numbers such as alumni annual giving participation are used in the formula. For every student who leaves Charlottesville, never again to be heard from, the reputation of the school slips another sliver of a notch.
Today is only the second day of the school year. Many have just begun their tenure, others have but months left to enjoy the shade of the lawn Jefferson envisioned. Whether first or fourth year, current or former student, there is no better time to make a resolution to give back to this place. After all, an alumnus is nothing more than a student who has left the protection of the University and entered the real world. It is not the responsibility of wealthy white males who have recently garnered their first or second million, but the charge that all students receive along with their nickel at first year convocation.
This year, the University is the nation's best public school. Only time will tell what kind of reputation a seal-emblazoned gold signet ring evokes in ten, 20 or 50 years. It is the responsibility of students today to preserve that heritage. As another year begins at Mr. Jefferson's University, it is appropriate to remember the shoulders of the thousands of former students who came before, upon whose shoulders today's students walk.
(Preston Lloyd's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at plloyd@cavalierdaily.com.)
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