The University is in the process of establishing separate initiatives to promote diversity and stronger ties with local historically black colleges and universities. Gertrude Fraser, vice provost for faculty advancement, has been spearheading the effort.
The Inter-Fraternity Council Presidents' Council's decision last week to continue recognition of Zeta Psi marked the first instance in which the Presidents' Council had to decide whether to follow the IFC Judiciary Committee recommendation to remove recognition of the fraternity. Following the Zeta Psi decision, fraternity presidents voiced both praise and concern regarding the trial process and the balance of power between the IFCJC and the Presidents' Council. When a case goes before the IFCJC, a panel of judges first determines guilt or innocence and then issues a sanction if the fraternity is found guilty, IFC president Andrew Paradis explained. In most cases, the IFCJC chooses the sanctions which will be imposed.
The book "Equity and Excellence in American Higher Education," published at the University, recently received the 2006 Outstanding Book Award from the American Education Research Association. The book was based on a series of lectures given by William Bowen in 2004 presented at the annual Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Distinguished Lecture Series, according to Education School Dean David Breneman. Breneman explained that in 2004, the Education School was asked to provide a speaker for the lecture series and he suggested William Bowen. Bowen "had published over the years a great many articles and books on higher education ... and was at a point in his career in which I thought he would make a good point of summing up his lectures," Breneman said. Instead Bowen, along with his colleagues, presented entirely new data that had never been published, Breneman added. In April 2005, the lectures were compiled and published here at the University, and since then have become widely known and very influential, he said. "Bowen's argument was that any student who came from an economically disadvantaged background ought to be given a little extra edge," Breneman said. The book attempts to demonstrate how students from underprivileged families are worthy of a place in the applicant pool of prestigious universities and need more attention, Breneman added. Eugene Tobin, co-author of the book, explained that "one of the arguments we make is that the most selective colleges and universities, both public and private, currently look at underrepresented minorities, legacies, recruited athletes and early admission and early decision [applicants]. What we suggest is that those preferences need to be reconsidered, especially for recruited athletes and legacies." Breneman praised the book and its efforts to convince these institutions to take a closer look at applicants from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. The book is especially directed at the higher education community, Tobin said. "As a complement to race sensitive admissions, higher institutions ought to look much more closely at their recruitment and admission of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds ... and to consider that race and class are mutually reinforcing elements in crafting an incoming class of [qualified] students," he said.
Living Wage Campaign activists staged a protest yesterday that resulted in the arrest of a University professor and an ongoing sit-in by 17 students at Madison Hall, the administration building. The day included a rally in the afternoon at the Rotunda featuring History Prof.
The University of Virginia has recently agreed to guarantee admissions to transfer students from all 23 college campuses of the Virginia Community College System if the applicants meet certain academic standards. Effective immediately, the agreement guarantees admissions only to the University's College of Arts and Sciences for the fall semester. "We believe that this program will broaden the economic diversity of the student body," University spokesperson Carol Wood said.
It's that time of year again -- when thousands of prospective students crawl around Grounds. Every year, the University invites the thousands of admitted students to Charlottesville so they can gauge what it would be like to be a student at the University. With Days on the Lawn, high school seniors are swarming the University.
A bill in the U.S. Senate and House would enable tax-exemptible donations to go towards improving fraternity and sorority houses. House Bill 1548, also known as the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act of 2005, would "permit organizations ... operated exclusively for charitable or educational purposes ... to continue to be treated as tax-exempt organizations so long as all of the active members of the recipient organization are full-time students at the college or university with which the recipient organization is associated." Kevin O'Neill, a lobbyist for college fraternities and sororities with Patton Boggs in Washington, D.C., said the bill was first proposed in 2003 and passed in the House in September of that year but was unable to pass in the Senate before the session ended. The bill was reintroduced last April and was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means, he said. The bill "is pending, but we're trying to get more cosponsors in both chambers," O'Neill said. He added that the bill has 96 sponsors in the House, making up about 20 percent of the House, and 17 sponsors in the Senate. Austin Durreur, press secretary for Rep.
Warrants were issued for the arrests of five additional University students, including several student-athletes, related to a March 5 altercation that occurred at the Delta Upsilon fraternity house. Second-year College student Zachary Stair, third-year College student Edwin Pinigis and first-year College student Enongé Stovall have been arrested and released on bond, City of Charlottesville spokesperson Ric Barrick said. Warrants were also issued for first-year College student Tamira Roberson and third-year College student Vincent Redd, though they have not been arrested, Barrick said.
As students begin fall course enrollment, changes to the Integrated Student Information System used for registration are underway.
At Student Council's last meeting before officially transitioning to new positions, members informally discussed their thoughts about Council's performance over the past year. Some members raised concerns about the role of Council in University life. "I don't feel like [Council] is a student government," said Owen Howlett, Building and Grounds Committee chair.
University community members rallied near the Amphitheater yesterday as part of a national effort to protest the recent legislation approved by theU.S.
The graphic accompanying the April 10 article "BOV meetings highlights research, diversity" was labeled "Ethnicity of Tenured Professors." The label should have said tenured or tenure-track professors.
Timothy Naftali, director of the Presidential Recordings Program at the Miller Center of Public Affairs, has been designated to serve as the first director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
The University of Virginia mock trial team won the Collegiate Mock Trial National Championship, held in Des Moines, Iowa this past weekend. Competing among 64 teams over the course of two days the University's team beat Harvard in the final round to win the championship. "This was one of the toughest weekends in mock trial," fourth-year College student and mock trial secretary Benjamin Sachs said.
Sen. John Warner discussed his ideals of democracy, made pointed comments about the current situation in Iraq and answered students' questions during Politics Professor Larry J.
Chief Diversity Officer William Harvey met with black student leaders last night to discuss issues faced by the black student community at the University. Students questioned Harvey on a variety of issues including the reported incidents of racial intolerance last fall, the lack of black faculty members and other challenges faced by black students. Harvey encouraged the students to become more involved in various organizations at the University. "I need for you to understand this is your institution as much as anyone else's," Harvey said. Harvey spoke about ways to change the climate of intolerance that led to the reported incidents earlier in the school year, announcing that the University would be in written or electronic communication with every student before the end of the semester as well as over the summer about incidents of intolerance. Harvey added that he also hoped to have student organizations convey messages to students about racial intolerance. "We do need the student leadership to take responsibility for this message," Harvey said. Third-year College student Chelsea Cosby questioned Harvey about the way he would go about doing this. "How do you propose making CIOs and fraternities get out the message of the unacceptability of inappropriate racial attitudes?" Cosby asked. Other students offered additional suggestions to improve the racial climate of the University. "I think student leadership is not enough," third-year Education student Kevin Williams said. Williams brought up the possibility of a required diversity class for all University students. "I had to take four semesters of Spanish, why can't we have to take this?" Williams asked. Harvey encouraged the students to get involved and to engage the faculty to make changes to the curricula. Harvey also addressed efforts to increase the number of black faculty members at the University. "You can't have a world-class institution of higher learning in the 21st century unless you reflect the diversity of this country," Harvey said. The recruitment of a more diverse faculty was one of the major issues addressed by the Board of Visitors at its meeting last week. "We're going to have a fairly energetic recruiting drive pretty soon," Harvey said. Students also brought up concerns about the school's relation to the greater black community. "Our school fosters a plantation culture in which blacks are a majority in service positions and a minority in the classroom," third-year College student Jessica Childress said. Harvey also addressed the fact that many of the lowest level University employees are black. "We can't be a first-rate institution when all of the people doing the worst jobs are of the same race without having the opportunity for education or moving forward," Harvey said. Harvey said he was pleased with both the turnout and content of the evening and spoke about the possibility of future events like this one. "My position here is to provide whatever service or benefit I can," Harvey said.
University holds American Society of Civil Engineers' Virginias conference During the month of April students from 13 colleges and universities in Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.
The newly elected Honor Committee held its first official meeting yesterday, during which several support officers addressed the Committee about reforms they would like to see made to the Honor system. Support officers Josh Hess, president of Students for the Preservation of Honor, and Sam Leven, communications director of Hoos Against the Single Sanction, made a joint presentation to the Committee. Leven said their respective organizations agreed on five concerns: the amount of time it takes the Honor Committee to address problems, developing better relationships with students, addressing the problems faced by international students by printing the green Honor pamphlet in other languages and holding occasional meetings outside Newcomb. "We don't mean to be preachy -- we just want to start the dialogue a little bit," Hess said. Leven and Hess also distributed a letter voicing their concerns to the Committee. Honor counsel Ryan Martin suggested utilizing the resident advisor program to address Honor education issues. Martin, who is also an RA, said he sees "a lack of understanding is breeding a sense of fear, instead of embracing our system.
