Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 28, 1993 TAG: 9306280068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN LEVIN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A federal drug bust in fraternity houses.
A tennis coach who resigned amid charges that he stole another employee's car.
A student's admission of accepting money to take a test for someone else.
Student hazing and tales of strippers at a party.
Fines by the National Collegiate Athletic Association for granting unallowed, interest-free loans to athletes.
Complaints by faculty and students at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration that the institution fails to represent women's views or provide them opportunities equal to men's.
Then, last week, came a report that the venerable, 168-year-old Jefferson Literary and Debating Society has been charged with flagrant violation of university and state alcohol regulations and fostering an environment hostile to women.
To someone 26 years past being a student, some of the university's problems could be dismissed or ignored as boys being boys, even in an era when some of them are women. Others suggested a lack of good judgment by UVa's leaders.
Each tarnished the university's image a bit, but were mere scratches on the veneer of an institution where ample substance lies beneath the surface.
The Jefferson Society's problems strike closer. And to an alumnus who spent many Friday evenings in Jeff Society meetings - by tradition, members gather at 7:29 p.m. - they promoted some self-examination.
Part of a university education a quarter-century ago was learning the manly sport of drinking. Youthful indiscretion was discounted as inexperience. That there was a keg of beer at the back of Jeff Hall was more for lubrication of the free flow of ideas being debated at the front of the room.
Indeed, on big weekends, when women flooded into Charlottesville, the Jefferson Society's cocktail parties were genteel compared to the street party along fraternity row.
What's developed in the past 25 years is a healthier attitude about drinking by society in general. Even the university cannot be immune to more mature thinking about the effects of condoned, public drunkenness. Few alumni today would send a son or daughter to the university for them to learn outdated attitudes about consuming alcohol.
The other indictment against the Jefferson Society - a hostile attitude toward women - is equally outdated and never was a gentlemanly attitude.
The report released last week details demeaning comments leveled at female probationaries by Jefferson Society members and instances where membership was offered in exchange for sex.
Part of the society's tradition is to harass probationary members while they deliver a speech that's part of the process required of full membership. The challenge is to maintain composure over a barrage of questions, comments and general noise. The later the hour and the more beer consumed, the louder and more chaotic was the grilling.
All of this happens along West Range, part of the original structures that constitute Thomas Jefferson's sanctified "academical village." In an ancient room, full of Windsor chairs and antiques, even pandemonium seems scholarly.
The sanctions imposed on the Jefferson Society by UVa's administration, including loss for a semester of using Jefferson Hall, undoubtely will produce some sober thoughts.
Does all this mean a university man - or woman - should hide his allegiance? Does a former Jefferson Society member not talk about times when the issues seemed simpler?
Not if he has a daughter rapidly approaching college age.
"These things are unfortunate and embarrassing," said Edwin R. Feinour, who just finished a term as president of UVa's Roanoke Valley alumni chapter. "But the administration has worked diligently so they don't come up again."
The recent string of public issues that have beset the university "wasn't so much a black eye for the university, because of the way we handled the problems," UVa spokeswoman Louise Dudley said. "We conducted investigations, issued reports and vowed to do things differently in the future."
The attitude - perhaps even the justification of tradition - is changing, she said. If something's wrong, today's students don't turn their heads just because it was tolerated in another time.
"Just talking about it is very Jeffersonian," Dudley said.
Maybe she was recalling that in 1820, Mr. Jefferson wrote: "We are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, not to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it."
John Levin is business editor of the Roanoke Times & World-News.
by CNB