ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, May 6, 1996 TAG: 9605060083
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: DAVID REED ASSOCIATED PRESS
W. Thomas Rice noted that his relationship with the university had come full circle since he resigned after corps membership was made voluntary.
For many years, former Virginia Tech Rector W. Thomas Rice rarely set foot on the campus he loved.
Rice, a retired Army Reserve major general and chairman emeritus of the railroad company that became CSX Corp., ascribes much of his success to the academic and military training he received at Virginia Tech.
But in May 1964, Rice resigned as the head of the university's board of visitors after losing an intense fight to keep membership in the corps of cadets mandatory for all male students.
Rice, 83, said he thought the corps would diminish if membership was voluntary, and it did. A corps that was 3,000 strong when he graduated in 1932 dwindled to 350 in 1992.
So, when he returned last month for the announcement that Virginia Tech was starting a corps leadership program named in his honor, Rice said his relationship with the university had come full circle.
``Now the corps is going to continue to expand, and this leadership development center will be a great attraction for young men, and young ladies,'' Rice said. ``It will be great to build the corps back to a sizable group.''
Thirty-two years ago, T. Marshall Hahn, then president of Virginia Tech, privately pushed for a vote to make corps membership voluntary, a step he considered essential for Virginia Polytechnic Institute to become a major university.
The board of trustees voted with him, but Rice was among several dissenters.
The decision, when made public, also deeply divided the alumni association. In his book on Virginia Tech history, ``The First 100 Years,'' Duncan Lyle Kinnear called it ``probably the most difficult period in its history.''
The move was so controversial that the governor asked the board of visitors to hold a special public meeting to review its decision.
The afternoon and evening before the meeting, alumni ``poured into Blacksburg,'' Kinnear wrote. ``Excited groups gathered at numerous places on the campus and expressed strong opinions on the decision.'' Some feared that Hahn would resign. Some wanted him fired.
``One alumnus saw the decision as a communist plot to undermine military training in the United States,'' Kinnear wrote.
Rice presided over the meeting, which more than 1,000 people attended. Because Rice had assured everyone an opportunity to speak, the session lasted more than five hours.
``I tried to let all sides have their say,'' Rice said. ``It was one of the toughest times I've had.''
Afterward, the board reaffirmed its decision, by another divided vote.
Rice resigned as rector, but continued as a board member until his term ran out.
``It was a very difficult decision for me, to see the corps of cadets put on a questionable basis,'' Rice said. In retrospect, he said, Hahn was correct in believing that the only way for Virginia Tech to grow was to make the corps optional.
``It's turned out to be a great university,'' Rice said.
Virginia Tech announced April 25 that it will bolster its corps of cadets by creating the Center for Leader Development funded by a $2 million private, anonymous donation.
Virginia Tech and its alumni have been putting additional resources into the corps of cadets since 1992. The university developed a leadership minor within the corps and subsidized 100 scholarships. The corps alumni also established an endowment to fund 100 additional scholarships.
``We didn't have a lot of scholarships available,'' Corps Commandant Stan Musser said. ``Now the administration has really come on board, from the president on down.''
The corps is now 482 cadets strong. And with its endowment of $2 million, the goal is to expand enrollment to 1,000 by the turn of the century.
``The sooner the better,'' Rice said. ``Because it taught me so much, I have never forgotten my training in the corps of cadets.''
The leadership center will identify and develop leadership capabilities among students. There will be real-life experiences in public service as well as a distinguished lecture series and personal skill development workshops.
Robert Denton, now head of the Department of Communications Studies at Virginia Tech, will direct the center and hold the W. Thomas Rice Professorship.
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM/Staff. W. Thomas Rice greets Gov. George Allenby CNBlast month after th announcement of the corps leadership program's
creation. color.