THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, October 4, 1994               TAG: 9410040448
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY LEE BANVILLE, CAMPUS CORRESPONDENT 
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG                       LENGTH: Medium:   57 lines

CUTS TO W&M PROGRAMS CALLED RADICAL, BUT RIGHT FOR THE TIMES THE ELIMINATION OF WRESTLING AND FENCING IS SEEN AS SYMBOLIC, ONE ALUMNUS SAYS.

The big issues were intercollegiate athletics and faculty power at a forum Monday night on the recently released strategic plan for the College of William and Mary.

The plan, titled ``Into the Fourth Century,'' calls for eliminating master's programs in English, government, math, psychology, sociology, museum education and taxation at both the business and law schools.

But several speakers focused not on academics, but on athletics. The strategic plan proposes dropping the varsity wrestling and fencing teams.

``It seems to me that the elimination of these two programs is largely symbolic,'' said James Hankla, an alumnus and former wrestler from Long Beach, Calif. ``It is something you can take to the legislature and say, `See what we did for gender equity?' ''

Members of the committee that drafted the plan said the athletics proposals were fueled by a desire to increase gender equity in sports and the need to cut overhead costs.

Others criticized the plan for violating the faculty's rights to govern academic policies. Most of the members of the strategic planning committee were administrators, not professors.

``The elimination of these programs seems to represent a radical change in philosophy'' regarding faculty self-determination, said Robert Scholnick, dean of graduate studies in arts and sciences.

He added that it would have a ``demoralizing effect on many senior and junior faculty and will make it more difficult to attract new faculty to William and Mary.''

But Gillian Cell, the college's provost and the chairwoman of the strategic planning committee, said: ``William and Mary made a decision in the early 1960s to expand into doctoral and master's programs, and that move was right for the 1960s. We believe the 1990s are a different time and face different pressures. The recommendations we are making are painful ones.''

Alan J. Ward, a professor of government, criticized the proposal to increase tuition for law and business students to finance scholarships for students in other academic programs.

``The proposal marks the first time this college has publicly acknowledged imposing a tax on one set of students to pay for another,'' Ward said. ``It is a practice done by most schools, but it is immoral . . . and I find it offensive.''

About 125 students and faculty members attended the forum. The college will hold four more hearings this month before the Board of Visitors votes on the plan in November.

KEYWORDS: COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY

by CNB