THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 20, 1995 TAG: 9503200033
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KIRSTEN WILLIAMS, CAMPUS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
For rising seniors at the University of Virginia, it's one of the most cherished honors - getting a room on the Lawn, the grassy focus of Mr. Jefferson's academical village.
Usually, the big shots on campus - student government leaders, newspaper editors, honor committee members - win many of the rooms. But this semester, leaders of traditional student groups have gotten fewer acceptances to the Lawn because of an attempt to open up the process.
After increased publicity, the Lawn Selections Committee received a record 225 applications for the 54 spots on the Lawn, up nearly 50 percent from last year's 152. That meant fewer spots for high-profile students.
Next year's crop of Lawn residents will consist of people who are ``not typically student leaders,'' said a member of the Selections Committee, Andrew Csontos. ``They're people who are a little more artistically talented - people who contribute to the university, but in different ways.''
Student leadership is not limited to organizations like the Honor Committee, the Judiciary Committee, the Cavalier Daily and the University Guides, committee member Mark Staton said. ``The president of the Cycling Club can work just as hard as the (Student Council) vice president for organizations.''
Trina Jones, who heads the committee, said, ``The Lawn should be something that every student at this place should be comfortable applying to be a part of. There has been a concerted effort to publicize and de-mystify the process.''
Committee leaders say, however, that they don't think the number of black Lawn residents - which is traditionally low - will increase substantially. No racial breakdowns are available yet.
Junior Terry Crawford, who has served as a Student Council representative, a resident adviser and First-Year Council president, was one of the students rejected.
``There are so many qualified people,'' he said. ``I don't think anybody that got it was undeserving.''
Even so, ``it was a disappointment,'' Crawford said. ``No matter what . . . (the committee) did, you would still get a lot of complaints. It's just tough. How are you going to make it fair?''
Residents of the Lawn have included Katie Couric, co-star of the ``Today'' show, and basketball star Ralph Sampson.
But not just athletes and journalists are supposed to be on the Lawn, committee members say. The Board of Visitors' guidelines say the purpose of the Lawn is ``to recognize students for unselfish service to the university and achievement in their respective fields of activity and academics. Committed to the improvement of all aspects of the university community, the Lawn residents are a diverse group of students who represent widely varying activities, backgrounds and interests.''
To open up the process, the Selections Committee mailed Lawn applications to juniors and placed articles in both daily student newspapers. Also, most seniors received postcards encouraging them to enter the lottery for a position on the Selections Committee. After reviewing the residence applications, without seeing the names, the committee selected the 54 Lawn residents for next school year.
Staton said, ``I would be really surprised if more than one or two black men or five or six black females applied. It's hard to put a black person on the Lawn if black people do not apply.''
He said many blacks have a negative image of the Lawn ``ingrained in them before any application slips through their mail slots.''
Nefertiti duPont, a black Lawn resident, said black students may not apply if they have not had friends who have been residents. ``Black students who live here have to make a special effort'' to encourage others to apply, she said. ``You have to get the seed started.''
Residents of the Lawn say it's not all glamorous. For one thing, none of the rooms has a bathroom. And residents endure a steady stream of gawking tourists.
``They are horrible,'' said senior Jeremy Kahn, former vice president of the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society. ``They'll walk into your room without asking.''
Kahn said he was shaving with his door open his first week on the Lawn when a tourist accosted him. ``I was having a real Jeffersonian moment when I looked up, and there was this fellow right in my room,'' he said. Kahn said the man took a picture of him without his permission, and the flash caused him to cut himself with his razor.
Yet residents agree that the sense of time and history imbedded in the Lawn outweighs the incon-veniences.
``I have to stop and think every once in a while how long this place has been around,'' said Lawn resident Matthew Phillips, a senior who is former assistant managing editor of the Cavalier Daily. ``I'm just one in a chain of people. Sometimes I kind of take it for granted.
``The place where I live was designed by Thomas Jefferson. This is what Thomas Jefferson saw as the centerpiece of higher education.'' ILLUSTRATION: DENIS FINLEY
Staff file
Residents of the Lawn at the University of Virginia have included
Katie Couric, co-star of the ``Today'' show, and former basketball
star Ralph Sampson. Fifty-four spots are available.
by CNB