Students and administrators delved into major initiatives this year that hold the potential to change the University's image and the student experience.
The charter proposal could give the University more financial autonomy.The diversity report recommendations promise a heightened focus on minority student life.Some students and faculty actively seek to end the honor system's single sanction.Other students are rallying against the University's confidentiality policy in sexual assault cases.The proposals bring much dialogue and sometimes hefty opposition.
Discussion about University issues, though, took place in a charged political atmosphere as students took sides in the presidential election and President George W. Bush won another term.
Closer to home, members of the University community followed the murder trial of a former student, remembered the fifth University president at his September death and mourned the deaths of two students.They also turned out in force at football games, setting the highest attendance record ever.
Students protest sexual assault policy
Sexual assault issues came to the forefront of the University community this semester, as open criticism of the University's confidentiality policy in regards to Sexual Assault Board proceedings stirred students and staff alike.
Fourth-year Education student Annie Hylton, a reported victim of sexual assault in December 2001, openly criticized the SAB's confidentiality policy.
"Every time we took a break or went home for the night I was reminded that I had agreed to keep the trial confidential," Hylton said in a Nov. 8 article. "I've always been the type of person to stand up and speak about what happened to me, to encourage other people to speak out."
The U.S. Department of Education found last July that a Georgetown University policy, which required rape victims to sign documents agreeing not to speak about the outcomes of campus court hearings before receiving the results, was in violation of federal law.
"Given what has transpired at Georgetown we are reviewing our policy and will change it," Senior Associate Dean of Students Shamin Sisson said in a Nov. 1 article.
On Nov. 18, an estimated 400 students, faculty and staff members staged a silent demonstration to protest the confidentiality policy and to call for greater accountability for students who commit acts of sexual assault or rape.
Two weeks later, the Sexual Assault Leadership Council held a meeting to gather student input on the University's sexual assault policies. The meeting served to create a draft that will be later sent to administration officials outlining possible changes to policy.
Charter status debate heats up
University officials stepped up their lobbying effort this semester for proposed legislation that would give the University more financial independence, as some University staff members questioned the implications of charter status.
Under the charter proposal, the University, the College of William & Mary and Virginia Tech would take less money from the state in exchange for more leeway in setting tuition costs and making other financial decisions.
The three universities are championing the charter legislation as a response to the Commonwealth's inability to adequately fund higher education, President John T. Casteen, III said in several University-sponsored staff conferences. The University is in danger of losing its academic prestige if funding remains inadequate, administration officials say.
"There is an understanding [for legislators] for the need of the state to have flagship institutions," Casteen said in at Nov. 18 charter briefing. "There's also an understanding that they cannot afford it."
The University held six such briefings to address faculty and staff concerns regarding how the charter legislation, if passed, will affect employees. Some employees still say they are concerned about the impact on their benefits and wages if they are no longer classified as state employees.
"This is a radical, big piece of legislature that will affect the workers here, students, parents, everybody," Staff Union President Jan Cornell told students at a recent forum.
Legislation that would bestow charter status on the three universities will be formally debated in the General Assembly next month.
Former student found guilty of manslaughter
A Charlottesville jury found former University student Andrew Alston guilty of voluntary manslaughter Nov. 9, sentencing him the next day to three years in prison.
Alston, a third-year College student at the time, was arrested last year for the fatal stabbing on Nov. 8, 2003 of local volunteer firefighter, Walter Sisk, 22.
Alston's trial, which began Nov. 3 and continued through his sentencing Nov. 10, included testimony from University students, friends of both Alston and Sisk, as well as criminal experts.
Both defense and prosecution witnesses described a night of tense confrontation on the Corner between the groups of friends Alston and Sisk had gone out with that night.
The intensity peaked during an altercation on the corner of Wertland and 14th Streets, where Sisk endured 18 stab wounds, including the fatal wound that entered the pericardial sack surrounding his heart.
During the last day of testimony, Alston unexpectedly took the stand and admitted that he initially brandished the knife that killed Sisk, but that he only acted in self-defense.
Defense witness Lt. Naval Officer John Correa testified that Alston received instruction in self-defense martial arts that could have resulted in Sisk's stab wounds.
Alston could have been convicted of second-degree murder, a charge that carries up to 40 years in prison.
Charlottesville Circuit Judge Edward Hogshire will give his final sentencing Feb. 16, imposing a sentence either equal to or less than the three years the jury recommended.
Bush wins reelection
The result of the 2004 presidential election between incumbent George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry came down to one state hanging in the balance: Ohio.
While the Democratic Party watched the election results unfold in Boston and the Republicans from Washington, D.C., the nation again ended election night with uncertainty -- several major television networks had yet to call the decisive Ohio for either candidate.
With Ohio initially placed in the Bush column, the Kerry campaign publicly contested the outcome of the state, citing thousands of provisional ballots yet to be counted.
Appearing before the Boston crowd, Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards said on Nov. 2, "We've waited four years for this victory. We can wait one more night."
But on Wednesday, the results were clear. Kerry conceded the race, and Bush was to serve as president for four more years.
"America has spoken, and I'm humbled by the trust and the confidence of my fellow citizens," Bush said after the election. "With that trust comes a duty to serve all Americans, and I will do my best to fulfill that duty every day as your president."
Single sanction called into question
The debate over the single sanction seems to surface every four years or so, and this semester was no exception. The controversial sanction came under fire once again but with more intensity this semester, as the movement to reform the sanction was launched with increased momentum.
At the helm of the sanction debate was the Sanction Reform Committee, an Honor ad hoc committee charged with analyzing both the pros and the cons of the single sanction and looking into alternative sanction policies. The SRC currently is developing a reformed sanction policy to recommend to the Honor Committee for a possible vote by the student body in the spring.
This semester also saw the faculty raise its voice a little louder on the sanction issue through several statements issued by the Academic Affairs Committee of the Faculty Senate and the Arts and Sciences Council. In a statement released Nov. 14, the Academic Affairs Committee said it hopes students will develop and adopt a reformed sanction policy to ultimately strengthen the University's honor system. The Arts and Sciences Council has recommended that students supplement the single sanction with a forgiveness clause.
The single sanction conversation was not just contained within the Honor Committee and the faculty, however, as two student groups formed this semester with the purpose of weighing in on the issue. Hoos Against Single Sanction officially was established as a CIO with the goal of bringing an end to the single sanction, while Students for the Preservation of Honor was formed to maintain long-standing traditions of honor at the University, particularly the single sanction.
Diversity report released
The President's Commission on Diversity and Equity released a full report Oct. 2 examining the climate and culture of diversity at the University. President John T. Casteen, III and his Commission presented the report at the full Board of Visitor's meeting this fall.
The report included information about the history of diversity at the University and specific measures to improve the University's climate and culture of diversity. The 20 recommendations cited in the report include diversifying faculty and staff, increasing diversity education through the first-year residential experience and appointing a Chief Officer for Diversity and Equity.
According to University Spokesperson Carol Wood, the President and the Committee have begun implementing some of the measures.
"The search is underway for the Chief Officer for Diversity and Equity," Wood said. "The President has made assignments to deans and vice presidents following up on different pieces of the diversity report."
Students react to report of racially motivated crime
The release of the President's Commission of Diversity and Equity report came in the wake of an alleged racially motivated crime against fourth-year College student Amey Adkins.
Adkins, who is black, reported to police Sept. 8 that she had discovered a racial epithet written on the front of her car's hood.
Patricia Lampkin, vice president for student affairs, purchased an ad in The Cavalier Daily that ran Sept. 10, condemning the vandalism. A week later, Adkins wrote a guest column describing the incident and encouraging the administration to take action.
Students, who were upset by the incident, the administration's response and The Cavalier Daily's decision not to run a news story on the day following the reported vandalism, voiced their opinions at a town meeting held Sept. 23. The meeting was organized by Zero Tolerance, a newly formed organization that subsequently held several meetings over the course of the semester to address issues of diversity at the University.
The police have not officially reported any breakthroughs in the case.
Football attendance higher than ever
The members of the Cavalier football team weren't the only ones with a record-setting season at Scott Stadium this year.
Virginia football fans set a Scott Stadium record at the Nov. 13 game against Miami, with 63,701 people in attendance.
Despite the typical drunk-in-public and other minor misdemeanor arrests, football attendance at Scott Stadium rose this year with little accompanying increase in crowd rowdiness and disorder, Charlottesville Police Sgt. Steve Dillon said after the season-closing Miami game.
Following a renovation that was completed in 2000, Scott Stadium's official capacity reached 61,500.
However, since the 2003 football season, enthusiastic fans have been coming out in numbers that slightly exceed capacity.
Fifth University president dies
Frank L. Hereford, Jr., the University's fifth president, died Sept. 21 in Charlottesville at age 81. As president, Hereford was known for his ability to attract talented faculty. He also led one of the University's most successful capital campaigns.
"Frank Hereford contributed in every important way to the University's development and progress over the course of 35-plus years," current University President John T. Casteen, III said.
After receiving two degrees from the University, Hereford served as a researcher, professor of physics, provost and dean before he was elected president of the University in 1973.
"He made a difference in our personal lives, at the University and in the Commonwealth," said W. Dexter Whitehead, alumni professor of physics emeritus. "The differences he made were wide ranging."
A memorial service for Hereford was held at the University Nov. 20.
-- Compiled by Matt Galati, Sarah R. Gatsos, Timothy H. Lee, Kathleen Meyers, Lauren Todd Pappa and Shannon Sturcken
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