IF YOU'VE ever toured Grounds, a University Guide surely told you how students once managed to haul a cow to the top of the Rotunda. Well, today another cow lives on the Lawn -- a cash cow, in Pavilion VI.
Despite vocal objections from students, Senior Vice President for Development Bob Sweeney will now reside in one of the Lawn's cherished pavilions. This represents a clear departure from even the façade of student self-governance on Grounds, and if the Board of Visitors cared in the slightest what students thought, Mr. Sweeney would reside anywhere but the Academical Village.
In June, conveniently right after most students had left town, Sweeney was confirmed as the Pavilion VI resident. No major announcements, no celebration. This comes after more than 30 Lawn residents posted "For Sale" signs on their doors to protest and mock the rumors that Sweeney was the main consideration for the pavilion.
In a March 27 Cavalier Daily interview, former Lawn Resident Kristen Smith commented that Sweeney's position "only tangentially related to the students" and "he travels 75 percent of the time." Students like Smith have no problem with Sweeney as a person. But there simply is no logical rationale for Sweeney to have a pavilion. It is not justifiable to the student body, nor to deserving deans and professors, for Casteen and the Board to have the ability to override precedent and student outrage.
The reasoning for Sweeney as the choice for Pavilion resident displays a wanton disregard of student opinion. In an e-mail interview for a March 27 article in The Cavalier Daily, President Casteen complained that Carr's Hill was "seriously overworked" so having a Pavilion on the Lawn would be a splendid satellite fundraising location .
Poor fellow. It is not enough to have a mansion atop a hill that is surely maintained by an army of landscapers. Nor is it enough to have the Dome Room of the Rotunda anytime for fundraising soirees. The Daily Progress reported on August 9th that the University of Virginia Foundation was building a new $10 million meeting pavilion at Boar's Head Inn. Somehow, that isn't enough, either. Rather than preserving the academic prestige of the University, Casteen and the Board of Visitors seem more concerned with creating one fundraising juggernaut.
Some students seem fine with the pavilion appointment, or at least, not moved to protest. In the March 30, 2007 interview with The Cavalier Daily, Lawn Resident Andy Paradis argued, "People should not irrationally jump to conclusions." Paradis and others believe the protest was ill conceived. In fact, he added, students could network with Sweeney and gain business insight from him.
This sort of business-speak from students should alarm the University. Instead of encouraging intellectualism and academics, decisions like this pavilion appointment shows students that nothing is more important, more sacred, than the almighty dollar.
Some say that Sweeney could be just as great and welcoming a Pavilion resident as a professor. He could host student meetings, host Lawn residents for coffee, or have garden parties for students with hefty trust funds. If he values students, though, he would have acknowledged the protests and politely declined the invitation to reside in one of the pavilions. Clearly, all he cares about is the sweet digs. And even if he did want to interact with students, it is rather clear they don't want to interact with him.
Alas, Sweeney has already moved into the new pavilion. The administration wants it to look like a fait accompli. Maybe it is. But students committed to the ideals of the University should still raise hell. Nobody really likes waking up to protestors outside their window.
If academics no longer deserve membership to the Academical Village, maybe we should rename it and open it up to other University moneymakers. Perhaps we could call it the "Cash Commune" or the "Domain for your Dollar." Or perhaps Al Groh should get the next available pavilion. When was the last time the philosophy department added to the University's coffers, anyway?
Marta Cook is an associate editor for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at mcook@cavalierdaily.com.
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