MANY COLLEGE students around the country are very aware of the high cost of a college education. This expense is the result of not only the cost of tuition, but also the cost of living during those four memorable years. As a result, when student bank accounts get low, there is an influx of students at the Office of the Dean of Students, which is the headquarters for the Ivey F. Lewis Honor Loan Officer.
The Ivey F. Lewis Honor Loan Fund was established as a standalone fund to aid full-time University students by issuing them interest-free loans to provide for their small, short-term financial needs. Depending on the nature of their needs, students may borrow a maximum of $600 to meet their emergencies. In return, they sign a promissory note to pay back the loan in a couple months time. Most loans act as a resource for students until paychecks or money from scholarship funds arrive. Pleas for loans range from payment of rent to assistance with graduate research projects. There have been some amusing requests as well, but it goes without saying that the Loan Fund is a great asset to the University community. Even so, the ideologies behind the name of the fund do not represent a positive time in the University's history.
While researching the history of the fund, it was very surprising to discover a 50-page dissertation by a doctorate candidate at the University of Virginia entitled "Assuring America's Place In the Sun: Ivey Forman Lewis and the Teaching of Eugenics at the University of Virginia, 1915-1953." For those who are not familiar with eugenics, it is the biological movement that advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of the human population - more specifically, for the purpose of human racial purity.
For thirty-eight years, from 1915-1953, University of Virginia students studied eugenics under Dr. Ivey F. Lewis. As Miller Professor of Biology and Dean of the University - now called Dean of Students - he taught that heredity governed all aspects of life from anatomical form to social organization even when most scholars of the time had already realized that this type of ideology was indeed false. Many of Lewis' devoted students adopted his racialist thinking and some of them shaped the opinions of white Virginians and white southerners in general about race and society.
Eugenics gained popularity and remained consistent over time; between 1914 and 1928 the number of colleges teaching eugenics skyrocketed from 44 to 376. Lewis used eugenics not only to justify racial purity but also differences in class, specifically among white Americans. The racism of eugenics reinforced the social hierarchy that elevated the elite, celebrated and sedate whites as fit and considered troublesome whites, poor whites and all others to be genetic defectives in need of control. It is ironic that a loan fund that services so many students of different racial and socioeconomic groups is named after a man who openly taught these beliefs.
Although this situation makes no sense at all, the name of the loan cannot be changed as mandated by Lewis himself. This history reflects a larger issue ingrained in the culture of the University and other colleges around the country. With these radical beliefs influencing society, it is no wonder there has been an unequal playing field of educational and social opportunities for so long in the United States. It also explains the social disconnect that exists between different class and racial groups.
Despite all of this, it should be noted that even though there is a negative history associated with the name of this loan, it was established with good intentions and does a great amount of good for the University community. It assists many students who otherwise would have no way of financing their emergencies.
The idea for the fund initially came from a graduate student named James Wright. Wright sold sandwiches on the Lawn after the Corner "folded" for the night. He received such high profits from his thriving business that other students were after him to share his profits. The result was Wright and Dean Lewis establishing the Loan Fund. The fund provides a great service to the University community and helps students from many races and socioeconomic groups. To sum this up, Albert Einstein once stated, "The only remedies against race and prejudice are enlightenment and education. This is a slow and painstaking process." I am glad to see the positive strides that the University community and the country at large have taken to ensure rectification of these problems, and I am looking forward to what the future will bring.
Justin Wilson is a fourth-year College student.
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