University of Virginia - Corks and Curls Yearbook (Charlottesville, VA)

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CORKS AND CLIBLS OF NINETEEPJI4UBHDRED ANETTFHRTY-FOUR and a military guard over the Rotunda quieted things down and a large number of the mutinous crew were expelled from the University. The facultyis troubles, however, were not yet ended. Just two years later, a number of the students engineered a riot in protest against a ruling refusing them permission to give a dance because of the drunkenness which had prevailed at the last one. Smaller uprisings, accompanied by vandalism and rowdiness, broke out during the next two years until, in 1840, the climax was reached when Professor John A. Davis, a not unpopular member of the faculty, in attempting to strip a mask from the face of a student rioter, was shot and fatally wounded. A few days afterward, he died. His murderer was apprehended, but later jumped his bail and escaped without punishment. The system of graduates and degrees which Jefferson designed was very com- plicated, and is diHicult in these times to understand. He had wished the University to be of the continental type, having more of the characteristics of a graduate than an undergraduate institution. Although he could not make it an entirely graduate in- stitution, he still believed that no one should receive a diploma except those who had graduated from more than one of the various Schools and had shown talent in research. Anyone who had passed the courses of a School was ofhcially designated as a graduate and the only degrees given were those in the doctrinate and vocational categories. Honorary degrees were banned. The main reason for this system seems to have been that Jefferson was determined to stress the elective side of the educational curriculum and to give no degrees which necessitated the taking of courses in which the applicant held no interest. This idea, left no room for the M. A., B. A., or B. S. concepts. JeHersonis system was changed by the faculty in 1831 when that body set about to re-define the various honors awarded by the University. Four categories were then established: The graduate, who was defined as one who had mastered the courses of any one school; the winner of a certificate of proficiency in some section of a school; the Doctor of NIedicine ; and the IVIaster of Arts, who was required to have mastered the fields of Chemistry, Ancient Languages, NIathematics, Natural Philosophy, and IVIoral Philosophy. The Master of Arts, as you can see, had to be quite a boy. In these days, we would consider him a genius or a fool, depending on our respective outlooks. The diversions of the students in the first years were, for the most part, completely unorganized. NIainly, they consisted of running around at night, blowing horns, and, like the students of the present, ringing the college bell. The faculty seems to have I151

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CORKS r ND CUMC OF NINETEEPQ HUPJDRECDPWQD THIRTY-FOUR professors, anything but conducive to the enjoyment of classes or health. Then, too, the authorities saw no reason for a vacation at Christmas and when the students went on home anyway, retaliated by directing the professors to stress those points in examinations which had been covered during the Christmas-time lectures-a move, which, as you may see, did not exactly germinate seeds of sweetness and light in the, new students. This situation continued until, in 1836, a fast-talking student got excused for absenting himself during Christmas by proving that two professors had gone off and that another had suspended lectures. This incident is, locally, of historic importance in that it is the first recorded instance of a student talking himself into an excuse for absences, a pastime in great vogue to-day. The root of the ill-feeling which prevailed between students and faculty for the first thirteen years, lay in the fact that Jefferson's contemporaries, like certain of his followers, seemed to misunderstand, most woefully, his ideas of freedom for the students. When one reads the regulations by which the unfortunates were bound, occasions for the student's rancor seem obvious. For one thing, they were forced upon their entrance to the University to hand overJ all of their money to the proctor. After fees had been deducted, that oHicial kept the remaining money and doled it out to the individuals whenever he considered them to need it. Another rule which was justifiably unpopular with the students was that which made them get out of bed every morning at five olclock. This was especially bad in- the winter, for the rooms were poorly heated and usually stayed cold until spring. Rules like these and actions of the Board such as that in relation to Christmas absences soon gave rise to open rebellions on the part of the students. An encourage- ment of these miniature revolutions was contributed by the military company. During the first session, every student was required to take military tactics and to drill with the student company. There was much discussion for a time of making the University a military college, but this died down and, in the second session, attendance at the military exercises was left entirely optional. In 1831, the faculty muddled things when they allowed the company to procure real guns from the state, and the next year made an even worse mistake by allowing a student to be put in charge instead of a member of the faculty. Almost immediately, the group got out of control. Every occasion was used as an excuse to fire off a few shots and scare townspeople out of their beds and professors out of their wits. In 1836, the military group stood in open difiance to the faculty and paid no attention to the demand that it disband and return the rifles to the state. A reign of terror persisted for some days until the professors, who had been forced to arm themselves for defense, appealed to the civil authorities. The effect of a grand jury E141

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e13 CORKS AND FCUriS OF NINETEEN HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOUR worried a great deal concerning the amount of gambling and drinking which they suspected was going on in the student body. In fact, the odor of mint in a students room or on his person was takeni as evidence that he had been imbibing. Professorial wrath was also drawn down on the heads of students who indulged in marbles and who made a terrific noise with their arguments, presumably about knuckling over or hunching. More serious, perhaps, was the prevalence of duelling among the students. A case is cited of one young man who was found carrying a large knife and who explained it by stating that it was carried in the event that someone might insult him and refuse to give him satisfaction. The faculty was extremely w atchful, and the mere w hisper of a duel was usually follow ed by instant dismissal. More harmless diversions were those found 1n the exercise classes which engaged in boxing, fencing, and singlestick. This early enthusiasm for boxing, by the way, might have been a harbinger of the joyous events which take place in our present winters. Various literary societies were also formed, the first of which was named for Patrick Henry and was founded in 1825. Soon afterward, a schism occurred and half of the members established. a new organization called the Jefferson Society. The latter society has, save for the war years in the 60's, functioned continuously. These societies enjoyed considerable popularity and importance in the activities of the school. Their debates and elections were occasions for great excitement and representatives from each were allowed to give speeches at various University celebrations. The faculty, however, with its fear of student criticism and administrative thought, promptly put an end to this custom. In 1836, the first Greek Letter social fraternity was formed in Gamma Pi Delta, and the popularity of debating among the student is shown by the fact that even this organization attempted to gain a place on the programs for its own representative. Dances were also a form of student diversions and were frequently given by groups of students. Literary lights in the student body brought out plans for a college magazine as early as 1831. Despite repeated discouraging comments from the worried faculty, a magazine was started late in that year under the name, The Chameleon. This survived until I838, when a new one named The Collegian was started to take its place. It was in 18.1.2 that an event took place which was to change the entire course of the University and to give it the finest and most distinguishing of its features. Judge Henry St. George Tucker, of the law faculty, who, with his kinsman, George Tucker, had been instrumental in removing the early-rising regulations and had been among those who were largely responsible for the repeal of the rule requiring students to wear a University uniform, became disgusted with the rigid surveillance E161