BREAKING TRADITIONS

"Time and truth will at length correct error."

--Thomas Jefferson

When Jefferson founded his University, education for females was rare, for African Americans unthinkable, for the poor and remote impossible. For generations the University of Virginia prided itself on being the capstone of public education in the state while deliberately or unconsciously ignoring the educational needs of thousands of young citizens. Over time, barriers slowly fell, by the actions of enlightened faculty and administrators, and by court decree. Women began studying privately with sympathetic professors in the 1890s but were not admitted as undergraduates on an equal basis with men until 1970. African-American Alice Jackson applied in 1935 and was summarily turned down. Fifteen years later the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Law School to admit Gregory Swanson at the same time as the School of Education was quietly welcoming Walter N. Ridley, both African American. At the determined urging of southwestern Virginia residents and the enthusiastic cooperation of University President Colgate W. Darden an extension center at Clinch Valley in Wise became a two-year college in 1954. Its programs, enrollment and reputation expanded dramatically and on July 1, 1999 it will officially be renamed the University of Virginia's College at Wise.