Wednesday, July 02, 2003

Thomas Jefferson and football

Seth the Larval Lawyer makes the point here, and I agree, that those old Wahoos who were opposed to allowing Virginia Tech into the Atlantic Coast Conference seem to believe that "Mr. Jefferson actually invented the ACC," part of the same mentality that opposed the renaming of Clinch Valley College to the University of Virginia College at Wise. Maybe such thinkers should insist that Virginia must withdraw in protest from the ACC, now that Virginia Tech's membership is secure, or at least make a motion to kick out those other interlopers, Ga. Tech and Florida State (and now Miami).

Just so we're clear on this - the only ones who are cheapening the University are the legislators. They maybe entirely or partly justified in doing so, or not at all, but that is the whole story. It is no surprise that athletic programs look for ways to maximize profits when there is no prospect of outside money coming from the government. At the judicial conference, Dean Gene Nichol, commenting on the different routes taken by the U.Va. and UNC law schools on public funding, said that "if Thomas Jefferson were alive today, he'd be a Tarheel."

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