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As
a consequence of controversy
over gun control within Virginia's Democratic Party I became curious
about where in Virginia firearms can be carried and discharged.
So naturally my interest was piqued when I learned of the following story
about Republican United States Senator from Virginia George Allen. According
to a recent
profile:
"One afternoon, while standing at the edge of the dorm grounds [at
the University of Virginia], [George Allen] pulled out his shotgun and,
as friends watched with rapt fascination, shot a squirrel dead. He cleaned
it, ate the meat and hung its skin on a wall" (Michael Leahy, The
Washington Post, October 3, 2000).
This led me to wonder what the regulations were at
the University of Virginia with regard to firearms and what the consequences
are for their violation.
Rules, Regulations and Practices
According to the Undergraduate University
Record (2001), "The possession, storage or use of any kind of ammunition,
firearms, fireworks, explosives, air rifles and air pistols on University-owned
or operated property, without the expressed written permission of the University
police is prohibited."
"As a courtesy, the University
Police Department will store hunting weapons for students to use off-Grounds
during hunting season. This process allows students to engage in the legal
activity of hunting and still not keep weapons on the Grounds. After a weapon
is returned to the owner, the University Police Department does not keep
records of this activity [and so, cannot tell who stored what weapons in
the past]" (Mike Coleman, Captain, University of Virginia Police
Department, electronic mail, July 3, 2001).
At one time, ROTC had a firing range in their building on-Grounds that
might have started during WWII when officers were being trained at UVA.
ROTC had permission for this activity.
"The Navy has had a training
corps at UVA since 1940-1941. The Army transportation corps began during
World War II, the Army Signal Corps began in 1951, and Air Force ROTC sometime
during the Korean War" (Louise Dudley, Director of University Relations,
electronic mail, July 5, 2001).
The firing range at Maury Hall was closed in 1999, possibly because of
new environmental regulations that affected its use. However, the UVA NROTC
Pistol Team became active again in late 2000. "Practices are now held
at the Rivana Rifleman Club, a short
15 minute drive from UVA. Any midshipman may practice with the team, but
only about 5-6 are active members who attend regularly and strive to improve
their scores" (UVA
NROTC, 2001).
There is also a student organization, the Virginia Rifle & Pistol
Club, which competes as a club sport and is "dedicated to increasing
skill in marksmanship through intercollegiate competition. [They] field
both rifle and pistol teams, and compete in both home and away matches with
other collegiate teams from primarily the East, but around the country as
well. The club has been in existence since the 1950's, and boasts numerous
former All-Americans and National Champions (Co-Curricular
Organizations Not Administered by the University, University of Virginia,
2001).
Sanctions for Students Violating University of Virginia Rules and
Regulations Regarding Firearms
By all accounts, the University of Virginia's honor code pertains only
to lying, cheating and stealing and would not apply to a firearm violation,
though its origins
date back the death of Professor John Davis, who was shot while trying to
quiet a disturbance on the Lawn on November 12, 1840.
"The biggest myth involving the UVA Honor Code has to do with its
beginning. The much-repeated story - as any doe-eyed first-year student
can recite - goes something like this:
In 1840, a student shot a professor during a drunken melee on the Lawn.
The murder caused a great deal of tension and ill-will between the students
and faculty. In an attempt to alleviate those bad feelings, an Honor Pledge
was instituted to express confidence in the students. Every student would
heneceforth participate in an honor system that forbids lying, cheating,
and stealing.
That's an inspiring story, and one you'll hear told ad nauseam by the
University administration, student tour guides, aluni, and even members
of the Honor Committee. Only problem: the story's not true.
Yes, there was a murder, and yes, an Honor Pledge about two years later.
But the rest is pure Hoo-lore.
Here's the real scoop on the origin of the UVA honor system.
A student did shoot and kill a professor on Thursday night, November
12, 1840. A gang of rowdy students were partying hard that evening to commemorate
the anniversary of a violent rebellion by the Student Military Company which
had taken place four years earlier.
The celebration involved a lot of drinking alcohol and shooting pistols
on the Lawn - activities forbidden by the school's strict policies. When
he ran out of his home, Pavilion Ten, to quell the disturbance, law professor
John A.G. Davis was shot in the stomach by a student. he died a few days
later. The guilty student turned himself in, was arrested, but ultimately
escaped. It was rumored that he eventually committed suicide.
1836 - The first recorded instance of a UVA student invoking a
sense of honor occurred during the violent rebellion of the Student Military
Comapny in November. The well-armed and defiant 63-member group refused
to turn over its guns and obey faculty rules. The student soldiers rioted
for three days straight until the local state militia took control of the
Grounds. During the revolt, the students sent word to the faculty that "every
member of the company pledges his honor to stand by his comrades, and that
action against one shall affect every individual."
1840 - In the process of commemorating the anniversary of the
student rebellion of 1836, a student shot and killed Professor James Davis
in front of Pavillon 10 on November 12.
1842 - In response to reports of cheating on final exams, Professor
Henry St. George Tucker proposed that sudents attach a certificate to all
future tests confirming that on their honor they did not receive any type
of assistance. |
The murder of Professor Davis, tragic as it was, had nothing whatsoever
to do with the Honor Pledge proposed almost two years later. Nor did the
murder, as the legend says, cause strained relations between the faculty
and students. Ill will between students and faculty had been around since
the school opened in 1825, when the first student riots occured.
If anything, as letters from the period show, the murder of Professor
Davis had a temporary sobering effect.
"It has covered this community in sadness, and robed it in mourning,'
wrote Davis' nephew, Peter Carr, in a letter held in Alderman Library.
While the murder may have temporarily brought students closer to their
professors, it didn't stop them from cheating.
A close reading of another document in the Special Collections archives
at UVA's Alderman Library reveals the true origin behind UVA's Honor Pledge
nearly two years later.
In the weeks leading up to the July 4, 1842 meeting of the faculty (who
ran the school in the pre-Board of Visitors/President days), students had
been taking their end-of-the-year exams. At each faculty meeting, professors
reported the lates results, and the records from that year reveal that the
professors discovered instances of cheating on some of those exams.
Professor Henry St. George Tucker proposed the creation of a pledge that
each student would affix to each exam, a signed testimonial that he 'derived
no assistance during the time of this examination from any course whatsoever"
..." (Coy Barefoot, C-Ville Weekly,
July 10 - 16, 2001). |
"There is a Judiciary
Committee that handles violations of University regulations. These regulations
are listed in the Record. Judiciary cases come from University administrators
and staff as well as from students. The Judiciary Committee is a relatively
independent student group, as most student organizations are at the University
of Virginia" (Mike Coleman, Captain, University of Virginia Police
Department, electronic mail, July 3, 2001).
Here is what Kathryn Szeliga, Vice Chair for Sanctions of the Judiciary
Committee, has to say about sanctioning student violation of regulations
involving firearms at the University:
"The University Judiciary Committee is the central body of the University's
Judicial System, and is authorized to investigate and adjudicate alleged
violations of the University's Standards of Conduct. All Committee actions
and proceedings are undertaken with the purpose of maintaining a community
of safety, freedom and respect at the University of Virginia. Its authority
is derived directly from the Board of Visitors.
The Committee is not supervised by the Office of the Dean of Students
or any other administrative office. If a violation is thought to have occurred,
anybody can file charges against a student (the accused must be a student,
the complainant does not have to be). With the help of support officers
(educators, investigators, and counsel) the accused student will have a
fair trial to determine if the violation occurred, known as the Trial for
Guilt.
Illegally possessing and using a firearm can fall under violation
of several Standards:
1. Physical or sexual assault of any person on University-owned or leased
property, at any University sanctioned function, at the permanent or temporary
local residence of a University student, faculty member, employee, or visitor,
or in the city of Charlottesville or Albemarle County.
2. Conduct which intentionally or recklessly threatens the health or
safety of any person on University-owned or leased property, at a University
sanctioned function, or at the permanent or temporary local residence of
a University student, faculty member, or employee.
6. Violation of University policies or regulations referenced in The
Record, including policies concerning residence and the use of University
facilities.
10. Any violation of Federal, State, or local law, if such directly affects
the University's pursuit of its proper educational purposes and only to
the extent such violations are not covered by other Standards of Conduct
and only where a specific provision of a statute or ordinance is charged
in the complaint.
If the accused is found guilty of violating any one of the above Standards,
the trial panel will then immediately move to Trial for Sanction. The trial
panel is composed of five judges, each elected from their own respective
schools in the University.
The UJC can impose any sanction, including but not limited to the
following:
1. Admonition: An oral statement to a student that s/he is violating
or has violated a Standard of Conduct.
2. Warning: A notice, in writing, that continuation or repetition of
misconduct, within a stated period of time, may be cause for more severe
disciplinary action.
3. Reprimand: A written censure for violation of the specified Standards
of Conduct, placed in the student's record, including the possibility of
more severe disciplinary sanctions should another violation occur within
a stated period of time.
4. Disciplinary Probation: Exclusion from participation in privileged
or extracurricular University activities as set forth in the notice of probation
for a period of time not exceeding two academic semesters.
5. Restitution: Reimbursement for damage to or misappropriation of property.
The Committee shall not order restitution unless the complainant has provided
the accused with an accounting of the expenses within a reasonable time
before the trial.
6. Fine: A monetary punishment for actions or damage beyond the evaluation
of restitution. The fine shall be no lower than $10.00 and no higher than
$100.00.
7. Work Sanctions: Service performed for the benefit of the University
community.
8. Suspension: Exclusion from classes and other privileges or activities
or from the University, as set forth in the notice of suspension, for a
definite period of time.
9. Expulsion: Termination of student status for an in definite period.
The conditions of readmission, if any, shall be stated in the order of expulsion.
The goal of sanctioning students is not to punish them but instead to
educate them. For example, a student who violated an alcohol policy might
be required to take a class through the Center for Alcohol and Substance
Education.
In the past few years, the UJC has not seen any cases involving the use
of firearms. Because each situation is different and the goal of the trial
panel is to assign sanctions as specific to the situation as possible, it
is difficult to guess what a possible sanction might be.
However, illegally possessing and using firearms certainly does not promote
a community of safety, respect, and freedom and it does impede the educational
pursuits of the University. These cases will be taken seriously.
Disclaimer: The views and political opinions on this website are
not necessarily those of the University Judiciary Committee or any of its
members.
Kathryn Szeliga (electronic mail, July 11, 2001). |
George Allen and the Dead Squirrel
"George Allen graduated from the College of Arts & Sciences
in 1974 and from the School of Law in 1977, so presumably he was a student
[at the University of Virginia] from the fall of 1970 through the spring
of 1977" " (Louise Dudley, Director of University Relations,
electronic mail, July 5, 2001).
Did George Allen pull out his shotgun at the edge of dorm grounds, shoot
a squirrel dead, clean it, eat it and hang its skin on a wall as Michael
Leahy of the Washington Post suggests?
Mike Coleman, Captain of the University of Virginia Police Department,
says "It sounds like one of the stories that gets applied to politicians
and government figures (We've all heard about Washington
and the cherry tree), but I cannot verify whether the story actually
happened or not."
Would it have been a violation of University of Virginia regulations
at the time? Can't say?
What sanctions would apply were a reenactment to occur today?
You decide.
Then send your thoughts to george@loper.org where the most representative
will be placed on my website with full attribution.
*******
Editor's Note and Disclaimer: Additional information about regulations
governing the discharge of weapons can be found on my website for Charlottesville
and for Albemarle.
I appreciate the help and the kindness of all of the individuals [mentioned
above] who have contributed information for this piece. There should be
no assumption that any of the persons mentioned share the views or the political
opinions expressed on this website.
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