Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1921-11-27
THE CONTROVERSY
BETWEEN u. OF-VA. AND N. C..
Declares Football Team, Students and Alumni of Vir.
ginia, by Their Sportsmanlke Action Demanding
Faculty to Agree on Contest Prevented Calamity

Soi'c' no matter Whlcn side was
interpreting the contract correctly.
l; is not suggested that Dr.
| Lcfevre was not entirely sincere i'm
his statement OF what he considered
the best interests OF those whom he
| represented. l ain merely setting
down the fact that these persons, as
| far as anybody can tell from what
they have said and done in the last
| few days. plainly do not hold his
| opinion.
| Merely Sends Telegram.
! When the troubled meetings of last
| Tuesday were over, when the Uni
versity of North Carolina faculty
had adopted Il resolution supporting
it's committee on athletics, and when
this resolution had been handed To
DR.. Lefcvre. he did not send II on
to Charlottesville 10 allow the Uni
vcrsity OF Virginia community TO
know what stand the University OF
North Carolina had taken, or what
reasons il had given for it's stand
lie did not, as was learned later from
NirGinians, telephone or telegraph at
! once anything about the discussions
that had taken place during the day.
or what these discussions had
brought out. in order to find out IL
Virginia might possibly modify Its
position. He simply wired home that
the game had been cancelled.
So much for the matter OF can
ceiling the game. Twill now Hview
the facts in the dispute; which until
now have necessarily been made
known only in fraEmentary form. as
they developed from hour to hour.
and which. naturally enough and
properly enough. were somewhat lost
sight of in the excited questioning
as to whether or not the game would
he played.
Enter Into Agreement.
Carolina and Virginia entered into
contract providing for the football
games OF 1921 and 1922. One clause
of this contract stipulated tina. ,Se
eligibility OF players at each institu-
ton should be determined IN accord
with the rules published in its cata-
loguc. and also in conformity with the
rules of the Athletic Conference OF
Southern state Universities. common
~ spoken OF as the 4. &. S. = L. Nine
days before Thanksgiving Day let
ter from Dr. Lefcvre was received
here citing an amendment to the a. c.
5 s. u. rules, which amendment
would bar W. I. Johnson from par
ticipation in the Thanksgiving Day
game.
According TO DR.. Lc!evre, repre-
sentative Of the University D; North
Carolina. now long since departed
from Chapel Hill to live in New
gates in 1916. at which the amend
mcnt was adopted. DIR. Lefevre s
statement as to this is not disputed
There is no evidence of IL on record
here. but all information obtained
tends to show that il tx true. The
amendment. though adopted in 1916,
was not TO go into effect until 1917.
mo war came on. Intercollegiate
athletics were forgotten. The score
tary OF the meeting at which the
amendment was adopted never sent
any record of il to the University of
North Carolina, If he did nobody ever
knew anything about IL.
Failed Ia Turn Over Papers.
After the letter from the University
r virginia lad bean received nero a
w days ago. and when this seattle
nan. MT. Coleman, the representative
@. the University OF South Carolina.
was appeale to Tor information he
leicgraphed that. in leaving hurricdlv
1pr the war he had failed TO turn any
J ,pcrS over to successor And. he
& ided, that at South Carolina they
lad never considered observing tho
amendment. The representative of
,"c oHiNcrSitS OF tennessee also
!egraphed that the institution h.,d
I Yer considered itself bound hy thn
nendrncnt. These two institu IONS.
with North Carolina. make up n ma
orlty OIL the five members OF the old
\. Z. ,. ;. u, the other two pcinp
virginia and Georgia Thus. Accord
jig to the best information that
North Carolina could get. IN tn. sb,r,
.'n,e "vaiiahie the amendment haG
never heen ratified and become a
valid and ineffective rule OF tho or
ganization.
This season the Carolina ra,u,,y
committee had considered the Gag. ~
Johnson At the beginning OF the son
son. Soma members OF the committee
Were frankly DESTROYS Of disnunl;i,
ihE him, because he had playal .,
another institution last fall. E,,t II
was found that there was no r.,;a
under which he could be ruled IN,
ne had measured up 10 the STANDARDS
OF scholarship laid down. SO he wns
declared eligible.
Played Openly In All Games.
He played openly in all the canos
inns season. The question then arise.
why was not the attention OF m.
North Carolina committee called TO
.he case earlier? To this DR.. I.e
- ~p's ~ nlN a plain
contract with you. in which il wa,
stipulated that you would abide hy
he rules of 4. G. S. S. L. We know
THIS amendment had been adontc1
we assumed. OF course. that vnu
Nne" ii. II you didn't know 4, wa,
your fault. not ours. johnson nigh,
play in other games because Their.
was no rule Of yours to prevent him
from playing in them. but your con.
tract with us did explicitly disoualirv
MN from the Carolina virginia
game"
The North Carolina faculty commit
| zee Tor many years has steadfastly
refused I" accede to the suggestion
sometimes advanced. that IL sane.
'ons one set OF eligibility rules for
contests with some colleges ana an.
other set OF contests with other col.
reyes This has been 4 fixed poli.y
ana mas often been announced. Until
~ i'eicVre made the statement tina,
ne assumed Carolina was auaIIfyinr
MS mea to play against state Col.
iege. Maryland. '. VI. ]. and Davidson,
by rules different from those IaiI
! down FOR the Virginia game. /, ,v,,
considered incredible here that INV.
BODY so familiar with the athletic
policies o. Nirginia's cornpetitor,
, ana who had hccD In ,u~,, ,.....