Letter from Peter R. Neal to Charles Modlin

Letter from Peter R. Neal to Charles Modlin

This letter was sent from Peter R. Neal, a member of the University of Richmond’s Class of 1959, to George M. Modlin, the President of the University of Richmond, that was sent on May 22, 1968; Neal mistakenly addressed the letter to "Dr. Charles Modlin." Neal had read in the paper that the university "resorted to what [he considers] an unjustified [censorship] of the press," which referred to a survey on students’ sexual attitudes and activities that was not published in The Collegian at the request of the Board of Publications. Neal believed that the university would receive bad publicity for this action and that The Collegian should be allowed to publish the survey: "The reasons given for refusing publication are invalid." According to Neal, the questions in the survey were also used at the College of William and Mary and were created with the help of the college’s department of sociology. "I agree it is not the function of the Collegian to create news (whatever that means), but in this case, it has not done so." He believed that the students should be able to decide for themselves if the survey was valid. In addition, in 1958, Neal wrote to The Collegian about segregation at the university; "no one listened" and he believed the university suffered because of its segregation policies.

Letter from Peter R. Neal to Charles Modlin, 22 May 1968, RG 6.2.4.3 box 12, University Archives, Virginia Baptist Historical Society.

1968-05-22

Modlin, George Matthews, 1903-1998

English

UA6.2.4.3.12-19680522.jpg

Richmond (Va.)