Colgate Darden

Colgate Whitehead Darden, Jr.
Born	February 11, 1897(1897-02-11) Franklin, Virginia
Died	June 9, 1981(1981-06-09) (aged 84) Norfolk, Virginia
Resting place	Beechwood Plantation, now Jericho, Southampton County, Va.
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Virginia Columbia Law School
Occupation	Educator
Known for	US Congressman Chancellor of the College of William and Mary President of the University of Virginia
Term	1947-1959
Predecessor	John Lloyd Newcomb
Successor	Edgar F. Shannon, Jr.

Colgate Whitehead Darden, Jr. (February 11, 1897 - June 9, 1981) was a Democratic Congressman from Virginia (1933-37, 1939-41), the 54th Governor of Virginia (1942-46), Chancellor of the College of William and Mary (1946-47) and the third President of the University of Virginia (1947-59). The Darden Graduate School of Business Administration of the University of Virginia was named for him.

Darden was born on a farm near Franklin, Virginia and served in the French Army and the United States Marine Corps Air Service during World War I. He later attended the University of Virginia, where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, and graduated in 1922 before going on to Columbia Law School (grad. 1923) and then Oxford University. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1930 to 1933 and a U.S. delegate to the United Nations General Assembly in 1955. He died in 1981 at his home in Norfolk, Virginia.^[1]

As governor, he reorganized Virginia's civil defense, reformed the penal system, and created a pension plan for state employees and teachers.

President of the University of Virginia

Darden was elected president of the University of Virginia in 1947, despite public misgivings from some among the University faculty, who resented his lack of faculty experience, and a portion of the student body, who feared that he planned to abolish the fraternity system at the University. The latter concern had its origin in Darden's actions as Governor of Virginia, where he recommended barring students at the College of William and Mary from living in fraternity or sorority houses on the grounds that it was "undemocratic" and placed undue financial burden on parents. While Darden did not impose similar restrictions at Virginia, he did attempt to implement other measures, such as a ban on first year rushing.^[2]

At Virginia, Darden was responsible for the building of the student union building, named Newcomb Hall for his predecessor John Lloyd Newcomb; the establishment of the Judiciary Committee, which handled student misconduct that did not rise to the level of an honor offense; the creation of the graduate school of business administration, named in his memory; and significant improvements to faculty salaries. Upon his retirement, he was presented with the Thomas Jefferson Award and the Raven Award.^[3]

External links

• Colgate Darden at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

References

1. ^ Barbanel, Josh (1981-06-10). "Colgate W. Darden Jr. Dies". New York Times: pp. B6. http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=FA0B1EFF385C0C738DDDAF0894D9484D81. Retrieved 2008-04-21. 
2. ^ Dabney, Virginius (1981). Mr. Jefferson's University: A History. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. pp. 271–274. ISBN 081390904X. http://repo.lib.virginia.edu:18080/fedora/get/uva-lib:178665/uva-lib-bdef:100/getFullView. 
3. ^ Dabney, 417-418.

Political offices
Preceded by James H. Price	Governor of Virginia 1942–1946	Succeeded by William M. Tuck
Academic offices
Preceded by John Lloyd Newcomb	President of the University of Virginia 1947–1959	Succeeded by Edgar F. Shannon, Jr.

Persondata
Name	Darden, Colgate
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 11, 1897
Place of birth	Franklin, Virginia
Date of death	June 9, 1981
Place of death	Norfolk, Virginia, USA