HISTORY WITH A BANG:  ONE-GUN SALUTE WILL KICK OFF
DARDEN SCHOOLŐS YEAR-LONG 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION 

EDITORS:  For interviews with faculty and students, and/or visual
opportunities, contact Elaine Ruggieri at (804) 924-3220 or Tom
Doran at 924-6858. 

	Forty years ago, New York advertising executive turned
University of Virginia lecturer Everard Meade yanked the lanyard on
a yacht-race cannon and fired an unofficial and unexpected blast
that proclaimed the opening of the Darden Graduate School of
Business Administration.

	On Sept. 1, four eventful decades later, Meade will again
fire the cannon -- to officially salute DardenŐs growth from a
fledgling school based in half a dozen classrooms on the Grounds
into one of the nationŐs top 10 graduate business schools, poised to
move into a technology-rich, $36-million complex being built
entirely with money donated by its alumni and other supporters.

	Before the shot has stopped echoing across the Darden School
lawn, the U.Va. Pep Band will swing into action and hundreds of past
and present students and faculty will toast the occasion with slices
of birthday cake washed down with the schoolŐs ever-present fresh
coffee.

	Members of the St. Sebastian Society -- of which more below
-- will form a notable contingent at the celebration, the first in a
year-long series of events including open houses, alumni gatherings,
lectures and forums, tours of the new complex and a two-day
celebration in honor of Pepsico, which donated $1 million for a
lushly landscaped commons area.

	Meade fired the earlier shot as a personal grand gesture
while Charles C. Abbott, the first dean, was addressing the first
group of new students and faculty in a classroom in Monroe Hall.
AbbottŐs audience of 38 students and four other faculty members fit
easily into the room.

	This year, nearly 500 students will be enrolled in the
Darden SchoolŐs core MBA program and more than 2,500 executives from
the private and public sector will attend one of its many advanced
programs for senior managers and executives.  Its nearly 80 faculty
members are involved with the business community through consulting,
research, executive education and service on the boards of directors
of many corporations including some of the nationŐs largest.

	While it has become a major player in business education and
research, the faculty hasnŐt lost the sense of humor that inspired
Everard Meade to punctuate Dean AbbottŐs address with a one-gun
salute. So the St. Sebastian Society, for current and former deans
and associate deans, will hold the first meeting of its full
membership at a luncheon after the cake-cutting ceremony. 

	Faculty member William Sihler explains that St. Sebastian
was a Christian martyr who was used for target practice by Roman
archers, survived multiple arrow wounds and recovered his health,
but then denounced the emperor for evildoing and was beaten to death
with clubs.

	ŇVery few of the former associate deans elected to have a
second go at  it,Ó Sihler observes.

###
August 24, 1995