$500 million later, Darden steps down as campaign chairman
LEADERSHIP CHANGES AS CAMPAIGN HEADS TO FINALE IN 2000 

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., June 14 -- Edward C. Mitchell Jr. of
Atlanta and Thomas A. Saunders III of New York have been appointed
co-chairmen of the Campaign for the University of Virginia. They will
succeed Joshua P. Darden Jr. of Norfolk, who is stepping down after
four years as chairman of the seven-year campaign. Scheduled to
conclude in the year 2000, the campaign is seeking $750 million for a
broad range of University needs. 
	Mitchell and Saunders, who will assume their positions
effective June 30, were formally appointed to head the campaign by the
University's Board of Visitors in a joint meeting with the Campaign
Executive Committee today.  Both have been active in the fund-raising
effort. 
	Mitchell, a 1963 graduate of the University's College of Arts
& Sciences, is chairman of the Arts & Sciences Campaign Cabinet and
president of the Arts & Sciences Alumni Council. Saunders, who earned
an MBA degree from the Darden Graduate School of Business
Administration in 1967, is former chairman of the Campaign for Darden
and is chairman of the Darden School Foundation Trustees.
	The board also named E. Massie Valentine of Richmond as vice
chairman of the University's campaign. Valentine, a 1956 alumnus of
the College of Arts & Sciences, is the former chairman of the board of
Johnson & Higgins of Virginia and a past member of the University's
Board of Visitors. In his new position, Valentine will oversee an
effort to raise $50 million for the expansion of Scott Stadium.
Preliminary plans for the stadium project were unveiled at the board
meeting today. With this new objective in the campaign, the University
is considering the possibility of raising the overall campaign goal.
	Charles L. Brown of Princeton, N.J., will continue to serve as
a vice chairman of the campaign, a position he has held since June
1993. He is the retired chairman and CEO of AT&T and a 1943 graduate
of the University's engineering school.
	Under Darden's guidance, the campaign has raised more than
$511 million in private funds to date. More than 99,000 alumni,
parents, friends and organizations have contributed to the campaign,
including some 50,000 who have given to the University for the first
time. Close to 90 donors have given $1 million or more.
	University President John T. Casteen III praised Darden for
his extraordinary leadership and unflagging devotion to the campaign.
"The debt we owe Josh Darden is beyond measure," said Casteen.
"Through his hard work, sound judgment and obvious loyalty to the
University, he has helped to mount a well-conceived and well-organized
fund-raising effort that will set the course of this institution in
the next century." 
	Darden is president of Darden Properties Inc. in Norfolk. A
1958 graduate of the College of Arts & Sciences, he served on the
Board of Visitors from 1982 to 1990 and was rector of the University
during his last three years on the board. Although Darden will be
stepping down as chair of the campaign, he will continue to serve on
the Campaign Executive Committee.
	The campaign's new co-chairmen are both well known in the
world of finance. Mitchell is co-founder and chairman of INVESCO
Capital Management, part of a global investment organization with
approximately 3,000 employees and more than $160 billion in
investments under management. 
	Saunders is a former senior managing director at Morgan
Stanley & Co. As chairman of Morgan Stanley's merchant bank, he was
responsible for a $2 billion private equity fund. He left Morgan
Stanley in 1989 to found Saunders Karp & Megrue, a private equity firm
in New York. The firm's equity fund has a diversified portfolio of
industrial and retail companies, including Dollar Tree Stores Inc.,
which has headquarters in Norfolk.
	"Tom Saunders enters this position with an outstanding track
record," said Casteen. "His leadership in the Darden campaign has been
invaluable, and his energy, drive and intelligence will help us build
on the remarkable momentum created under Josh Darden's leadership.
	"Ed Mitchell brings talents to this campaign that complement
perfectly those of Tom Saunders," Casteen added.  "His leadership in
the Arts & Sciences campaign shows clearly his dedication to the
academic heart of the University and his understanding of the
challenges facing our core programs."
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June 14, 1997
	For more information, call Carol Wood, U.Va. News Services, at
(804) 924-6189 or Sheri Winston, Television News Office, at (804)
924-7550.