THE TERRIBLE CALAMITY of Sunday, October
27th, has left the main building of our revered and beloved Alma Mater in
ruins. The historic monuments of three-quarters of a century have been
obliterated by the fury of the flames in a few hours, and nothing is left of our
great Rotunda, our Public Hall, our Old Chapel, and our Academic Halls and
Lecture Rooms, hallowed by so many recollections precious to us all, except
blackened walls. In this unspeakable calamity all that remains to us except
brave hearts and unbroken spirits is the memory of the gallant and heroic
conduct of the entire student body, without which nothing could have been
saved from the Library and the Scientific halls in and adjacent to the Rotunda.
We therefore desire, on behalf of the Faculty, to express to you collectively and
individually, one and all, our profoundest gratitude and our warmest praise for
your noble and admirable demeanor on this trying occasion, for your intense
sympathy with us in our irreparable losses, and your manly and self- sacrificing
co-operation in our endeavors to save something from the wreck, and
rehabilitate the great institution consecrated by the name of Jefferson. We are
perfectly sure that every man, every student, will continue to do his whole
duty in the same splendid spirit of devotion to Alma Mater; that all will nobly
stand by us in our misfortune; that all will work gladly and gallantly together
without murmur and without complaint, and soon we shall behold our great
Mother rising before us statelier, stronger than ever, the glory of Virginia, the
glory of the entire South.

The Faculty will do its utmost to continue to deserve your entire confidence, and has already perfected arrangements for the resumption of lectures in every department.

JAMES A. HARRISON,
WM. E. PETERS,
R. HEATH DABNEY

COMMITTEE