Jay G. Rainey Papers

Jay Garland Rainey (b. 1946) entered Madison College in September 1966 as a member of the college’s first fully coeducational class; he was originally from Alexandria, Virginia. He married Katherine (Tina) Marie Russell soon after graduating high school and they moved to Rockingham County with their son so Rainey could attend Madison. In an effort to prepare for his wife’s delivery of the couple’s second child and to save for tuition, Rainey left the college after two years of study and returned to Alexandria. Rainey was initially denied readmission for the 1968-1969 session due to his alleged unkempt appearance. He brought suit against the college in February 1969 and the ruling was subsequently overturned due to a lack of due process. Rainey returned to Madison for the 1969-1970 session.

While attending Madison College, Rainey was active in several “radical” or “left-leaning” student organizations. Rainey served as the first editor of The Fixer, a student-run underground newspaper at Madison College from 1969 to 1973. It was published by the Madison College Free Press and its prime directive was to encourage a “meaningful exchange of ideas, a confrontation of minds.” Furthermore, the paper strove to reopen various channels of dialogue between students, faculty, and the administration due to a perceived lack of communication and overall transparency. Rainey was also active in the student group, Harambee. While Rainey described the organization as a “liberal group of like-minded people that would mainly get together and give each other support,” Harambee did not explicitly identify as a political organization.

Rainey organized a sit-in at Wilson Hall in April 1970 after the administration announced that three professors – Roger Adkins, Assistant Professor of Economics; Houston Rogers, Instructor of English; and James McClung, Assistant Professor of English – would not have their contracts renewed for 1970-1971 academic term. Many students perceived the non-reappointments as being politically motivated rather than a result of poor academic performance. Rainey was arrested, convicted of trespassing, and, despite a long series of appeals, sentenced to a six-month jail sentence and a $500 fine. Governor Mills E. Godwin Jr. eventually pardoned Rainey and commuted his sentence on November 17, 1977. Rainey graduated Madison College in June 1971 with a B. S from the School of Social Sciences.