It is interesting how separate attention was given to the arts and STEM courses/programs, yet how they recognized the importance of both, and their interconnectivity. This reminds me of our different course requirements and how there are several courses that fit into multiple categories. Since we are require to take mathematic and artistic courses it is easier for us to relate different courses to others we take because of the differing yet sometimes convergent ideas shared in each course.

This quote really caught my attention as being a goal that Jefferson had that has significantly evolved over time. At the time this was written, he specifies that the university's purposes would be to serve the white community of Virginia and excluded individuals of color. Now, UVA considers the interests of a diverse population of students hailing from various cultural and ethnic backgrounds. This goal Jefferson had applies even more today especially concerning the free speech of students and their right to gather and advocate for their rights following multiple events in Charlottesville this semester.

It still amazes me that the university's location was based on the proximity to the white population in Albemarle County. For the times, this statement was extremely normal, and this is seen in the way the sentence is written. First, the mention of the "healthiness" of the site (something we may consider reasonable today), then the "fertility" of the next country (as Virginia has always been an agricultural state), and finally the "centrality to the white population" (as if this is just another plain thing to consider). Although we have moved away from this very direct form of prejudice, the history is still there. There are still people who think this way in our society and especially at the university.

This statement "cultivate their morals, & instil into them the precepts of virtue & order" stood out to me for a myriad of reasons. One of the reasons centered around the fact that at UVA's institutionalization, women and African Americans were denied admittance into the school. Thus when the authors put the statement "cultivate their morals, & instil into them the precepts of virtue & order", to me it sounds like they were trying to shape their students morals at the time into ones that believed their wasn't equal rights for all. In addition to this statement it also sounds like the authors are telling their students that women and African Americans are inferior to them.

This section of the document shows how times have changed from the writing of this document to my time here at the university. The importance and study of agriculture at this university has declined as the economic landscape has changed over the past 200 years to the point where most people will not study agriculture, or even manufactures because both are no longer as prominent in American society today. Commerce is still studied at the university by many students because this broader concept has thrived over the past two centuries. There are also a vast number of areas of study at the university today whereas 200 years ago, most people had the same general education in all the areas expressed in the document.

Obviously this sentence calls attention to the Native American population that lived on the land before white men were ever deciding to live there or not, but I find a similar attitude today among some of my classmates. Many have a sense of boastfulness about their intelligence because they attend the University of Virginia. They look down upon others because of where they come from, who their parents are, what their major is, the clothes they might wear, etc. This kind of behavior stems for men like Jefferson's egos that manage to control the world around them again and again. I have encountered many uppity people like this who ask me if I own a tractor when I tell them I'm from Southwest, Virginia near Blacksburg. We value education sure, and that's important for the further development of our society, but we must not lose our humble attitudes. We are so fortunate to be here, and instead of isolating people by encouraging traditions like "guys in ties, girls in pearls" because what if you can't afford pearls, we should make everyone feel inclusive. We have made so much progress since this time of characterizing Native Americans as savages, but the University of Virginia has long produced pretentious individuals that mock their neighbors for their lack of opportunity, or their choice of school. Our rivalry with Virginia Tech for example should not focus on the people that attend that school, or where they come from, (I should not have to be asked why I have all my teeth but other people from my hometown don't), but should be a friendly rivalry between two extremely adequate schools. We should focus on being more inclusive, that's what I learned from the Rockfish Gap Report.

This statement in particular has been prevalent for me during my time at UVA. During my time in the Engagements thus far, I have been exposed to different topics and ideas that have made me reflect on information that I thought was true in the past or had not thought about before. A great example of this would be in my Engagement "Telling the Truth" that I am taking this semester. Before taking the class, I never thought about how complex and in some cases impossible it is to discover and record total truth. With that being said, I also never thought of truth as an idea that was different than facts.

This idea is a little ironic because the university allowed students to beat and harm slaves. Beating other people is clearly not orderly, yet it was accepted. The ideas of order, justice, and humanity have surely changed since this document was created.

I think one interesting thing about this document is the focus by Jefferson and the other founders on giving each student the education necessary to establish his own agency in the world. They wanted every graduate of UVA to be equipped to make his own way in the world, and in many ways that is still one of the primary goals of the University. But I think now the focus is on expanding that idea to the entire population, rather than restricting it to one population and thereby promoting the supremacy of white male landowners even further.

The last object of primary education stated is a general one that sort of summarizes the purpose of all the other objects: "to form them to habits of reflection and correct action." Here it is stated that a person should think about their actions before taking them, to show high moral standards to others and by doing these things one will be a happier 'man.' Again comes up the idea of moral and virtue; this seems to be and important part of the education at the University of Virginia. Treating people as you would like to be treated. I have not experience anything except this during my first year at the University of Virginia. I am not sure, though, that every student has formed complete habits of reflection and correct action in every sense.

I find it interesting that the reasons for the languages are sated here. Although there are various things in this report that in modern times we may find alarming, I find this paragraph to be the few that reflects what we are striving for at UVA, that is, diversity. The reasons vary from very practical ones, in that French will help them establish international relations (much like Mandarin today, for someone who already speaks English). This is meant to help advance the student at the university, much like today. At the same time, Spanish is mentioned because it is "highly interesting to us", suggesting that there is an appreciation for Spanish language and culture, seemingly as a an additional benefit beside the simple one of being able to communicate with Spanish speakers. The appreciation for other cultures can therefore be taking into account as a fundamental of the university.

University is still a place where students come into their ideas and harness the abilities to express and spread these beliefs. Even though a lot has changed from when these men wrote this document, this understanding of the universities purpose holds true. Throughout my first semester at UVA, I have absolutely felt the desire to come into my beliefs and ideas and the university has absolutely helped me express myself more concisely.

Many of the goals of the new University seem to be more societal based than purely academic. Improving the virtue and social consciousness of men attending the University seems to be just as important as the academic studies he takes on. A goal of Jefferson and the other men who helped write this document was to improve the quality of citizenship among the Men in Virginia and beyond through teachings of how to treat your neighbors, how to be a good American citizen, and how to be a virtuous person who contributes to society.This was clearly interwoven into the academic discipline of the early university.

These particular objectives are ones that I find to be extremely prevalent and achieved at UVA. The Honor Code is so integrated into the culture here that I feel every student understands his or her "duties to his neighbors" in that every one respects each other and their belongings. Furthermore, I think the second objective is highlighted in the student self governance system that UVA prides itself in having because it teaches students how to justly use their rights and advocate for or against one another.

I think my first semester here has been reflective of the goals expressed by the founders in the Rockfish Gap report in some ways, and very different from their goals in others. There has been a notable focus on guiding students to expand their thinking and reflection on different moral and philosophical dilemmas and this is something that I think was a goal of the original founders in establishing this university. But there is also a big focus on diversity and equality among the different populations and trying to understand and include people of many different backgrounds which is obviously something that the authors of this report would never have imagined. In this respect I think that many of the points about the goals of education made in this document are still a part of the University experience here, but they are no longer limited to one group of people and they have been allowed to grow and flourish to include nearly every subject and discipline.

Because of the recent events in Charlottesville, I found myself presented with means to actively counteract the acts of hate during the rally in August. There have been various clubs and events that promote very different views from those presented in the rally. I have learned a lot about the world, specifically politics and society (my "neighbors and country"), in my first semester here because of the great amount of discussion surrounding the rally. I consider being in these events and speaking out as the "duties" mentioned in the report.

This line makes it clear that when the University was founded, its initial curriculum seems to resemble the liberal arts school present today. The curriculum seems broad and based on a general education like a bit of math, a bit of language, a bit of literature etc. Thomas Jefferson's idea was to build a basic education for citizens that they can then further build up.

Over the course of the document, Jefferson stresses the notion of morals, virtue, order etc. Throughout the course of my first semester at UVA, I found this aspect of the school to be true. UVA is one of the most trusting and trustworthy, respectful, and virtuous communities I have encountered. Jefferson successfully managed to instill good morals at this school that are still present to this day.

Here we relate "the principles of our constitution" to the principles of the university. The one part of the constitution highlighted in this section is the freedom of religion. This recognizes all beliefs and worships. At the beginning of this year there was rumor of Anti-Muslim posters being hung around first year dorms. This is shocking to me. As a nation, we have definitely come a long way from what we were in the past. I would like to think we are more accepting of our ethnic neighbors and friends. But we have seen in the news that we have not come as far as we thought we have. These posters around first year dorms show just that as do the August 11th and 12th marches from the Neo-Nazi's. Looking through the document and the comments from other students, I have seen that our school was founded in racism. There was no section to ban this in the constitution. Why is freedom of religion so hard to accept even today?

I find it incredibly interesting that the deciding factor for the placement of the University had to do with race. The authors did cite the healthiness of the location and other natural attributes, but this sentence really reinforces that these men were incredibly old fashioned and racist considering this was the final reasoning. I have been to Lexington and Staunton, and I find it a little ironic that they considered Albemarle County more white since now it's way more diverse than those two places.

I think it is extremely interesting that the document states the reason for learning each language, as if is necessary to have a justification for learning a language. I also want to note that these languages are all European (except for maybe Spanish, which is already present in Latin America). I like that on of the reasons was "it is interesting to us", citing pleasure or passion as a reason for learning a language.

I really liked this point because it reminds me of the Constitution's Necessary and Proper Clause. They recognized that relevant and important arts and sciences are going to change over time, and they are entrusting this to "those who come after" them. I like that they are looking into the future of the University and want the University to stay current and mold and grow with the times.

In this situation "every citizen" really only means white men. Its interesting to consider how, despite Jefferson's reputation as a champion of equality, they only intended to educate a very narrow portion of the population in the founding of UVA.

Reading official documents from this time period that include this kind of blatant and intentional discrimination are really such a good insight into how people in this time period thought about race. It seems so shocking to us that they would pick a location for the university based on race but for them that was the most natural idea in the world. It allows you to see how deeply ingrained racism was at this time.

As I read the Rockfish gap report, I found this statement surprising. Why would agreeing on a location for the University of Virginia be the commissioners' first objective? To me, it would seem if you planned to establish an elite University that you had hoped would thrive, your first objective could've been what would be the University's values or future goals be. Second instead of focusing on the buildings to be featured on the grounds, the Commissioners should have focused on the steps needed to accomplish these aforementioned goals. Only after these two goals were addressed would the commissioners be able to determine the location of University of Virginia. Ultimately, in the grand scheme of things, the University's location wouldn't play nearly as pivotal of a role as the University's values and goals would. As a result, when I read this statement, it just reinforced the fact that the Commissioners priorities were not in the right place. Instead of focusing on finding a way to create a institution that gave equal opportunity to all races and genders, they decided to focus on the location of the University instead. While this is heartbreaking, it is not surprising.

"To understand his duties to his neighbours, and country" is an extremely controversial quote by Jefferson here. If one of the duties expressed in the Constitution was to "establish justice", then why would it's leader and founder, Thomas Jefferson, not allow African American students into the University and be seen to some as a proponent of slavery. If he was trying to lead as an example and teach other UVA students to "understand their duties to his neighbors", than abolishing slavery and establishing equality would be one of those duties. To not fulfill this duty would ultimately be a disservice to America.

This opening sentence in the beginning of the report is shocking. Prior to reading the report, I was aware of UVA's and its founders backgrounds, however, I did not expect to see a sentence outlining the vitality of this University being exclusive to only white people this early on in the report.

This part of the document really made me realize how much UVA has evolved over the years and how UVA's community really impacted the Charlottesville community as a whole. Prior to the existence of UVA, Charlottesville had no access to a hospital which limited student's medical education immensely (if they wished to pursue medicine.) However, not only did this snippet bring to light the evolution of the university, but also its initial desire to provide their students with a lot of educational freedom in the sense that they wanted their students to be able pursue whatever carrier they chose.

This report talks a lot about building the moral character of the students that receive an educations at the university, while the immoral nature of the document is clear by itself it is extremely ironic. They want to both build the moral character of students while they learn at the university, and maintain it while they are living their, by excluding everyone but white males. Seems like one of the foundations of the university, to educate white males, is a bad start to improving the morality of citizens of Virginia.

The rhetoric of this report is clearly elitist in support of the perfect "southern white male" that Jefferson and the state of Virginia wished to educate at this University. The technological advancements of the 50 years prior to the writing of this document are invoked to show the possibilities that education can provide, but at the same time comparisons are made to the Native population in an attempt to justify the need for a great educational institution. The writers of this report are suggesting that without educating the southern white males, their society will too closely resemble the "primitive ways" of the indigenous peoples. Thus, conveying their theme of elitism and lack of value in people other than white men.

It's interesting that a single professor would teach each of the groups. Now, professors have very specific fields, rather than broad groups of study, so it is fascinating to see the differences between the current institution and the UVA when it was first created.

This is saying that education helps turn an unmoral man into a moral man, but what was moral to them? In Gayle M. Schulman's article about Slavery at UVA, she describes a student beating a black girl because she said "what," and he was allowed to continue on as a student. I don't see how that is teaching morals. http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/slavery/Slaves_University_Virginia.pdf #tooearlyonaMonday

This quote in the Rockfish Gap Report reminds me of the honor code at UVA today. Ideology according to the New Oxford American Dictionary is a system of ideas and ideals, especially one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy. The honor code here is completely student run and extremely important in all facets of daily UVA life. It helps to create a community of trust and a set of beliefs for the community so we can further our education.

The men who created UVA were well aware of the difference of opinion that they would meet along the way. Choosing the objectives of the branches of learning is a difficult task. The commissioners listed their objectives out and explained why each was chosen almost like the Declaration as we read this summer. They listed their reasons and explained each one. The Rockfish Gap Report and the Declaration of Independence run some similarities.

Opposition to the university's objectives was expected despite the lack of a broader range of differing views. At the end of the report, the individuals who signed the report are listed, yet all are white males, who were well versed in politics. The irony of having one homogenous group analyze concerns of others who share different interests and agendas than their own is still an aspect of or culture today. Our culture is still dominated by white males making decisions for a whole population of varying cultures and opinions that will not be heard because of the unanimous culture of generating policies concerning them by individuals who do not share their beliefs.

The Rockfish Gap Report enumerates a list of purposes that the university will strive to maintain for its students, paralleling with the list of amendments and their purpose of enumerating the rights of citizens that are protected under the constitution.