I find this section to of the Rockfish Gap report to be ironic and interesting. It is strange that Jefferson and his colleagues found it important that the students should be from within a days journey of the University. Obviously, the majority of the students at the University today are still within the borders of Virginia, however there is a very large portion of students who are from out of the state and even out of the country. In fact, 5.3% of the student body is from outside of the United States and 25% are from outside of Virginia (http://as.virginia.edu/enrollment-data). Additionally, a days journey in the time of Jefferson was very different from what it is contemporarily. The advancement of transportation technology has widened the scopes of the University tremendously. Whether Jefferson envisioned this or not, I believe that he would be pleased with the progress the University has made.

Creed Taylor was born in 1766 and he served in the Revolutionary War under Col. George Carrington Jr. He then entered politics serving in the Virginia House of Delegates and in the State Senate. He was a delegate in 1788 and a senator from 1798 to 1805. He then became an elected judge of the General court in 1805. In 1806 he was Chancellor of the superior court for the Richmond District. Taylor was also the founder of the Needham Law School in Farmville, VA.

https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=uva-sc/viu00025.xml https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/03-05-02-0459 http://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-1100835

I think it is interesting to see "tuition" used in the more antiquated sense to describe "safe-keeping, protection, defense, custody, care, tutelage" instead of the more common modern definition that simply refers to the cost of attendance. The old definition fits much smoother into the listing of key components "in the education of youth." It is interesting to juxtapose this list of qualities with the stories of rowdy behavior of the students during the early days of the university.

OED definition

This passage is very significant because it depicts some of what Jefferson would consider his most important values. He begins by citing the Constitution, a document that he has great respect for. Specifically, he refers to the Constitution's guarantee of the freedom of religion, under the Bill of Rights. Jefferson, during the drafting of the Constitution was an intense proponent of the Bill of Rights and saw it as an integral piece of American society. The freedoms in the Bill of Rights are of vast importance to Jefferson, as can be seen through this passage. It is curious to see him reference the idea of equality, seeing as the university was built using slave labor. It seems Jefferson only cared for the equality guaranteed by the Constitution.

I think that the emphasis Thomas Jefferson placed on the importance of ethical learning, shows a lot about his ideas pertaining to the make up of the University. His clear statement that there would be no "professor of Divinity" and instead a "professor of ethics" shows his strong thoughts about the separation between religion and public education. Additionally, the strong focus he placed on ethical engagement can be seen today in many of the foundational concepts taught in the classes here. This curriculum has an entire course requirement devoted to "ethical engagement," which may have stemmed from Jefferson's value of ethics. Furthermore, the attitude towards ethics and honor is strong at UVA, also stemming from Thomas Jefferson's values, which are clearly seen in this passage. It is fascinating how Jefferson's individual values have made up so much of the culture at UVA. Do other schools have a moral figurehead as strong as Jefferson at UVA? It would be interesting to look at those historical figures and analyze how/ to what extent they relate to the overall culture at that specific school.

This sentence is significant and highlights the fact that having a teaching hospital was important the rockfish committee. It is interesting to see that UVA now has the most advanced medical center in all of Virginia and one of the most advanced hospitals in the entire country. Another thing that I found noteworthy about this comment was the progression that the medical field has made since the time of Jefferson and his colleagues. It is almost ironic think how primitive their understanding of medicine was at the time and how much the field has advanced since then.

This segment of the report is an affirmation of the rejection of a national religion in the constitution. The University is choosing to not have an official religion and placing the issue of religion in the department of ethics. This is representative of Jefferson's views on the relationship between religion and the state. Although religion is discussed in the declaration of independence, Jefferson did not want to include it.

This represents a shift towards a more rationalist style of education by placing the authority of education in the hands of humans instead of God. Instead of being based on faith and belief, education would focus more on logic and facts.