Although the statement seemed to be inclusive because it provided resource to every citizen, the definition of citizen was actually limited, and both African Americans and women were excluded. Virginia was a white-dominant area, and even though the school aimed to give everyone an equal opportunity to get education, African Americans were not in their range of consideration. Also, all the pronouns used were he/his/him, and at that time, the university only accept male students. The founders’ ideology was great, but what they actually did was away from their beliefs. The social context was an important part of the reason; it was extremely hard for anyone to challenge the mainstream ideology.

The document explains how most of the subjects were related to their educational objectives, but I didn’t find the explanation of the language part, and I was surprised to see that language was in fact a great portion of the whole education. Both ancient languages and modern languages were included. I think mastering different languages could fit into the second objective, which allows students to express their ideas under different situations. Its importance may also related to the political background at that time.

The founders emphasized the maximum of professors’ salaries instead of a minimum, which I found interesting. They did say the amount of salary should be moderate in the parenthesis, and it shows their concerns, but I don’t really understand what effect they expected the maximum would bring. Does it have anything to do the limitation of the faculty number? Another point that stood out to me was the professor first engaged in each branch didn’t have that limitation. It implies that the founders were open to new subjects and indirectly encouraged people to explore other unknown fields.

I find the way these subjects are categorized are interesting sometimes; for example, Military and Naval are put in Mathematics Pure instead of category VIII which Government and Politics belong. That shows at that time, people emphasized the practical part of military, things that can make them win the war. Also, Chemistry and Mineralogy are in a different category from Physics and Geography, but I feel all of them are closely related, and this particular division is much weaker than the other ones. I also wonder why only the first four categories have names.