Thomas Jefferson was extremely proud of the University of Virginia. In my government class during high school, my teacher once told me that Thomas Jefferson's tombstone writes that "Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and father of the University of Virginia." Notice how he left "Third President of the United States" out. My teacher believes that Thomas Jefferson thought that being the president was more of a civic duty rather than an accomplishment, that is why he left it out. The fact that he valued being the father of the University of Virginia more than being the president of the United States is mind blowing to me and makes me really proud to be a part of the university.

Although these names looks familiar and I can see why people assume that Wilson Hall, Slaughter Recreational Center, and Old/New Cabell Hall are named after these fellows, the truth is that the buildings are named after different individuals with the same last name. Wilson Hall was named after James Southall Wilson, an English professor and founder of the Virginia Quarterly Review, not Thomas Wilson. Slaughter Recreational Center was named after Edward Slaughter, a Charlottesville residence and the director of intramural at the university, not Philip Slaughter. Old/New Cabell Hall is named after Joseph C. Cabell, a member of both the Virginia legislature and the UVA Board of Visitors, and a steadfast ally of Mr. Jefferson as he sought to win state approval and funding for the University.

I've look this up online and $350 in 1818 equivalent to about $5500 in 2017. That is way, way cheaper than what I think a dorm room would cost. It's less than what we pay for room and board! It costs us about $600 dollars each month to live at the school without the meal plan. This basically means that we can pay off the cost of building a dorm room within a year. I'm not sure if this is the right way to calculate the cost, but it's crazy if it is.

For a founding document of a major public university, the name is definitely out of place in my opinion. When you hear "Rockfish Gap Report," one might think about a tourism site review, but certainly not a founding document. I can see the practicality of this name because the commissioners met at Rockfish Gap, but the name just seem so silly.