- Dec 2017
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engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu
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and it cannot be but that each generation succeeding to the knowledge acquired by all those who preceded it, adding to it their own acquisitions & discoveries, and handing the mass down for successive & constant accumulation, must advance the knowledge & well-being of mankind: not infinitely, as some have said, but indefinitely, and to a term which no one can fix or foresee. Indeed we need look back only half a century, to times which many now living remember well, and see the wonderful advances in the sciences & arts which have been made within that period.
Thomas Jefferson was a visionary when he built this school. He had a predestined blueprint about how he wanted this school to look and perform. One of his main goals was to increase the knowledge of the future generations. He realized that time was short and society was steadily advancing due to new discoveries and acquisitions. Jefferson built this institution to develop inventors and innovators, but he envisioned his future students as academic successors to team up and network together to assemble this prestigious university.
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To give to every citizen the information he needs for the transaction of his own business. To enable him to calculate for himself, and to express & preserve his ideas, his contracts & accounts in writing. To improve by reading, his morals and faculties. To understand his duties to his neighbours, & country, and to discharge with competence the functions confided to him by either. To know his rights; to exercise with order & justice those he retains; to choose with discretion the fiduciaries of those he delegates; and to notice their conduct with diligence with candor & judgment. And, in general, to observe with intelligence & faithfulness all the social relations under which he shall be placed.
I like how Thomas Jefferson used his power and wealth to help others. He clearly understands the importance of creating your own foundation, and I appreciate him for his contribution to this university. Not only did he want others to improve their education, he encouraged people to practice faith as well. His rhetoric is strong because it is inspirational and passionate. He genuinely wanted others to do better. Another reason that was important to me is because I want to be an entrepreneur in the future. Nothing is given, but it is nice to know that I will be given the tools necessary to succeed and become independent upon attending this university.
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- Oct 2017
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engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu
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that of proposing a plan for its buildings; and they are of opinion that it should consist of distinct houses or pavilions, arranged at proper distances on each side of a lawn of a proper breadth, & of indefinite extent in one direction at least, in each of which should be a lecturing room with from two to four apartments for the accommodation of a professor and his family: that these pavilions should be united by a range of Dormitories, sufficient each for the accommodation of two students only, this provision being deemed advantageous to morals, to order, & to uninterrupted study; and that a passage of some kind under cover from the weather should give a communication along the whole range
I appreciate the fact that they implemented a plan where it would benefit the students. When I went into the dorms, it felt like it was a place where I could call home. The founders wanted the students to live in a peaceful community where they would have access to “uninterrupted study”. One of the main reasons I came to University of Virginia is because the campus was enclosed, so knowing that valuable thought was induced into the process makes it more special. It is amazing how the arrangements of the university are still intact. It is good to know that they cared about our wellbeing.
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In this enquiry they supposed that the governing considerations should be the healthiness of the site, the fertility of the neighbouring country, and it’s centrality to the white population of the whole state: for altho the act authorised & required them to receive any voluntary contributions whether conditional or absolute, which might be offered thro them to the President & Directors of the literary fund, for the benefit of the University, yet they did not consider this as establishing an auction, or as pledging the location to the highest bidder.
As an African American man, I have heard many derogatory and racist statements before, but this does not seem racist to me. The way it is worded tells the reader that it is natural and normal to talk in this manner. White supremacy is non-existent because it was inevitable for white men to be in power. Usage of different phrases implies that University of Virginia was not built for any other minorities including black people. For example, the healthiness of the site could have many different definitions .When I read that statement, I think of the skin color of people in a certain community, but I believe there is also hidden text in the wording. The writers use of this text say "site" but it could mean "sight" as it is unhealthy to even look at other races. I was baffled by this text, but I am not surprised where the founder of the school owned slaves himself.
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