The qualifications by which these sites were chosen show an interesting criteria. What is meant by healthiness and fertility? Is it of the ground? Is it of the resources and material? Or is it of the people, as later stated? It seems that 200 years ago, when the cornerstone was placed, only the "healthiness & fertility" of the white population was the chief concern, and thus a central location by which they could further education became important.

It is so ironic to see how they state that the objectives of the school was to give every CITIZEN the information they need, after stating that the the school was just meant for boys. Were women not considered citizens? If so who was a 'citizen'?

The fact that the population if the white people is mentioned as the first thing that helped determine the location of the university speaks a lot about the values this institution was founded on -racism. Throughout the history we have seen the aspect of racism shift for the better, today, the college is admitting people of color more than it has ever before. But the question still remains...Has UVA enabled to completely drop its association racism, especially since it was founded on such grounds(pun not intended)?

In the period of 1800 to 1850, America was experiencing "college building boom" a period in which more than 200 institutions were formed. Could the forming of UVA be a result of pressure of forming an institution just because most of the states were doing the same? ...because at this period, attending college was not popular among the people and college funding was based on student tuition and local funds.

http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2044/Higher-Education-in-United-States.html