This assessment of education by the writers shows their view on how transformative it can be. They describe education as a way to find moral guidance. They also bestow upon it credit for the advancement of civilizations. The first part is rather interesting because it assumes that before education, man is mean and immoral, by his untouched nature. In modern times, we might think of that statement as unfair and unreasonable. This may be an issue with differing definitions of education, however. Ana Bakke.

The nod to civic duties in this line of the document is fitting for the development of the university today. As a public university, there is a relationship between the school and the government. The writers' focus on how students will be prepared to take part in national government as well shows a beginning to the intertwining of institutions. Ana Bakke

This added phrase speaks to the backwards thinking of our university's founders. Although we honor important people from the past, they are not without their faults. It is important to not only evaluate their actions, but also their words. Just because we are considering the gravity of this document, dos not mean we should blindly endorse all its contents.

Today we think of most medical studies as purely scientific, only focusing on the biology, chemistry, and physics related to functioning of the human body. This portion shows that at the time of the founding of UVA, there was a different approach to medical studies. At that time, there was more regard for the history and founders behind it. We think of past medical treatments, from decades ago, as barbaric (like the practice of bleeding or lobotomies). When we neglect the history, we forget how fragile our current knowledge of the matter is. We may find ourselves to be wrong about certain 'facts' through further experimentation and gathering of research, so we must be open to the possibility of new methods and contrary ideas. Medical advice we receive today may be debunked in the future, found to be untrue. In addition, we don't devote much time to the philosophies of medical treatment. Because we focus in on the science of the matter, we neglect to ask moral questions and push ourselves to be fully detached. This passage suggests that historically, we recognized that medical studies would not be black and white.