Although stating that no person should violate the equal rights of another, the University and people within it did exactly that by keeping women and minorities oppressed and distanced from educational and social opportunities. The most alarming aspect of this statement is that in this point of view at the time, it was expected that everyone should exclusively treat white males with respect and equality while not recognizing or upholding the freedoms and rights of others. Jefferson and others in this time did not see people of color or women as people, or as "another with equal rights," but as objects meant to be used. Even though the United States wanted to be different from England and its abuses of power, it and its early leaders did the exact same thing by hurting and exploiting people that should have been protected and given freedom and equal rights.

On first glance, this statement seems just and logical, as young people should certainly develop reasoning and critical thinking skills and enlarge their minds with knowledge. However, I found a problem with the second part of the statement "cultivate their morals and instill into them the precepts of virtue and order," mainly because this language is dangerous, as it was used by this institution to oppress women and people of color and to keep certain groups of people from obtaining an education. These mentioned principals of "virtue" and "order" are words meant to perpetuate a culture that thrives on inequality and hurting others. The way the author writes this sentence makes it sound just and good, but when analyzed more carefully to see the irony and hypocritical nature of these words, this statement falls apart because the mentioned "virtue," "order," and "morals" were based in the degradation of others and the wrongful uplifting of mainly white males who tried to rationalize abuses of freedom and violations of humanity with weak and explicitly incorrect academic and intellectual thought, as well as "morals" which were not moral at all.