In comparison to the list of courses offered by the University today, the core component of a religious department is missing. The reason for this is explained in the document, but it is still interesting that Jefferson did not think it wise to offer an opportunity to study all religions. Religious equality and freedom is about offering insight and opportunity in all sects of all religious backgrounds, rather than exempting religious opportunities from education altogether. Because the population at the time was, however, primarily Christian, it is understandable why Jefferson exempted its teachings from the University for the sake of a separation between church and state.

This is an interesting way to describe education. It suggests that Thomas Jefferson was surely knowledgeable in philosophy, as he takes on a very philosophical approach to education and its value. This statement carries with it hints of Plato's Allegory of the Cave and the concept that virtue and rebirth as a philosopher king arises when one educates himself. -Avery Finkelson

The location of this number relative to its surroundings in the document reflects how slaves are described by Jefferson in his Notes on the State of Virginia. His feelings that slaves lacked human qualities and were better treated as property than anything else are certainly represented in this document. "Slaves" is capitalized in the document just as the names of plots of land are; there is no technical differentiation between the plots of land and the slaves. This statement highlights the paradox of our University's founding; while its founder champions liberty (specifically, in this case, in the form of academic liberty), his slaves built the institutions in which we acquire it. Avery Finkelson, Matt F

It is interesting that UVA's now extensive medical program and hospital did not seem to be prioritized at the time of the University's founding. Because of cost and space issues, there was, at first, no avenue for constructing a hospital. It is, however, honorable that the founders of the University still incorporated the intellectual aspect of a medical education into the school's curriculum. I researched the development of the University's health program, finding that UVA first constructed a dispensary in 1895 and opened its first hospital in 1901. https://uvahealth.com/about/health-system-info/history Avery Finkelson, Matt F