At the time the university was established, America was not really a diverse nation and included mostly white people who hailed from England and other European nations. The majority of the population, especially citizens, was white and black slaves were not even considered citizens. Even if there was immigration, the immigrants mainly came here to work and were not thought of as the population that is receiving education. While it is unfortunate that equality didn't exist back then, it is also necessary to understand that the circumstances were different; the founders tried to appeal mainly to the population that would actually attend college there, the white Americans.

While it is unfortunate that equality among races didn't exist back then, it would be wrong to expect such of America in 1818. The people then thought of blacks as lesser than them and the progressive concept of treating all races and genders equally didn't exist back then. Faulting them for such mentality would be an example of "ex post facto" where we would be blaming them of wrongdoings that weren't considered wrongdoings back then. For instance, before the 1860s-1870s, cousin marriage was thought to be normal and accepted by the society. Now everyone knows about the dangers of reproducing among closely related family members, making it a rare instance in modern America. What is right and what is wrong changes with time and we should have an open mind when analyzing such situations in order to get an accurate picture of history.

UVA was founded on the value of liberal arts and Jefferson wanted its scholard to be free-thinkers. He was a firm believer of the liberal arts and the role it plays in expanding the knowledge of a people. A liberal arts education generally prepares students to have a broad mind to different aspect of society and change. This line clearly demonstrates that the founders of the college believed that every student should have the right to gain knowledge at this institution and use that knowledge to then apply to their respective ideologies. Expecting everyone to follow the same ideology and not having a diversity of ideas would only be reflective of resistant and baseless thought. Nowadays, political outrage from both extremes have led to most being "sheeples" to the ideology they subscribe to.

A liberal arts education generally prepares students to have a broad mind to different aspect of society and change. Thomas Jefferson was a firm believer of the liberal arts and the role it plays in expanding the knowledge of a people. This line clearly demonstrates that the founders of the college believed that every student should have the right to gain knowledge at this institution and use that knowledge to then apply to their respective ideologies. Expecting everyone to follow the same ideology and not having a diversity of ideas would only be reflective of resistant and baseless thought.

It is interesting as a first year student to see the cost of a meal plan. First years are required to buy the most expensive meal plans available. $3.500 in today's money would equate to about $64.79. Students in the present have to spend about $2000 yearly for meals. This shows how while $3.500 is still not cheap by 1818's standards, meals didn't really cost students a fortune. Also, slave labor was probably used to prepare the meals; therefore, no salary had to be paid, making the food cheaper. It would be interesting to see a data set of the cost of meal plans every year at UVA since 1818. There would be possible, statistically significant correlation present with the end of slave labor and the rise of meal plans.