It's interesting to see the progression of religion at the university. During its founding it has no religious ties, including not teaching any theology classes, and yet this phrase makes it seem as though that could later change. Putting this all in a building of "more size in the middle of the grounds" shows that it is an important spot. Would these rooms be to attract more religious students in the future? How diverse would this religious worship be? -Emma Walker

I find this quote to be a huge insight to the blatant racism involved in the founding of the university. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the first two criteria of healthiness and nourishment would fall under the requirements of physiological and safety needs, the most basic ones needed for human survival. The fact that the "centrality to the white population" is followed directly after shows how important these people held this value to be. It's a very successful way of educational segregation; not only did they prohibit black people from enrolling in the university, but they made sure it wasn't easy to access physically unless you were white. - Emma Walker

I find it interesting that the board sees high-school aged boys as troublesome but that college-aged "youths" don't need reprimanding. Gayle M. Schulman shows this attitude in action in "Slaves at the University of Virginia," which states "Professors could issue a firm and authoritative reprimand to a student, but could not be personally insulting or degrading... In one instance a student complained of a Professor that, 'he was imposed upon, and spoken to in an authoritarian manner--as an overseer speaks to a Negro.'" I strongly believe that the lack of accountability that these college students were held to only further extended their ideas of "master-slave" mentalities, for in their minds, they could do no wrong. Emma Walker

The fact that the University wanted to make the young men "comfortable" at school is admirable, but at what cost? The only comfortable living done in these times was at the expense of slave labor, and it's infuriating to see that the students were to be treated so well by people they had no respect for. We learned in Making the Invisible Visible that the students weren't allowed to bring their own slaves from home, which was both upsetting and a hard adjustment for many. This rule forced more work upon the slaves at the University, as they were each in charge of attending to several students daily. Emma Walker