Hebrew, Greek and Latin
The emphasis throughout this document on a fundamental understanding of classic languages is interesting. Students were expected to learn to read ancient texts through their elementary school or home studies. While obviously still taught and studied, few would consider greek or latin prerequisites for a successful education in today's society. For better or for worse, we have taken a few steps away from the classical curriculum of the past.
It is therefore greatly to be wished, that preliminary schools, either on private or public establishment, would be distributed in districts thro the state, as preparatory to the entrance of Students into the University.
It's interesting to think about the foundations of a system we have come to take for granted. Much of our life up to this point has been built around a system that allows gradual preparation for higher education with a series of more local schools. This network is a fundamental part of our society, but that was not always the case. When the university's founders met and drafted this document, they had little to base their system on. Outside of a few liberal arts colleges, education in this country was primarily done at home in a narrow range of subjects. The Rockfish Gap Report outlines an approach that would become the driving force of education in this country for centuries to come.
And generally to form them to habits of reflection, and correct action, rendering them examples of virtue to others & of happiness within themselves.
It's interesting to see how the values of the University, or at least the college of arts and sciences, have preserved through time. A liberal arts education focuses on being well-rounded and preparing its students for a lifetime of learning rather than expertise in a specific task. The focus, from the beginning, has been on giving students the tools they need to analyze the world around them and come to rational decisions about how to move forward. This is something that some schools have lost sight of.
mity with the principles of our constitution,
As discussed in Our Declaration, Jefferson was at times a walking contradiction. He helped pen a variety of forward-thinking ideas during his writing of the Declaration, but it's interesting to notice the ones he actually implemented. "All men are created equal" is certainly something the slave-owning Jefferson chose to overlook, yet here he establishes religious equality as a cornerstone of his university. It's likely he acknowledged some of these inconsistencies, but that casting away his ties to slavery was too impractical given the social and economic structures of the Southern region he lived in.