I began teaching at the University of Virginia at the height of the turmoil over the Vietnam War. Dissent was everywhere: There were marches on Washington and on campus. But there was always something different about the angry UVA students. For instance, upon returning from one march on Washington, the lead editorial in the student newspaper was full of indignation, but it was directed not at the war but at the terrible condition of the Jefferson Memorial!
I was also struck by how the university found guides to show visitors around. At Princeton, my undergraduate institution, students were paid by the university to be guides just as they were for work in the student cafeteria. At “Mr. Jefferson’s University” it is a great honor to be allowed to be a guide, and there is no compensation. Before becoming a part of the student-run University Guide Service, students must sit through three hours a week of semester-length instruction after which they are required to lead a monitored tour in which they demonstrate command of a lengthy historical fact sheet. Jefferson, who designed what he called his “academical village” and established the original areas of study, is always in mind throughout this process.
Recently retired, I have been startled to learn that a group of students and a number of professors are now protesting the university president’s tendency to quote the university’s founder, Jefferson! The complaint about Jefferson is a serious one: Jefferson owned slaves, slaves did the heavy lifting in building what Jefferson designed, and some of Jefferson’s writings express racist sentiments.
But there is good and bad in everyone, and it is worth remembering the good in Jefferson.
- He wrote the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming the equality of men and their equal rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These words have advanced free government as they have circled the globe. In 1989, they were quoted by the Chinese protesters in Tiananmen Square.
- He wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, declaring freedom of religion a natural right.
- He made the Louisiana Purchase, effectively doubling the size of the United States.
- He launched the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
- He had a leading role in the founding of the Library of Congress; the almost 6,700 volumes that formed the core of the Library of Congress came from Jefferson’s personal library.
- He was a first-rate botanist constantly experimenting in his garden and advancing sustainable agriculture.
And, of course, he founded and designed the University of Virginia. When Kenneth Clark’s Civilization, a BBC series on the greatest Western art and architecture, finally made it to America, Clark first focused on Monticello and the University of Virginia. Both these Jefferson creations have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Some UVA students are pushing back against the petition criticizing President Sullivan for quoting Jefferson. The petition originated with faculty. I know several of these faculty members, and they are intelligent and nice people. But if they think their lives will do as much good for our country in our era as Jefferson did in his, I can only say that I wish I’d gotten to know them better.
Steven E. Rhoads is professor of politics emeritus at the University of Virginia.
