Students And Faculty at UVA Object to Inclusion of Thomas Jefferson in Speech
“the author of the Declaration of Independence undermines equality”
Some students and faculty at UVA are freaking out about the inclusion of Thomas Jefferson in university communications. You know, the same Thomas Jefferson who founded UVA. To her credit, the school president declined to follow the mob’s advice.
The Washington Examiner reported:
University of Virginia president refuses to scrub Thomas Jefferson from speech
On the campus of the University of Virginia, the words of Thomas Jefferson trump the protests of an offended faculty and student body. At least for now.
U.Va. President Teresa Sullivan acknowledged the protest against her quotation of Jefferson in a statement released Monday. She rejected the idea, however, that quotation is tantamount to endorsement of Jefferson’s shortcomings.
Last week, nearly 500 students and faculty members signed a letter protesting Sullivan’s use of Jefferson’s words in a campus-wide email. The offended undersigned argued that quoting the author of the Declaration of Independence undermines equality.
From the corner office of Virginia’s public ivory tower, Sullivan respectfully slapped down that idea.
“In my message last week, I agreed with Mr. Jefferson’s words expressing the idea that U.Va. students would help to lead our republic,” Sullivan said in a statement posted on the university’s website. “He believed that 200 years ago, and I believe it today.”
The first female president of the university that Jefferson founded, Sullivan did something her faculty could not. She made a distinction between intrinsic principle and historical personality. Those perfect ideals transcend even the flawed third president.
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Comments
Beware of those who take the high moral ground, seemingly, by means of their condemnation of others. We’re all flawed, some more than others. Some have their flaws put on public display. Some have theirs hidden except for those closest to them. These PC-ers quite plainly reveal theirs: the lack of comprehending human nature and the concept of “we.”
We make no progress when we attempt to deny or suppress the history of humankind. If anything, we regress. I’m dismayed at the imposition of current political correctness upon human history, especially when it can be used for self-promotion or for special interests. How very unjust of them to hold others to a standard unknown to them or not fully developed and realized within the human family.
History will be the judge of these toadies. I’m not so sure it will be kind to them.
TJ founded the university. Go to Berkeley if you want to be an SJW. Stay at UVA if you want to be a Virginian.
One of the things I’ve learned over the years is that if I’m pointing the finger at other people, the are four others pointing back at me. And it has turned out to be true: I function best when I’m aware of my own faults in a particular department before becoming hypercrtical of someone else’s. In this case, it seems to be something the PC crowd has never learned…or perhaps, refuses to learn.
How miserable it is to be unteachable.