Hundreds of faculty members and students at the University of Virginia have asked the school's president to stop quoting the university's founder, Thomas Jefferson, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Monday.
"We would like for our administration to understand that although some members of this community may have come to this university because of Thomas Jefferson's legacy, others of us came here in spite of it," a letter written to the president and signed by 469 faculty members and students read. "For many of us, the inclusion of Jefferson quotations in these emails undermines the message of unity, equality, and civility that you are attempting to convey."
The letter, spearheaded by Noelle Hurd, an assistant professor of psychology, criticized Jefferson for being "deeply involved in the racist history of this university."
University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan said that she was not using Jefferson as a "moral compass" and acknowledged that the Founding Father has a complicated legacy, much of which is due to his owning slaves.
"Quoting Jefferson (or any historical figure) does not imply an endorsement of all the social structures and beliefs of his time, such as slavery and the exclusion of women and people of color from the university," Sullivan wrote last week in her online response to the letter.
"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. "He believed that 200 years ago, and I believe it today."
"By coincidence, on this exact day 191 years ago–November 9, 1825, in the first year of classes at U.Va.–Thomas Jefferson wrote to a friend that University of Virginia students 'are not of ordinary significance only: they are exactly the persons who are to succeed to the government of our country, and to rule its future enmities, its friendships and fortunes.' I encourage today's U.Va. students to embrace that responsibility," Sullivan continued.
One of the school's top scholars of Jefferson said the university cannot evade Jefferson's legacy and that some of his message still resonates two centuries later.
"We need to engage with Jefferson, not to pretend that this complex, deeply flawed figure did not exist–or has nothing to say to us," Peter Onuf told the Times-Dispatch.