People have really gone off the deep end on this one.
I guess they don’t like “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” either.
Thomas Jefferson does not seem to be popular among some conservatives either.
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2010/05/22/20100521-Texas-State-Board-of-Education-approves-9206
My main complain about quoting Jefferson is that so many “quotes” from him are just made up, and not things he ever wrote or said. I’ve seen lines attributed to him on tyranny and firearms which someone either created out of whole cloth, or which were said by someone in the 1900s and wrongly attributed to Jefferson.
I finally told someone on facebook that if the sentence does not contain a subordinated clause and doesn’t have at least one comma, they should double-check their sources.
When dd toured UVA, the admissions office stated that they get so many application essays about Thomas Jefferson and how that was part of the reason for applicants wanting to attend UVA.
We were on vacation in Charlottesville last month and toured the Rotunda with a student tour guide. He said they’re given lots of info they can include on their tours, but are encouraged to craft their own script for their tours. Our guide chose to emphasize how UVa developed and whether Jefferson’s vision was really accomplished, and the inconsistencies/hypocrisies in Jefferson’s writings, his life, and UVa’s history. I’m not surprised at the reaction to the president’s using Jefferson’s quotes given the feeling we got from the tour guide about the mood on campus.
Presidents of UVa have been quoting Jefferson forever. It is not a good speech if Jefferson is not invoked in some way. 
Only a small percentage of faculty and students signed the open letter complaining of the Jefferson quotes. I think it is positive that the university encourages its’ tour guides to write their own script for tours. No need to shy away from the reality of slavery and Jefferson and his times.
There are no perfect people and never have been. I’d challenge any of these history professors to name someone in history who isn’t flawed.
These are tough times politically. Everyone’s questioning and criticizing everything. Is it any wonder that students and faculty are also engaged in evaluating our society, the myths we live by, the stories we share, the conclusions we draw? Frankly, I would be disappointed if they weren’t.
every single person that signed this letter is DIRECTLY receiving personal benefit due to their DIRECT association with Thomas Jefferson’s legacy (UVA). All of them are hypocrites.
@soccerguy315 Are you seriously suggesting that every college student must agree with the entire legacy of the founder of their college? Harvard was founded as an institution to train Christian pastors. Does that mean that atheists, Jews, Muslims, etc. are hypocrites if they attend/teach at Harvard?
@mom23travelers of course I am not suggesting that.
However, I am suggesting that there are thousands of other schools that have no ties to Thomas Jefferson, so if these individuals don’t like him this much, they are certainly free to go elsewhere. Additionally, I am pointing out the hypocrisy of bashing someone while at the same time receiving a tremendous amount of privilege from their voluntary association with the same person.
“Love it or leave it,” you’re saying? It turns out that people (sometimes) have the will and power to enact change. There have been some good examples in history. You may not agree with this attempt (which is sure to fail as it represents a small minority view at UVa), but don’t act like the basic premise of reform and change is beyond the pale, @soccerguy315
@soccerguy315 I reject the premise that one must love Thomas Jefferson to attend/teach at UVA.
For me one of the beauties of higher education is learning to challenge our assumptions. That’s what the letter writers are doing, challenging the assumption that a quote from TJ is always the best idea. I wouldn’t have signed that letter but I don’t object to those that did. It is exactly what I expect and encourage in higher education. Students at any public university should be able to express their opinion even if it goes against the majority campus opinion. In my opinion everything worked the way it should here.
This is a state flagship, not a private university. I see nothing wrong with some self examination of this aspect of the school.
If you want one reason why the country is diverging, it is because many people in the center look at episodes like the Yale shreiker, or students at UVA getting offended by quoting Thomas Jefferson, and conclude “These people are crazy”. Then they are baffled to see people on the left supporting these activists, and in reaction, move a bit further to the right.
And of course there are examples that drive people in the center further to the left as well. In both cases, they cause further division.
So your conclusion is – what? Not to discuss anything? Because it “drives” people to extremism? That’s a fine recipe for disaster in and of itself.
I think some critical reflection on the stories we tell ourselves is healthy.
This was not a discussion. It was more the approach of “I choose to be offended, so I want to stop this for everyone”.
Here is a quote from Hurd,
"“The intention of the email was to start a conversation with our administration regarding ways to be more inclusive,” Hurd told the Cavalier Daily. “In the current climate, we must seize every opportunity to communicate that this university welcomes individuals from all backgrounds.”
Sounds like discussion is exactly what they were after. It seems to me like many people are offended that the letter writers are offended and they want to shut down the conversation. I’m against any university that wants to shut down honest and respectful discussion of differing points of view which is what appears to be happening here.
Seriously? Using the word “denounce” is a polite way to start a conversation?
She was doing nothing of the sort. She was throwing a fit.