 | Board of Visitors minutes October 1, 1828 |  |
University of Virginia Wednesday, October 1st. 1828. ——————
Agreeably to the adjournment at the meeting in July last, four members
of the Board of Visitors made their appearance —— Chapman Johnson,
Joseph C. Cabell, William C. Rives, and J. H. Cocke —— who were
informed by a letter to the Secretary from the Rector, that, owing to
his very feeble state of body, he found himself unable to attend.
In the expectation of the arrival of Mr Monroe, the members
present deferred organizing themselves; but met and took into consideration
various questions and papers relating to the University.
Thursday, Oct. 2. The same course was observed. A little after
one o'clock, James Monroe made his appearance.
Friday, Oct. 3. The five Visitors above named met, and, in virtue of
the authority vested in them, by an act of the Legislature at their
last meeting, organized themselves by appointing James Monroe "Rector
It being represented to the Visitors by Dr Patterson, that he is
desirous to annex to the Philosophical Apparatus, belonging to the
University the Philosophical apparatus belonging to himself, with a
view to the use of the same in the discharge of his professorial duties,
and that additional accommodation will be requisite for this purpose:
Resolved, that the objects of Mr Jefferson's donation be removed
from the small oval room on the first floor of the Rotunda, to the
small oval room in the basement story of the same building; and that
the former apartment be appropriated, in future, for the reception of
the Philosophical apparatus, under the superintending care of the Professor
of Natural Philosophy.
It being also represented by Dr Patterson that he is willing during
his continuance as a Professor, to annex to the Collection of Minerals
belonging to the University, his private cabinet of Minerals, and
that a modification of the arrangements proposed at the last meeting of
the Visitors, would furnish a more eligible accommodation for the combined
collection.
Resolved, That the resolution adopted at the last meeting of the
Visitors, directing the transfer of the minerals to a room in one of
the vacant pavilions, be annulled; and that the Cabinet of minerals,
together with such private collections as the Professors of Chemistry
& Natural Philosophy may choose to annex thereto, be, for the present,
removed to the upper galery of the Library, to be arranged and preserved
under the superintending care of the Professors of Chemistry
and Natural Philosophy.
Resolved, That the Proctor be authorized, under the directions
of the Faculty, to cause such additional presses to be made, and such
other work to be done, at the expense of the University, as may be
requisite to fulfil the two preceding resolutions.
Mr Monroe, chairman of the Committee charged with preparing &
reporting a plan of Executive government for the University, read a
report; whereupon it was
Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of this report
to each member of the Board, during the approaching recess.
Resolved That, in case of application for admission into the University
being made by two brothers, one of whom may be under 16 years
of age, the requisition of the enactments upon the subject of age shall
not be insisted on, if in the opinion of the Faculty, having due regard
to the special circumstances of each case, it would be safe & proper to
dispense with it.
Resolved, That as soon as the funds of the University will permit,
it shall be the duty of the Proctor, under the directions of the Executive
Committee, to cause to be erected additional offices for the accommodation
of servants, in connection with the Pavilions and hotels of the
University, where they may be desired; not exceeding two apartments to
each hotel or pavilion; provided that in no case, shall the expense exceed
$100.
Resolved, That so much of the Resolution adopted at the last
at night, & that after that hour, no lights be kept burning in the
dormitories, be rescinded.
To remove the difficulties which have arisen in the construction
of the enactments respecting the fees of Students, and to settle the
questions submitted by the Faculty,
Resolved That when a Student shall attend any class of a Professor,
for which a fee of $15 only is allowed or shall attend the class
of Anatomy & Surgery, & shall at the same time attend one other Professor,
to whom a full fee is allowed, that fee shall be forty-five
dollars;— if he attends two or more such classes, paying $15 dollars,
to each, and one professor receiving a full fee; or one class paying
fifteen dollars, and two Professors receiving a full fee, the full
fee to the Professor, in each of these cases shall be thirty dollars;
— if he attend two or more classes, paying to each $15 — and two
professors receiving a full fee, the full fee to each of these professors
shall be $25. In all other cases, the fees shall be as at
present prescribed; and no professor shall receive from a student
more than $15 if such student attend only the class in his school,
for which the fee is $15 if prescribed;—nor shall any professor, unless
for good cause, and with the assent of the Faculty, permit a
student who shall have paid the full fee for his school, to limit his
studies to the class for which a fee of $15 is prescribed, or to pretermit
the other studies of the School.
Resolved That so much of the letter of the Proctor as relates
to be acted on, as they may deem expedient.
Resolved That the Executive Committee are requested to confer
with the Professor of Natural Philosophy on the subject of the Observatory,
and to take such measures as they may deem expedient, and the
funds of the University may justify, either for completing the present
building, or erecting a new one, and preparing it for use.
The enactment requiring the Proctor to furnish fuel to the students,
is to be executed with the following explanation.—
He is to deliver the wood to the Students at their respective
dormitories, sawed into proper lengths for use. The cost of this labor
is to be added to the original cost of the article, and charged to the
Student.
A reasonable sum, to be approved by the Faculty, is also to be
added to the original cost, to compensate for shrinkage;—the five
per cent allowed the Proctor, being intended to compensate only his
trouble & risk.
Any wood purchased for the supply of the Students, remaining unsold,
at the end of the session, the Proctor will dispose of on his
own account, or retain for the commencement of the next session, at
his pleasure.
The Proctor is authorized, under the control of the executive
committee, to supply at a fair price, such wood from the lands belonging
to the University, as may be prudently taken therefrom, without
danger of permanently impairing the value of the timber thereon.
Resolved as follows: The Proctor shall pay no order, from one
Student in favor of another, unless for the purchase of some article
the sale whereof has been authorized in writing, by the Chairman;—
Nor shall he pay any order drawn by a student which he shall have
reason to believe is drawn in evasion of the enactments, until the
payment thereof shall have been sanctioned by the Chairman.
Saturday, Oct. 4. The Board met, present the same.
Resolved as follows: Public Orations and public Addresses delivered
by Students, affecting in some degree the reputation of the
institution, and interfering with more regular academic pursuits, must
be at all times subject to the control of the Faculty.
Therefore Resolved, that no student shall deliver any public
oration or public address, written or ex tempore, without leave of
the Faculty, on pain of any of the minor or major punishments.
Resolved as follows: The hours for lecture prescribed by the
Visitors, should be carefully observed, as far as is found practicable;
and the chairman is requested to cause the bell to be rung, precisely
at the time appointed for the commencement of each lecture.
The hours of lecture for the class of Anatomy & Surgery, and the
extra hours of lecture, found convenient, in the several schools, must
remain subject to the arrangement of the Professors, under the control
of the Faculty, till the Board shall otherwise order.
Resolved as follows: The Janitor's residence should be convenient
to the residence of the Chairman; and in fixing it, the Proctor
subject to the control of the Executive Committee.
Resolved as follows: A student desirous to leave the University,
and having permission from his parent or guardian, may be allowed to do
so, by the Chairman, with the written concurrence of all the professors
he attends, — if it be inconvenient to consult the Faculty.
To remove a doubt which has occurred in the construction of the
enactment prohibiting gaming, it is Declared and Resolved——that the
game of backgammon is a game of chance prohibited to the Student under
the penalty prescribed for other gaming.
Leave to the Students to partake of festive entertainments may be
granted by the Chairman; — but as such entertainments-are for the most
part unfriendly to collegiate duties, they should be allowed with
caution, and unlicensed indulgence in them should be vigilantly restrained.
So much of the enactments as requires a student absent from the
precincts after night, on a visit to a private family, to give a written
memorandum thereof to the Proctor, shall be, and is hereby repealed:
but all such absences without leave, unless on a visit to a respectable
private family, are strictly prohibited, under the penalties prescribed
by the said enactments.
A fair Copy of such of the enactments, resolutions and orders of
or Government of the Institution, shall be communicated to the
Chairman, as soon as practicable after the rising of the Board. The
Chairman shall lay it before the Faculty, and such part thereof, as
relates to the Students, shall be communicated to them, in such manner,
as the Faculty shall prescribe.
It is recommended to the Faculty to adopt such measures as they
may think best, to render the public examinations at the end of the
session more interesting; and especially to intermix more oral, with
the written examinations, to require the written answers of the Students,
as far as may be convenient, to be read by each, in presence
of all attending; — to invite the delivery of Orations and other
written compositions, on fit subjects, and to make the ceremony of
conferring degrees & other honorary distinctions, public & solemn.
It is also recommended to them, to consider and report to the
Board, whether some change be not proper in the regulations concerning
degrees; —— whether it may not be proper to adopt the antient
denominations of Bachelor, Master, and Doctor, or some of them; and
whether it be not proper to prescribe, as nearly as may be, what kind
of proficiency in the learning of the several schools, shall entitle
a Student to each degree; always holding in view, the necessity of
making the degree an evidence of real merit, and a reward for the
acquirements of persevering diligence.
The account of Dr Emmet is referred to the Executive Committee,
to be liquidated by them, when properly vouched, and to be paid in
part of wholly, according to their order.
And they are requested, when the cost of transporting Dr Patterson's
apparatus shall be ascertained, to cause it to be paid out of any money
not otherwise appropriated.
The Executive Committee are requested to consider the propriety of
changing the agent for procuring the periodical productions required for
the University, and to take such measures as they may deem expedient for
a more regular, prompt and faithful supply of them.
In the official circulars, sent monthly to the parents and guardians
of the Students, and especially in that sent at the end of each
session, the Chairman is requested to give such information as he finds
practicable, of the general conduct & proficiency of the Student; and it
is required of the several professors, in their periodical reports to
the Faculty, to furnish the information necessary to enable the Chairman
to perform this duty.
The Board then adjourned without day.
The following was the annual report this year made to the President
and Directors of the Literary Fund.
To the President and Directors of the Literary Fund.
In obedience to the law, requiring that the Rector and Visitors of
the University of Virginia, should make a report, annually, to the
President and Directors of the Literary Fund, (to be laid before the
Legislature at their next succeeding meeting,) embracing a full account
of the disbursements, the funds on hand, and a general statement of the
following
REPORT:
The provision which requires that the Rector and Visitors should
annually visit the University, for the purpose of enquiring into the
proceedings and practices thereat, and of examining into the progress
of the students, was complied with by the stated yearly meeting, commencing
on the 10th of July, the period of the summer public examination.
The Board continued their session till the 24th of the same
month; a portion of their time being employed in attending, as had
been desired by many of their fellow citizens, the Convention at that
time held in Charlottesville, to take into consideration the Internal
Improvement of the State. The demand on them, as members of this body,
was incompatible with the degree of attention which would otherwise
have been bestowed on the examination of the students, then going on.
So far, however, as this could be done, it served to confirm the high
estimation in which the attainments and talents of the Professors have
ever been held by them. They take pleasure in repeating the observations
made in their report of last year, concerning the improvement in
the economy of the institution, and the habits of the students: points
in relation to which, they believe the University would not suffer from
comparison with any similar establishment in the country. The anticipations
expressed in the same report, have been agreeably realized, by
there being this year, in a portion of the schools, several successful
aspirants, to the special certificates of proficiency which have been
substituted for the `Degrees' usually conferred: in the department of
Medicine, where particular reasons caused the title of Doctor to be
The Board have to regret this year, again, the loss of one of
the very able Professors, for the happy selection of whom, the University
was indebted to the late Mr. Gilmer. Mr. Long, Professor of
Antient Languages, while performing the duties of his station here,
received the flattering testimonials of the reputation he had left
behind him, in a call to the Chair of Greek Literature, in the University
of London. Under the contract subsisting between him and
the University, he might have been retained one session longer: but,
independently of the courtesy due to a kindred institution, which
promises no ordinary usefulness in the great work of instructing the
rising generation, and extending the limits of human knowledge, Mr.
Long had, by the very able and exemplary discharge of his duties, as
well as by the perfect candour and propriety of his conduct, on the
occasion, established claims, which, however averse the Board might
be to sacrifice the interests of the University, would not allow
them to insist rigorously on the contract with him. To fill the vacated
Chair, during the approaching session, the Board have authorised
the appointment, by the Rector, of Doctor Gesner Harrison, distinguished
as a pupil of Mr. Long and a graduate in the Medical School
Another duty, the discharge of which had been unavoidably delayed
this meeting, was to provide for the Chair of Natural Philosophy, vacated
by the translation of Professor Bonnycastle to the School of
Mathematics. The Board feel much gratification, in having it in their
power to state, that they have secured the services of Doctor Robert
M. Patterson, late Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University
of Pennsylvania. His very high standing, where he was best known,
doubt that he will prove, in every respect, a valuable acquisition to
the University. In addition to the immediate duties of this school,
those specially pertaining to the observatory, have been assigned to
Doctor Patterson, with a compensation of five hundred dollars per annum.
The fortnight's recess for all the schools, provided for the
Christmas holydays, having proved injurious in practice, has been
discontinued, and the annual vacation fixed from the 20th of July to
the 10th of September; the time for the public examination required
to precede the winter recess, being referred to the Faculty, with a
direction that it be as near the middle of the session as conveniency
will permit.
With a view to a further reduction of the expenses of the students,
the price paid to the Hotel keepers for board, and all the
supplies and services now rendered by them, except fuel and candles,
has been fixed at one hundred dollars for the session of upwards of
ten months: and provision has been made for supplying the two excepted
articles on the most economical terms possible.
The number of students matriculated during the session is one
hundred and thirty one: the state of the schools being as follows:
| Antient Languages | 48. | Medicine | 24. |
| Modern Languages | 46. | Anatomy & Surgery | 22. |
| Mathematics | 63. | Moral Philosophy | 25. |
| Natural Philosophy | 36. | Law | 24. |
| Chemistry & Materia Medica | 43. | ||
The accounts for the receipts, disbursements and funds on hand,
as rendered by the Bursar and Proctor, are given with this report, as
required by law.
| Board of Visitors minutes October 1, 1828 | |