Instead of making a church the heart of its Grounds as all other universities had done prior, Jefferson made the Rotunda, a library, the heart of Grounds. This design made clear the value Jefferson placed on religious freedom. Additionally, Jefferson put on order a multitude of books to fill the Rotunda. It was his desire that students at the University come to their own conclusions about academics and not, as was tradition, rely on professors' lectures for knowledge. Furthermore, Jefferson instituted multiple areas of study and gave students the power to choose their academic track. Jefferson's purpose for the University was freedom: freedom from the constraints of religion and individual professors' opinions, as well as freedom to pursue one's academic interests.
Jefferson said, "This institution will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it." This University is all about freedom: the freedom of every individual to receive an education which is forward-looking and uninhibited by repressive or illogical forces.
A responsibility with this historic legacy, as well as with the modern-day ranking of the University as one of if not the best public university in the country. This responsibility is global in scale and must engage the academic aspirations of every individual on the planet.
With this in mind, we, as a University, have a responsibility to fight for the academic freedom of the Baha'is in Iran. The Baha'is are a religious minority numbering 300,000 in Iran and 5 million globally. They have advocated no violence and voiced no opposition to the regime in Iran, yet are subjected to institutionalized discrimination. Besides arbitrary imprisonment, torture and executions carried out by the Iranian government, all Baha'is in Iran are barred from attending Iranian universities.
The denial of education is arguably the most destructive weapon anyone can ever use against a group. For the Baha'is in Iran, it makes it immensely difficult or even impossible to access certain employment sectors, such as law or medicine, which require a higher degree of education. But the Iranian regime's treatment of the Baha'is is more disturbing than just preventing access to higher paying jobs. The denial of education, an asset the United Nations declared a universal human right, means the destruction of one's humanity.
In response to this discrimination, the Baha'i community in Iran established the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) in the 1980s. It is a university community of learning composed of both Baha'i and non-Baha'i professors, as well as Baha'i students. It operates covertly in houses throughout Iran and on the Internet. The Iranian government, however, has shut the institution down multiple times and has arrested and imprisoned those who support or are involved in the BIHE.
The European Union, the United Nations, the United States Congress and other governments have expressed concern and produced resolutions condemning the discrimination against the Baha'i community in Iran. The pressure on the regime is growing, and a grassroots movement to aid the Baha'i is materializing especially as the documentary, "Education Under Fire" produced by Amnesty International, is being circulated around college campuses in the United States. The documentary, which describes the struggles of the Baha'i and the BIHE, was shown at our own University last week.
In order to help the Baha'i, there are several actions our University can take. The University should accept BIHE students into graduate programs and accept BIHE transfer credits, even though the university is unaccredited. Sixty universities around the world have done so, including Harvard. Accepting BIHE credit and students into graduate programs is about more than sympathy. It is about recognizing the drive of BIHE students. While the BIHE is not an accredited institution, its students are among the most dedicated in the world. Nothing says dedication to academics like risking years of imprisonment just to study.
Furthermore, the leaders of our University - President Sullivan, the deans of the various schools, other administrators and professors - should make official, public statements in opposition to Iranian Baha'i policy. They can write letters to their Iranian collegiate counterparts expressing concern about the exclusion of Baha'is and sign petitions pressuring Iranian leaders to change their policies. One such petition, signed by 48 deans and senior vice presidents of U.S. medical schools went to Iran's representative to the United Nations last December. Unfortunately, our University did not sign this petition, which included more than a third of this country's medical schools.
We, as students, also have a huge responsibility to sign petitions, as well as pressure our leadership to make statements in support of the BIHE and the Baha'i in Iran. Our University was founded with a clear goal in mind - academic freedom. Our University's rise to prominence is without a doubt attributable to this historic legacy. Thanks to minds like Thomas Jefferson, we, as students and leaders of the University of Virginia, have our freedom. Now is the time to free others.
Jamie Dailey's column appears biweekly Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at j.dailey@cavalierdaily.com.
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