“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. He believed that 200 years ago, and I believe it today,” she said.

Jefferson scholar Peter S. Onuf said by email that he endorses Sullivan’s response but not the sentiments in the letter.

“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,” said Onuf, the emeritus Thomas Jefferson professor of history at U.Va. and senior research fellow at Monticello.

Jefferson is easily the most quoted person at U.Va. — his words are melded to fit almost any scenario on campus. But the slave-holding third president is under increasing scrutiny as the university prepares to celebrate its bicentennial next year and launch a major fundraising campaign.

That sentiment was expressed in the letter to Sullivan drafted by Noelle Hurd, an assistant professor of psychology.

“Though we realize that some members of our university community may be inspired by quotes from Jefferson, we hope to bring to light that many of us are deeply offended by attempts of the administration to guide our moral behavior through their use,” the letter stated.