Brown University
In 1764, three residents of Newport drafted a petition to the colony's General Assembly. Ezra Stiles, pastor of Newport's Second Congregational Church, William Ellery Jr., and Josias Lyndon sought to establish a college in Rhode Island. The Philadelphia Baptist Association also wanted a college for their denomination. Baptists had no colonial colleges until this new institution was created. Other denominations already had schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia. Isaac Backus, an inaugural trustee, wrote about the October 1762 resolution taken at Philadelphia. James Manning arrived in Newport in July 1763 and met with Stiles. They agreed that Stiles would write the charter for the college. A revised charter written by Stiles and Ellery was adopted on the 3rd of March 1764, in East Greenwich. The Rhode Island General Assembly approved the document. In September 1764, the corporation held its first meeting in Newport's Old Colony House. Governor Stephen Hopkins became chancellor. Samuel Ward served as vice chancellor. John Tillinghast was treasurer. Thomas Eyres acted as secretary. The board included 22 Baptists, 5 Quakers, 5 Episcopalians, and 4 Congregationalists. Twelve Fellows were required, eight of whom had to be Baptists including the president. The rest could be from any or all denominations. This charter asserted that sectarian differences should not affect public instruction. It recognized denominational cooperation more broadly than other university charters.
On the 8th of September 1803, the corporation voted that a donation of five thousand dollars within one year would entitle the donor to name the college. Nicholas Brown Jr., class of 1786, answered this appeal. His letter dated the 6th of September 1804 committed five thousand dollars to Rhode Island College. The money remained in perpetuity as a fund for establishing a Professorship of Oratory and Belles Letters. On the same day, the corporation voted to call the institution Brown University. Over the years, Nicholas Brown Jr.'s benefactions totaled nearly $160,000. These funds built Hope College between 1821 and 1822 and Manning Hall between 1834 and 1835. John Carter Brown Library opened in 1904 on campus. Its collection was founded by John Carter Brown, son of Nicholas Brown Jr. The Brown family accumulated wealth through various business ventures in Rhode Island. They gained wealth directly and indirectly from the transatlantic slave trade. John Brown defended slavery while Moses and Nicholas Brown Jr. were fervent abolitionists. In 2003, under President Ruth Simmons, the university established a steering committee to investigate these ties to slavery.
In 1966, the first Group Independent Study Project formed at Brown with eighty students and fifteen professors. Ira Magaziner and Elliot Maxwell published findings titled Draft of a Working Paper for Education at Brown University. Their paper proposed interdisciplinary freshman-year courses introducing modes of thought. It also suggested ending letter grades. Magaziner organized student discussions and protests the following year. In 1968, university president Ray Heffner established a Special Committee on Curricular Philosophy. Administrators developed specific reforms and produced recommendations. On the 7th of May 1969, faculty voted the New Curriculum into existence. Key features included Modes of Thought courses for first-year students. Interdisciplinary courses were introduced. General education distribution requirements ended. A Satisfactory/No Credit grading option appeared. An ABC/No Credit system eliminated pluses, minuses, and D's. No Credit equivalent to F's would not appear on external transcripts. The Modes of Thought course was discontinued early on but other elements remain in place. In 2006, reintroduction of plus/minus grading was proposed due to grade inflation concerns. The College Curriculum Council rejected the idea after canvassing alumni, faculty, and students including original authors of the Magaziner-Maxwell Report.
In 2003, then-university president Ruth Simmons launched a steering committee to research Brown's eighteenth-century ties to slavery. October 2006 saw the release of a report titled Slavery and Justice. This document detailed how the university benefited directly and indirectly from the transatlantic slave trade and enslaved labor. Seven recommendations addressed how the institution should confront this legacy. Brown completed several recommendations including establishing its Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice. Construction began on a Slavery Memorial. Funding provided a ten million dollar permanent endowment for Providence Public Schools. The Slavery and Justice report marked the first major effort by an American university to address its ties to slavery. It prompted other institutions to undertake similar processes. The report documented ways the university benefited from human bondage. It included specific historical findings about family connections to slavery. The university has since implemented various initiatives based on these findings.
University Hall stands on the right side of a 1792 engraving showing the first published image of Brown. President Manning was sworn in as college's first president in 1765 and remained until 1791. In 1766, Morgan Edwards traveled to Europe to solicit benefactions for the institution. He secured funding from Thomas Penn and Benjamin Franklin during his year-and-a-half stay in British Isles. The college moved from Warren to Providence in 1770. John and Moses Brown purchased a four-acre lot on College Hill crest for the school. Work began constructing University Hall with final design approved the 9th of February 1770. The building may have been modeled on Nassau Hall built fourteen years prior at College of New Jersey. President Manning might have suggested that resemblance since he attended Princeton. The campus contains twenty-three-five buildings within East Side neighborhood of College Hill. Core historic campus constructed primarily between 1770 and 1926 features three greens: Front Green, Main Green, and Ruth J. Simmons Quadrangle. A brick and wrought-iron fence punctuated by decorative gates traces block perimeter. Georgian and Richardsonian Romanesque architectural character defines this section. Van Wickle Gates stand at western edge of campus built in 1901. Larger main gate flanked by two smaller side gates opens inward at Convocation and outward at Commencement. John Hay Library opened in 1910 named for class of 1858 graduate John Hay. Andrew Carnegie contributed half of three hundred thousand dollar construction cost.
Brown's applied mathematics program established in 1941 makes it oldest such program in United States. Among sixty-seven recipients of Timoshenko Medal, twenty-two affiliated with Brown as faculty researchers or students. Computer science courses began through Economics and Applied Mathematics departments in 1956 when IBM machine acquired. January 1958 saw addition of IBM 650 computer only one of type between Hartford and Boston. First dedicated computer building opened in 1960 designed by Philip Johnson receiving IBM 7070 the following year. Undergraduate Computer Science degrees awarded starting 1974. Full Departmental status granted in 1979. In 2009, IBM and Brown announced supercomputer installation most powerful in southeastern New England region. Between 2012 and 2018 number of concentrators tripled. Computer science overtook economics as school's most popular undergraduate concentration in 2017. Engineering program established 1847 is oldest in Ivy League and third oldest civilian engineering program country. Division elevated to School of Engineering in 2010. Student teams launched two CubeSats including EQUiSat developed by Brown Space Engineering. SBUDNIC satellite created by another interdisciplinary team. Alpert Medical School established 1811 fourth oldest medical school in Ivy League. Program reorganized 1972 first M.D. degrees awarded graduating class of fifty-eight students in 1975. Warren Alpert donated hundred million dollars January 2007 renaming school. Acceptance rate reached 2.8 percent in 2021 making it ninth most selective nationally.
On the 5th of December 1968, several Black women from Pembroke College initiated a walkout protesting stifling atmosphere described as frustrating and degrading for Black students. Sixty-five Black students participated demanding increase Black student enrollment to eleven percent matching US proportion. Result was three hundred percent increase following year though some demands remain unmet. In mid-1980s under student pressure university divested from companies involved in South Africa. Some students fasted in Manning Chapel leading to disenrollment. April 1987 saw dozens interrupt corporation meeting resulting in twenty put on probation. Early November 2023 brought sit-in at University Hall by twenty Jewish background students from Jews for Ceasefire Now group. They protested Gaza genocide calling for ceasefire and divestment from facilitating Israeli military occupation. Hisham Awartani undergraduate Palestinian student shot visiting family Vermont weeks later. Forty-one more students held sit-in early December 2023 resulting additional arrests. Nineteen students participated eight-day hunger strike preceding corporation meeting. Over eighty students erected Gaza Solidarity Encampment on Main Green standing one week before negotiations closed standoff. October 2024 corporation voted eight-two rejecting divestment proposal. Students for Justice in Palestine chapter suspended after investigation into protests.
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Common questions
When was Brown University founded and by whom?
Brown University was established through a charter adopted on the 3rd of March 1764 in East Greenwich. Ezra Stiles, William Ellery Jr., and Josias Lyndon drafted the initial petition to the colony's General Assembly in 1764 to create the institution.
Why did Nicholas Brown Jr. name the college after himself?
Nicholas Brown Jr. named the college after himself because he donated five thousand dollars within one year as required by a September 1803 corporation vote. His letter dated the 6th of September 1804 committed this sum to Rhode Island College which led to the official renaming on that same day.
What is the history of the New Curriculum at Brown University?
The New Curriculum was voted into existence on the 7th of May 1969 following proposals by Ira Magaziner and Elliot Maxwell. Key features included Modes of Thought courses for first-year students and an ABC/No Credit grading system that eliminated pluses minuses and D grades.
How does Brown University address its historical ties to slavery?
Brown University addressed its historical ties to slavery when President Ruth Simmons launched a steering committee in 2003 to research eighteenth-century connections. The resulting Slavery and Justice report released in October 2006 detailed how the university benefited from the transatlantic slave trade and enslaved labor.
When was the engineering program established at Brown University?
The engineering program at Brown University was established in 1847 making it the oldest in the Ivy League. It became the third oldest civilian engineering program in the country before being elevated to School of Engineering status in 2010.