College of William and Mary - Colonial Echo Yearbook (Williamsburg, VA)

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Richard liland. who was the firsi to announce m a ])amphlet that America was no part of the kingdom of England, and only unitfd with it by the common tie of the crown ; Dabney Carr, who was the patron of the resolutions for the appoint- ment of committees of intercolonial correspondence ; Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence ; Peyton Randolph, who was the first ]iix ' sident of the first Continental Congress; Edmund Randolph, who submitted the X ' irginia Plan there; and John Marshall, who constructed the Constitution, are some of the men who took leading roles in the establishment of our Republic. George ' ashington, though not an alumnus, received from the college his first public ofiice as sun-eyor, and his last office as chancellor of the institution. This is but a part of the things ' illiam and Mary has done, and but a few of the men she has given to the country. Today, we, like our fathers, try to put our best into the college so that we can do our share in keeping intact the heritage the ' have left us. Page 18

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About Our Past things material, is rich in tradi- that money cannot buy. Every college and inii ersity in America has been moulded by those precepts that had their beginning at the College of William and Mary, ll is the fust college that received its charter direct fmni the crown of England : it is the only one in the Western Hemisphere to receive a cost-of-arms from the College of Heralds in London. In 1729 it boasted a full facultv of professors, consisting of a president, six professors, an usher, and a writing master. It was the tirst college in the United States to have a complete faculty. William and larv was the first college to adopt the lecture system, now prevalent in college and universities the world over. Dr. William Small, who adopted this system, was the favorite professor of Thomas Jel ' ferson ; and it is of him that Jefferson wrote, He fixed my destinies in life. Later Small went back to England where he aided James Watts in his experiments with the steam engine. William and Mary was the first college to establish the elective system. Jefferson was very enthusiastic aljout this (jlan, and he wrote to Francis Epjjes : At William and Mary, students are allowed to attend the schools of their choice, and those branches of science only which will be useful to them in the line of life they propose to follow. Perhaps the priority that William and Mary views with the most pride is the honor svstem. For some time it had been the custom of the jirofessors to control the students without harrassing them with petty regulations or subjecting them to a system of espionage in the class-room and on examinations. This prin- ciple found fertile soil at ' illiam and Mary, and as early as 1779 we have record of the honor svstem. The influence had by the honor system on education the world over is indeed a heritage. During the same year, the college widened its scope, and became the first university in the country. In tlii universit) ' were given for the first time, courses in municiiml and constitutional law, modern languages, ]iolitical science and history. William and Mary i responsible for the I ' hi Beta Kappa Society, the honorary fraternity made up of scholars all over the country. Phi Beta Kap]3a is the mother of the vast system of intercollegiate fraternities that honey-comb colleges and universities today. A great part of the work of wielding the thirteen colonies into the L ' nion was done by alumni of William and Mary. George Wythe, who in 1764 wriite Virginia ' s first remonstance to tlie House of Commons about the Stamp Act; Page 17

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Calendar of Exercises and Holidays (1923-1924) Entrance Examinations Monday, September 17 Registration Tuesday and Wednesday, September 18 and 19 Autumn Quarier (Lectures) Begins Thursday, September 20 John Marshaei. Day Monday, September 24 Yorktown Day Friday, October 19 Thanksgiving Day (Holiday) Thursday, November 29 Autumn Quarter Ends 5 P. M., Saturday, December 22 Christmas Vacation Begins 5 P. M., Saturday, December 22 Winter Quarier Begins 8 :-5o A. M., Wednesday, January 2 Lee Day Saturday, January 19 Founders Day Friday, February 8 George Washington Day Friday, February 22 Winter Quarter Ends 5 P. M., Saturday, March 22 Easter Vacation Begins 5 P. M., Saturday, March 22 Spring Quarter Begins 8 -. o A. M., Tuesday, March 25 John Tyler Day Saturday, March 29 Thomas Jefe ' Erson Day Sunday, April 13 James Monroe Day Monday, April 28 Jamestown Day Tuesday, May 13 Spring Quarter Examinations Close 5 P. M., Saturday, June 7 Baccalaureate Sermon Sunday, June 8 Celebration of the Literary Societies Monday, June 9 Alumni Day Tuesday, June 10 Closing Exercises of the Session Wednesday, June 11 Summer Quarter Begins Monday, June 16 Summer Quarter Ends Tuesday, September 2 Page 19