Brown University - Liber Brunensis Yearbook (Providence, RI)

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Dominant in Browns two-hundred year history 1s the phenomenon of growth.

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The Brown man is also free to choose his way of life. He may join a fraternity or remain independent. Secret Greek- letter societies took root under President Wayland. Alpha Delta Phi was established in 1836, and six more were added by 1853. The corporation deliberated about them. Suppression was deemed inadvisable; fraternities were here to stay. At first, they were primarily intellectual groups. Debates were held, essays read. A four page annual, The Brown Paper, was published, to be replaced later by the LIBER BRUNENSIS. Sumptuous houses were built by some of the societies, and social events became more prevalent. The non-Greek was not forgotten. Hope College had re- placed University Hall as an undergraduate dormitory. Soon Littlefield, Hegeman, and Caswell Halls were added. And then Brown entered the Wriston Era. Just after World War Il Presi- dent Henry Merritt Wriston launched the Brown Housing and Development Program. For sheer size the Wriston and West Quadrangles transcended all previous housing programs. Brown's varied fraternities all moved into the Wriston Quad- rangle from their off-campus domiciles. The vacated houses were immediately integrated into the physical plant. Psi Upsilon went to Biology; Alpha Delta Phi, to the Music Department. And Littlefield, Hegeman, and Caswell went to the freshmen. President Wayland's ideas had fructified: Brown had become a truly residential campus. Greeks and non-Greeks lived together in the same quad. The choice of joining a fraternity or remaining independent was now truly an in- dividual decision. President Angell once described the Commons eating hall: I cannot say that the usages were conducive to elegant manners. But the plain meals were spiced with the flavor of excellent companionship. Henry Wriston completed an ad- mirable refectory in 1952. The meals are still . . . and the manners . . . . Henry Merritt Wriston, eleventh president.

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The present administration began in 1955. Barnaby Keeney joined the long line of innovators. Keeney looked to provide more classrooms for the seething academic family. In 1956, the corporation announced an eight-year development pro- gram, to culminate in the bicentennial year, 1964. Initial progress was slow, but by 1961 the special capital gifts drive reached its fifteen million dollar goal, and the overall bi- centennial goal was raised to forty-eight million. Straddling the hill, reaching across into the East Side, Brown grew and grew.