Wren Building - Priorities of The College

Priorities of The College

A large plaque was presented by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities in 1914 which lists some of the notable firsts for William and Mary:

• First college in the United States, the claim being that its antecedents go back to the college proposed at Henricus (1619).
• First American college to receive its charter from the Crown under the Seal of the Privy Council, in 1693. Hence it was known as “'their Majesties’ Royal College of William and Mary.”
• First and only American college to receive a colonial Coat-of-Arms from the College of Arms in London, 1694.
• First college in the United States to have a full Faculty, consisting of a President, six Professors, usher; and writing master, 1729.
• First college to confer metallic prizes; the gold medals donated by Lord Botetourt in 1770.
• First college to establish an inter collegiate fraternity, the Phi Beta Kappa, December 5, 1776.
• First college to have the Elective system of study, 1779.
• First college to have the Honor System (inked by Thomas Jefferson), 1779.
• First college to become a University, 1779.
• First college to have a school of Modern Languages, 1779.
• First college to have a school of Municipal and Constitutional Law, 1779.
• First college to have a school of Modern History, 1803.