BROWN UNIVERSITY

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Brown University is located in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1764 as Rhode Island College, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in New England and the seventh-oldest in the United States. It is a member of the Ivy League.

Brown was the first college in the nation to accept students of all religious affiliations. Brown has the oldest undergraduate engineering program in the Ivy League (1847), the only undergraduate Egyptology department in the Western Hemisphere, and, until recently, the only History of Mathematics department in the world (housed in the same building as Egyptology). Brown was also one of the first institutions to emphasize computer science as well as media studies, with its department of Modern Culture and Media, where students study film production, film criticism, and critical theory.

The Brown "New Curriculum," instituted in 1969, eliminates distribution requirements and mandatory A/B/C grade (allowing any course to be taken on a "satisfactory/no credit" basis). Moreover, there are no pluses (+) or minuses (-) in the grading system.

Since 2001, Brown's current and 18th president is Ruth J. Simmons, the first African American president, and second female president, of an Ivy League institution, as well as the first permanent female president of Brown.

History

The founding of Brown

In 1763, James Manning, a Baptist minister, was sent to Rhode Island by the Philadelphia Association of Baptist Churches in order to found a college. At the same time, local Congregationalists, led by James Stiles, were working toward a similar end. On March 3, 1764, a charter was filed to create Rhode Island College in Warren, Rhode Island, reflecting the work of both Stiles and Manning.

The charter had more than 60 signatories, including John and Nicholas Brown of the Brown family, who would give the College its present day name. The college's mission, the charter stated, was to prepare students "for discharging the Offices of Life" by providing instruction "in the Vernacular Learned Languages, and in the liberal Arts and Sciences." The charter's language has long been interpreted by the university as discouraging the founding of a business school or law school. Brown continues to be one of only two Ivy League colleges with neither a business school nor a law school (the other being Princeton).

The charter required that the makeup of the board of thirty-six trustees include twenty-two Baptists, five Friends, four Congregationalists, and five Episcopalians, and by twelve Fellows, of whom eight, including the President, should be Baptists "and the rest indifferently of any or all denominations." It specified that "into this liberal and catholic institution shall never be admitted any religious tests, but on the contrary, all the members hereof shall forever enjoy full, free, absolute, and uninterrupted liberty of conscience." The Encyclopedia Britannica Eleventh Edition remarks that "At the time it was framed the charter was considered extraordinarily liberal" and that "the government has always been largely non-sectarian in spirit.""Providence." Encyclopedia Britannica. 1911. 11th edition. Vol 22 (POL-RHE). p. 511c: (Makeup of board, 22 Baptists, etc. No religious tests for admission. "Considered extraordinary liberal.")

James Manning, the minister sent to Rhode Island by the Baptists, was sworn in as the College's first president in 1765. Rhode Island College moved to its present location on College Hill, in the East Side of Providence, in 1770 and construction of the first building, The College Edifice, began. This building was renamed University Hall in 1823. The Brown family were instrumental in the move to Providence, funding and organizing much of the construction of the new buildings. The family's connection with the college was strong: Joseph Brown became a professor of Physics at the University and John Brown served as treasurer from 1775 to 1796. In 1804, a year after John Brown's death, the University was renamed Brown University in honor of John's nephew, Nicholas Brown, Jr., who was a member of the class of 1786 and contributed $5,000 (which, adjusted for inflation, is approximately $61,000 in 2005, though it was 1,000 times the roughly $5 tuition) toward an endowed professorship. In 1904, the John Carter Brown Library was opened as an independent historical and cultural research center based around the libraries of John Carter Brown and John Nicholas Brown.

The Brown family was involved in various business ventures in Rhode Island, including slavery; the family itself was divided on the issue. John Brown had relentlessly defended slavery, while Moses Brown and Nicholas Brown Jr. were fervent abolitionists. In recognition of this history, the University established the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice in 2003.Howell, Ricardo (2001, July). "Slavery, the Brown Family of Providence and Brown University." Brown University News Service

Brown began to admit women when it established a Women's College in 1891, which was later named Pembroke College. "The College" (the undergraduate school) merged with Pembroke College in 1971 and became coeducational.

 

Spring Weekend

Starting in 1950, Brown replaced the traditional Junior Week and Junior Prom, which were discontinued during World War II, with Spring Weekend, which featured athletic contests and dances. Concerts featuring invited performers began in 1960.Mitchell, Martha. (2003). "Spring Weekend." Encyclopedia Brunoniana In the past, it has brought in acts such as..........  

 

CONCERT WE PRESENTLY KNOW ABOUT

 

VENUE 1962 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ,  Meehan Auditorium April  , 1962 Ray Charles            
  1963 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ,  Meehan Auditorium April  , 1963 Isley Brothers Limeliters          
  1964 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ,  Meehan Auditorium April  , 1964 Bob Dylan Coasters          
  1965 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ,  Meehan Auditorium April  , 1965 Ella Fitzgerald Bo Diddley Shirelles        
  1967 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ,  Meehan Auditorium April  , 1967 Young Rascals Shangri-Las Peter, Paul & Mary        
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium September 22, 1967 Doors            
  1968 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ, Marvel Gym March 8, 1968 Jimi Hendrix Experience          YES  
Brown Univ,  Meehan Auditorium April 28, 1968 Yardbirds Dizzy Gillespie James Brown        
  1969 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ,  Meehan Auditorium April 12, 1969 Smokey Robinson Richie Havens   YES      
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium  April 27, 1969 Janis Joplin & The Kozmic Blues Band     YES      
  1970 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium  April 24, 1970 Jefferson Airplane Band    YES      
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium  April 25, 1970 Ray Charles John Mayall James Taylor        
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium  April 26, 1970 Judy Collins       YES      
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium September 25, 1970 Byrds Tim Hardin     YES      
  1971 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ, Alumnae Hall  October 22, 1971 Mahavishnu Orchestra            
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium December 13, 1971 Yes J. Geils Band Egg Brothers        
  1972 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April 29, 1972 Ike & Tina Turner Blue Öyster Cult Billy Preston        
  1973 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1973 Country Joe McDonald Todd Rundgren          
  1974 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ, Alumnae Hall April 26, 1974 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Phil Ochs   YES     Set List
  1975 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1975 John Mayall Harry Chapin Richie Havens        
  1976 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1976 J. D. Souther Roomful of Blues          
  1977 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1977 Leo Kottke Roomful of Blues Charles Mingus Quintet        
Brown Univ,  Meehan Auditorium November 11, 1977 Todd Rundgren & Utopia     YES YES   Recorded
  1978 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ, Alumnae Hall February 26, 1978 Elvis Costello & The Attractions            
Brown Univ, Alumnae Hall  April  , 1978 Bonnie Raitt NRBQ Tower of Power        
  1978 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ, Alumnae Hall February 25, 1979 Dire Straits     YES YES    
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1979 Tubes            
  1980 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1980 Robin Laine & The Chartbusters Jorma Kaukonen          
 Brown Univ, Alumnae Hall May 4, 1980 Rachael Sweet Neighborhoods    YES      
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium September 17, 1980 Bob Marley & The Wailers           Recorded
  Brown Univ, Alumnae Hall  November 21, 1980 Neighborhoods   Mundanes   YES      
                 
  1981 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium April 1, 1981 NRBQ            
  1982 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ, Alumnae Hall March 20, 1982 U2            
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1982 Graham Parker            
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium October 3, 1982 Gang Of Four Mission Of Burma          
  1983 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1983 NRBQ            
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium April 30, 1983 U2            
  1985 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1985 REM            
  1987 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium  April 25,1987 Elvis Costello           Recorded
  1988 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1988 Wailers NRBQ          
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1988 Wailers NRBQ          
  1989 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1989 Little Feat Tom Tom Club Toots and The Maytals        
  1990 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1990 Ziggy Marley            
  1994 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1994 Violent Femmes Buffalo Tom Buddy Guy        
  1995 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1995 Indigo Girls Morphine          
  1996 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1996 George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars Coolio Fugees        
  1997 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium April 17, 1997 Bob Dylan Bo Diddley         Set List
  1998 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1998 Grandmaster Flash Sonic Youth Luna        
  1999 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ. Meehan Auditorium April   , 1999 Busta Rhymes Wilco Black Star        
  2000 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium April 7, 2000 Tracy Chapman            
  2001 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium April 19, 2001 They Might Be Giants Violent Femmes Mike Doughty        
  2003 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium April 10, 2003 Joan Jet & The Blackhearts Luna Wallflowers        
  2004 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium April 22, 2004 Bela Fleck & The Flectones Blackalicious          
  2005 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium March 12, 2005 Matisyahu            
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium April 23, 2005 Ben Folds The Shins          
  2006 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium April 20, 2006 Wilco            
  2007 MAIN BAND SUPPORT SUPPORT AD TICKET PICTURES TAPE
Brown Univ, Meehan Auditorium April 21, 2007 Flaming Lips Yo La Tengo Mission Of Burma        

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