Washington and Lee University

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Washington and Lee University

Motto	Non Incautus Futuri ("Not Unmindful of the Future")
Established	1785
School type	Private
President	Harlan Beckley, Acting
Location	Lexington, Virginia, USA
Campus	National Historic Landmark, 325 acres
Enrollment	1,755 undergraduate, 406 law graduate
Faculty	209
Team name	"The Generals"
Colors	Blue and White
Homepage	www.wlu.edu

Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Rockbridge County, Virginia, located very close to Virginia Military Institute. The preparatory school from which it is descended was founded in 1749 as "Augusta Academy" and was renamed "Liberty Hall" in 1776. The academy moved to Lexington in 1780 and built its first building near town in 1782.

The academy became a college when it granted its first bachelor of arts degree in 1785, making it one of the oldest universities in the country. George Washington gave the school its first significant endowment in 1796, at the time the largest gift ever given to an educational institution in the United States, which continues to provide nearly three dollars toward each student's tuition to this day. The board of trustees changed the name of the school to Washington Academy, and later Washington College, to honor him. After the American Civil War, General Robert E. Lee reluctantly accepted the post of college president because he felt that it was somewhere he could make a difference after losing a war against the United States. An educational innovator, he established the first school of professional journalism education in the country and added both a business school and law school to W&L's curriculum. He also implemented an Honor System and Speaking Tradition that continues to the present time. The school's name was changed to honor President Lee after his death, giving W&L one of the most incongruous names of any college in the country. His son, George Washington Custis Lee followed as the school's next president.

A brief chronology of the University appears at [[1]].

Washington and Lee University also has a top-tier law school, Washington and Lee University School of Law which offers Juris Doctor and Master of Laws degrees.

The University admitted its first African-American student when John Chavis, a free Negro, enrolled in 1795. Chavis accomplished much in his life including fighting in the American Revolution, studying at both Liberty Hall Academy (now Washington and Lee University) and the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), becoming an ordained Presbyterian minister, and opening a school which instructed white and poor black students in North Carolina. He is believed to be the first black student to earn a degree in the United States. Washington and Lee would not admit its next African-American student until 1966.

Washington and Lee was all-male until 1972, when women were admitted to the law school; the first female undergraduates enrolled in 1985.

The University prides itself on both strong academics and active social life. 25% of undergraduates participate in varsity athletics, 75% in the club sport and intramural program. Over 120 student organizations and publications operate every year, and approximately three-quarters of undergraduates belongs to a fraternity or sorority. The Princeton Review ranked the University first in both "How widely used is beer?" and "How widely used is hard liquor?" in its 2005 edition of The Best 357 Colleges.

W&L is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South.

Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia

1 Academics
2 Alumni of Note
3 Student Activities
4 Fraternities and Sororities
- 4.1 Fraternities
- 4.2 Sororities
5 External links

[edit]

Academics

The University is a liberal arts college divided into three schools. These schools are: (1) The College, in which all students begin their undergraduate studies in the liberal arts, sciences, and humanities; (2) the AACSB-accredited Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics, which offers majors in accounting and business administration, business administration, economics, politics, public accounting, and public policy; and (3) The School of Law. Washington and Lee offers 40 undergraduate majors and the following interdisciplinary, non-major programs: African-American studies, East Asian studies, environmental studies, global stewardship, and the Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability.

The undergraduate calendar is a unique three-term system with 12-week fall and winter terms followed by a required six-week spring term. Spring term is reserved for special topic courses and internships both domestically and abroad. The law calendar follows a more traditional two-semester system.

In addition, Washington and Lee still upholds the Honor System implemented by Robert E. Lee when he served as president after leading the armies of the Confederacy against the United States. The student-run Honor System, now more than a century old, is the guiding principle of life at Washington and Lee. Students vow, upon entering the University, to act honorably (usually viewed as never lying, cheating, or stealing, in its various forms), in both academic and nonacademic activiites. Any student found by other students to have committed a dishonorable act is subject to only one punishment — expulsion. This process is overseen by the Executive Committee, a group of students elected by the students. The Executive Committee also serves as the student government.

[edit]

Alumni of Note

Tom Wolfe '51 — Journalist (created New Journalism) and author of numerous books including The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test and The Bonfire of the Vanities, with his most recent publishing the acclaimed I Am Charlotte Simmons, chronicling college life. The University broke a long standing tradition of avoiding outside speakers at commencement by inviting Wolfe to speak at the undergraduate commencement in 2005, and he in fact delivered his speech off-the-cuff and entirely without notes.

Terry Brooks '85 — Author

Robert Mosbacher '47 Undergraduate '49 Law School — Secretary of Commerce between between 1989 and 1992.

Roger Mudd '50 — Congressional Correspondent for CBS and PBS; Host on the History Channel

Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. '29 Undergraduate '31 Law School — Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

Pat Robertson '50 — Chancellor, Regent University; founder, Christian Broadcasting Network

Tom Robbins — Author of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. (Didn't graduate here, but attended for two years before moving to New York to become a poet.)

John Warner '49 — U.S Senator from Virginia

J. Michael Luttig '76 — Thought to be one of two potential nominess to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court

In total 27 alumni have served in the United States Senate, 67 have served in the United States House of Representatives, 31 have served as governor of a state, and 4 have served as Supreme Court Justices.

[edit]

Student Activities

Washington and Lee's Trident Athetlic Logo

The school's teams are known as "The Generals" and compete in NCAA Division III in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The student body is relatively conservative in its political outlook compared to most elite colleges and universities. Every four years, the school sponsors the Washington and Lee Mock Convention for whichever political party (Democratic or Republican) does not hold the Presidency. The Convention receives gavel-to-gavel converage on C-SPAN and attention from many other national media outlets.

[edit]