University Charter

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THE CHARTER OF 1821, COLUMBIAN COLLEGE

An Act to incorporate the Columbian College in the District of Columbia.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled, That there be erected, and hereby is erected and established in the District of Columbia, a College for the sole and exclusive purpose of educating youth in the English, learned, and foreign languages, the liberal arts, sciences, and literature; the style and title of which shall be, and hereby is declared to be, “The Columbian College in the District of Columbia.”

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said College shall be under the management, direction, and government of a number of trustees not exceeding thirty-one, to be elected triennially, by the contributors to the said College; qualified to vote in such manner, and under such limitations and restrictions, as may be provided by the ordinances of the College, on the first Monday in May; and that the first trustees of the said College shall consist of the following persons, viz: Obadiah B. Brown, Luther Rice, Enoch Reynolds, Josiah Meigs, Spencer H. Cone, Daniel Brown, Return J. Meigs, Joseph Gibson, Joseph Cone, Thomas Corcoran, Burgis Allison, Thomas Sewell, and Joseph Thaw. Which said trustees and their successors shall forever hereafter be, and they are hereby declared to be, one body politic and corporate, with perpetual succession, in deed and in law, to all intents and purposes whatsoever, by the name, style, and title of “The Columbian College in the District of Columbia;” by which name and title they the said trustees, and their successors, shall be competent and capable at law and in equity, to take to themselves and their successors, for the use of the said College, any estate in any messuage, lands, tenements, hereditaments, goods, chattels, moneys, and other effects, by gift, grant, bargain, sale, conveyance, assurance, will, devise, or bequest of any person or persons whatsoever: Provided, the same do not exceed in the whole, the yearly value of 25,000 dollars; and the same messuages, lands, tenements, hereditaments, and estate, real and personal, to grant, bargain, sell, convey, assure, demise, and to farm, let, and place out on interest, for the use of the said College in such manner as to them, or at least nine of them, shall seem most beneficial to the institution, and to receive the rents, issues, and profits, income and interest of the same, and to apply the same to the proper use and [and] benefit of the said College: and by the same name to sue, commence, prosecute, and defend, implead and be impleaded, in any courts of law and equity, and in all manner of suits and actions whatsoever, and generally by and in the same name, to do and transact all and every business touching or concerning the premises.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said trustees shall cause to be made for their use one common seal, with such devices and inscriptions thereon as they shall think proper, under and by which all deeds, diplomas, certificates, and acts of the said College, shall pass and be authenticated, and the same seal at their pleasure to break, and devise a new one.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the said trustees, or five of them at least, shall meet at the College on College Hill, in the said District of Columbia, on the first Monday in March next; for the purpose of concerting and agreeing to such business meeting of the said trustees held twice in every year at least, at such place and time as the said trustees, or a quorum thereof, shall appoint, as, in consequence of this act, shall be proper to be laid before them at the commencement of the work they have undertaken, and shall have power to adjourn, from time to time, as they shall see cause, to any other times or places for the purpose of perfecting the same. That there shall be a stated of which public notice shall be given after the first meeting at least twenty days before time of such intended meeting, whenever the president, to be appointed by them shall deem the business of the institution to require the same, and give due notice thereof, which he is hereby authorized to do; and if, at such stated or occasional meetings, five of the said trustees shall not be present, those of them who shall be present, shall have power to adjourn the meeting to any other day, as fully and effectually, to all intents and purposes, as if the whole number of trustees for the time being were present; but if five or more of the said trustees shall meet at the said appointed times, or at any other time of adjournment, then such five of the said trustees shall be a board or quorum, and a majority of the votes of them shall be capable of doing and transacting all the business and concerns of the said College not otherwise provided for by this act; and particularly of making and enacting ordinances for the government of the said College; of electing and appointing the president, professors, and tutors, for the said College; of agreeing with them for their salaries and stipends, and removing them for misconduct or breach of the laws of the institution; of appointing committees of their own body to carry into execution all and every the resolutions of the board; of appointing a president, treasurer, secretary, stewards, managers, and other necessary and customary officers, for taking care of the estate, and managing the concerns of the corporation; and, generally, a majority of voices of the board, or quorum of the said trustees, consisting of five persons at least, at any semi-annual, occasional, or adjourned meeting after notice given as aforesaid, shall determine all matters and things (although the same be not herein particularly mentioned) which shall occasionally arise, and be incidentally necessary to be determined and transacted by the said trustees. Provided, always, That no ordinances shall be of force which shall be repugnant to this charter, or to the laws of the District of Columbia.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the head or chief master for the said College shall be called and styled “the President,” and the masters thereof shall be called “professors and tutors,” but neither president, professors, or tutors, while they remain such, shall ever be capable of the office of trustee.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the president, professors and tutors, or a majority of them, shall be called and styled “the faculty of the College,” which faculty shall have the power of enforcing the rules and regulations adopted by the trustees for the government of the pupils, by rewarding or censuring them, and finally, by suspending such of them, as after repeated admonitions, shall continue disobedient and refractory, until a determination of a quorum of the trustees can be had; and of granting and confirming, by and with the approbation and consent of a board of the trustees, signified by their mandamus, such degrees in the liberal arts and sciences to such pupils of the institution, or others, who, by their proficiency in learning, or other meritorious distinction, they shall think entitled to them, as are usually granted and conferred in colleges; and to grant to such graduates, diplomas or certificates under their common seal, and signed by the faculty, to authenticate and perpetuate the memory of such graduation.

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That persons of every religious denomination shall be capable of being elected trustees, nor shall any person either as president, professor, tutor, or pupil, be refused admittance into said College, or denied any of the privileges, immunities, or advantages thereof for or on account of his sentiments in matters of religion.

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That no misnomer of the said corporation shall defeat or annul any gift, grant, devise or bequest, to or from the said corporation: Provided, the intent of the parties shall sufficiently appear upon the face of the gift, grant, will or other writing, whereby any estate or interest was intended to pass to or from the said corporation.

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That the constitution of the said College, herein and hereby declared and established, shall be, and remain, the inviolate constitution of the said College forever; and the same shall not be altered, or alterable, by any ordinance or law of the said trustees: Provided, That it may be lawful for the Congress of the United States to revoke and repeal this act at any and at all times whenever they shall think fit so to do.

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the said board of trustees to keep a regular book or journal, in which shall be entered, under their direction, besides an account of all their ordinary acts and proceedings, all the by-laws, ordinances, rules and regulations, which may be adopted by the said board for their own government, and for the government of the institution; also, a schedule of all the property, and effects, real, personal or mixed, which shall or may be vested in the said trustees for the use of the said college, by virtue of any gift, grant, bargain, sale, will or otherwise, together with annual statements concerning the accounts and finances of the institution. That it shall moreover be the duty of the said trustees to cause to be enrolled in the said book or journal the names of all the contributors to the institution qualified to vote for trustees, with their respective places of residence; and the said book or journal shall at all times be open to the inspection or examination of the Attorney General of the United States, and, when required by either house of Congress, it shall be the duty of the said trustees to furnish information respecting their own conduct, the state of the institution, and of its finances, which shall or may be so required.

Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That in case any vacancy or vacancies shall happen in the board of trustees aforesaid, by death, inability, resignation, or otherwise, at any time between the stated or triennial elections, that then it shall and may be lawful for the other trustees, or any five of them, to proceed, at any subsequent meeting after the happening of such vacancy or vacancies, to choose by ballot any suitable person or persons to fill the same.

Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That the employment or application of the funds or income of the said corporation, or any part thereof, for any purpose or object other than those expressed and defined in the first section of this act, or the investment thereof in any other mode than is described and provided in the second section thereof, shall be deemed and taken to be a forfeiture of all the rights and immunities derived from this act, and the same shall thenceforth cease and become null and void.

JOHN W. TAYLOR,

Speaker of the House of Representatives

JOHN GAILLARD,

President of the Senate pro tempore

Washington February 9th 1821

approved

JAMES MONROE

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Author or Source: RG0001/Board of Trustees
Document Location: University Archives
Date Added to Encyclopedia: December 21, 2006
Prepared by: Lyle Slovick, Assistant University Archivist

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