After several days of debate, Rhode Island finally ratified the United States Constitution by a narrow margin of 34-32, the last of the 13 colonies to do so.

While the second day of the President’s visit was devoted to speeches and addresses, it was the evening of his arrival that was, perhaps, most memorable. After sailing from Newport, he landed in Providence to a greeting of “discharge of cannon and ringing of bells.” From there, the Providence Gazette describes, a procession led to the campus where Washington beheld “…the illumination of the building by the students which made a most splendid appearance.” Although the lights are now electric, instead of candles, the 146 windows of University Hall have been lit on special occasions since that time, including several "Victory Celebrations" to mark the end of war. Today, the lighting takes place during commencement week and for the month of December.

For many years, Brown’s commencement was a public celebration that drew observers from around the state. As historian Janet Phillips describes it, “Although much of it was conducted in Latin or Greek and was over the audience’s heads, it drew a large, mixed, and often boisterous crowd, the more respectable ones dressed to the nines and the rowdier ones ready to get drunk.” In 1790, the College asked the General Assembly to have the Providence County Sheriff attend future commencements “to preserve the peace, good order, and decorum,” a tradition that continues today.

Jonathan Maxcy, Class of 1787, was appointed president of the College in 1792 after the death of his mentor, James Manning. At only 24 years of age, he is still the youngest person to have served in the position. During his tenure, he struggled with matters of student discipline, but as a skilled orator, he widened the reputation of the young college. Professor Romeo Elton described the change: “…guided by his genius and wisdom, the College flourished and diffused its light over every part of the country.”

This color print of the earliest published view of the College, A S.W. view of the COLLEGE in Providence, together with the PRESIDENT’S HOUSE & GARDENS, originally appeared around 1795. The print depicts the College Edifice (now University Hall), which was at the time the largest building in Rhode Island, as well as the President’s House (then located on today’s Front Green).

The growing controversy over the morality of the transatlantic slave trade in the late eighteenth century engaged the college campus. At the 1798 commencement ceremony, senior James Tallmadge delivered this “oration upon the infringement of the rights of man.” In the speech, Tallmadge mocked the various claims of the trade’s defenders (some of whom were likely sitting in the audience), dismissing such arguments as feeble rationalizations designed to disguise “avarice” and “appease a corroding conscience.” Tallmadge later earned distinction in the U.S. House of Representatives for his opposition to the extension of slavery into the western territories.