Noting that the college seal had not been updated since the name change from Rhode Island College to Brown University nearly thirty years earlier, President Wayland appointed a committee to update the seal to represent the college of the day. One year later, the new design, the same in use today, was approved. The new seal not only updated the name (“Sigillum Universitatis Brunensis” in Latin), it also included a new motto (“In Deo Speramus,” “In God We Hope”) and a new crest topped with a rising sun.

Geronimo Urmeneta was the first Latin American to graduate from Brown. Born in Santiago, he returned to Chile in 1850 to become Secretary of Finance.

As fraternities began to populate American campuses in the 1830s, Brown was no exception. Alpha Delta Phi established a chapter in 1836, followed by Delta Phi in 1838, and Psi Upsilon in 1840, with many more to follow, despite disapproval from the administration.