Brown University is a private university located in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1764 as the College of Rhode Island, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in New England and seventh oldest in the United States. It is a member of the Ivy League. Pembroke College, Brown University's all women's college, merged with The College in 1971.
Brown was the first college in the nation to accept students regardless of religious affiliations. The school also has the oldest undergraduate engineering program in the Ivy League (1847).
The Brown "New Curriculum," instituted in 1969, eliminates distribution requirements and mandatory A/B/C grades (allowing any course to be taken on a "satisfactory/no credit" basis). Moreover, there are no pluses (+), minuses (-), or grades of D in the grading system.
Since 2001, Brown's current and 18th president has been 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.
The school colors are seal brown, cardinal red, and white. Brown's mascot is the bear and the sports teams are called the Brown Bears. The costumed bear mascot named "Bruno" makes appearances at athletic games. The use of a bear as the University's mascot dates back to 1904. People associated with the University are known as Brunonians.
