College Charter Granted

The charter was approved by the Rhode Island legislature in the Spring of 1764. The new “Rhode Island College” was the third college in New England and only the seventh in America. In keeping with the spirit of religious freedom brought to the colony by Roger Williams, the document, drafted by Ezra Stiles, stated: “That into this liberal and catholic institution shall never be admitted any religious tests; but, on the contrary, all the members hereof shall forever enjoy full, free, absolute, and uninterrupted liberty of conscience.”