“There’s really no other place like Brown Stadium on game day,” Perry said. “There is something very special about playing in front of our alumni, students and fans at home on Saturday afternoons and getting to feel the support there more than anywhere else.”

Perry knows the magic of the stadium and the power of Bears fans’ support firsthand. A Brown Class of 2000 graduate, he is one of the most decorated players in program history. As quarterback, he was named Ivy League Player of the Year and a three-time First Team All-Ivy selection. 

“To have been able to play in the stadium as a player for four years, to clinching the 1999 Ivy League title at home, to now getting to be the head coach at Brown — so many of my greatest football memories have occurred in Brown Stadium, and I know so many other guys who have similar sentiments about the stadium,” Perry said. 

Originally constructed under the working name Brown Amphitheatre, the stadium opened on Sept. 26, 1925, with a 33-0 win over the University of Rhode Island, then known as Rhode Island State College. With a capacity of nearly 28,000, including temporary wooden bleachers, it was among the most state-of-the-art athletic facilities in New England at the time and elevated Brown football’s standing in the Ivy League.

Over the past century, the stadium has undergone several transformations, including a major project in 2021 to transition from grass to a turf playing surface. At the time, the field was rededicated in honor of Class of 1968 alumnus Richard Gouse and renamed Richard Gouse Field at Brown Stadium. With a current capacity of 20,000, Brown Stadium is the largest stadium in Rhode Island.

Even as the structure evolved, the stadium remained the backdrop for some of Brown’s most memorable moments on the field and in the community.

On Thanksgiving morning in 1932, a crowd of 33,000 — believed to be the largest ever for a sporting event in Rhode Island — packed in to see Brown face Colgate University. The stadium hosted the women's Olympic track and field trials in 1936, and in 2010, the Bears played their first night game, securing a 29-14 win over Harvard under the bright stadium lights. The Bears have finished unbeaten at home in eight different seasons, with 24 additional one-loss seasons.

The stadium’s legacy, though, is not only in wins and records. The Brown Band has played, scrambled and danced on the field since its earliest games, and alumni and friends return to the stands year after year, often alongside Providence neighbors who have come to see the stadium as a community landmark as much as a University one.

“For 100 years, this stadium has been a place of pride for Brown and for Rhode Island,” said Vice President for Athletics and Recreation M. Grace Calhoun. “Brown Stadium has provided student-athletes with an incredible stage, and it’s where our community has come together. We’re proud to honor that tradition and excited to carry it forward.”