Washington & Jefferson College is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. It traces its origin to three Presbyterian missionaries of the 1780s, John McMillan, Thaddeus Dod, and Joseph Smith, whose early schools evolved into two rival institutions: Washington College in Washington, and Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. The two colleges merged in 1865 to form Washington & Jefferson College.
The Washington & Jefferson College campus has more than 40 buildings, with the oldest dating to 1793. The college enrolled over 1,500 students as of fall 2026. It has a longstanding tradition of literary societies, dating back before the union of the two colleges. Nearly all of the college's students live on campus, and roughly one-third are members of fraternities or sororities. The W&J athletic program competes in NCAA Division III.
History
Early history and the academies
Washington & Jefferson College traces its origin to three log cabin colleges established by three frontier clergymen in the 1780s: John McMillan, Thaddeus Dod, and Joseph Smith. The three men, all graduates from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), came to present-day Washington County to found churches and spread Presbyterianism to what was then the American frontier beyond the Appalachian Mountains.Coleman 1956 pp. 4–7 John McMillan, the most prominent of the three founders because of his strong personality and longevity, came to the area in 1775 and built his log cabin college in 1780 near his church in Chartiers. Thaddeus Dod, known as a keen scholar, built his log cabin college in Lower Ten Mile in 1781. Joseph Smith taught classical studies in his college, called "The Study," at Buffalo.
Washington Academy was chartered by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on September 24, 1787.Coleman 1956 pp. 21–44 The first members of the board of trustees included Reverends Dod and Smith. After a difficult search for a headmaster, in which the trustees consulted Benjamin Franklin, the trustees unanimously selected Thaddeus Dod, considered to be the best scholar in western Pennsylvania. Amid financial difficulties and unrest from the Whiskey Rebellion, the academy held no classes from 1791 to 1796. In 1792, the academy secured four lots at Wheeling and Lincoln street from William Hoge and began construction on the stone Academy Building.
At a subsequent unknown date, McMillan transferred his students from the log cabin to Canonsburg Academy.Coleman 1956 pp. 45–58 Canonsburg Academy was chartered by the General Assembly on March 11, 1794, thus placing it firmly ahead of its sister school, Washington Academy, which was without a faculty, students, or facilities. On January 15, 1802, with McMillan as president of the board, the General Assembly finally granted a charter for "a college at Canonsburg."
Jefferson College and Washington College
In 1802, Canonsburg Academy was reconstituted as Jefferson College, with John McMillan serving as the first President of the board of trustees.Coleman 1956 p. 59 In 1806, Matthew Brown petitioned the Pennsylvania General Assembly to grant Washington Academy a charter, allowing it to be re-christened as Washington College.Coleman 1956 pp. 102–107 At various times over the next 60 years, the various parties within the two colleges pursued unification with each other, but the question of where the unified college would be located thwarted those efforts. In 1817, a disagreement over a perceived agreement for unification erupted into "The College War" and threatened the existence of both colleges.Coleman 1956 pp. 68–73 In the ensuing years, both colleges began to undertake risky financial moves, especially over-selling scholarships. Thanks to the leadership of Matthew Brown, Jefferson College was in a stronger position to weather the financial storm for a longer period.Coleman 1956 pp. 78–85 Desperate for funds, Washington College accepted an offer from the Synod of Wheeling to take control of the college, a move that was supposed to stabilize the finances for a period of time.Coleman 1956 pp. 130–131 However, Washington College then undertook another series of risky financial moves that crippled its finances.Coleman 1956 pp. 133–142
Unification of the colleges
Following the Civil War, both colleges were short on students and on funds, causing them to join as Washington & Jefferson College in 1865.Coleman 1956 pp. 143–149 The charter provided for the college to operate at both Canonsburg and Washington, a position that caused significant difficulty for the administration trying to rescue the college amid ill feelings over the unification. Jonathan Edwards, a pastor from Baltimore who had been president of Hanover College, was elected the first president of the unified Washington & Jefferson College on April 4, 1866.Coleman 1956 p. 149-155 Edwards immediately encountered significant challenges, including the difficulties of administering a college across two campuses, as well as old prejudices and hard feelings among those still loyal to either Jefferson College or Washington College. Edwards resigned in 1869, as the two-campus arrangement was declared a failure and all operations were consolidated in Washington. Before the merger could be completed, Canonsburg residents and Jefferson College partisans filed a lawsuit, known as the Pennsylvania College Cases, sought to overturn the consolidation plan.Coleman 1956 pp. 155–156 Leadership of the college during this time fell to Samuel J. Wilson, a local pastor, and James I. Brownson, who had earlier been interim president of Washington College. By 1871, the United States Supreme Court upheld the consolidation, allowing the newly configured college to proceed.
History since unification
George P. Hays, who had assumed the presidency amid the court battle and the unification controversy, led the newly unified college until 1881. His successor, James D. Moffat, led the college through a period of growth where the college constructed the Old Gym, Hays Hall, Thompson Memorial Library, and Thistle Physics Building, as well as purchasing the land known as the "old fair ground," now used for Cameron Stadium. Towards the end of his term, Moffat personally paid for the 1912 renovations of McMillan Hall. In 1914, Frederick W. Hinitt was elected president. His tenure was dominated by the United States' entry into World War I, with an enrollment drop of 50%.
William E. Slemmons, a college trustee and adjunct professor, succeeded Hinitt and served as interim president from May 1918 to June 1919. After the war ended in 1919, Samuel Charles Black took over and helped to stabilize the enrollment. While on a honeymoon tour of national parks, Black became ill and died. His successor, Simon Strousse Baker, was well liked by the college's trustees and by "many a townsman", but the student body felt that Baker was "autocratic" and held an "unfriendly attitude toward the student body as individuals." Baker defended himself, saying that the perceived ill-will towards students was unintentional and a misunderstanding. Nonetheless, the student body held a strike and general walkout in 1931, prompting Baker to resign.
Baker's successor, Ralph Cooper Hutchison, was much more popular with the student body. In an effort to strengthen the college's science department, Hutchison extended and expanded the southern portion of the campus, adding the Lazear Chemistry Hall and purchasing McIlvane Hall. When World War II broke out, the campus was opened to the Army Administration School, where hundreds of soldiers received their "training in classifications." Hutchison resigned in 1945 to take the presidency of his alma mater, Lafayette College. James Herbert Case, Jr., who was president from 1946 to 1950, constructed several new dormitories to handle the influx of veterans under the G.I. Bill. In 1950, Boyd Crumrine Patterson assumed the presidency and oversaw curriculum revisions and the construction of a number of buildings, including the Henry Memorial Center, 10 Greek housing units in the center of campus, the U. Grant Miller Library, the Student Center, the Commons, and two new dormitories. His fundraising abilities grew the college's endowment expanded from $2.3 million to nearly $11 million. Patterson retired in 1970, the same year that the trustees authorized the admission of women as undergraduate students. Howard J. Burnett took office as president that year and hired the college's first female faculty members and the first female dean. The college also adopted a new academic calendar to include intersession and expanded its academic programs to include the Entrepreneurial Studies Program, the Freshman Forum, and several cooperative international education programs. Student enrollment grew from 830 in 1970 to 1,100 in 1998. Burnett retired as president in 1998.
Under Burnett's successor, Brian C. Mitchell, who served as president from 1998 to 2004, the college experienced a growth in construction and an effort to improve relations with the neighboring communities. In 2004, Tori Haring-Smith became the first woman to serve as president of Washington & Jefferson, undertaking an effort to improve the science curriculum and to construct the Swanson Science Center. After 13 years of service, Haring-Smith retired from her position on June 30, 2017. John C. Knapp was named Haring-Smith's successor on April 21, 2017, and became the college's 13th president on August 1, 2017. On February 27, 2024, the college announced the selection of Elizabeth MacLeod Walls as the 14th president. MacLeod Walls and began her tenure on June 30, 2024.
Campus
The campus of Washington & Jefferson College is located in the city of Washington and the East Washington Borough, small-town communities about south of Pittsburgh. The campus is home to more than 40 academic, administrative, recreational, and residential buildings. The northern edge of campus is bound by East Walnut Street, the western edge by South College Street, the southern edge by East Maiden Street, and the eastern edge by South Wade. Portions of the campus extend into the East Washington Historic District. Four historic gates mark four traditional entrances to campus at East Maiden Street, Wheeling Street, South College Street, and Beau Street. In 1947, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission installed a historical marker noting the historic importance of the college.
The oldest surviving building is McMillan Hall, which dates to 1793 and is the oldest college building west of the Allegheny Mountains. The main academic building is Old Main, which is topped with two prominent towers. The Old Gym houses a modern exercise facility. McIlvaine Hall, which was originally home to a female seminary, was demolished in 2008 and replaced by the Swanson Science Center. Davis Memorial Hall was once a dormitory and private house. The Swanson Science Center and the Dieter-Porter Life Sciences Building all cater to the scientific curriculum. The Burnett Center and its sister building, the Technology Center, were built in the late 1990s and early 2000s.