twenty-sixth day of November, 1784, an University is instituted within this State, in the manner and with the powers therein specified; And,

WHEREAS, From the representation of the Regents of the said University, it appears that there are defects in the constitution of the said University, which call for alterations and amendments; And,

WHEREAS, A number of acts on the same subject, amending, correcting and altering former ones, tend to render the same less intelligible and easy to be understood. Wherefore, to the end that the constitution of the said University may be properly amended, and appear entire in one law, it will be expedient to delineate and establish the same in this, and repeal all former acts relative thereto :

I. Be it enacted, by the People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That an University be and is hereby instituted within this State, to be called and known by the name or style of The Regents of the University of the State of New York. That the said Regents shall always be twenty-one in number, of which the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of the State for the time being shall always, in virtue of their offices, be two; that the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, and John Rodgers, Egbert Benson, Philip Schuyler, Ezra L'Hommedieu, Nathan Carr, Peter Sylvester, John Jay, Dirck Romeyn, James Livingston, Ebenezer Russell, Lewis Morris, Matthew Clarkson, Benjamin Moore, Eilardus Westerlo, Andrew King, William Lynn, Jonathan G. Tompkins, John McDonald, and Frederick William de Steuben, shall be, and hereby are appointed the present Regents; and they, and all the future Regents, shall continue in place during the pleasure of the Legislature; that all vacancies in the Regency which may happen by death, or removal, or resignation, shall from time to time be supplied by the Legislature, in the manner in which delegates to Congress are appointed. That the said Regents, as soon as may be after the passing of this act, shall convene at such time and place as the Governor shall appoint, and by plurality of voices, by ballot, choose a Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor, to continue in office during the pleasure of the said Regents. That the said Chancellor, or in his absence from the said meeting, the Vice-Chancellor, or in case both be absent, then the senior Regent present (whose seniority shall be decided by the order in which the Regents are named or appointed), shall preside; and in case of division, having a casting voice at all meetings of the said Regents.

That all meetings of the said Regents, after the first, shall be held at such time and place as the Chancellor, or in case of his death, absence from the State, the Vice-Chancellor, or in case of the death, absence from the State, or resignation of both of them, then at such time and place as the senior Regent present in the State shall appoint. And it shall be the duty of the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor or senior Regent, as the case in virtue of the above contin

gencies may be, to order and call a meeting of the said Regents, whenever and as often as three Regents shall in writing apply for and request the same; such order or call to be published in one or more of the public newspapers in the city of New York, at least ten days prior to such meeting.

And further, that any eight of the said Regents, meeting at the time and place so ordered, shall be a quoruin, and be enabled to transact and do the business which by this act shall be authorized or directed to do and transact.

That the said University shall be and hereby is incorporated, and shall be known by the name of The Regents of the University of the State of New York, and by that name shall have perpetual succession and power to sue and be sued; to hold property, real and personal, to the amount of the annual income of forty thousand bushels of wheat; to buy and sell, and otherwise lawfully dispose of lands and chattels; to make and use a common seal, and to alter the same at pleasure.

II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said corporation shall appoint by ballot a Treasurer and Secretary, to continue in office during the pleasure of the corporation. That the Treasurer shall keep fair and true accounts of all moneys by him received and paid out; and that the Secretary shall keep a fair journal of the meetings and proceedings of the corporation, in which the yeas and nays on all questions shall be entered, if required by any one of the Regents present. And to all the books and papers of the corporation every Regent shall always have access, and be permitted to take copies of them.

III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Regents, and they are hereby authorized and required to visit and inspect all the Colleges, Academies and Schools which are or may be established in this State, examine into the state and system of education and discipline therein, and make a yearly report thereof to the Legislature; and also to visit every College in this State once a year by themselves or by their committees; and yearly to report the state of the same to the Legislature; and to make such by-laws and ordinances, not inconsistent with the Constitution and Laws of the State, as they may judge most expedient for the accomplishment of the trust hereby reposed in them.

And in case the Trustees of the said Colleges, or any of them, shall leave the office of President of the College, or the Trustees of any Academy shall leave the office or place of Principal of the Academy vacant for the space of one year, it shall in all such cases be lawful for the Regents, unless a reasonable cause shall be assigned for such delay, to their satisfaction, to fill up such vacancies; and the persons by them appointed shall continue in office during the pleasure of the Regents, and shall respectively be received by the College or Academy to which they may be appointed, and shall have all the powers, and exactly the same salary, emoluments and privileges as his next imme

diate predecessor in office enjoyed, if any predecessor he had; if not, then such salary, as the Regents shall direct, to be paid by the Trustees, who shall, out of the funds or estate of their College or Academy, be compellable by the said President or Principal to pay the same. IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said Regents shall have the right of conferring, by diplomas under their common seal [upon], any person or persons whom they may think worthy thereof, all such degree or degrees above or beyond those of Bachelor or Master of Arts, as are known to and usually granted by any University or College in Europe.

V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Regents, from time to time, to apply such part of their estate and funds in such manner as they may think most conducive to the promotion of literature and the advancement of useful knowledge within this State. Provided, always, That where grants shall be made to them for certain uses and purposes therein expressed and declared, the same shall not be applied, either in whole or in part, to any other uses.

VI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Regents shall annually meet on the second Thursday next after the Senate and Assembly, at the annual session of the Legislature, shall have formed a quorum respectively, and at the Assembly chamber immediately after the Assembly shall have adjourned. That the said Regents, at such meetings, and all others, may adjourn from time to time, not exceeding ten days at any one time.

VII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That any citizen or citizens, or bodies corporate, within this State, being minded to found a College at any place within the same, he or they shall, in writing, make known to the Regents the place where, the plan on which, and the funds with which it is intended to found and provide for the same, and who are proposed for the first Trustees; and in case the said Regents shall approve thereof, then they shall declare their approbation by an instrument under their common seal, and allow a convenient time for completing the same. And if at the expiration of the said time it shall appear, to the satisfaction of the Regents, that the said plan and propositions are fully executed, then they shall, by act under their common seal, declare that the said College to be named as the founders shall signify, and with such trustees, not exceeding twenty-four, nor less than ten, as they shall name, shall forthwith becoine incorporated, and shall have perpetual succession, and enjoy all the corporate rights and privileges enjoyed by Columbia College, hereinafter mentioned.

VIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the charter heretofore granted to the Governors of the College of the Province of New York, in the city of New York, in America, dated the 31st day of October, in the year of our Lord 1754, shall be, and hereby is fully and absolutely ratified and confirmed in all respects, except that the College thereby established shall be henceforth called Columbia College; that the style of the said corporation shall be

S

The Trustees of Columbia College in the city of New York, and that no persons shall be Trustees of the same in virtue of any offices, characters or descriptions whatever; excepting also such clauses thereof as requires the taking of oaths and subscribing the declaration therein mentioned, and which render a person ineligible to the office of President of the, College on account of his religious tenets; and prescribe a form of public prayer to be used in the said College, and also excepting the clause thereof which provides that the bylaws and ordinances to be made in pursuance thereof should not be repugnant to the laws and statutes of that part of the kingdom of Great Britain called England; except also that in all cases where fifteen Governors are required to constitute a quorum for the dispatch of business, thirteen Trustees shall be sufficient. Provided, always, That the by-laws and ordinances to be made by the trustees of the said Columbia College shall not be contrary to the Constitution and Laws of this State.

IX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That James Duane, Samuel Provost, John H. Livingston, Richard Varick, Alexander Hamilton, John Mason, James Wilson, John Gano, Brockholst Livingston, Robert Harpur, John Daniel Gross, Johann Christoff Kunze, Walter Livingston, Lewis A. Scott, Joseph Delaplaine, Leon[a]rd Lispenard, Abraham Beach, John Lawrence, John Rutherfurd, Morgan Lewis, John Cochran, Gershom Seixas, Charles McKnight, Thomas Jones, Malachi Treat, Samuel Bard, Nicholas Romein, Benjamin Kiss[a]m and Ebenezer Crosby, shall be, and they are hereby constituted and declared to be the present Trustees of Columbia College, in the city of New York, and that when by the death or resignation or removal of any of the said Trustees, the number of those Trustees shall be reduced to twenty-four; then and from thenceforth the said twenty-four Trustees shall be and they hereby are declared and constituted Trustees of the said Columbia College in perpetual succession, according to the true intent and meaning of the said charter, and all vacancies thereafter shall be supplied in the manner thereby directed.

X. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all and singular the power, authority, rights, privileges, franchises and immunities, so heretofore granted to, and vested in, the said Governors of the College of the Province of New York, in the city of New York, in America, by the said charter, excepting as before excepted, shall be, and the same hereby are granted to and vested in the Trustees of Columbia College, in the city of New York, and their successors forever, as fully and effectually, to all intents and purposes, as if the same were herein particularly specified and expressed; and all and singular the lands, tenements, hereditaments and real estate, goods, chattels, rents, annuities, moneys, books, and other property, whereof the said Governors of the College of the Province of New York, in the city of New York, in America, were seized, possessed or entitled, under and in virtue of the said charter, or with which the Regents of the said University were invested, under or by virtue

of the said acts, for the use or benefit of the said Columbia College, shall be, and the same hereby are granted to and vested in the said Trustees of Columbia College, in the city of New York, and their successors forever, for the sole use and benefit of the said College; and it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Trustees and their successors, to grant, bargain, sell, demise, improve and dispose of the same, as to them shall seem meet. Provided, always, That lands given and granted to the Governors of the College of the Province of New York, in the city of New York, in America, by the corporation heretofore styled the Rector and Inhabitants of the city of New York, in communion with the Church of England as by law established, on part whereof the said College is erected, shall not be granted for any greater estate, or in any other manner than is limited by the said charter.

XI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That when any special meeting of the Trustees of the said College shall be deemed necessary it shall and may be lawful to and for the senior Trustee of the said College then in the city of New York, and upon taking upon himself the exercise of the office (which seniority shall be determined according to the order in which the said Trustees are named in this act, and shall be elected hereafter), and he is hereby authorized and required, on application for that purpose, in writing, under the hands of any five or more of the said Trustees, to appoint a time for such special meeting, in some convenient place within the said city, and to cause due notice thereof to be given in the manner directed by the said charter.

XII. And whereas Academies for the instructions of youth in the languages, and other branches of useful learning, have been erected and instituted in different parts of this State, by the free and liberal benefactions of corporations as well as individuals; and the Regents of the University having represented, that the appointment and incorporation of the trustees for each of the said Academies, with competent power to manage the funds already appropriated, and the donations. which may be made to such Academies, and to superintend the morals and education of the scholars, and the conduct of the Principal, masters and teachers, would greatly conduce to their security and prosperity. Therefore,

Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That upon the application of the founders and benefactors of any Academy, now or hereafter to be erected or established within any of the cities or counties of this State, or as many of them as shall have contributed more than one-half in value of the real and personal property and estate, collected or appropriated for the use and benefit thereof, by an instrument in writing under their hands and seals, to the Regents of the University, expressing their request, that such Academy should be incorporated, and be subject to the visitation of the Regents, nominating in such instrument the Trustees, not more than twentyfour or less than twelve, for such Academy, and specifying the name by which the said Trustees shall be called and distinguished, and