The College
Section I: The College Expectations of Hampden-Sydney Students __________________ At Hampden-Sydney College, all students are expected to abide by our two governing statements, the Honor Code and the Code of Student Conduct, about which each and every student is educated and by which he swears to abide on his very first day on campus. To be sure, these are the bedrock of a Hampden-Sydney man’s life on the Hill and beyond. While these two codes provide students with clear guidelines for what is considered acceptable behavior by the Student Government, they do not encompass the only standards of conduct expected of the Hampden-Sydney man. For most, it is simple not to lie, cheat, steal, or violate the rules that govern student life. What is more difficult, though, is understanding and exemplifying what it means to be the true gentleman-scholar. The following is to serve as a short primer on the practices that typify such a characteristic. Upon matriculation, each Hampden-Sydney student is expected to: • Treat others with respect. • Act as a dignified representative of the College, its people, and its values at all times and in all places. • Understand his place on campus; he should show deference to his older peers and unflagging respect to all figures of authority. • Dress appropriately for all occasions, so as not to offend or show disrespect to his company; he may refer to Shomo’s To Manner Born, To Manners Bred for sartorial guidance. • Know the history, traditions, and current events of Hampden-Sydney College; it is useful to read Brinkley’s On This Hill as well as The Record and The Tiger.
• Make an effort to get to know his professors outside of the classroom; speaking to a professor after class or scheduling to meet him or her during office hours, for example, are simple ways to make a good impression and have meaningful conversations. • Greet all persons whom he passes on his way to class, the Commons, his dorm, or anywhere else on campus; this is one of the longest-standing and most revered practices at the College and is a special sign of brotherhood and respect. Thomas H. Shomo writes in his unofficial manual of the Hampden-Sydney man’s way of life, To Manner Born, To Manners Bred: This campus is a little world, and for our students it is their special place for four years. They know, however, that it will not be their world forever, and they are preparing themselves to be ‘good men and good citizens’ as understood in the 18th century and in the 21st century. It is a treasured thing for a youth to have a special place in which to become a man—a beautiful place where honor is a virtue, civility a habit, and learning a goal. (Afterward, Sixth Edition) Hampden-Sydney truly is a special place—one that transforms the men who come here and graduate from here. It is sure that dutiful commitment to the practices above will inculcate in the fledgling Hampden-Sydney student a will to live better and to make the most of his brief time on the Hill, and he will be transformed.
History, Traditions, and Insignia _____________________________ Founding ................................................................................................... The mission of Hampden-Sydney College has been, since stated by its Founders in 1775, “to form good men and good citizens.” In continuous operation since the first classes were held on November 10, 1775, the College is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the United States and holds the oldest (1783) private charter in the South. The first president, Samuel Stanhope Smith (1775–1779), chose the name Hampden-Sydney to symbolize devotion to the principles of representative government and full civil and religious freedom, which the Englishmen John Hampden (1594–1643) and Algernon Sydney (1622–1683) had supported and for which they had given their lives. They were widely
invoked as hero-martyrs by American colonial patriots, and their names immediately associated the College with the cause of independence championed by Patrick Henry, James Madison, and the other less wellknown but equally vigorous patriots who comprised the College’s first Board of Trustees. The first students committed themselves to the revolutionary effort, organized a militia-company, drilled regularly, and went off to the defense of Williamsburg in 1777 and Petersburg in 1778. Their uniform was a hunting-shirt, dyed purple with the juice of pokeberries, and gray trousers. Garnet and gray were adopted as the College’s colors when sports teams were introduced in the 19th century.
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