Bryant History and Traditions

Since 1863, the University has been preparing students with the knowledge, skills, and qualities of character to achieve a lifetime of success.

Additional Resources

Bryant College: The First 125 Years

A Pictorial History of Bryant University 1989-2018 — An Era of Transformation

Bryant University. Since 1863.

The expansion of business enterprises in the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century created unprecedented job growth. Bryant founders Henry Bryant and Henry Stratton recognized that workers, particularly Civil War veterans, interested in new job opportunities would need a business education. The two men founded Bryant and Stratton National Business College, which grew to 40 locations altogether, including the campus in Providence, R.I., in 1863. Ezra Mason, a Rhode Island accountant, was also a founding partner, and he managed the college.

>> Bryant's Charter (Jan. 14, 1863)

Women at Bryant

From the beginning, Mason wanted to inspire women to attend college. In 1865, he declared, "We have had the privilege of according diplomas to young ladies whose thorough attainments in all the requisites of accountantship would put to blush the pretensions of many a bearded competitor for like honors." Female students remained a minority for the next decade, but the college continued to actively recruit and attract women.

Business curriculum expanded to include the arts and sciences

William Warner, who purchased the college from Mason in 1867 expanded the curriculum to include courses in the arts, humanities, and sciences including philosophy, history, languages, photography, sculpture, engineering, higher mathematics, hydraulics, and mechanics. Maximillian Berlitz was in charge of languages and later went on to build his empire of Berlitz Schools.

>>Historical excerpts from Bryant College. The First 125 Years by Valerie Quinney, edited by Peter Mandel and Elizabeth O'Neil (1988).

Education that can be applied in the marketplace has always been a hallmark of a Bryant education, and the integration of liberal arts into the curriculum has played large role in the success of the institution and its graduates. A Bryant course catalog in the 1930s described "A Liberal Business Education." In addition to such traditional business courses as accounting, finance, transportation, marketing, and management, students could also choose to take psychology, English, economics, public speaking, and personality development." The catalog stated, "It is a college education as thorough and scholarly as that afforded by the older type classical college in its field, but the curriculum is especially planned to satisfy the practical and exacting demands of business."

Bryant's signature wrought iron archway is an icon that bridges the old campus and current one. The archway was preserved from the original campus in Providence and relocated to Smithfield in 1971. The archway was dedicated to the Bryant community as the Senior Class Gift of the Class of 1968. Tradition dictates that to pass through the archway before commencement is bad luck and legend has it that students who walk through the archway before commencement will not graduate. The Class of 1987 donated the brick pathway detouring around the archway to encourage students to honor this tradition. In 2008, through the generosity of the Class of 2008, the archway was refurbished and expanded brick walkways were installed.

In 1935 the school moved from downtown Providence to the city's East Side and became Bryant College of Business Administration. The College moved from Providence to its current location in Smithfield, Rhode Island in 1971. In 2004 Bryant became a University, galvanizing its long tradition of integrating business and liberal arts with the establishment of the College of Business and the College of Arts and Sciences.