America’s early settlers were largely religious refugees, seeking a space to practice and worship without prosecution. They were understandably leery when some of that dominant Catholic religion they were trying to escape followed them to the shores of the New World in the form of Jesuit missionaries establishing a colony of Maryland. The Jesuit schools founded on the land were at first suppressed, but ultimately the spirit of tolerance won out. John Carroll attended one of those schools, and after the American Revolution decided to expand them with an institution of higher learning.

On this day, November 15, in 1791, Georgetown University opened to students. The first to enroll, a week later, was William Gaston, 13 years of age, who would go on to serve in the North Carolina state legislature and create its theme song.

Since its beginnings and continuing on to this day, Georgetown is managed by the Jesuit Society, the same one that started the Maryland colony. Gaston, one of the men responsible for its prosperity, has an auditorium in one of the first buildings constructed in the “old quadrangle” named after him. He would be joined by 65 other students by the end of the first school year.