Colleges named after U.S Presidents

I was just curious,
What is the legality of naming a school after a U.S President?
I'm guessing there isnt one, with schools like
Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Jackson University
William Howard Taft
George Washington U.
and the first 3 operating as unaccredited at one point in time.



Do the owners of these schools need permission to use the name?
Just curious.
Thanks

 

I would think the use of a name such as George Washington would become public domain after a while.... I'm not sure though.

Personally I've always wanted to start the Kim Jong Il School of Economics and Humanities....it's bound to be a success.

 

Make certain it has a good International Relations program as well as Peace Studies/Conflict Resolution and the Jonger school will be set.

 

1. George Washington (1789-1797): George Washington University, Washington, DC (very legitimate and very prestigious); George Washington University, Inc., St. Louis, MO ("was terminated as of November of 1998" - BG15, 314)
2. John Adams (1797-1801):
3. Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809): Thomas Jefferson College of Law of Heed University, Milwaukee, WI (non-bar qualifying - BG15, 203, 249); Thomas Jefferson University, Overland Park, KS (Les Snell degree mill - BG15, 276); Thomas Jefferson University, St. Louis, MO (degree mill - BG15, 281); Thomas Jefferson University, VA (degrees at all levels by "professional assessment of career achievements" - BG15, 333)
4. James Madison (1809-1817): Harrisonburg, VA (very legitimate and very prestigious)
5. James Monroe (1817-1825):
6. John Quincy Adams (1825-1829): John Quincy Adams College, Portland, OR (degree mill run by the Fowler family - BG15, )
7. Andrew Jackson (1829-1837): Andrew Jackson University, Birmingham, AL (good DETC school - BG15, 97); Andrew Jackson University College, Baton Rouge, LA (Jean-Maximilian de la Croix de Lafayette school, apparently no longer in business - BG9, 78)
8. Martin Van Buren (1837-1841):
9. William Henry Harrison (1841):
10. John Tyler (1841-1845):
11. James Knox Polk (1845-1849):
12. Zachary Taylor (1849-1850):
13. Millard Fillmore (1850-1853): Millard Fillmore Institute (fictititious institution founded solely for the purposes of making fun of honorary doctorates and named after the only US president to turn down an honorary doctorate from Oxford - BG9, 218)
14. Franklin Pierce (1853-1857): Franklin Pierce College, Nashua, NH (accredited college - BG9, 106)
15. James Buchanan (1857-1861):
16. Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865): Abraham Lincoln University, Los Angeles, CA (unaccredited CalBar approved law school - BG15, 247)
17. Andrew Johnson (1865-1869):
18. Ulysses Simpson Grant (1869-1877):
19. Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1877-1881):
20. James Abram Garfield (1881):
21. Chester Alan Arthur (1881-1885):
22. & 24. Stephen Grover Cleveland (1885-1889 & 1893-1897):
23. Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893):
25. William McKinley (1897-1901):
26. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909):
27. William Howard Taft (1909-1913): William Howard Taft University, Santa Ana, CA (good DETC school - BG15, 225, 248)
28. Thomas Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921): Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs of Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (very legitimate and very prestigious)
29. Warren Gamaliel Harding (1921-1923):
30. John Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929):
31. Herbert Clark Hoover (1929-1933):
32. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-1945):
33. Harry S. Truman (1945-1953): Truman State University, Kirksville, MO (good RA school)
34. Dwight David Eisenhower (1953-1961):
35. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1961-1963): John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (very legitimate and very prestigious); John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, CA (good RA school)
36. Lyndon Baines Johnson (1963-1969): Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs of the University of Texas, Austin, TX (good RA state university)
37. Richard Milhous Nixon (1969-1974):
38. Gerald Rudolf Ford, Jr. (1974-1977):
39. James Earl Carter, Jr. (1977-1981):
40. Ronald Wilson Reagan (1981-1989):
41. George Herbert Walker Bush (1989-1993):
42. William Jefferson Clinton (1993-2001):
43. George Walker Bush (2001-):

 

That, I suppose, would have to depend upon whether the family has kept coming out with new editions in order to renew the copyright.

 

Re: Re: Re: Colleges named after U.S Presidents

Thanks! I had some vague recollection that Bush 41(?) had a school of government in Texas named after him, but I couldn't remember the exact name of the Bush school or which TAMU campus it was on and I didn't see it in my Peterson's Guide. I meant no offense by mentioning the Wilson School (Princeton), the Kennedy School (Harvard), and the Johnson School (University of Texas) without mentioning the Bush School (Texas A & M University), though I must admit that I am a Democrat.

 

The nice thing about the Texas A&M program is that it offers several DL graduate certificates. They are a bit pricey - especially if not a Texas resident.

 

Re: Re: Colleges named after U.S Presidents

Ted,

Thanks for the list. I had not heard of many of these institutions. Once again though, John Adams gets the shaft. Not even a degree mill has named a school after him! It amazes me that such an extraordinary figure in American History has not received more accolates. Now, of course many contemporaries labeled him as pompous. And there was that pesky issue regarding not going to War with France, which partially cost him his re-election to a second term as President. But that should not diminish his numerous accomplishments. A small sampling of which, includes:

- Harvard College Graduate
- Lawyer
- During the Revolutionary War, served as diplomat to both France and Holland
- First Vice President of the United States (two terms)
- Second President of the United States
- Son, John Quincy Adams 6th President of the U.S.

I suppose in the end, that Adams shall forever play second fiddle to Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and Hamilton.

- Tom

 

Re: Re: Re: Colleges named after U.S Presidents

At least his son got a degree mill named after him. By the way, which of the two Adams cousins - John or Samuel - was the lawyer who defended the British soldiers in the Boston Massacre cases?

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Colleges named after U.S Presidents

John. In another instance of greatness.



- Tom

 

Re: Delving into fiction (silly fiction)

Not sure. Tyler, Texas, was no doubt named after John Tyler, 10th president of the United States, who signed the Texas annexation bill in 1845. Hence, University of Texas Tyler and Tyler Junior College are named after John Tyler. Cleveland, Ohio, was named after Moses Cleaveland (the first "a" was dropped from the city name when it didn't fit on a newspaper masthead), a distant cousin of Stephen Grover Cleveland, who was 22nd and 24th president of the United States; hence, Cleveland State University was, indirectly, named after Grover Cleveland (or, at least, after the same Cleveland family).

 

Re: Delving into fiction (silly fiction)

Yes

It was in Van Wilder.

 

Re: Delving into fiction (silly fiction)

I wonder if we'll ever have a President Faber?

 

and, wasn't the scene of some Disney movies Adams College? Have to explore that one...

in Sabrina the Teenaged Witch, Sabrina Spellman attended Adams College of Boston.

Adams State College (http://www.adams.edu) is in Colorado. They aren't the Adams Atoms. Named for Gov. Billy Adams

 

And North Adams State College www.nasc.mass.edu is in Massachusetts.