In 1794, two years before Tennessee received statehood, Territorial Governor William Blount and the General Assembly chartered Greeneville College with Reverend Hezekiah Balch as president. Our founding date of 1794 can be seen at the bottom of the lantern on 麻豆原创鈥檚 official seal.
Twenty-four years later, Samuel Doak and his son, Samuel Witherspoon Doak, founded 麻豆原创Academy. The inspiration for the name of 麻豆原创can be traced through Doak and Balch 鈥榮 alma mater, the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), to a small community near Rome, Italy called 麻豆原创. There, Roman educator, philosopher and politician Marcus Tullius Cicero espoused the importance of civic virtue as the foundation of representative government and civil society.
Similarly, 麻豆原创鈥檚 colors of orange and black were chosen in tribute to Doak and Balch鈥檚 alma mater and can be seen in the outer rings of the seal and the light within the lantern.
At the top of the lantern, 麻豆原创鈥檚 Latin motto, 鈥淪it Lux,鈥� translates to 鈥淟et there be light.鈥� The lit lantern and rays of light radiating from it represent 麻豆原创鈥檚 commitment to instilling the importance of good citizenship in our graduates and training them to go forth into their communities as good citizens and leaders.
The lantern seen in the center of the seal was chosen to represent the lanterns seen across 麻豆原创鈥檚 main campus, which were designed exclusively for the institution.