College and university mottos are more than decorative Latin phrases—they’re miniature mission statements. They reveal founding ideals, historical moments, and the values that shaped each institution. Below is a curated list of 21 mottos from well-known U.S. colleges and universities, along with a brief fact about each one’s origin or meaning.

1 — Dartmouth College

Motto: The voice of one crying in the wilderness
Fact: Drawn from Isaiah 40:3, the motto reflected Dartmouth’s literal frontier location at its founding. Early seals even depicted students standing in an actual “wilderness.”

2 — Princeton University

Motto: Under God’s power she flourishes
Fact: The Latin version—Dei Sub Numine Viget—is one of the earliest American collegiate mottos to remain religious in tone even after the American Revolution.

3 — Stanford University

Motto: The wind of freedom blows
Fact: Stanford preserved the motto in German—Die Luft der Freiheit weht—a nod to its inspiration, the humanist writer Ulrich von Hutten.

4 — Yale University

Motto: Light and truth
Fact: Yale’s seal features Hebrew characters for “Urim” and “Thummim,” ancient symbols of divine insight from the Hebrew Bible.

5 — MIT

Motto: Mind and Hand
Fact: “Mens et Manus” expresses MIT’s founding principle of combining scientific theory with hands-on application—an educational approach quite radical in mid-19th-century America.

7 — Harvard University

Motto: Truth
Fact: Harvard’s original three-book seal read Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae, but in the 1840s the simpler “Veritas” was revived and became the official motto.

8 — University of Pennsylvania

Motto: Laws without morals are useless
Fact: Penn’s motto—Leges Sine Moribus Vanae—mirrors Benjamin Franklin’s emphasis on moral education as a foundation for civic life.

9 — University of Notre Dame

Motto: Life, Sweetness, Hope
Fact: These words echo the “Salve Regina,” a 12th-century Marian hymn central to Catholic liturgy.

10 — Polytechnic University of New York, Brooklyn

Motto: The person and the works of humankind are functions of nature
Fact: The motto reflects an early 20th-century effort to integrate humanistic thought into engineering—an unusual philosophical stance at the time.

11 — Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Motto: Theory and Practice
Fact: WPI is one of the first American institutions to embed its motto directly into its curriculum, inspiring the Project-Based Learning approach that still defines it today.

12 — University of Chicago

Motto: Let knowledge grow from more to more; and so be human life enriched.
Fact: Taken from Tennyson’s In Memoriam A.H.H., the motto reflects the university’s early identity as a home for both scientific inquiry and humanistic thought.

13 — University of California, Berkeley

Motto: Let There Be Light
Fact: “Fiat Lux” was selected in 1868 as the motto for the entire UC system, symbolizing the spread of public education in the new state.

14 — Carnegie Mellon University

Motto: My heart is in the work
Fact: The line is from a personal letter Andrew Carnegie wrote about his philosophy of industry and dedication.

15 — Bucknell University

Historical Motto: The light of learning will keep one from the storms of life
Fact: Before becoming Bucknell, the institution used proverb-style mottoes reflecting a 19th-century belief in education as protection from moral and social upheaval.

16 — Georgetown University

Motto: Both into One
Fact: “Utraque Unum” symbolizes the union of spiritual and secular learning—and, historically, the hoped-for unity of the early American states when Georgetown was founded.

17 — Rice University

Motto: Letters, Science, Arts
Fact: Though a young school at its founding in 1912, Rice used a Latin motto to signal that its academic ambitions aligned with the traditions of older European universities.

18 — Cornell University

Motto: “I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.”
Fact: The motto reflects Cornell’s revolutionary commitment to openness: coeducation, practical subjects, and inclusive admissions—ideas far ahead of their time.

19 — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Motto: Knowledge and Thoroughness
Fact: The Latin motto, Scientia et Virtus, underscored the school’s early demand for precision and integrity—fitting for America’s first degree-granting engineering school.

20 — Brown University

Motto: In God we hope
Fact: Despite the religious motto, Brown was among the first U.S. colleges to guarantee full religious liberty to students of all faiths.

21 — Colgate University

Motto: For God and Truth
Fact: Colgate’s founders were famously known as “13 men with 13 dollars and 13 prayers,” a story that became intertwined with the university’s early identity and motto.

Optional Historical Notes Section

Many American university mottos were adapted from biblical or classical sources, reflecting the religious and humanistic priorities of early higher education.
Latin remained the preferred academic language well into the 19th century, which is why even modern institutions like Rice and MIT retained Latin mottoes.
Several mottoes (Cornell, Carnegie Mellon) are direct quotations from founders, offering unusually personal windows into institutional identity.

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** NOTE: Source for the motto: https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-attend-Bucknell-University