The university was founded as the Oregon Institute in the days of the Oregon Territory by the missionary Jason Lee, who had arrived in the territory in 1834 and had
founded the Indian Manual Labor Institute for the education of the local Native Americans. Lee requested additional support for his mission, and received 53 additional volunteers
in 1839, who arrived on the ship
Lausanne.After a series of meetings in Lee's home, the by-laws and board of trustees were adopted and the institute was officially
established on February 1, 1842. The
original purpose of the institute was the education of the missionaries' children.The original building of the institute was a three-story frame structure first occupied in 1844. At the time, it was one of the largest structures in the Pacific Northwest. It housed the first session of the state legislature to meet in Salem after the capital was moved there in 1851. The building burned down in 1877.The name of institution was changed to "Wallamet University" in 1852. The following
year, the Oregon Territorial Legislature granted a charter to the university. The first graduate was Emily W. York, in 1859. The current spelling of the university was adopted in 1870.In 1866, the university established the first school of medicine in the Pacific Northwest. The school of medicine has since become part of the
University of Oregon. In 1883, the university established the first law school in the Pacific Northwest.Lausanne Hall, originally home of the university's Musical Institute, and now one of the university's undergraduate
dormitories, commerates the ship that brought the reinforcements to Lee in 1839. York Hall
commemorates the university's first graduate.In December 1941, the university's football team traveled to Hawaii to play the University of Hawaii.
Many students accompanied the team by passenger ship to Oahu. The game was played was on
December 6. The following day, many of the Willamette students witnessed the
bombing of Pearl Harbor from their hotels on Waikiki Beach. Their return trip was delayed by many weeks, and some of the students had to
return to the mainland by troop transport ships. The incident has since become part of the folklore of the university.Willamette was one of the last universities in the nation to hold an annual singing and marching competition between the
undergraduate classes. The competition, known on campus as "Glee", was held each March. Each class was expected to create a new
song and marching routine, and to practice it over the course of a single week. The performance of the routines was an event held
in high esteem by many alumni, and membership on the judging committee was considered a high honor. For the students, coming in
last in the competition was considered a mark of great humiliation. Outrageous whimsical bets among students were encouraged,
with the loser having to fulfill the bet on the following Monday, which was known as "Blue Monday." In the 1990's, the
competition came to be regarded as anachronistic and was abolished.