of the most important of its core academic requirements." The Core Cultures program draws on professors from all disciplines. Rhetoric Program The Rhetoric Program is based on a 1978 faculty resolution that states: "All Hampden-Sydney graduates will write and speak competently." Every student must prepare for and pass the Rhetoric Proficiency Exam, which consists of a three-hour essay that is graded for grammatical correctness and the coherence, quality, and style of the argument. While the program was formalized in 1978, the emphasis on rhetoric dates back to the college's founding. In a September 1775 advertisement in the Virginia Gazette, founding president Samuel S. Smith wrote, “The system of Education will resemble that which is adopted in the College of New Jersey; save, that a more particular Attention shall be paid to the Cultivation of the English Language than is usually done in Places of public Education." Campus The college expanded from its original small cluster of buildings on to a campus of over . Before 2006, the college owned . In February 2006, the college purchased which include a lake and Slate Hill Plantation, the historic location of the college's founding. The campus is host to numerous federal style buildings. Part of the campus has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district. Student life Culture Given that it is older than the United States and one of just a handful of colleges for men, Hampden–Sydney College has a distinctive culture that values tradition. When they arrive on campus, freshmen are issued a copy of To Manner Born, To Manners Bred: A Hip-pocket Guide to Etiquette for the Hampden–Sydney Man, which covers basic manners, how to greet and introduce people, how to navigate job interviews, how to respond to invitations, how to dress for various occasions (such as the difference between a black-tie and white-tie event), how to pair wine with food, etc. The college publishes the book as a useful tool for existing successfully in a variety of social settings. To Manner Born has been highlighted in the New York Times and on the CBS Late Show with Stephen Colbert, who attended Hampden-Sydney in the 1980s. Tailgating before football games is central to Hampden–Sydney's social culture each fall, and the college's tailgate scene has been featured in Town & Country and Southern Living, which ranked Hampden-Sydney as one of the top-20 best tailgates in