Jonathan Edwards College (informally JE) is a residential college at Yale University. It is named for theologian and minister Jonathan Edwards, a 1720 graduate of Yale College. JE's residential quadrangle was the first to be completed in Yale's residential college system, and was opened to undergraduates in 1933. Among James Gamble Rogers' original eight residential colleges, it is distinct in incorporating pre-existing buildings. Since its renovation in 2008, college houses 212 students and several faculty fellows, and has approximately 425 affiliated students and 250 affiliated fellows. History In 1930, Yale President James Rowland Angell announced a "Quadrangle Plan" for Yale College, establishing small collegiate communities in the style of Oxford and Cambridge in order to foster more social intimacy among students and faculty, relieve dormitory overcrowding, and reduce the influence of on-campus fraternities and societies. Professor Robert Dudley French was one of the earliest advocates of this plan and visited Oxford and Cambridge to study aspects of their college systems. In 1930, Angell appointed him Master of Jonathan Edwards College, the first such appointment at Yale. JE's early years saw a flourishing of political activity among students. In 1934 the Yale Political Union was founded in the college. During World War II, JE was one of three residential colleges which remained open to civilian students. During this time, it became a significant site of intelligence community activity. Master French, who remained at the college through 1953, and his successor, William Dunham, were conduits for undergraduate recruitment into intelligence positions. Fellow and future dean Joseph Curtiss was extensively involved in CIA reconnaissance projects, including one known as the "Yale Library Project." Until the university abolished the practice 1962 and placed students in the colleges by lottery, the college admitted students by application after completion of their freshman year. During the 1960s, Master Beekman Cannon deepened a tradition of performing arts in the college, hosting operas, plays, recitals, and musical satire. Namesake Jonathan Edwards matriculated at Yale College in 1716 near his 13th birthday. Four years later, he graduated as valedictorian of his class of about twenty. This was at a time when entrance into either Harvard or Yale required ability in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Edwards received his Masters of Arts from Yale in 1722. In 1724, he returned to the college as a tutor respected for his theological orthodoxy, anti-Arminianism, and devotion to Yale. Buildings Design The dominant architectural style