The Pennsylvania General Assembly granted a charter to the unified institution on March 4 , 1865 . The final details of the unification differed from the alumni plan . The campus in Canonsburg would house the President , some professors , the sophomore , junior , and senior classes , while the freshmen , Vice President , and some professors would be located in Washington . Board meetings , commencement , and other special events would alternate between the two locations . The unified board would include 15 from each institution with Dr. Beatty as the 31st member . Of the professors , David Hunter Riddle and Alonzo Linn stayed in Canonsburg . The new charter clearly indicated that Washington & Jefferson College would be non-sectarian . On August 1 , 1865 , former Jefferson president Robert Jefferson Breckinridge was asked to take the presidency , an offer he formally declined that December , due to failing health and the effects from the assassination of his close friend , Abraham Lincoln . The union of the two colleges , one appealing largely to southern students and the other staunchly abolitionist , was sealed just as the Union was preserved
assassination
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
History of Washington & Jefferson College