The Beloit academy/school year: classes in 1853; the Beloit College Monthly established in 1853.

The evidence

• “"We notice in the third place, as in other institutions at this time, the diversification of undergraduate activities, and it is interesting to observe how many of the features of college life that have since become so prominent had their beginnings at Beloit in the thirteen years that we are now considering. In 1875 the "College Monthly," established in 1853, expands into the semi-monthly "Round Table," and in the same year Beloit wins second place in the first interstate oratorical contest. The first fraternity was given recognition in 1880.”

  1908-brown-rock-county/15-colleges.md, Vol. 1, PDF p. 338 / book p. 310

  Brown, William Fiske, editor. Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of Its Cities, Villages, Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, Up to Date. Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Co., 1908. 2 vols. archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon01brow, archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon02brow.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources