"In order to receive the Sweet Briar seal as a stamp upon our diploma we must go through the Sweet Briar mill, working, playing, living and learning together…The seal recalls the honor system, a senior show, a Bum Chum party, a Paint and Patches production. Late evening cigarettes and gay weekends are parts of this recollection, too. At the center of this happy remembrance are our professors, who have opened new horizons for us, and have enabled us to probe new depths of human knowledge.
The seal is very much more to us than any instrument of legality, authenticating a diploma. it is a symbol, stamped upon our hearts, authenticating each one of us as a Sweet Briar graduate. It can never be erased, for we carry its imprint with us wherever we go…"
- 1951 Briar Patch