The Site of First Classes Plaque is embedded into the outer wall of Old College, on the spot where Josiah Meigs, the second president of the University of Georgia, first held classes. The site that would become UGA was chosen in 1801 by a committee consisting of John Milledge, Hugh Lawson, George Walton, John Twiggs, and Abraham Baldwin. On a hill near the Oconee River, along which springs descended to feed the majestic oak and hickory trees, the committee selected the spot where the university would be built. In September 1801, President Meigs sat atop a stool below a white oak tree and instructed his students in the basics of Latin and Greek. These humble beginnings marked the birth of an institution. That single stool in the forest gave way to the construction the entire university. In 2001, President Michael Adams recreated the first classes near the original site and taught a class dressed as Josiah Meigs. Though the spot where the first classes were held has been built over by Old College, its legacy remains in a plaque on the outer wall of the building.