A number of faculty fellows from many departments and schools of the university maintain close ties to the college.

The compound that conforms the college is principally made of the following buildings known as portals: Davis, Smith, Mallet, Long, Venable, Gildersleeve, McGuffey, Harrison, Tucker, Holmes, Rogers and Peters.

It has stucco covered front and rear facades, a low hipped roof, and a one-story portico with paired Tuscan order columns.

The James Monroe Law Office was built about 1790, and is a 1+1⁄2-story, two-bay, brick building with a fieldstone foundation.

[5] In 2022, residents of Brown College began a campaign to rename the portals, all of which are named after slave owners or Confederate veterans.

The acceptance process into Brown College is competitive requiring completion of a formal application which includes several out-of-the-ordinary essay questions, such as "You have taken yourself hostage.

Events meant for the general Brown Community are run by co-chairs: The Officers of Govboard consist of the President (formerly known as the Grand Poobah), the Vice President (formerly known as the Shama Llama Ding Dong), and the annually renamed Treasurer, as well as the office of Secretary, which will also be annually renamed.

The property known as Monroe Hill, which serves as the administrative offices of Brown Residential College, is located in grounds of the University of Virginia.