For Immediate Release
June 25, 2012 Contacts: David Ottalini, 301 405 4076 or dottalin@umd.edu
Loh: Nation Needs to Recommit to Morrill Land Grant's Vision of Innovation and Access
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The vision - and the future - of the 150 year old Morrill Land Grant Act takes center stage Tuesday, June 26 in Washington, D.C.
The University of Maryland - and President Wallace Loh - will help
celebrate the sesquicentennial of the Act during a day-long convocation program sponsored by the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities.
The Morrill Act established new public institutions in each state through the grant of federal lands.
Authored by Senator Justin S. Morrill of Vermont (right) and signed by President Abraham Lincoln, it ultimately helped provide financial stability for the Maryland Agriculture College (later to become UMD), and enabled the creation of colleges and universities across the United States despite the financial challenges of the Civil War. It is widely seen as making higher education accessible to all Americans - not just the children of the elite. There are a total of 106 land grant institutions - at least one in every state. A second Morrill Act - passed by Congress in 1890 - provided direct federal funding for "technical education."
America's system of public universities is the legacy of the Morrill Act of 1862 which established new public institutions in each state through the grant of federal lands. The original mission of these new institutions was to teach agriculture, military tactics, and the mechanic arts as well as classical studies so that members of the working classes could obtain a liberal, practical education. The Morrill Act provided a broad segment of the population with a practical education that had direct relevance to their daily lives.
- Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities
President Loh will head up a panel discussion on the humanities and social sciences during the anniversary event Tuesday afternoon. He is especially keen to build on the legacy of the Morrill Act for future generations: "The nation needs its inspired system of state-based research universities more than ever, and this 150th anniversary is the moment when we should recommit to its vision of innovation and broad access to higher education," says Loh. " A 21st century Land Grant can best fulfill its mission by becoming a premier Innovation and Entrepreneurship university."
Featured speakers for Dr. Loh's panel include:
Daniel Fogel, Professor of English and former President, University of Vermont who just wrote a book examining where American universities stand today - and where they are going in the future;
Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, UCLA Professor of Anthropology
The Morrill Land Grant Act and the Maryland Agricultural College: President Lincoln signed the bill into law in July of 1862. By February, 1864 the Act's provisions had been approved by the Maryland legislature. MAC to Millennium (The University of Maryland A to Z) says: "In 1864, the state of Maryland had 2 senators and 5 representatives in the U. S. Congress. Thus, according to the formula, Maryland would have received 210,000 acres under the act (to sell or use to establish a new college)." Maryland was the third institution to benefit from the provisions of the first Morrill Act. The University of Maryland, College Park and University of Maryland, Eastern Shore (1890 Act) are the two land grant universities in the state of Maryland.
Along with representatives from government, business and philanthropy, nearly 600 public university leaders are expected to attend the convocation program at the Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. Microsoft founder Bill Gates - who now chairs the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - will give the keynote address. Panel discussions feature Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Agriculture Secrtary Tom Vilsack, and even the great-great-grand niece and nephew of the father of the act - Senator Justin S. Morrill of Vermont.
The Association of Public Land Grant Universities produced a video about the Morrill Act:
Note: University Archives will also be at the Folk Life Festival - from June 27-July 1 and July 4-8. The University Archives' display will be in the Festival's Reunion Hall tent. Archives will be featuring some of the classic photographs of early agricultural activity at the Maryland Agricultural College/University of Maryland, in conjunction with the celebration of the passage of the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Land Grant Act. You will also be able to see the original public law of this famous piece of legislation, on display in the East Rotunda Gallery of the National Archives from 10 AM to 7 PM daily.
Information provided by the Office of University Communications
America's system of public universities is the legacy of the Morrill Act of 1862 which established new public institutions in each state through the grant of federal lands. The original mission of these new institutions was to teach agriculture, military tactics, and the mechanic arts as well as classical studies so that members of the working classes could obtain a liberal, practical education. The Morrill Act provided a broad segment of the population with a practical education that had direct relevance to their daily lives.
