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."

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

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:

Morrill Act 150th Anniversary Resources

Association of Public and Land Grant Universities

Convocation Program Celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862

University of Maryland

MAC to Millenium
University of Maryland Timeline
Terp Magazine: Spring 2012: Maryland Celebrates the Morrill Act/4H at the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival - Page4

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.

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