When Michael Martin chose to leave Louisiana State recently to come to Colorado State University, the incoming chancellor was following a path he has walked for more than four decades in higher education — working at land-grant universities.
“It’s been a very conscious decision,” he said. “I’ve just found the mission to be one I could make a personal and professional commitment to.”
Last week marked the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act, the federal legislation that gave rise to CSU, LSU and more than 100 other institutions across the country. Signed by President Abraham Lincoln on July 2, 1862, the Morrill Act came along about the same time as the Homestead Act, the formation of the Department of Agriculture and the writing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
And just as those helped shape the country, for those in education, the Morrill Act, named after U.S. Rep. Justin Smith Morrill, was transformative.
“It was the first time in human history that a government said that a university degree depends on your potential, and not what social class you’re from,” said CSU president Tony Frank. “I think it’s one of the most revolutionary pieces of legislation in American history.”
The act provided thousands of acres of federal land to be used to establish universities in all 50 states. Each one was to be accessible not to the monied, but rather the broad population of students. It also included engineering, agricultural and military training components, each of which were essential factors of the day.
“It was just genius,” Martin said. “Seventy-nine percent of the people lived on farms, so it appealed to them. You were in the middle of the industrial revolution, so there was a clear movement there. You were in the middle of the Civil War, so you’re creating Army officers for the defense of the country.
“If we had that kind of leadership today, instead of debating minutia and partisan politics, just think of what kind of world we could live in.”
Martin said he’s “frightened” by the juxtaposition of the intent of the Morrill Act with the current political environment. While access has become a buzzword for most colleges, not just land grant institutions, the reality is that the increasing cost of education, combined with the decreasing amount of funding from states, makes it harder for schools to live up to the spirit championed 150 years ago.
“If you look at what land grant universities have done for this country, from an engineering and agriculture standpoint, it’s been remarkable,” Martin said. “If you lose that, you lose a lot of services to future generations that won’t be recognized until it’s too late.”
Frank said that in 1960, about 98 percent of higher education was paid for by public funding.
“You can look down at the path we’re heading, and in the next five or six years, you’re looking at the possibility of there being no public funding,” he said. “In between that, there’s a lot of middle ground. I think there are a couple of reasonable conversations to be had.”
He believes that conversation needs to start with asking what should be the right mixture of public and other funding that will make sure higher education is accessible for middle-income, lower-middle income and low-income students.
” I think if people get involved, we can come up with an answer we can all live with,” he said. “When we make the wrong decisions in America, in governance, it’s because we don’t have the conversation.”
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292, acotton@denverpost.com or
