MSU, a Land-Grant Institution
MSU's History as a Land-Grant Institution
Michigan State University is "The nation's pioneer land-grant college." In 1849 more than 60% of Michigan residents were farmers and few had any college education because it was almost exclusively a privilege of the wealthy. A college education at that time included theology, the arts and letters, medicine, and the law, but little that would have been of practical value to farmers, such as agriculture, engineering, and other practical disciplines.
Providing Education to All
In 1849 the Michigan State Agricultural Society commissioned Bela Hubbard, a Detroit naturalist, to develop a plan that would bring an enlightened liberal education to Michigan farmers. In addition to the liberal arts this education included studies in agriculture, engineering, mathematics and biology, which were important to the working class.
This concept of an "enlightened liberal education"—extending beyond the traditional curriculum and taught to students of the working classes—was revolutionary. On February 12, 1855 Governor Kinsley S. Bingham signed a bill into law authorizing the creation of a state agricultural school to be built within ten miles of Lansing.
Justin Morrill, a Vermont congressman, took these ideas to Washington, D.C. and permanently transformed higher education by introducing a bill modeled after the Michigan State Agricultural College. The Morrill Act proposed having the government grant federal land to the states to support a college:
- To promote a liberal and practical education
- To provide this education to "the industrial classes"
The Morrill Act was signed into law by Abraham Lincoln in 1862. Never again would a college education be an exclusive privilege of the wealthy. Instead, land-grant colleges helped society solve practical problems and enrolled working class students in a practical curriculum.
Adapted from "What It Means To Be A Land-Grant University" by Bill R. Beekman, '89. Beekman was senior consultant to MSU's vice president for finance and operations and is currently secretary to the Board of Trustees, executive assistant to the president, and consultant to MSU's vice president. MSU Alumni Magazine 2005 S-150.
Example of MSU Faculty Engagement Project
Research on Epilepsy Treatment in Zambia
MSU Associate Professor, Gretchen L. Birbeck, MD, is interested in developing effective, community-based interventions aimed at improving the lives of people with epilepsy in Zambia. To guide this effort she is working on constructing a contextual framework to help her understand the social and economic consequences of epilepsy-associated stigma.
In collaboration with the University of Zambia in Lusaka and Zambian hospitals and health service agencies, Dr. Birbeck has been conducting focus groups of adults with epilepsy and the parents of children with epilepsy, ethnographic interviews with traditional healers, a survey of social groups influential in the lives of people with epilepsy, and a case-control study of people with and without epilepsy seeking medical care from the same source.
For more examples of engaged scholarship, visit the Engaged Scholar Magazine Web site.
