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Institute of Agricultural & Environmental Research Tennessee State University |
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Sponsored by
U. S.
Department of Agriculture in Cooperation with
American
Indian Higher Education Consortium and
Association
of Agricultural Administrators Hosted by
Cooperative
Agricultural Research Program and South Carolina State University
Purpose
Historical Significance When the Morrill Act was passed and signed into law by Abraham Lincoln in 1862, no one could have envisioned what tremendous impact the Land Grant system would have on higher education in America. Today, Land Grant schools enroll some 2.7 million students and earmark more than $13 billion annually for teaching, research, and public-service programs. Together, these institutions award about 450,000 degrees each year - including 60% of all U.S. doctorates. For African-Americans and Native Americans, the struggle to provide the Land Grant mission to their respective communities has been a long and difficult one. In 1890, the Second Morrill Act bestowed Land Grant status to a group of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. However, federal funding did not become available to those 1890 Land Grant Institutions until 1966, 76 years later. Tribal Colleges and Universities, which represent the peoples living here for thousands of years, were only recently awarded Land Grant status in 1994. In 2001, these two Land Grant systems came together in a historic meeting to share their traditions, culture, expertise, and resources in forging a new partnership for the future of a diverse America. The U.S. Department of Agriculture sponsored a "1890 and 1994 Land Grant Colleges and Universities Collaboration Workshop," November 28-30, 2001, on the campus of Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee. Administrators, faculty, and project directors from throughout the entire Land Grant system attended this first-ever event. The goals of the meeting were: to identify top priority issues of mutual interest in research, extension, and teaching; to build relationships among 1890 and 1994 Land Grant institutions; to develop strategies to increase multi-institutional collaboration in order to better serve clientele with similar needs; and to develop joint proposals, identify potential funding mechanisms, and implement collaborative programs in research, extension, and teaching.
For more information, please contact:
Joan F. Gill
John L. Phillips
Sam L. Donald
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