Public Higher Education in US

choi

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Public Higher Ed: From Jefferson to the Cold War. Wall Street Journal, Oct. 24, 2010.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052702304741404575564610604984360.html

My comment:
(a) In the print, it is a photo-essay, with a photo to each paragraph.
(b) History of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_University_of_North_Carolina_at_Chapel_Hill

Quote:

"The university opened in a single building, which came to be called Old East. Still in use as a residence hall, it is the oldest building originally constructed for a public university in the United States. Its cornerstone was laid on October 12, 1793, near an abandoned Anglican chapel which led to the naming of the town as Chapel Hill.

"UNC was the first public university to hold classes and to admit graduate students. The College of William & Mary [in was founded in 1693, though it did not become a public university until 1906, and the University of Georgia was chartered in 1785 but did not start classes until 1801.

(i) That is why UNC claims it was established in 1789.
(ii) In the WSJ article, the photo that accompanies UNC turns out to be Old East, though the report ddoes not name the building.
(iii) The College of William & Mary
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_College_of_William_%26_Mary
(at Williamsburg, capital of Virginia Colony from 1699-1780 (in the midst of American Revolution); Founded in 1693, it is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States after Harvard University; Named in honor of the reigning monarchs King William III and Queen Mary II; William & Mary was founded as an Anglican institution)

Also see
(i) Colinial Colleges
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Colleges
("William & Mary was a private institution from 1693 until just after the American Civil War and has been public since 1906")
(ii) Yale University
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_University
(Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States; In 1718, the College was renamed Yale College to honor a gift from Elihu Yale, a governor of the British East India Company)

(c) The WSJ article quotes Thomas Jefferson as saying in 1789 "wherever the people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government."

This is the foundation of
Federal Depository Library Program
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Depository_Library_Program
(established by an 1813 Congressional Joint Resolution)

(i) Jefferson was president from 1801-1809.
(ii) The idea of informed citizens was in contrast of 秦始皇 焚書坑儒.

(d) University of Virginia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Of_Virginia
(established in 1819; at Charlottesville; on a land purchased from then President James Monroe, the owner; three presidents at the time were on Board of Visitors, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe, but in the presence of James Madison, the Marquis de Lafayette toasted Jefferson as "father" of the University of Virginia at the school's inaugural banquet in 1824; The University's first classes met in March 1825)

(i) This may explains why the article states Mr. Jefferson "founded the University of Virginia--the country's first non-sectarian university."

Still I am confounded as to why "first non-sectarian university." What about UNC?  UNC is "non-sectarian."
Kemp Plummer Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, volume II  From 1868 to 1912. Edwards & Broughton Printing Co., at 488 (1912).
http://books.google.com/books?id=ZpLOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA488&lpg=PA488&dq=University+of+North+Carolina+non-sectarian&source=bl&ots=0ZXhoU-RSg&sig=27COAnjMwQxugvJoJvNbbDHmLQw&hl=en&ei=Z7bFTKuXM8L38AbX5_3PBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CC4Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=University%20of%20North%20Carolina%20non-sectarian&f=false

I surmise the WSJ article means no prayer on school property except at the chapel.

(e) land-grant university
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land-grant_university

Morrill Acts (there were two: 1862 and 1890) were named after House Representative  Justin Smith Morrill of Vermont.
(f) Office of Scientific Research and Development
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Scientific_Research_and_Development
(an agency of the United States federal government created to coordinate scientific research for military purposes during World War II; 1941-1947)


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