Baton Rouge, LA - The SU Ag Center and the Southern University Baton Rouge campus, along with the nation’s 1890 Universities, celebrated the 130th anniversary of the Morrill Act of 1890 with an online forum on Monday, August 31.
The Act established a land-grant
university system of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). in
states where African Americans were banned from accessing public higher
education.
“The Second Morrill Act of 1890 was
passed out of necessity, due to the fact that the First Morrill Act excluded
the African American citizenry from attending colleges established under the
initial land-grant provision,” said Dr. Orlando F. McMeans, Chancellor-Dean of
the SU Ag Center and the College of Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences.
“In summary, the Second Morrill Act stated that these schools were created to
provide instruction in agriculture, the mechanical arts, English language and
the various branches of mathematical, physical, natural, and economic science
to the black citizens of the states where these students had no access to other
higher education institutions,” added Dr. McMeans.
The webinar featured two panel
discussions, one consisting of the presidents of several 1890 Universities and
Peter McPherson, President of the Association of Public and Land-Grant
Universities. The second panel discussion consisted of private sector
leaders. Southern University College of
Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences alum and the Director of U.S. Federal
Government Affairs at Walmart, Phillip Thomas-Wallace, was one of five
panelists who spoke during the forum.
The 1890s educate nearly 100,000
students annually, contribute more than $4.4 billion to the local economies,
and provide pathways of opportunity for thousands of Americans, with little
investment.
The 1890 land-grant universities
are: Southern University and A&M College, Alabama A&M
University, Alcorn State University, Central State University, Delaware State
University, Florida A&M University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky
State University, Langston University, Lincoln University in Missouri, North
Carolina A&T State University, Prairie View A&M University, South Carolina
State University, Tennessee State University, Tuskegee University, the
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore,
Virginia State University and West Virginia State University.
View the 1890 Morrill Act 130th Anniversary Video.
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