Legislature Celebrates Penn State’s Land-Grant Mission

In honor of the University’s ongoing contributions to the commonwealth and in recognition of Penn State’s sesquicentennial celebration, Rep. Lynn Herman, Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, and Sen. Jake Corman proposed resolutions celebrating Penn State’s designation as Pennsylvania’s singular land-grant university. The Senate and the House passed the two resolutions on March 29, and representatives from the University and its College of Agricultural Sciences were on hand to celebrate the event.

“We are grateful that the legislature recognizes the important role the University has played in Pennsylvania,” said Penn State President Graham B. Spanier at the event. “Since its inception, Penn State has been committed to making a high-quality college education available to Pennsylvanians and to disseminating the benefits gained through research to the citizens and industries of the commonwealth. By all indications, the University is excelling at that mission.”

In 1862, Congress passed the Morrill Act that established land-grant status and funding for selected colleges and universities across the country. That the federal government would pause to pass land-grant legislation at all while the Civil War was raging speaks to how vital agricultural education was viewed in the young country.

There was a growing realization across America that a new type of college education was needed to meet the requirements of scientific, mechanical, and practical vocations, such as agriculture, and that some sort of federal endowment was needed to subsidize this critical training.

“Penn State was a college of scientific agriculture before Congress passed the Land-Grant Act,” says Spanier. “That legislation obligated the University to expand its curriculum to include such fields as science, engineering, and the liberal arts, and gave Penn State a three-part mission of teaching, research, and outreach that has guided it ever since.”

Penn State President Graham Spanier pointed out that Penn State was a college of scientific agriculture before Congress passed the Land Grant Act in 1862. That legislation, he said, obligated the University to expand its curriculum to include such fields as science, engineering, and the liberal arts.

“The land-grant concept has created an educational system that by any standard is a proven success, and that other countries are emulating,” says Robert Steele, dean of the college. “The intimate link between cutting-edge research and practical application remains the basis of its success and continues to be as relevant today as it was the day of its inception.

“Today, the college continues to support an incredibly successful and complex food and fiber production and distribution system that impacts the health and well-being of every citizen. College scientists also focus on a wealth of emerging issues such as food safety, homeland security, environmental protection, and economic development, as well as social issues such as obesity, youth development, and e-commerce.”

As Penn State celebrates its sesquicentennial, marking 150 years of agricultural education, our college also celebrates tremendous growth. While helping to shape the science that has dramatically changed food production in the last century and a half, the college has stayed true to its historic land-grant mission by furthering education in the agricultural sciences while using the latest technology to help citizens address today’s complex issues.

“From the outset, Penn State has been a national leader in cooperative extension and outreach,” says Ted Alter, former associate vice president of outreach and cooperative extension. “We have a rich tradition of science-based, innovative, progressive, and entrepreneurial extension and outreach programs. Penn State Cooperative Extension has been a major contributor to improving production, profitability, and quality of life for people involved in Pennsylvania’s agriculture, food system, and rural communities.”

Penn State agricultural research has yielded advances that have helped farmers in the commonwealth and nationally increase production; develop new crops; manage plant pests and animal diseases; control, recycle, and compost agricultural wastes; improve land use; reduce reliance on pesticides; protect water quality; and manage wildlife.

“Our goal in the College of Agricultural Sciences is to continue to address the needs of producers and consumers of food and fiber through world-class research and to translate this research to useful products and in-formation,” says Bruce McPheron, associate dean for research. “We will continue to apply the principles of the land-grant mission to ensure a safe, healthy, and abundant food supply in Pennsylvania, the nation, and the world.”

For more information on Penn State as a land-grant university, visit http://live.psu.edu/landgrant. The next issue of Penn State Agriculture will feature an article on the college’s growth and successes during Penn State’s 150-year history.

—Jeff Mulhollem