SDSU to host Morrill Act celebration on July 2
Amid the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln signed a bill authored by Vermont Congressman Justin Morrill that provided an incentive to states to create higher education institutions that taught agriculture, mechanical arts, military sciences and the classics, as described then, to the children of common people.
July 2, 2012
1:00 pm
Sylvan Green on the SDSU Campus
- Bob Burns, master of ceremonies
- Presentation of colors
- “Star-Spangled Banner” by David Reynolds, head, Department of Music
- President David Chicoine, welcome and comments
- Background on Morrill Act, recognition of special guests
- President Lionel Bordeaux, president, Sinte Gleska University, greetings
- US Sen Tim Johnson, greetings
- Undersecretary Dallas Tonsager, Rural Development, US Department of Agriculture, greetings
- Jameson Berreth, president, Students’ Association, greetings
- Anderson Thorp address
Ms. Thorp is a founding member and the first president of the Friends of Morrill Homestead, a nonprofit organization that preserves and protects the Justin Morrill Vermont State Historic Site in Strafford, Vermont, and promotes the life and legacy of Senator Justin Smith Morrill. - State Sen. Larry Tidemann to read the governor’s proclamation
- Announcements and closing
The July 2 program will begin at 1 p.m. on the SDSU campus at Sylvan Theatre, near the Campanile, with a brief speaking program featuring Andersen Thorp, a founding member and first president of the Friends of the Morrill Homestead in Stafford, Vt., and SDSU alumnus Dallas Tonsager, undersecretary for rural development in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The University also will serve SDSU ice cream to all of those attending the event.
Parking will be available in the lot at the corner of Medary Avenue and Eighth Street. In the event of inclement weather, the program will move to the Performing Arts Center.
Learn more about The Morrill Act at state.sdstateconnect.org.