Kansas State University

More information Years, Name ... Naming history Years Name 1863 – 1931 Kansas State Agricultural College 1931 – 1959 Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science 1959 – present Kansas State University of Agriculture and Applied Science (Kansas State University in modern naming practice) Close Kansas State University, originally named Kansas State Agricultural College , was founded in Manhattan on February 16, 1863, during the American Civil War , as a land-grant institution under the Morrill Act . [ 8 ] [ 11 ] The school was the first land-grant college created under the Morrill Act. [ 11 ] [ 12 ] K-State is the third-oldest school in the Big 12 Conference and the oldest public institution of higher learning in the state of Kansas. [ 8 ] The effort to establish the school began in 1861, the year that Kansas was admitted to the United States . One of the new state legislature's top priorities involved establishing a state university. That year, the delegation from Manhattan, led by New England abolitionist, Isaac Goodnow , introduced a bill to convert the private Blue Mont Central College in Manhattan, incorporated in 1858, into the state university. [ 13 ] But the bill establishing the university in Manhattan was controversially vetoed by Governor Charles L. Robinson of Lawrence, and an attempt to override the veto in the Legislature failed by two votes. [ 14 ] In 1862, another bill to make Manhattan the site of the state university failed by one vote. [ 14 ] Finally, upon the third attempt on February 16, 1863, the state accepted Manhattan's offer to donate the Blue Mont College building and grounds and established the state's land-grant college at the site – the institution that would become Kansas State University. [ 14 ] The college c. 1860s , from a mural at the U.S.

Capitol When the college opened for its first session on September 2, 1863, it became only the second public institution of higher learning to admit women and men equally in the United States. [ 15 ] Enrollment for the first session totaled 52 students: 26 men and 26 women. [ 11 ] Twelve years after opening, the university moved its main campus from the location of Blue Mont Central College to its present site in 1875. [ 11 ] The original site is now occupied by Central National Bank of Manhattan and Founders Hill Apartments. The early years of the institution witnessed debate over whether the college should provide a focused agricultural education or a full liberal arts education. During this era, the tenor of the school shifted with the tenure of college presidents. For example, President John A. Anderson (1873–1879) favored a limited education and President George T. Fairchild (1879–1897) favored a classic liberal education. [ 11 ] [ 16 ] Fairchild was credited with saying, "Our college exists not so much to make men farmers as to make farmers men." [ 11 ] During this era, in 1873, Kansas State helped pioneer the academic teaching of home economics for women, becoming one of the first two colleges to offer the program of study. [ 17 ] [ 18 ] The college in 1878, three years after moving to its current location In November 1928, the school was accredited by the Association of American Universities (AAU) as a school whose graduates were deemed capable of advanced graduate work. [ 11 ] The name of the school was changed in 1931 to Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science . In 1959, the Kansas legislature changed the name again to Kansas State University of Agriculture and Applied Science to reflect a growing number of graduate programs. However, in modern practice, the "Agriculture and Applied Science" portion has usually been omitted even from official documents such as state statutes. [ 19 ] [ 20 ] Milton S.

Eisenhower was president from 1943 to 1950. Eisenhower was a leading UNESCO delegate and served as the first chairman of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO. Influenced by his work with UNESCO, he pursued a number of progressive reforms at Kansas State College to promote democracy, citizenship, and global peacebuilding. These curricular reforms led to a subsequent peace-building movement on the campus that agitated for civic participation, humanitarian action, and desegregation from 1947 to 1950. [ 21 ] On June 15, 2009, Kirk Schulz became the 13th president of Kansas State University. [ 22 ] In March 2010 he announced his K-State 2025 plan. [ 23 ] The initiative is designed to elevate K-State to a top 50 nationally recognized research university by 2025. In 2011, during Schulz's tenure, the Olathe branch opened. His last day was April 22, 2016, as he was selected as Washington State University 's next president. [ 24 ] In late April 2016, Ret. General Richard Myers began serving as the interim president of Kansas State University [ 25 ] and was announced as the permanent 14th president on November 15, 2016. [ 26 ] He was succeeded by Richard Linton , a former dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Science at North Carolina State University (2012–2022). [ 27 ] Oldest public university in Kansas The state legislature established the state's land-grant college in Manhattan on January 13, 1863. [ 15 ] A commission to establish a state university in Lawrence was called for later in the same legislative session, provided that town could meet certain requirements, and finalized later that year. [ 8 ] Kansas State was the first public institution of higher learning founded in the state and began teaching college-level classes in 1863. By comparison, the University of Kansas opened in 1866, and offered only preparatory-level classes until college-level classes began in 1869.

Kansas State was founded with an agricultural and scientific college consistent with the land-grant college mandate, as well as departments for military science and literature. [ 8 ] It was formally renamed as Kansas State University in 1959. [ 16 ]