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The Founders Would Be Proud
Campus Celebrates 145 Years of Service to the Commonwealth
It was a birthday to remember… celebrating not only UMass Amherst’s history, but its deep and abiding connection to the communities of the Commonwealth and its 145 year commitment to outreach.
That connection was central to the institution’s founding charter as a land-grant institution and continues in its service to the people of Massachusetts, Governor Deval L. Patrick told a gathering of more than 1000 well-wishers on April 29 as the university celebrated it first Founders Day.
The Governor joined UMass President Jack M. Wilson, UMass Trustee Henry Thomas and UMass Amherst Interim Chancellor Thomas W. Cole Jr. – along with dozens of state, local and university officials – in honoring the commitment that has guided the growth of the state’s flagship university since its inception in 1863.
UMass Amherst in its 145th year is “as well positioned as any place on the planet to take higher education to the next level,” said Governor Patrick, who also praised the university’s long history as an engine for economic development, rich cultural diversity, and groundbreaking research.
The governor’s visit came exactly 145 years after then-Governor John A. Andrew signed the charter for the Massachusetts Agriculture College, creating the first Board of Trustees for the institution that in 1947 became the University of Massachusetts. Patrick noted that Governor Andrew’s portrait has an honored place in his own corner office in the Massachusetts statehouse.
The half-day event, including music and dance performances in the Fine Arts Center Concert Hall, brought together talented high school performers from Springfield, Worcester and Amherst – as well as a variety of performance groups from the campus itself – to celebrate the event. The governor’s appearance, and other key events planned for the Founders Day schedule, had been scheduled to take place outside on the Fine Arts Center Plaza and Haigis Mall.
Torrential rains and chilly temperatures, however, pushed the proceedings back into the Concert Hall, where the audience joined the Minuteman Marching Band in a spirited rendition of Happy Birthday as Governor Patrick and university leaders sliced an elaborate cake fashioned after the campus’ iconic Old Chapel.
Chancellor Cole, acting as Master of Ceremonies, described the history of the land-grant institution as it evolved from Massachusetts Agricultural College, with a mission to provide education and carry out research in the agricultural sciences, to become a major research university that is at the global forefront of fields like life sciences, nano- and polymer technology, alternative energy, and communications.
He noted that in its first year of operations there were 56 students enrolled in the Massachusetts Agricultural College, which had four instructors, four buildings, and 310 acres. Today UMass Amherst is a university with nearly 26,000 students from all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. territories, as well as from 104 other countries. We have a full-time instructional faculty of 1,217, and occupy a 1,450-acre campus.
It was Chancellor Cole who first proposed the Founders Day observance to Provost Charlena Seymour. A committee appointed by Outreach Vice Provost Sharon Fross carried out the planning and preparations.
“I believe very firmly,” said Cole, “that our vision for the future will benefit from understanding, connecting with and celebrating the dynamic history that has helped shape this leading research university.”
President Wilson said that to celebrate the founding of UMass Amherst is to celebrate the founding of the entire UMass system, with campuses in Boston, Lowell, and Dartmouth, and a world-class medical school, and research and care facility in Worcester.
“This wonderful campus in Amherst, however, remains our flagship, and lends its stature and history to the entire UMass system,” he said. “The history of the system begins with the history of the university here in Amherst and it is fitting that we come to Amherst to celebrate the birth of a university system that now spans the state, and supports its culture and its economy.”
High school performers providing Founders Day entertainment included the Concert Band from the High School of Science and Technology in Springfield; the Amherst Regional High School Jazz Workshop, and Quadrivium, a chorus from Burncoat High School in Worcester. They joined the UMass Amherst Chapel Jazz Ensemble, Gospel Choir and African Dance Class.
