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This year, West Virginia State University (WVSU) is celebrating 135 years of the 1890 Land-grant University System, as well as 25 years since regaining its land-grant status in 2000.
“What it means is that we have a tripartite mission, a mission of teaching, of research, and of extension, and extension means outreach,” WVSU President Ericke Cage said. “And what we do through our tripartite mission is that we work to serve not just our students and our local community, but we literally offer programming that serves all West Virginians in our 55 counties here in the Mountain State.”
The system of land-grant schools was established by The Morrill Act of 1862 to provide federal support for agricultural and technical educational institutions in every state. The system was expanded by the Morrill Act of 1890 to ensure the education of black citizens in agriculture and the mechanical arts. The West Virginia Colored Institute was established one year later in 1891 as one of 19 land-grant institutions authorized by Congress.
But in 1956, shortly after desegregation, the state Board of Education voted to surrender WVSU’s land-grant status.
“… and on March 5, 1957 instructed the state legislature through Senate Bills 93 and 219 to transfer $21,900 of personnel and expense funds to West Virginia University,” according to a WVSU factbook. “These actions preceded explicit funding by Congress in 1972 for 1890 institutions and resulted in subsequent loss of millions of dollars which could have been used by the institution to serve the needs of a severely depressed region of Appalachia.”
Cage said restoration of the status has brought millions of dollars to the institution and helped them support the entire state through research and programs like Healthy Grandfamilies and 4H.
“When I say that regaining the status has been and will continue to be transformative for our university, it is not an understatement,” he said.
Cage said the school has a very bright future with its land-grant heritage as a beacon.
“We went through a 10-year crucible to regain our land-grant status, to regain our birthright… we’ve been able to, once again, become a land-grant university in the 1990s,” he said. “And since then, we have worked to grow our portfolio of agricultural research and innovation, which is helping to make a difference across the state.”
That includes a $50 million investment from the state legislature to establish an agricultural research laboratory at WVSU, housing the university’s forthcoming Purdy School of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, as well as laboratories for the West Virginia Department of Agriculture.
“You’re marrying the expertise that we have as a land-grant university here at West Virginia State with the expertise that Commissioner Kent Leonhardt has at the Department of Agriculture,” Cage said. “You’re really going to create a win-win for West Virginia, because you’re bringing those synergies together to spur innovation and to build a durable workforce pipeline that is going to power the ag sector.”
Cage said the project is still in the planning phase, but he hopes to break ground by next year.