Posts Tagged: Mark Yudof

UC marks 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act

At a gathering on the west lawn of the state Capitol on Monday, University of California President Mark G. Yudof called the Morrill Act, signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862, "A catalyst that transformed the United States." The legislation provided federal land to states to build universities that would extend to more Americans educational opportunities in agriculture and the mechanical arts. The act launched the University of California.

Los Angeles Times reporter Patt Morrison moderated a panel discussion at the event, and wrote a post about the Morrill Act sesquicentennial on the newspaper's Opinion L.A. blog today.

Morrison asked Abraham Lincoln, portrayed at the event by lanky Sonoma County teacher Roger Vincent, "President Lincoln - the opportunity for every American to go to college? Really?" He nodded.

"'What a snob,' I remarked," Morrison wrote in her post, a reference, she said, to former senator and former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum gibing at President Obama’s goal of making a college education available to all Americans.

When Lincoln was president, 50 percent of Americans were involved in producing food. A steady movement away from the occupation has created significant challenges and opportunities for the agriculture industry.

"Americans may be even more aware of what they eat, the panelists noted, with the growth of popularity of organic foods and health-conscious diets like First Lady Michelle Obama’s, but even less aware of where food comes from and how it gets from field to plate," Morrison wrote.

Yudof and UC Cooperative Extension advisor Rose Hayden-Smith, a historian and leader of ANR's Sustainable Farming Systems Strategic Initiative, made speeches. The texts of their presentations are linked below.

• President Mark Yudof
• UC Cooperative Extension advisor Rose Hayden-Smith

Yudof dispels UC 'myths' in Chico

UC President Mark Yudof said UC benefits all Californians, not only the students who attend the universities or the communities where campuses are located, writer Larry Mitchell reported in the Chico Enterprise-Record.

"The UC trains doctors at its medical schools, and it provides programs like UC Cooperative Extension, which helps farmers," the story paraphrased Yudof, who was in Chico Tuesday to speak to meetings of the Chico Chamber of Commerce and the Chico Rotary Club.

Yudof has been traveling around the state to dispel "myths" about the University of California. Included among the myths is the notion that the cost of a UC degree is out of reach for most people. Yudof said half the students pay no tuition.

The University of California is "the greatest public institution (of higher learning) in the world. We cannot let it deteriorate," Yudof said.

Yudof called Chico a community that cares deeply about higher education, the newspaper reported.