History of the University of Michigan
Encyclopedia
The history of the University of Michigan
(UM) began with its establishment in 1817 as the Catholepistemiad or University of Michigania. The school moved from Detroit
to Ann Arbor
in 1837 on land offered to the university by the city. The first classes were held in 1841, and eleven men graduated in the first commencement ceremony in 1845. Although the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan was formed as a new legal entity in 1837, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in 1856 that it was legally continuous with the Board of Trustees of the University of Michigan that was formed in 1821, and with the Catholepistemiad, or University, of Michigania that was formed in 1817. The present-day University of Michigan recognizes 1817 as the year of its founding.
The University of Michigan has since expanded to become one of the top universities in the United States, with one of the largest research expenditures of any American university as well as one of the largest number of living alumni at 420,000. The university is also recognized for its history of student activism
and was the first American university to use the seminar
method of study. It was also the location chosen by President
John F. Kennedy
to propose the concept of what became the Peace Corps
, and the site of Lyndon B. Johnson
's speech outlining his Great Society
program. In 2003, the university successfully affirmed before the U.S. Supreme Court
that consideration of race as a factor in admissions to universities was constitutional
. However, Michigan voters approved restrictions
on affirmative action
in public universities and governmental hiring in November 2006, forcing Michigan to cease using race and gender as admissions criteria.
to administer the territory. Governor William Hull
and Chief Justice Augustus B. Woodward
passed an act in 1809 to establish public school districts, but this early attempt came to little. Woodward harbored a dream of classifying all human knowledge (which he termed encathol epistemia), and discussed the subject with his friend and mentor Thomas Jefferson
at Monticello
in 1814.
In 1817, Woodward drafted a territorial act establishing a "Catholepistemiad, or University, of Michigania," organized into thirteen different professorships, or didaxiim, following the classification system he had published the year before in his A System of Universal Science. He invented names for these using a mix of Greek and Latin so they could be "engrafted, without variation, into every modern language": Anthropoglossica (Literature
), Mathematica (Mathematics
), Physiognostica (Natural History
), Physiosophica (Natural Philosophy
), Astronomia (Astronomy
), Chymia (Chemistry
), Iatrica (Medicine
), Œconomica (Economical Sciences
), Ethica (Ethics
), Polemitactica (Military Science
), Diëgetica (Historical Sciences
), Ennœica (Intellectual
Sciences), and Catholepistemia (Universal Science).
The Didactor (professor) of Catholepistemia was to be the President, and the Didactor of Ennœica the Vice-President. Under the act, the Didactors exercised control over not only the university itself, but education in the territory in general, with the authority to "establish college
s, academies
, school
s, libraries
, museum
s, atheneums, botanical garden
s, laboratories
, and other useful literary and scientific institutions consonant to the laws of the United States
and of Michigan, and provide for and appoint Directors, Visitors, Curators, Librarians, Instructors and Instructrixes among and throughout the various counties, cities, towns, townships, or other geographical divisions of Michigan."
The act was signed into law August 26, 1817, by Woodward, Judge John Griffin
, and acting governor William Woodbridge
(Governor Lewis Cass
was absent on a trip with President Monroe
). Father Richard was granted six didaxiim (and the Vice-Presidency), and the Rev. John Monteith
, who had moved to Detroit a year earlier after graduating from Princeton
, was granted seven (and the Presidency).
When it came to funding the project, Woodward being a Freemason himself looked to Zion Lodge No. 1
of Detroit for financial support. On September 15, 1817 Zion Lodge met and subscribed the sum of $250 in aid of the university, payable in the sum of $50 per year. Of the total amount subscribed to start the university two-thirds came from Zion Lodge and its members.
The cornerstone of the university's first building, near the corner of Bates St. and Congress St. in Detroit, was laid on September 24, 1817, and within a year both a primary school and a classical academy were functioning within it.
was signed between the United States and various Native American
tribes. Among its provisions was the ceding of 1920 acres (7.8 km²) of land by the Chippewa, Ottawa
, and Potawatomi
tribes to the "college at Detroit" for either use or sale, and an equal amount to St. Anne's Church
in Detroit, where Father Richard was rector
. No college had officially been created yet, so the next month Monteith and Richard decreed the creation of the "First College of Michigania" at Detroit. Despite this decree, no college was organized, and instruction remained limited to the existing primary school and academy.
The land granted to the college and the church was of two parts, one consisting of three section
s near Macon, Michigan and one consisting of three sections to be selected later, with the college and church each having one-half interest in each section. These latter sections were not selected until 1821, and the university received legal title to them in 1824. In 1826, the university swapped its interest in the land at Macon for the church's interest in the others. Though evidence is scant, one historian believes that the land was later sold and the proceeds used in the running of the operation in Detroit.
The University of Michigan was sued in 1971 by descendants of the tribes who claimed that the land grant should have been held in trust
, with the proceeds used to provide for their education. The court ruled in favor of the university, saying the lands were given as an outright gift (due in part to the tribes' affection for Father Richard), and the Michigan Court of Appeals
upheld the ruling in 1981.
said it was "neither Greek, Latin, nor English, [but merely] a piece of language gone mad." On April 30, 1821, Governor Cass and Judges Griffin and James Witherell
passed a new act that changed the name of the institution to the University of Michigan and put control in the hands of a Board of Trustees
consisting of 20 members plus the governor, with few other changes to its structure. Rev. Monteith, his office of President abolished, was appointed to the Board of Trustees, but left that summer to accept a professorship at Hamilton College. Father Richard was also appointed to the board and remained on it until his death in 1832.
The Trustees continued to oversee operation of the primary school and academy in Detroit and Grand Blanc, at one point reaching an enrollment of 200, but did not establish any additional schools, so the university continued to be one in name only. By 1827, neither school was operating, and the building in Detroit was leased to private teachers. Except as a legal entity, the University of Michigan had essentially ceased to exist.
In preparation for statehood, Michigan held a constitutional convention
in 1835, although actual statehood was withheld by Congress until 1837, after the resolution of the Toledo War
with Ohio
. Sarah Austin's English translation of Victor Cousin
's Report on the State of Public Instruction in Prussia had just gained widespread attention, and thanks to its influence on two men, John Davis Pierce and Isaac Edwin Crary, the Michigan Constitution
of 1835 was the first state constitution in the country to embrace the Prussian model
of education, in which a complete system of primary schools, secondary schools, and a university are all administered by the state and supported with tax dollars. The constitution created the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Governor Stevens T. Mason
appointed Pierce to the post.
The Organic Act of March 18, 1837, created the University of Michigan, governed by a Board of Regents
consisting of 12 members appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate
, along with the Governor himself, the Lieutenant Governor, the Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court
, and the Chancellor of the state. It also created the office of Chancellor of the University, who was to be appointed by the Regents and serve as ex officio President of the Board. In practice, however, the Regents never appointed a Chancellor, instead leaving administrative duties up to a rotating roster of professors, and the Governor chaired the board himself.
A group of businessmen called the Ann Arbor Land Company had set land aside in the village of Ann Arbor, trying to win a bid for a new state capital. When that did not happen, they offered it for sale to the state for use by the university. A second act passed two days after the Organic Act called for the University to be established in Ann Arbor, and directed the Regents to secure a site. The Board of Regents held its first meeting in Ann Arbor on June 5, 1837.
The first classes were held in 1841; six freshmen and a sophomore were taught by two professors. Eleven men graduated in the first commencement ceremony in 1845.
A new state constitution was adopted in 1850, with two significant changes related to the university. The office of Regent was changed from an appointed one to an elected one, and the office of President of the University of Michigan
was created, with the Regents directed to select one. In 1852, they chose Henry Philip Tappan
as the university's first president.
Tappan modeled UM's curriculum on the broad range of subjects taught at German universities (the so-called "research model"), rather than the classical models (the so-called "recitation model"). The German, or Humboldtian model, was conceived by Wilhelm von Humboldt
and based on Friedrich Schleiermacher’s liberal ideas pertaining to the importance of freedom
, seminar
s, and laboratories
in universities. To that end, Tappan enlarged the library, and supported the development and establishment of laboratories, an art gallery, and the Detroit Observatory. However, Tappan was dismissed in 1863 over conflicts with the Board of Regents concerning matters of policy and personality.
The Medical School
was founded in 1848, and graduated 90 physicians in 1852. UM opened the first university-owned hospital in the U.S. in 1869. The first student newspaper, The Peninsular Phoenix and Gazetteer, was founded in 1857, which was followed by the biweekly University Chronicle in 1867 and The Michigan Daily
in 1890.
By 1865 to 1866, the university's enrollment increased to 1,205 students, with many of the new enrollees veterans of the Civil War
. In the July 1866 issue of The Atlantic Monthly
, Harvard University Professor F.H. Hedge depicted UM as the model public institution of higher education for the growing nation. UM began to draw students from across the United States and abroad, and its student body included African Americans. More than 520 of the students enrolled in 1867 were studying at the Medical School. Also in 1867, maize and blue were voted class colors; the Board of Regents made them the official colors of the UM in 1912.
The university's first known African American student, Samuel Codes Watson, was admitted as a medical student in 1853; the first female student, Madelon Louisa Stockwell (lit. 1872) of Kalamazoo, Michigan
, was admitted in 1870, and the first known African American woman admitted was Mary Henrietta Graham, in 1876 (lit. 1880). By 1882, UM's alumnae included the president of Wellesley College, Alice Elvira Freeman Palmer. The growing student body also led to unruliness. In 1872, Ann Arbor hosted 49 saloons, and the spectacle of student intoxication and public donnybrooks concerned school administrators and state politicians. Harper's Weekly
published an article in July 1887 that noted the school's "broad and liberal spirit" and the wide-ranging freedoms of its students.
In 1871, James B. Angell
, president of the University of Vermont
, was appointed president of UM, a position that he held until 1909. Angell aggressively expanded the university's curriculum to include and expand professional studies in dentistry, architecture, engineering, government, and medicine. In 1880, President Rutherford B. Hayes
appointed Angell a special minister to China
to negotiate the immigration of Chinese laborers. Angell's publicity efforts abroad eventually prompted a large influx of foreign students to the university. UM also began to attract renowned faculty, including pragmatist
philosopher John Dewey
, who taught at the university from 1884 to 1894, and Thomas M. Cooley
, who left the university when he was appointed the first chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission
by President Grover Cleveland
.
University President Marion LeRoy Burton
's tenure, which started in 1920, saw the advent of major field research initiatives in Africa, South America, the South Pacific, and the Middle East. Burton raised admissions standards and sought to heighten the academic rigors of the university's courses, while taming the often-rowdy social lives of his students. Burton later made the nominating speech at the Republican National Convention
for Governor Calvin Coolidge
of Massachusetts
for president in 1924. Shortly after his place in the national spotlight, Burton died of a heart attack. The memorial bell tower
that bears his name remains a prominent campus landmark. Burton was succeeded by Clarence Cook Little, a highly divisive figure who, among other things, offended Roman Catholics with his vocal endorsements of contraception.
The 1930s saw a major crackdown on the consumption of alcohol and the rowdiness that had characterized student life practically from inception. In February 1931, local police raided five fraternities, finding liquor and arresting 79 students, including the captain of the football team and Michigan Daily editors. During the Great Depression
, ritual and widespread freshman hazing all but ceased. Long known as a "dressy campus," student attire became less formal. Fraternities and sororities became less prominent in student life, as their finances and memberships went into steep decline.
UM's position as a prominent research university gained momentum in 1920 with a formal reorganization of the College of Engineering
and the formation of an advisory committee of 100 industrialists to guide academic research initiatives. In addition, 1933 saw the completion of the new Law Quadrangle
, a gift from alumnus William W. Cook. The quadrangle quickly became a campus landmark, known for its integration of residence and legal scholarship.
In 1943, Michigan was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program
which offered students a path to a Navy commission.
During World War II
, the university grew into a true research powerhouse, undertaking major initiatives on behalf of the U.S. Navy
and contributing to weapons development with breakthroughs including the V.T. Fuse, depth bombs, the PT boat, and radar jammers. By 1950, university enrollment had reached 21,000, of whom 7,700 were veterans supported by the G.I. Bill. In the same year, the university purchased 300 acres (121.4 ha) of land north of the Huron River that would later become North Campus.
In 1948, Michigan's Institute for Social Research (ISR) was established by Rensis Likert
. Harlan H. Hatcher, an administrator at Ohio State University
and professor of English, was appointed university president in 1951. Hatcher fostered early construction in the school's nascent North Campus, and created an Honors College for 5% of entering freshmen. As the Cold War
and the Space Race
took shape, UM became a principal recipient of government research grants, and its researchers were on the vanguard of exploring peacetime uses for atomic power. During Hatcher's administration, the ISR, with its ambitious ongoing effort focused on research and applications of social science, received its own building. In a 1966 report by the American Council on Education
, the university was rated first or second in the nation in graduate teaching of all 28 disciplines surveyed. In 1971, the central library on campus was named the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library.
The beginning of Hatcher's presidency saw the university in the national spotlight over the first-ever "panty raid" in 1952, an event cheered on by hundreds of students and chronicled by the national press, including Life Magazine. Hatcher's legacy is marked, however, by a much more serious controversy: his suspension of three faculty members—Chandler Davis, Clement Markert, and Mark Nicholson—under pressure from Rep. Kit Clardy
and his subcommittee of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Davis ultimately was sentenced to prison for contempt, a conviction that he appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
During the 1960s, numerous UM faculty members served in the administrations of presidents Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy
. During their administrations, 15 alumni served in the Senate
and House of Representatives
. On October 14, 1960, Kennedy, who once referred to Harvard as "The Michigan of the East," announced his intention to form the Peace Corps
in a speech on the steps of the Michigan Union
, and by 1966 332 UM alumni were serving in the Corps. In a commencement address at Michigan Stadium
on May 22, 1964, President Johnson first announced his intentions to pursue his Great Society
reforms.
An enduring legacy of the 1960s was the sharp rise in campus activism. The campus tumult of the 1960s was to some extent foreshadowed during World War I
, when disputes arose between faculty, administrators, and students over issues including military instruction and teaching of the German language. In the 1930s, student groups had formed to promote socialism
, labor, isolationism
, and pacifism
, as well as interest in the Spanish Civil War
. Political dissent, largely mollified by campus consensus during World War II
, returned to UM with a vengeance during the Civil Rights Movement
and the Vietnam War
.
On March 24, 1964, a group of faculty held the nation's first "teach-in
" to protest American policy in Southeast Asia. 2,500 students attended the event. A series of 1966 sit-ins by Voice, the campus political party of Students for a Democratic Society
, prompted the administration to ban sit-in
s, a move that, in turn, led 1,500 students to conduct a one-hour sit-in in the administration building. In September 1969, a 12,000-student march followed a Michigan football game; on October 15, 1969, 20,000 rallied against the war in Michigan Stadium. Radicals adopted increasingly confrontational tactics, including an episode in which members of the Jesse James Gang, an SDS offshoot, locked themselves in a room with an on-campus military recruiter and refused to release him. Hatcher's successor, Robben Wright Fleming
—an experienced labor negotiator and former chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison
—is credited by university historian Howard Peckham with preventing the campus from experiencing the violent outbreaks seen at other American universities.
Low minority enrollment was also a cause of unrest. In March 1970, the Black Action Movement, an umbrella name for a coalition of student groups, sponsored a campus-wide strike to protest low minority enrollment and to build support for an African American Studies department. The strike included picket lines that prevented entrance to university buildings and was widely observed by students and faculty. Eight days after the strike began, the university granted many of BAM's demands.
Campus activism also changed the character of student social life. By 1973, only 4.7% of the student body participated in fraternities and sororities. The university's student government fell one vote short of approving a marijuana co-op that was based on the premise of high-quantity purchases and free distribution. Such attitudes persist in the Hash Bash
, a rally and festival calling for the legalization of marijuana use held annually on and near campus.
During the 1970s, severe budget constraints hindered to some extent the university's physical development and academic standing. For the previous 50 years, all major academic surveys had listed Michigan as one of the nation's top five universities, a standing that began to diminish. For instance, the student-faculty ratio at the U-M Law School
became the highest of any elite law school in the U.S. Though the undergraduate division is currently ranked in the top 25, the university is acknowledged to have a faculty whose teaching awards, publications, patents and citations generally rank in the top five in the U.S.
The university's financial condition improved under the leadership of President Harold Shapiro, a former economics professor, during the 1980s. The university again saw a surge in funds devoted to research in the social and physical sciences, although campus controversy arose over involvement in the anti-missile Strategic Defense Initiative
and investments in South Africa
. A new hospital complex was opened in 1986, including a new University Hospital and the A. Alfred Taubman Health Care Center that centralized outpatient care provided by the Medical School faculty. Also in 1986, UM launched M-CARE, a managed care health plan that provided HMO coverage and other plans to university faculty and staff, retirees, dependents, and to employers in the community.
President James Duderstadt, whose tenure ran from 1988 to 1995, was a nuclear engineer and former engineering dean who emphasized uses for computer and information technology. Duderstadt facilitated achievements in the campus's physical growth and fundraising efforts. His successor, Lee Bollinger
, had a relatively brief tenure before departing to lead Columbia University
.
In 2003, two lawsuits involving the school's affirmative action
admissions policy reached the U.S. Supreme Court (Grutter v. Bollinger
and Gratz v. Bollinger
). President George W. Bush
took the unusual step of publicly opposing the policy before the court issued a ruling, though the eventual ruling was mixed. In the first case, the court upheld the Law School
admissions policy while in the second, it ruled against the university's undergraduate admissions policy.
The debate still continues, however, because in November 2006 Michigan voters passed proposal 2, banning most affirmative action in university admissions. Under that law race, gender, and national origin can no longer be considered in admissions. UM and other organizations were granted a stay from implementation of the passed proposal soon after that election, and this has allowed time for proponents of affirmative action to decide legal and constitutional options in response to the election results. The university has stated it plans to continue to challenge the ruling; in the meantime, the admissions office states that it will attempt to achieve a diverse student body by looking at other factors such as whether the student attended a disadvantaged school, and the level of education of the student's parents.
In late 2006, with the climate for health plans changing rapidly throughout the region and the U.S., the university made the decision to sell M-CARE to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and its Blue Care Network subsidiary. As part of the sale, a new health care quality organization called Michigan HealthQuarters was founded.
The Ann Arbor campus originally started on 40 acres (16.2 ha) of land bounded by State Street on the west, North University Avenue on the north, East University Avenue on the east, and South University Avenue on the south.
The first two decades of the 20th century saw a construction boom on campus that included facilities to house the dental and pharmacy programs, a chemistry building, a building for the study of natural sciences, the Martha Cook and Helen Newberry residence halls, Hill Auditorium
, and large hospital and library complexes. University President Burton continued the construction boom through the 1920s, including the construction of Michigan Stadium
. In 1925, The University Hospital (also known as the Main Hospital) replaced the Catherine Street Hospital. Designed by Albert Kahn, the 893-bed hospital was the largest and most modern facility of its kind in the nation, and was used until 1986. Land for North Campus, which would house the College of Engineering, the School of Music, and the A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning was purchased in 1950.
During the 1980s and 1990s, the university devoted substantial resources to renovating its massive hospital complex and improving the academic facilities on the university's North Campus. At a time when many other universities were choosing to sell their hospitals and clinics, UM created a tighter bond between its Medical School and its Hospitals & Health Centers unit in 1997, forming the University of Michigan Health System
to act as an "umbrella" over those entities and M-CARE, and designating an Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs who reports directly to the President. The result has been a financially strong and synergistic system for health care delivery, research and medical/bioscience education.
Nevertheless, in the past decade roughly $
2.5 billion has been budgeted and expended toward such construction, with approximately another $4.8 billion in construction projects in 17 new buildings underway or in planning for the coming decade. Recently, the university has constructed over 1 million square feet (90,000 m²) of academic and laboratory space devoted to the life sciences. In 2005, the university unveiled a development master-plan for the medical campus that is expected to add 3 million square feet (270,000 m²) to the existing 5 million square feet (450,000 m²). Examples of new buildings include the Cardiovascular Center, the Biomedical Science Research Building, the Rachel Upjohn Building and the replacement for C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Women's Hospital, scheduled to open in 2011.
The Ann Arbor campus is divided into four main areas: the North, Central, Medical, and South Campuses. The physical infrastructure
includes more than 500 major buildings, with a combined area of more than 31 million square feet (712 acres or 2.38 km²). The campus also consists of leased space in buildings scattered throughout the city, many occupied by organizations affiliated with the University of Michigan Health System. An East Medical Campus has recently been developed on Plymouth Road, with several university-owned buildings for outpatient care, diagnostics, and outpatient surgery. The university also has an office building called Wolverine Tower in southern Ann Arbor near Briarwood Mall. Another major facility is the Matthaei Botanical Gardens
, which is located on the eastern outskirts of Ann Arbor.
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
(UM) began with its establishment in 1817 as the Catholepistemiad or University of Michigania. The school moved from Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
to Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
in 1837 on land offered to the university by the city. The first classes were held in 1841, and eleven men graduated in the first commencement ceremony in 1845. Although the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan was formed as a new legal entity in 1837, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in 1856 that it was legally continuous with the Board of Trustees of the University of Michigan that was formed in 1821, and with the Catholepistemiad, or University, of Michigania that was formed in 1817. The present-day University of Michigan recognizes 1817 as the year of its founding.
The University of Michigan has since expanded to become one of the top universities in the United States, with one of the largest research expenditures of any American university as well as one of the largest number of living alumni at 420,000. The university is also recognized for its history of student activism
Student activism
Student activism is work done by students to effect political, environmental, economic, or social change. It has often focused on making changes in schools, such as increasing student influence over curriculum or improving educational funding...
and was the first American university to use the seminar
Seminar
Seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone present is...
method of study. It was also the location chosen by President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
to propose the concept of what became the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
, and the site of Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
's speech outlining his Great Society
Great Society
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States promoted by President Lyndon B. Johnson and fellow Democrats in Congress in the 1960s. Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the elimination of poverty and racial injustice...
program. In 2003, the university successfully affirmed before the U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
that consideration of race as a factor in admissions to universities was constitutional
Constitutionality
Constitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution. Acts that are not in accordance with the rules laid down in the constitution are deemed to be ultra vires.-See also:*ultra vires*Company law*Constitutional law...
. However, Michigan voters approved restrictions
Michigan Civil Rights Initiative
The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative , or Proposal 2 , was a ballot initiative in the U.S. state of Michigan that passed into Michigan Constitutional law by a 58% to 42% margin on November 7, 2006, according to results officially certified by the Michigan Secretary of State. By Michigan law, the...
on affirmative action
Affirmative action in the United States
In the United States, affirmative action refers to equal opportunity employment measures that Federal contractors and subcontractors are legally required to adopt. These measures are intended to prevent discrimination against employees or applicants for employment, on the basis of "color,...
in public universities and governmental hiring in November 2006, forcing Michigan to cease using race and gender as admissions criteria.
The Catholepistemiad (1817–1821)
Shortly after the Territory of Michigan was formed in 1805, several of its leading citizens recognized the need for a public education system. As early as 1806, Father Gabriel Richard, who ran several schools around Detroit, had requested land for a college from the governor and judges appointed by the PresidentPresident of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
to administer the territory. Governor William Hull
William Hull
William Hull was an American soldier and politician. He fought in the American Revolution, was Governor of Michigan Territory, and was a general in the War of 1812, for which he is best remembered for surrendering Fort Detroit to the British.- Early life and Revolutionary War :He was born in...
and Chief Justice Augustus B. Woodward
Augustus B. Woodward
Augustus Brevoort Woodward was the first Chief Justice of the Michigan Territory. In that position, he played a prominent role in the planning and reconstruction of Detroit following a devastating fire.Woodward never married. His biographer, Arthur M...
passed an act in 1809 to establish public school districts, but this early attempt came to little. Woodward harbored a dream of classifying all human knowledge (which he termed encathol epistemia), and discussed the subject with his friend and mentor Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
at Monticello
Monticello
Monticello is a National Historic Landmark just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was the estate of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia; it is...
in 1814.
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
), Mathematica (Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
), Physiognostica (Natural History
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
), Physiosophica (Natural Philosophy
Natural philosophy
Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature , is a term applied to the study of nature and the physical universe that was dominant before the development of modern science...
), Astronomia (Astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
), Chymia (Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
), Iatrica (Medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
), Œconomica (Economical Sciences
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
), Ethica (Ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
), Polemitactica (Military Science
Military science
Military science is the process of translating national defence policy to produce military capability by employing military scientists, including theorists, researchers, experimental scientists, applied scientists, designers, engineers, test technicians, and military personnel responsible for...
), Diëgetica (Historical Sciences
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
), Ennœica (Intellectual
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
Sciences), and Catholepistemia (Universal Science).
The Didactor (professor) of Catholepistemia was to be the President, and the Didactor of Ennœica the Vice-President. Under the act, the Didactors exercised control over not only the university itself, but education in the territory in general, with the authority to "establish college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
s, academies
Academy
An academy is an institution of higher learning, research, or honorary membership.The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 385 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and skill, north of Athens, Greece. In the western world academia is the...
, school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s, libraries
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
s, atheneums, botanical garden
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
s, laboratories
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
, and other useful literary and scientific institutions consonant to the laws of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and of Michigan, and provide for and appoint Directors, Visitors, Curators, Librarians, Instructors and Instructrixes among and throughout the various counties, cities, towns, townships, or other geographical divisions of Michigan."
John Griffin (judge)
John Griffin was an American jurist. He was one of the original judges of the Supreme Court of Michigan Territory....
, and acting governor William Woodbridge
William Woodbridge
William Woodbridge was a U.S. statesman in the states of Ohio and Michigan and in the Michigan Territory prior to statehood...
(Governor Lewis Cass
Lewis Cass
Lewis Cass was an American military officer and politician. During his long political career, Cass served as a governor of the Michigan Territory, an American ambassador, a U.S. Senator representing Michigan, and co-founder as well as first Masonic Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan...
was absent on a trip with President Monroe
James Monroe
James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
). Father Richard was granted six didaxiim (and the Vice-Presidency), and the Rev. John Monteith
Rev. John Monteith
Reverend John Monteith was a Presbyterian minister and a founding father of the University of Michigan, formerly known as University of Michigania, also known as the Catholepistemiad...
, who had moved to Detroit a year earlier after graduating from Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, was granted seven (and the Presidency).
When it came to funding the project, Woodward being a Freemason himself looked to Zion Lodge No. 1
Grand Lodge of Michigan
The Grand Lodge of Michigan in cooperation with the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Michigan govern the practice of regular Freemasonry in the state of Michigan.-History:...
of Detroit for financial support. On September 15, 1817 Zion Lodge met and subscribed the sum of $250 in aid of the university, payable in the sum of $50 per year. Of the total amount subscribed to start the university two-thirds came from Zion Lodge and its members.
The cornerstone of the university's first building, near the corner of Bates St. and Congress St. in Detroit, was laid on September 24, 1817, and within a year both a primary school and a classical academy were functioning within it.
Indian Land Grant
Five days after the laying of the cornerstone, the Treaty of Fort MeigsTreaty of Fort Meigs
The Treaty of Fort Meigs, also called the Treaty of the Foot of the Rapids, was signed September 29, 1817 between the chiefs and warriors of the Wyandot, Seneca, Delaware, Shawnee, Potawatomi, Ottawa and Chippewa, tribes of native Americans and the United States of America, represented by Lewis...
was signed between the United States and various Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribes. Among its provisions was the ceding of 1920 acres (7.8 km²) of land by the Chippewa, Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, and Potawatomi
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
tribes to the "college at Detroit" for either use or sale, and an equal amount to St. Anne's Church
Ste. Anne de Detroit Catholic Church
Ste. Anne de Détroit, founded July 26, 1701, is the second oldest continuously operating Roman Catholic parish in the United States. The current church, built in 1886, is located at 1000 Ste. Anne St. in Detroit, Michigan near the Richard-Hubbard neighborhood area, the Ambassador Bridge, and the...
in Detroit, where Father Richard was rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
. No college had officially been created yet, so the next month Monteith and Richard decreed the creation of the "First College of Michigania" at Detroit. Despite this decree, no college was organized, and instruction remained limited to the existing primary school and academy.
The land granted to the college and the church was of two parts, one consisting of three section
Section (United States land surveying)
In U.S. land surveying under the Public Land Survey System , a section is an area nominally one square mile, containing , with 36 sections making up one survey township on a rectangular grid....
s near Macon, Michigan and one consisting of three sections to be selected later, with the college and church each having one-half interest in each section. These latter sections were not selected until 1821, and the university received legal title to them in 1824. In 1826, the university swapped its interest in the land at Macon for the church's interest in the others. Though evidence is scant, one historian believes that the land was later sold and the proceeds used in the running of the operation in Detroit.
The University of Michigan was sued in 1971 by descendants of the tribes who claimed that the land grant should have been held in trust
Trust law
In common law legal systems, a trust is a relationship whereby property is held by one party for the benefit of another...
, with the proceeds used to provide for their education. The court ruled in favor of the university, saying the lands were given as an outright gift (due in part to the tribes' affection for Father Richard), and the Michigan Court of Appeals
Michigan Court of Appeals
The Michigan Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court of the state of Michigan. It was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1963, and commenced operations in 1965...
upheld the ruling in 1981.
Name change and decline (1821–1837)
The unwieldy name of the Catholepistemiad and its constituent departments made it a target of ridicule. Governor Cass referred to it as the "Cathole-what's its name" and thought it a "pedantic and uncouth name," while Justice James V. CampbellJames V. Campbell
James V. Campbell was a member of the Michigan Supreme Court from 1858-1890.Campbell was born in Buffalo, New York but was brought to Detroit at a very young age. Campbell served as a law professor at the University of Michigan for much of the time he was on the Michigan Supreme Court.-Sources:*...
said it was "neither Greek, Latin, nor English, [but merely] a piece of language gone mad." On April 30, 1821, Governor Cass and Judges Griffin and James Witherell
James Witherell
James Witherell was a United States Representative from Vermont. He was born in Mansfield, Massachusetts. After completing preparatory studies, he served in the Continental Army 1775-1783 during the American Revolutionary War. He entered service as a private and rose to the rank of Adjutant in...
passed a new act that changed the name of the institution to the University of Michigan and put control in the hands of a Board of Trustees
Board of Regents of the University of Michigan
The Board of Regents of the University of Michigan is the legal corporation that controls the University of Michigan, comprising the campuses at Ann Arbor, Flint, and Dearborn. The Board of Regents was created by the Organic Act of March 18, 1837 that established the modern University of Michigan...
consisting of 20 members plus the governor, with few other changes to its structure. Rev. Monteith, his office of President abolished, was appointed to the Board of Trustees, but left that summer to accept a professorship at Hamilton College. Father Richard was also appointed to the board and remained on it until his death in 1832.
The Trustees continued to oversee operation of the primary school and academy in Detroit and Grand Blanc, at one point reaching an enrollment of 200, but did not establish any additional schools, so the university continued to be one in name only. By 1827, neither school was operating, and the building in Detroit was leased to private teachers. Except as a legal entity, the University of Michigan had essentially ceased to exist.
Founding of the modern University and early expansion (1837–1900)
| College/school founding | |
|---|---|
| College/school | Year founded |
| College of Literature, Science & Arts University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts The University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts is the liberal arts and sciences unit of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Established in 1841 with seven students and two teachers, the college is currently the largest unit at U-M in terms of the number of students... |
1841 |
| School of Medicine University of Michigan Health System The University of Michigan Health System is the wholly owned academic medical center of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. UMHS includes the U-M Medical School, with its Faculty Group Practice and many research laboratories; the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers, which includes University... |
1850 |
| College of Engineering University of Michigan College of Engineering The University of Michigan College of Engineering is the engineering unit of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. With an enrollment of 5,514 undergraduate and 2,646 graduate students as of 2009, the College of Engineering is one of the premier engineering schools in the United States... |
1854 |
| School of Law University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School is the law school of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Founded in 1859, the school has an enrollment of about 1,200 students, most of whom are seeking Juris Doctor or Master of Laws degrees, although the school also offers a Doctor of Juridical... |
1859 |
| School of Dentistry | 1875 |
| School of Pharmacy University of Michigan College of Pharmacy The University of Michigan College of Pharmacy is located on the central campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.-History:Pharmacy was first taught at the University of Michigan in 1868 in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. A School of Pharmacy was established December 29,... |
1876 |
| School of Music, Theatre & Dance | 1880 |
| School of Nursing | 1893 |
| A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning The A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning is an undergraduate and graduate institution for the built environment at the University of Michigan. Formerly known as the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Taubman College gained the namesake of real estate developer and... |
1906 |
| Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies | 1912 |
| Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, often referred to as the Ford School, is a leading public policy school in the United States. Founded in 1914 as the Institute of Public Administration, it was named in 1999 after former President Gerald Ford, who was a 1935... |
1914 |
| School of Education University of Michigan School of Education The University of Michigan School of Education is the education school of the University of Michigan and is located in Ann Arbor, MI... |
1921 |
| Stephen M. Ross School of Business Ross School of Business The Stephen M. Ross School of Business is the business school of the University of Michigan. Numerous publications have ranked the Ross School of Business' Bachelor of Business Administration , Master of Business Administration and Executive Education programs among the top in the country and the... |
1924 |
| School of Natural Resources & Environment | 1927 |
| School of Public Health University of Michigan School of Public Health The University of Michigan School of Public Health is one of the professional graduate schools of the University of Michigan. Located in Ann Arbor, Michigan UM SPH is one of the oldest schools of public health in the country and is also considered one of the most prestigious schools focusing on... |
1941 |
| School of Social Work | 1951 |
| School of Information University of Michigan School of Information The School of Information or iSchool at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is a graduate school offering both a Master of Science in Information and a Doctor of Information .... |
1969 |
| School of Art & Design | 1974 |
| School of Kinesiology | 1984 |
In preparation for statehood, Michigan held a constitutional convention
Constitutional convention (political meeting)
A constitutional convention is now a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution...
in 1835, although actual statehood was withheld by Congress until 1837, after the resolution of the Toledo War
Toledo War
The Toledo War , also known as the Michigan-Ohio War, was the almost entirely bloodless boundary dispute between the U.S. state of Ohio and the adjoining territory of Michigan....
with Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. Sarah Austin's English translation of Victor Cousin
Victor Cousin
Victor Cousin was a French philosopher. He was a proponent of Scottish Common Sense Realism and had an important influence on French educational policy.-Early life:...
's Report on the State of Public Instruction in Prussia had just gained widespread attention, and thanks to its influence on two men, John Davis Pierce and Isaac Edwin Crary, the Michigan Constitution
Michigan Constitution
The Constitution of the State of Michigan is the governing document of the U.S. state of Michigan. It describes the structure and function of the state's government....
of 1835 was the first state constitution in the country to embrace the Prussian model
Prussian education system
The Prussian education system was a system of mandatory education dating to the early 19th century. Parts of the Prussian education system have served as models for the education systems in a number of other countries, including Japan and the United States....
of education, in which a complete system of primary schools, secondary schools, and a university are all administered by the state and supported with tax dollars. The constitution created the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Governor Stevens T. Mason
Stevens T. Mason
Stevens Thomson Mason , also known as Stevens T. Mason, Tom Mason, The Boy Governor, and lesser known nicknames Young Hotspur and The Stripling, was the territorial governor of the Michigan Territory, and later the first Governor of the state of Michigan. Mason guided the Michigan Territory into...
appointed Pierce to the post.
Board of Regents of the University of Michigan
The Board of Regents of the University of Michigan is the legal corporation that controls the University of Michigan, comprising the campuses at Ann Arbor, Flint, and Dearborn. The Board of Regents was created by the Organic Act of March 18, 1837 that established the modern University of Michigan...
consisting of 12 members appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate
Michigan Senate
The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. The Senate consists of 38 members, who are elected from constituencies having approximately 212,400 to 263,500 residents....
, along with the Governor himself, the Lieutenant Governor, the Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court
Michigan Supreme Court
The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is known as Michigan's "court of last resort" and consists of seven justices who are elected to eight-year terms. Candidates are nominated by political parties and are elected on a nonpartisan ballot...
, and the Chancellor of the state. It also created the office of Chancellor of the University, who was to be appointed by the Regents and serve as ex officio President of the Board. In practice, however, the Regents never appointed a Chancellor, instead leaving administrative duties up to a rotating roster of professors, and the Governor chaired the board himself.
A group of businessmen called the Ann Arbor Land Company had set land aside in the village of Ann Arbor, trying to win a bid for a new state capital. When that did not happen, they offered it for sale to the state for use by the university. A second act passed two days after the Organic Act called for the University to be established in Ann Arbor, and directed the Regents to secure a site. The Board of Regents held its first meeting in Ann Arbor on June 5, 1837.
The first classes were held in 1841; six freshmen and a sophomore were taught by two professors. Eleven men graduated in the first commencement ceremony in 1845.
A new state constitution was adopted in 1850, with two significant changes related to the university. The office of Regent was changed from an appointed one to an elected one, and the office of President of the University of Michigan
President of the University of Michigan
The President of the University of Michigan is the principal executive officer of the University of Michigan. The office was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1850, which also specified that the president was to be appointed by the Regents of the University of Michigan and preside at their...
was created, with the Regents directed to select one. In 1852, they chose Henry Philip Tappan
Henry Philip Tappan
Henry Philip Tappan was an American philosopher, educator and academic administrator. He is officially considered the first president of the University of Michigan....
as the university's first president.
Wilhelm von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand Freiherr von Humboldt was a German philosopher, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of Humboldt Universität. He is especially remembered as a linguist who made important contributions to the philosophy of language and to the theory and practice...
and based on Friedrich Schleiermacher’s liberal ideas pertaining to the importance of freedom
Liberty
Liberty is a moral and political principle, or Right, that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions...
, seminar
Seminar
Seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone present is...
s, and laboratories
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
in universities. To that end, Tappan enlarged the library, and supported the development and establishment of laboratories, an art gallery, and the Detroit Observatory. However, Tappan was dismissed in 1863 over conflicts with the Board of Regents concerning matters of policy and personality.
The Medical School
University of Michigan Health System
The University of Michigan Health System is the wholly owned academic medical center of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. UMHS includes the U-M Medical School, with its Faculty Group Practice and many research laboratories; the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers, which includes University...
was founded in 1848, and graduated 90 physicians in 1852. UM opened the first university-owned hospital in the U.S. in 1869. The first student newspaper, The Peninsular Phoenix and Gazetteer, was founded in 1857, which was followed by the biweekly University Chronicle in 1867 and The Michigan Daily
Michigan Daily
The Michigan Daily is the daily student newspaper of the University of Michigan. Its first edition was published on September 29, 1890. The newspaper is financially and editorially independent of the University's administration and other student groups, but shares a university building with other...
in 1890.
By 1865 to 1866, the university's enrollment increased to 1,205 students, with many of the new enrollees veterans of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. In the July 1866 issue of The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
, Harvard University Professor F.H. Hedge depicted UM as the model public institution of higher education for the growing nation. UM began to draw students from across the United States and abroad, and its student body included African Americans. More than 520 of the students enrolled in 1867 were studying at the Medical School. Also in 1867, maize and blue were voted class colors; the Board of Regents made them the official colors of the UM in 1912.
The university's first known African American student, Samuel Codes Watson, was admitted as a medical student in 1853; the first female student, Madelon Louisa Stockwell (lit. 1872) of Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
, was admitted in 1870, and the first known African American woman admitted was Mary Henrietta Graham, in 1876 (lit. 1880). By 1882, UM's alumnae included the president of Wellesley College, Alice Elvira Freeman Palmer. The growing student body also led to unruliness. In 1872, Ann Arbor hosted 49 saloons, and the spectacle of student intoxication and public donnybrooks concerned school administrators and state politicians. Harper's Weekly
Harper's Weekly
Harper's Weekly was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor...
published an article in July 1887 that noted the school's "broad and liberal spirit" and the wide-ranging freedoms of its students.
In 1871, James B. Angell
James Burrill Angell
James Burrill Angell was an American educator, academic administrator, and diplomat. He is best known for being the longest-serving president of the University of Michigan . Under his leadership Michigan gained prominence as an elite public university...
, president of the University of Vermont
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...
, was appointed president of UM, a position that he held until 1909. Angell aggressively expanded the university's curriculum to include and expand professional studies in dentistry, architecture, engineering, government, and medicine. In 1880, President Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution...
appointed Angell a special minister to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
to negotiate the immigration of Chinese laborers. Angell's publicity efforts abroad eventually prompted a large influx of foreign students to the university. UM also began to attract renowned faculty, including pragmatist
Pragmatism
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory. It describes a process where theory is extracted from practice, and applied back to practice to form what is called intelligent practice...
philosopher John Dewey
John Dewey
John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...
, who taught at the university from 1884 to 1894, and Thomas M. Cooley
Thomas M. Cooley
Thomas McIntyre Cooley, LL.D., was the 25th Justice and a Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, between 1864 and 1885. Born in Attica, New York, he was father to Charles Cooley, a distinguished American sociologist...
, who left the university when he was appointed the first chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...
by President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
.
Early 20th century—Continued expansion
Marion LeRoy Burton
Marion LeRoy Burton was the second president of Smith College, serving from 1910 to 1917. He left Smith to become president of the University of Minnesota from 1917 to 1920....
's tenure, which started in 1920, saw the advent of major field research initiatives in Africa, South America, the South Pacific, and the Middle East. Burton raised admissions standards and sought to heighten the academic rigors of the university's courses, while taming the often-rowdy social lives of his students. Burton later made the nominating speech at the Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
for Governor Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
for president in 1924. Shortly after his place in the national spotlight, Burton died of a heart attack. The memorial bell tower
Burton Tower
The Burton Memorial Tower is a clock tower located on Central Campus at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor at 230 South Ingalls Street. Housing a grand carillon, the tower was built in 1936 as a memorial for University President Marion Leroy Burton...
that bears his name remains a prominent campus landmark. Burton was succeeded by Clarence Cook Little, a highly divisive figure who, among other things, offended Roman Catholics with his vocal endorsements of contraception.
The 1930s saw a major crackdown on the consumption of alcohol and the rowdiness that had characterized student life practically from inception. In February 1931, local police raided five fraternities, finding liquor and arresting 79 students, including the captain of the football team and Michigan Daily editors. During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, ritual and widespread freshman hazing all but ceased. Long known as a "dressy campus," student attire became less formal. Fraternities and sororities became less prominent in student life, as their finances and memberships went into steep decline.
UM's position as a prominent research university gained momentum in 1920 with a formal reorganization of the College of Engineering
University of Michigan College of Engineering
The University of Michigan College of Engineering is the engineering unit of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. With an enrollment of 5,514 undergraduate and 2,646 graduate students as of 2009, the College of Engineering is one of the premier engineering schools in the United States...
and the formation of an advisory committee of 100 industrialists to guide academic research initiatives. In addition, 1933 saw the completion of the new Law Quadrangle
University of Michigan Law School
The University of Michigan Law School is the law school of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Founded in 1859, the school has an enrollment of about 1,200 students, most of whom are seeking Juris Doctor or Master of Laws degrees, although the school also offers a Doctor of Juridical...
, a gift from alumnus William W. Cook. The quadrangle quickly became a campus landmark, known for its integration of residence and legal scholarship.
In 1943, Michigan was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program
V-12 Navy College Training Program
The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II...
which offered students a path to a Navy commission.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the university grew into a true research powerhouse, undertaking major initiatives on behalf of the U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
and contributing to weapons development with breakthroughs including the V.T. Fuse, depth bombs, the PT boat, and radar jammers. By 1950, university enrollment had reached 21,000, of whom 7,700 were veterans supported by the G.I. Bill. In the same year, the university purchased 300 acres (121.4 ha) of land north of the Huron River that would later become North Campus.
Later 20th century—Increasing student activism
| University presidents | |
|---|---|
| President | Years |
| Rev. John Monteith Rev. John Monteith Reverend John Monteith was a Presbyterian minister and a founding father of the University of Michigan, formerly known as University of Michigania, also known as the Catholepistemiad... |
1817–1821 |
| none (Board of Trustees) | 1821–1837 |
| none (Board of Regents) | 1837–1852 |
| Henry Philip Tappan Henry Philip Tappan Henry Philip Tappan was an American philosopher, educator and academic administrator. He is officially considered the first president of the University of Michigan.... |
1852–1863 |
| Erastus Otis Haven Erastus Otis Haven Erastus Otis Haven was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1880, and the president of several universities.-Biography:... |
1863–1869 |
| Henry S. Frieze* | 1869–1871 |
| James Burrill Angell James Burrill Angell James Burrill Angell was an American educator, academic administrator, and diplomat. He is best known for being the longest-serving president of the University of Michigan . Under his leadership Michigan gained prominence as an elite public university... |
1871–1909 |
| Henry S. Frieze* | 1880–1882 |
| Henry S. Frieze* | 1887–1888 |
| Harry Burns Hutchins Harry Burns Hutchins Harry Burns Hutchins was the fourth president of the University of Michigan .He was initially named interim president for one year to succeed James Burrill Angell, but his term was later extended after several other candidates, including Woodrow Wilson, were offered the presidency and declined... * |
1897–1898 |
| Harry Burns Hutchins* | 1909–1910 |
| Harry Burns Hutchins | 1910–1920 |
| Marion LeRoy Burton Marion LeRoy Burton Marion LeRoy Burton was the second president of Smith College, serving from 1910 to 1917. He left Smith to become president of the University of Minnesota from 1917 to 1920.... |
1920–1925 |
| Alfred Henry Lloyd Alfred Henry Lloyd -Life:Lloyd received both his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Harvard. He studied philosophy at Göttingen University in Berlin and Heidelberg University, before returning to Harvard for his Ph.D., which he received in 1893. Upon returning from Europe in 1891, Lloyd was recruited by John Dewey as an... * |
1925 |
| Clarence Cook Little | 1925–1929 |
| Alexander Grant Ruthven Alexander Grant Ruthven Alexander Grant Ruthven was the President of the University of Michigan from 1929 to 1951.-Biography:Alexander Grant Ruthven was born in 1882. In 1906, he received a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Michigan. He worked as a professor, director of the University Museum, and Dean. He became... |
1929–1951 |
| Harlan Henthorne Hatcher | 1951–1968 |
| Robben Wright Fleming Robben Wright Fleming Robben Wright Fleming was the President of Wisconsin-Madison from 1964 to 1967, and the University of Michigan from 1968 to 1978.-Biography:... |
1968–1979 |
| Allan Frederick Smith* | 1979 |
| Harold Tafler Shapiro | 1980–1988 |
| Robben Wright Fleming Robben Wright Fleming Robben Wright Fleming was the President of Wisconsin-Madison from 1964 to 1967, and the University of Michigan from 1968 to 1978.-Biography:... * |
1988 |
| James Johnson Duderstadt James Johnson Duderstadt James Johnson Duderstadt was the President of the University of Michigan from 1988 to 1996. He currently holds the title of President Emeritus and University Professor of Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan.-Biography:... |
1988–1996 |
| Homer A. Neal* | 1996 |
| Lee C. Bollinger | 1996–2002 |
| B. Joseph White B. Joseph White Bernard Joseph White is President Emeritus of the University of Illinois and James F. Towey Professor of Business and Leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is Dean Emeritus of the Stephen M... * |
2002 |
| Mary Sue Coleman | 2002–present |
| *Denotes acting/interim president See also President of the University of Michigan President of the University of Michigan The President of the University of Michigan is the principal executive officer of the University of Michigan. The office was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1850, which also specified that the president was to be appointed by the Regents of the University of Michigan and preside at their... |
|
In 1948, Michigan's Institute for Social Research (ISR) was established by Rensis Likert
Rensis Likert
Rensis Likert was an American educator and organizational psychologist best known for his research on management styles...
. Harlan H. Hatcher, an administrator at Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
and professor of English, was appointed university president in 1951. Hatcher fostered early construction in the school's nascent North Campus, and created an Honors College for 5% of entering freshmen. As the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
and the Space Race
Space Race
The Space Race was a mid-to-late 20th century competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in space exploration. Between 1957 and 1975, Cold War rivalry between the two nations focused on attaining firsts in space exploration, which were seen as necessary for national...
took shape, UM became a principal recipient of government research grants, and its researchers were on the vanguard of exploring peacetime uses for atomic power. During Hatcher's administration, the ISR, with its ambitious ongoing effort focused on research and applications of social science, received its own building. In a 1966 report by the American Council on Education
American Council on Education
The American Council on Education is a United States organization, established in 1918, comprising over 1,800 accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities and higher education-related associations, organizations, and corporations....
, the university was rated first or second in the nation in graduate teaching of all 28 disciplines surveyed. In 1971, the central library on campus was named the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library.
The beginning of Hatcher's presidency saw the university in the national spotlight over the first-ever "panty raid" in 1952, an event cheered on by hundreds of students and chronicled by the national press, including Life Magazine. Hatcher's legacy is marked, however, by a much more serious controversy: his suspension of three faculty members—Chandler Davis, Clement Markert, and Mark Nicholson—under pressure from Rep. Kit Clardy
Kit Clardy
Kit Francis Clardy was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. He was also known as Michigan's McCarthy, referring to his affinity for the controversial anti-communist U.S...
and his subcommittee of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Davis ultimately was sentenced to prison for contempt, a conviction that he appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
During the 1960s, numerous UM faculty members served in the administrations of presidents Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. During their administrations, 15 alumni served in the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
and House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. On October 14, 1960, Kennedy, who once referred to Harvard as "The Michigan of the East," announced his intention to form the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
in a speech on the steps of the Michigan Union
Michigan Union
The Michigan Union is a student union at the University of Michigan. It is located at the intersection of South State Street and South University Avenue in Ann Arbor, Michigan....
, and by 1966 332 UM alumni were serving in the Corps. In a commencement address at Michigan Stadium
Michigan Stadium
Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "The Big House," is the football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan Stadium was built in 1927 at a cost of $950,000 and had an original capacity of 72,000. Before playing football at the stadium, the Wolverines played on Ferry Field...
on May 22, 1964, President Johnson first announced his intentions to pursue his Great Society
Great Society
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States promoted by President Lyndon B. Johnson and fellow Democrats in Congress in the 1960s. Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the elimination of poverty and racial injustice...
reforms.
An enduring legacy of the 1960s was the sharp rise in campus activism. The campus tumult of the 1960s was to some extent foreshadowed during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, when disputes arose between faculty, administrators, and students over issues including military instruction and teaching of the German language. In the 1930s, student groups had formed to promote socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, labor, isolationism
Isolationism
Isolationism is the policy or doctrine of isolating one's country from the affairs of other nations by declining to enter into alliances, foreign economic commitments, international agreements, etc., seeking to devote the entire efforts of one's country to its own advancement and remain at peace by...
, and pacifism
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
, as well as interest in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. Political dissent, largely mollified by campus consensus during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, returned to UM with a vengeance during the Civil Rights Movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
and the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
On March 24, 1964, a group of faculty held the nation's first "teach-in
Teach-in
A teach-in is similar to a general educational forum on any complicated issue, usually an issue involving current political affairs. The main difference between a teach-in and a seminar is the refusal to limit the discussion to a specific frame of time or an academic scope of the topic. Teach-ins...
" to protest American policy in Southeast Asia. 2,500 students attended the event. A series of 1966 sit-ins by Voice, the campus political party of Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
, prompted the administration to ban sit-in
Sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of protest that involves occupying seats or sitting down on the floor of an establishment.-Process:In a sit-in, protesters remain until they are evicted, usually by force, or arrested, or until their requests have been met...
s, a move that, in turn, led 1,500 students to conduct a one-hour sit-in in the administration building. In September 1969, a 12,000-student march followed a Michigan football game; on October 15, 1969, 20,000 rallied against the war in Michigan Stadium. Radicals adopted increasingly confrontational tactics, including an episode in which members of the Jesse James Gang, an SDS offshoot, locked themselves in a room with an on-campus military recruiter and refused to release him. Hatcher's successor, Robben Wright Fleming
Robben Wright Fleming
Robben Wright Fleming was the President of Wisconsin-Madison from 1964 to 1967, and the University of Michigan from 1968 to 1978.-Biography:...
—an experienced labor negotiator and former chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
—is credited by university historian Howard Peckham with preventing the campus from experiencing the violent outbreaks seen at other American universities.
Low minority enrollment was also a cause of unrest. In March 1970, the Black Action Movement, an umbrella name for a coalition of student groups, sponsored a campus-wide strike to protest low minority enrollment and to build support for an African American Studies department. The strike included picket lines that prevented entrance to university buildings and was widely observed by students and faculty. Eight days after the strike began, the university granted many of BAM's demands.
Campus activism also changed the character of student social life. By 1973, only 4.7% of the student body participated in fraternities and sororities. The university's student government fell one vote short of approving a marijuana co-op that was based on the premise of high-quantity purchases and free distribution. Such attitudes persist in the Hash Bash
Hash Bash
Hash Bash is an annual event held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the first Saturday of April at high noon on the University of Michigan Diag. A collection of speeches, live music, street vending and occasional civil disobedience are centered on the goal of reforming federal, state, and local marijuana...
, a rally and festival calling for the legalization of marijuana use held annually on and near campus.
During the 1970s, severe budget constraints hindered to some extent the university's physical development and academic standing. For the previous 50 years, all major academic surveys had listed Michigan as one of the nation's top five universities, a standing that began to diminish. For instance, the student-faculty ratio at the U-M Law School
University of Michigan Law School
The University of Michigan Law School is the law school of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Founded in 1859, the school has an enrollment of about 1,200 students, most of whom are seeking Juris Doctor or Master of Laws degrees, although the school also offers a Doctor of Juridical...
became the highest of any elite law school in the U.S. Though the undergraduate division is currently ranked in the top 25, the university is acknowledged to have a faculty whose teaching awards, publications, patents and citations generally rank in the top five in the U.S.
The university's financial condition improved under the leadership of President Harold Shapiro, a former economics professor, during the 1980s. The university again saw a surge in funds devoted to research in the social and physical sciences, although campus controversy arose over involvement in the anti-missile Strategic Defense Initiative
Strategic Defense Initiative
The Strategic Defense Initiative was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983 to use ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. The initiative focused on strategic defense rather than the prior strategic...
and investments in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. A new hospital complex was opened in 1986, including a new University Hospital and the A. Alfred Taubman Health Care Center that centralized outpatient care provided by the Medical School faculty. Also in 1986, UM launched M-CARE, a managed care health plan that provided HMO coverage and other plans to university faculty and staff, retirees, dependents, and to employers in the community.
President James Duderstadt, whose tenure ran from 1988 to 1995, was a nuclear engineer and former engineering dean who emphasized uses for computer and information technology. Duderstadt facilitated achievements in the campus's physical growth and fundraising efforts. His successor, Lee Bollinger
Lee Bollinger
Lee Carroll Bollinger is an American lawyer and educator who is currently serving as the 19th president of Columbia University. Formerly the president of the University of Michigan, he is a noted legal scholar of the First Amendment and freedom of speech...
, had a relatively brief tenure before departing to lead Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
The 21st century—A new set of challenges
In the early 2000s, the UM faced declining state funding as a percentage of its funding due to state budget shortfalls. At the same time, UM has attempted to maintain its high academic standing while keeping tuition costs affordable. The university administration also faced labor disputes with labor unions, notably with the Lecturers' Employees Organization (LEO) and the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), the union representing graduate student employees.In 2003, two lawsuits involving the school's affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
admissions policy reached the U.S. Supreme Court (Grutter v. Bollinger
Grutter v. Bollinger
Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 , was a case in which the United States Supreme Court upheld the affirmative action admissions policy of the University of Michigan Law School...
and Gratz v. Bollinger
Gratz v. Bollinger
Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 244 , was a United States Supreme Court case regarding the University of Michigan undergraduate affirmative action admissions policy...
). President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
took the unusual step of publicly opposing the policy before the court issued a ruling, though the eventual ruling was mixed. In the first case, the court upheld the Law School
University of Michigan Law School
The University of Michigan Law School is the law school of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Founded in 1859, the school has an enrollment of about 1,200 students, most of whom are seeking Juris Doctor or Master of Laws degrees, although the school also offers a Doctor of Juridical...
admissions policy while in the second, it ruled against the university's undergraduate admissions policy.
The debate still continues, however, because in November 2006 Michigan voters passed proposal 2, banning most affirmative action in university admissions. Under that law race, gender, and national origin can no longer be considered in admissions. UM and other organizations were granted a stay from implementation of the passed proposal soon after that election, and this has allowed time for proponents of affirmative action to decide legal and constitutional options in response to the election results. The university has stated it plans to continue to challenge the ruling; in the meantime, the admissions office states that it will attempt to achieve a diverse student body by looking at other factors such as whether the student attended a disadvantaged school, and the level of education of the student's parents.
In late 2006, with the climate for health plans changing rapidly throughout the region and the U.S., the university made the decision to sell M-CARE to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and its Blue Care Network subsidiary. As part of the sale, a new health care quality organization called Michigan HealthQuarters was founded.
Campus expansion
The first two decades of the 20th century saw a construction boom on campus that included facilities to house the dental and pharmacy programs, a chemistry building, a building for the study of natural sciences, the Martha Cook and Helen Newberry residence halls, Hill Auditorium
Hill Auditorium
Hill Auditorium is the largest performance venue on the University of Michigan campus, in Ann Arbor, USA. The auditorium was named in honor of Arthur Hill , who served as a regent of the university from 1901 to 1909. He bequeathed $200,000 to the university for the construction of a venue for...
, and large hospital and library complexes. University President Burton continued the construction boom through the 1920s, including the construction of Michigan Stadium
Michigan Stadium
Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "The Big House," is the football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan Stadium was built in 1927 at a cost of $950,000 and had an original capacity of 72,000. Before playing football at the stadium, the Wolverines played on Ferry Field...
. In 1925, The University Hospital (also known as the Main Hospital) replaced the Catherine Street Hospital. Designed by Albert Kahn, the 893-bed hospital was the largest and most modern facility of its kind in the nation, and was used until 1986. Land for North Campus, which would house the College of Engineering, the School of Music, and the A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning was purchased in 1950.
During the 1980s and 1990s, the university devoted substantial resources to renovating its massive hospital complex and improving the academic facilities on the university's North Campus. At a time when many other universities were choosing to sell their hospitals and clinics, UM created a tighter bond between its Medical School and its Hospitals & Health Centers unit in 1997, forming the University of Michigan Health System
University of Michigan Health System
The University of Michigan Health System is the wholly owned academic medical center of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. UMHS includes the U-M Medical School, with its Faculty Group Practice and many research laboratories; the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers, which includes University...
to act as an "umbrella" over those entities and M-CARE, and designating an Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs who reports directly to the President. The result has been a financially strong and synergistic system for health care delivery, research and medical/bioscience education.
Nevertheless, in the past decade roughly $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
2.5 billion has been budgeted and expended toward such construction, with approximately another $4.8 billion in construction projects in 17 new buildings underway or in planning for the coming decade. Recently, the university has constructed over 1 million square feet (90,000 m²) of academic and laboratory space devoted to the life sciences. In 2005, the university unveiled a development master-plan for the medical campus that is expected to add 3 million square feet (270,000 m²) to the existing 5 million square feet (450,000 m²). Examples of new buildings include the Cardiovascular Center, the Biomedical Science Research Building, the Rachel Upjohn Building and the replacement for C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Women's Hospital, scheduled to open in 2011.
The Ann Arbor campus is divided into four main areas: the North, Central, Medical, and South Campuses. The physical infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
includes more than 500 major buildings, with a combined area of more than 31 million square feet (712 acres or 2.38 km²). The campus also consists of leased space in buildings scattered throughout the city, many occupied by organizations affiliated with the University of Michigan Health System. An East Medical Campus has recently been developed on Plymouth Road, with several university-owned buildings for outpatient care, diagnostics, and outpatient surgery. The university also has an office building called Wolverine Tower in southern Ann Arbor near Briarwood Mall. Another major facility is the Matthaei Botanical Gardens
Matthaei Botanical Gardens
The University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens are botanical gardens with a conservatory operated by the University of Michigan. They are located at 1800 North Dixboro Road in Ann Arbor, Michigan...
, which is located on the eastern outskirts of Ann Arbor.