{"id":10748,"date":"2014-09-01T07:00:54","date_gmt":"2014-09-01T11:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/creative.clemson.edu\/clemsonworld\/?p=10748"},"modified":"2014-09-01T07:00:54","modified_gmt":"2014-09-01T11:00:54","slug":"the-radical-ideas-and-passion-that-resulted-in-a-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/the-radical-ideas-and-passion-that-resulted-in-a-university\/","title":{"rendered":"The radical ideas and passion that resulted in a university"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In my inaugural address at Commencement May 9, I spoke about the upcoming 125th anniversary of the University\u2019s founding. In November 1889, the state of South Carolina officially accepted the terms of Thomas Green Clemson\u2019s will to establish a scientific institution on the grounds of his Fort Hill home.<br \/>\nBut the story of Clemson University begins much earlier than that. It started with a set of ideas and the passion to make them happen.<br \/>\nThese were radical ideas for the mid-19th century:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The idea that education and research could lift a state and a people out of poverty and despair.<\/li>\n<li>The idea that education should not be limited to an elite class.<\/li>\n<li>The idea that institutions should serve their states and be engaged with their communities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fourth  flex_column_div first  avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_three_fourth  avia-builder-el-first  \" ><blockquote class=\"font-oswald-light blue-ridge\" style=\"font-size: 1.5em\">\n<p>All of us at Clemson today are the beneficiaries of the vision \u2014 and the bequest \u2014 of our founders.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div><br \/>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fourth  flex_column_div   avia-builder-el-1  el_after_av_one_fourth  avia-builder-el-last  \" ><p>These ideas helped shape the Morrill Act of 1862, which created our national network of land-grant universities. Many of these ideas were actually developed, articulated and championed by Thomas Green Clemson. Mr. Clemson wrote and spoke often about the idea of scientific education as the path to prosperity. In the late 1860s he wrote, \u201cOur condition is wretched in the extreme. There is, in my opinion, no hope for the South short of widespread scientific education.\u201d<br \/>\nWhen his wife, Anna, preceded Thomas in death, she left him the land and her resources, which he later bequeathed to the state of South Carolina. This would be used to fund the college that came from their shared dreams \u2014 which he called a \u201chigh seminary of learning.\u201d<br \/>\nAll of us at Clemson today are the beneficiaries of the vision \u2014 and the bequest \u2014 of our founders.<br \/>\n[pullquote align=&#8217;right&#8217; font=&#8217;oswald-light&#8217; color=blue-ridge&#8221;]This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the Smith-Lever Act, the landmark federal legislation that created the Cooperative Extension Service. Through that statewide network, the land-grant promise became a reality.[\/pullquote]<br \/>\nLike the Morrill Act, the Smith-Lever Act has a direct link back to Clemson. The national Extension network was based on the \u201cClemson model,\u201d and Congressman Frank Lever, one of the co-authors of the legislation, was a Clemson trustee. He is buried in Woodland Cemetery, on our campus.<br \/>\nThe connection among the Clemson will, the Act of Acceptance and the Smith-Lever Act is that they created a unique and permanent partnership between Clemson University and the state of South Carolina. That partnership distinguishes Clemson from every other institution of higher learning in the state.<br \/>\nIn this partnership, those of us at Clemson make an important promise. We promise to make a difference, not just for our students, but also in the lives of all the people in this state. And we make a difference by holding true to three commitments.<br \/>\n<strong>First,<\/strong> we commit that we will provide the highest possible level of academic quality. Mr. Clemson wrote that this new education system \u201cis the only hope for South Carolina, and &#8230; that it will give life, vigor and prosperity to unborn thousands &#8230; .\u201d I think it\u2019s fair to say that Mr. Clemson set the bar pretty high for all of us!<br \/>\n<strong>Second,<\/strong> we commit that our campus is the state of South Carolina. We pledge to be actively engaged in every county of South Carolina. Clemson has never been content to remain isolated behind a set of walls. We go where the problems are \u2014 where the opportunities are \u2014 and where the challenges are.<br \/>\n<strong>Third,<\/strong> we commit to support the state\u2019s economic development. Mr. Clemson\u2019s will speaks directly to our responsibility to the economic health of South Carolina. One of the ways we can help to deliver on this promise is through research and innovation.<br \/>\nHolding fast to these commitments will ensure that we meet the high standards set by Mr. Clemson to provide an outstanding education for our students and keep our promise to South Carolina.<br \/>\nI am honored to work alongside all of you to achieve these ambitious goals.<br \/>\nGo Tigers!<br \/>\nJim Clements<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In my inaugural address at Commencement May 9, I spoke about the upcoming 125th anniversary of the University\u2019s founding. In November 1889, the state of South Carolina officially accepted the terms of Thomas Green Clemson\u2019s will to establish a scientific institution on the grounds of his Fort Hill home. But the story of Clemson University [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":11657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13],"tags":[649,1145,1978,2289,2627,2846,2992],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-10748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-view-from-sikes","tag-clements","tag-extension","tag-morrill-act","tag-president","tag-smith-lever","tag-summer-fall-2014","tag-thomas-green-clemson"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/09\/clements.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10748"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=10748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}