PRINTER'S NO. 3438
No. 600 Session of 2004
INTRODUCED BY HERMAN, BENNINGHOFF, HANNA, PERZEL, S. H. SMITH,
DeWEESE, FEESE, VEON, E. Z. TAYLOR, BUNT, COY, ARGALL,
PHILLIPS, BELARDI, STETLER, HERSHEY, DALEY, ADOLPH, BAKER,
BALDWIN, BARD, BARRAR, BASTIAN, BEBKO-JONES, BIANCUCCI,
BROWNE, BUXTON, CALTAGIRONE, CAPPELLI, CAUSER, CLYMER,
CORRIGAN, COSTA, CRAHALLA, CREIGHTON, CURRY, DAILEY, DALLY,
DeLUCA, DERMODY, DiGIROLAMO, DONATUCCI, EACHUS, EGOLF,
FABRIZIO, FAIRCHILD, FICHTER, FLEAGLE, FLICK, FORCIER,
FRANKEL, FREEMAN, GANNON, GEIST, GEORGE, GERGELY, GINGRICH,
GODSHALL, GOOD, GRUCELA, GRUITZA, HABAY, HARHAI, HARPER,
HARRIS, HESS, HICKERNELL, HORSEY, HUTCHINSON, KELLER, KENNEY,
KILLION, KIRKLAND, KOTIK, LaGROTTA, LEACH, LEDERER,
LESCOVITZ, LEVDANSKY, LEWIS, MACKERETH, MAHER, MAJOR,
MANDERINO, MANN, MARKOSEK, MARSICO, McCALL, McGILL,
McILHATTAN, McNAUGHTON, MILLARD, R. MILLER, S. MILLER, MUNDY,
MUSTIO, NAILOR, NICKOL, O'BRIEN, O'NEILL, PALLONE, PAYNE,
PICKETT, PISTELLA, READSHAW, REED, REICHLEY, ROBERTS,
ROEBUCK, ROSS, RUBLEY, SAINATO, SANTONI, SATHER, SAYLOR,
SCAVELLO, SCHRODER, SEMMEL, SHANER, B. SMITH, SOLOBAY,
STABACK, STAIRS, STERN, R. STEVENSON, T. STEVENSON, STURLA,
SURRA, TANGRETTI, J. TAYLOR, THOMAS, TIGUE, VANCE, VITALI,
WALKO, WANSACZ, WASHINGTON, WATSON, WEBER, WHEATLEY,
WOJNAROSKI, WRIGHT, YUDICHAK AND ZUG, MARCH 16, 2004
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
MARCH 16, 2004
A RESOLUTION
1 Congratulating The Pennsylvania State University on the
2 commencement of its sesquicentennial celebration and
3 reaffirming its designation as Pennsylvania's land-grant
4 university.
5 WHEREAS, In response to the interests of the State
6 Agricultural Society, created by the General Assembly in 1851,
7 in establishing an educational institution to bring general
8 education and knowledge of modern farming methods to the farmers
1 of this Commonwealth, the General Assembly first issued a
2 charter to the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania in 1854; and
3 WHEREAS, A permanent charter was issued by the General
4 Assembly on February 22, 1855, for "...an institution for the
5 education of youth in the various branches of science, learning
6 and practical agriculture, as they are connected with each
7 other, by the name, style and title of the Farmers' High School
8 of Pennsylvania"; and
9 WHEREAS, A subsequent act of the General Assembly in 1857
10 established Penn State's research and service missions,
11 instituted an office "... where correct and perfect analysis
12 shall be made, without charge, of all soils and manures which
13 shall be sent by citizens of this commonwealth for that purpose,
14 and a correct report returned of the result of said analysis"
15 and directed that the institution "... shall furnish reports of
16 the result of all experiments made with trees, shrubs, plants,
17 seed, soils and the breeding and rearing of stock, to at least
18 one newspaper in each county in the commonwealth for
19 publication, the same to be furnished monthly, or immediately
20 after the results of the investigations are known"; and
21 WHEREAS, The 1855 charter and subsequent acts became the
22 model for the Morrill Land-Grant College Act (1862), where
23 Congress provided for the distribution of grants of public lands
24 owned by the Federal Government to the states for establishing
25 and maintaining institutions of higher learning in which "the
26 leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and
27 classical studies, to teach such branches of learning as are
28 related to agriculture and the mechanical arts...in order to
29 promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial
30 classes in the several pursuits and professions of life"; and
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1 WHEREAS, In 1863 the Commonwealth accepted the grant of land
2 "with all its provisions and conditions, and the faith of the
3 state is hereby pledged to carry the same into effect"; and
4 WHEREAS, The State designated its Farmers' High School,
5 renamed the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania, as the
6 Commonwealth's sole land grant institution; and
7 WHEREAS, The mission of the land-grant college was expanded
8 by subsequent Federal and State laws, such as the act of July
9 25, 1913, in which the General Assembly directed that:
10 in order to bring directly to the farmers of Pennsylvania
11 the results of the thirty-one years of experiments
12 conducted by the Agricultural Experiment Station in soil
13 fertilization, farm crops, fruits, vegetable, dairying,
14 poultry, and farm animals, and in order thereby to
15 increase rural prosperity and to better rural conditions,
16 the trustees of the Pennsylvania State College may employ
17 and maintain resident county advisers and traveling
18 experts in farm management; conduct farmers' weeks, co-
19 operative experiments, and field demonstrations, for
20 purposes of instruction; make exhibits and demonstrations
21 at county fairs; prepare and operate exhibit cars;
22 maintain reading and correspondence courses intended for
23 rural communities; conduct contests among school children
24 in growing corn, vegetables, fruit and flowers, and in
25 preserving, canning, and sewing; co-operate with the
26 State Superintendent of Public Instruction in advancing
27 agricultural household management, nature study, and
28 manual training, in the rural schools, in the normal
29 schools, and in teachers' institutes; prepare, print and
30 distribute pamphlets, leaflets and outlines; and conduct
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1 such other forms of extension work as may seem to the
2 trustees of said institution practicable and profitable
3 to the people of the State;
4 and
5 WHEREAS, The missions of instruction, research, outreach and
6 extension continue to be the focus of The Pennsylvania State
7 University and have grown to where the Commonwealth's land-grant
8 university is now one of the most highly regarded research
9 universities in the nation, with an outstanding outreach and
10 extension program that serves nearly one out of two
11 Pennsylvanians a year and an undergraduate school of immense
12 scope and popularity; therefore be it
13 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives commend and
14 congratulate The Pennsylvania State University for 150 years of
15 service to the citizens of this Commonwealth and reaffirm its
16 designation as the land-grant university of the Commonwealth of
17 Pennsylvania; and be it further
18 RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to
19 the Trustees of The Pennsylvania State University, University
20 Park, PA 16802.
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