The Ongoing State University

The Ongoing State University was first published in 1960.As president of the University of Minnesota from 1945 to 1960, his year of retirement, James Lewis Morrill directed one of the largest universities of the world during a period of unusual challenge.

There this volume, based on his speeches and papers during that time, has significance for anyone concerned with higher education - administrators, faculty members, students, or the interested public.The book reflects the philosophy, ideas, and view points of the head of a land-grant university who served at the close of the war years, with their special problems and urgencies, and during the postwar years, with their burgeoning enrollments and complex teaching demands.

Although the University of Minnesota occupies an important position on the academic scene, Dr. Morrill's view as presented here is not limited to his own campus.

His horizon extends to the purposes, problems, and potentialities of a broad segment of America's higher education resources.Dr. Morrill traces the history and development of the land-grant idea and its continuing opportunities and obligations.

He discusses the role of the state university and its unique achievements in this country.

He explains the service functions of a state-supported university as exemplified at Minnesota.

He briefly summarizes the history of American universities and discusses the function of the administrator in this course.

He devotes separate chapters to such significant subjects as academic freedom and responsibility, the place of religion in a state university, the role of intercollegiate athletics, the concept and execution of public relations, the opportunities for alumni, the responsibility of the state to its university, and the relationship of the federal government to higher education.

In conclusion, he defines the challenge of the future to higher education, both in Minnesota and in the nation as a whole, emphasizing the need for public interest and participation in this difficult and rewarding venture.