Full Title:
Where did US Public Higher Education Begin? Georgia and North Carolina Claim the Honor, Newspaper Article
Excerpt:
Where Did U.S. Public Higher Education Begin? Georgia and North Carolina Claim the Honor
The University of North Carolina is making big plans to celebrate its 200th birthday in 1995, and officials there are billing the festivities as the bicentennial of the founding of American public higher education.
“Meanwhile, the University of Georgia has been celebrating the bicentennial of American public higher education for the past 17 months. Georgia officials are careful to note, though, that what they are actually commemorating is the bicentennial of the university’s charter.
Sixteen years passed before Georgia opened its doors to students in 1801, according to Thomas G. Dyer, who, in addition to his responsibilities as professor of history and education and associate vice-chancellor for academic affairs, is in charge of Georgia’s bicentennial celebration.
The University of North Carolina was chartered in 1789, and its early leaders laid the cornerstone of Old East—”the first public university building in America”-in 1793. In 1795, Hinton James “the first public university student in America” –started his studies.
“Georgia has been celebrating a piece of paper,” says Ted Bomus, North Carolina’s
director of public information. We like to celebrate the teacher and the student.”
Carolina’s Motto
North Carolina intends to celebrate its charter, too, but Mr. Bo- nus thinks that Georgia’s bicentennial implies, to the casual observer, at least, that the university has been in continuous operation for 200 years. “Here in North Carolina,” he says. “our state motto is ‘To be rather than to seem.’”
Georgia’s Mr. Dyer holds that piece of paper in greater esteem. “The charter was
extremely important in our state, and for American higher education generally,” he says.
Of his rival, Mr. Dyer says: “We regard ourselves as a sister institution of North Carolina. We admire it. It’s a great university.”
The government of the United States has weighed in on the side of Georgia and its “piece of paper.” The National Center for Education Statistics, which keeps tabs on such things, ranks Georgia as the 23rd oldest operating university in the nation. North Carolina holds the 28th slot.
Four public institutions are older than Georgia, but they started as private colleges.
Despite that, North Carolina considers the arrival of Hinton James to Old East the true founding of public higher education.
“It’s like your birthday,” Mr. Bonus explains. “Do you celebrate it on the day you were born, or on that marvelous date of creation some nine months before?”
-JEAN EVANGELAUF
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Source Citation:
Evangelauf, Jean. 1985. Where did US Public Higher Education Begin? Georgia and North Carolina Claim the Honor, Newspaper Article. Article.