Saturday, March 15, 2008

A statue with some history...

As we walked from the MSU museum to the Kresge I turned my eyes to the administration building. I notice this statue which, when you were at the angle I was at, looks like it was walking into the building. As we walked back to the car we stopped and took a few pics of the statue.
It is of John A Hannah, the President of MSU. I guess I have known the name for years and years but never knew his history. Thanks to wikipedia I do now. And so shall you three!
"A native of Grand Rapids, Hannah was most noted for expanding Michigan State from a respected regional undergraduate-oriented institution into a comprehensive national research university, and for helping to get Michigan State into the Big Ten Conference. He was also the first chairman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights
Hannah became president of Michigan State College in 1941. He thus began the largest expansion in the school's history, with the help of the 1945 G.I. Bill, which helped World War II veterans get an education. During this time the university grew by leaps and bounds to accommodate an ever-growing influx of students. One of Hannah's strategies was to build a new residence hall, enroll enough students to fill it, and use the income to start construction on a new dormitory. Under Hannah's plan, enrollment increased from 15,000 in 1950 to 38,000 in 1965
The Hannah Administration Building is named after Hannah.
While he worked on increasing the size of M.S.C.'s student body, Hannah also expanded the institution from a college of regional reputation into a nationally-recognized research university. When the University of Chicago eliminated its athletics and resigned from what is now the Big Ten Conference in 1946, Hannah lobbied hard to take its place. The Big Ten finally admitted M.S.C. in 1950. Five years later, on the College's centennial year of 1955, the State of Michigan made it a university.[4] Michigan State University continued to expand throughout the 1960s, completing its newest dormitory in 1967. None have been built since.
By 1969, Vietnam-era protests had completely reshaped the university. Hannah resigned amidst protests in 1969. However, his legacy lives on. On September 17, 2004, MSU dedicated a bronze statue of Hannah in front of his namesake administration building.


This was stenciled on the ground in front of the statue. Why? I don't know.


The afternoon let Jack exhausted and this was how he looks for the whole of his 20 minute afternoon nap!

1 comment:

Josh said...

Hannah also helped found the MSU School of Packaging with the Wisconsin Department of Forestry. God, sounding like a wonderful man at a great University...Thank God for MSU, one thing that I'm most grateful for in my life!

Go Mr. Hannah, you were a revolutionary in my fine Alma Mater!