Bumpers College dean kicks off centennial celebration
April 25, 2005Contact Information:
Howell Medders, hmedders@uark.edu, 575-5647
FIRST GRADUATE-Hugh Ellis Morrow of Fayetteville was the first University of Arkansas graduate to receive a bachelor of science in agriculture degree. He was one of 30 graduates in the class of 1904. The College of Agriculture was established in the fall of 1905. The college was renamed College of Agriculture and Home Economics in 1954 and Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences in 1995.
An exhibit on the history of Bumpers College unveiled at the reception is now on display in the atrium of the Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences Building.
The centennial party included the cutting of a 100th birthday cake and 100 peals of the William and JoElla Toller Celebration Bell at the Janelle Y. Hembree Alumni House.
Weidemann said the college was formally established in 1905 with 10 students and two full-time faculty members.
"This year the college enrolled nearly 1,200 undergraduates and over 340 graduate students served by more than 160 faculty," Weidemann said. "Over the 100 years of our existence, nearly 12,000 graduates have had their names inscribed on senior walk.
"The college has educated a virtual who's who in agricultural leadership and the human sciences. I have every expectation that we will continue to produce the leaders of tomorrow in their chosen fields."
The Arkansas Alumni Association database includes 9,965 names of living UA alumni with degrees in the agricultural, food and life sciences.
Other centennial events will include a fall lecture series and a time capsule to be placed in the Agriculture Building. Details will be announced on a special centennial Website: http://bumpers100.uark.edu/.
The celebration will conclude with a "Party of the Century" gala set for Dec. 3 at the Northwest Arkansas Convention Center to include distinguished speakers, a banquet and entertainment.
Producing college graduates with training in scientific agriculture was one of the mandates of the Arkansas Industrial University when it was established in 1872 under the terms of the Morrill Land-Grant College Act of 1862.
The faculty at what soon became the University of Arkansas offered courses in agricultural sciences, but few students enrolled in what was then a radical departure from the standard university curriculum, according to "History of the Bumpers College," a 332 page illustrated book by Gary Zellar and Nancy Wyatt.
Public pressure to produce agricultural graduates was a major factor in a reorganization of the university in 1886 with increased emphasis on agriculture courses.
The Barker Bill passed by the Legislature in 1887 outlined a complete course of agricultural studies and required all male students to work on the university farm.
In 1888, the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station was establish by the Legislature to conduct research, with the help of federal funding under the Hatch Act of 1887.
In 1904, one of the 30 graduates that year, Hugh Ellis Morrow of Fayetteville, became the first graduate to receive the bachelor of science in agriculture degree. The College of Agriculture was established the next fall, in 1905. The first dean was W.G. Vincenheller, who was already director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station.
The statewide Cooperative Extension Service, established in 1915 as part of the college, completed the infrastructure for the three-part mission of the land-grant university in agriculture: resident teaching, research and service.
The college was renamed College of Agriculture and Home Economics in 1954 and Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences in 1995. Also in 1995, the home economics department was renamed the School of Human Environmental Sciences and remained within the college.
The generic "agri and home ec" image of the college has been replaced in recent years with a broader identity as Bumpers College.
In addition to preparing students for careers in the diverse agricultural and food industries, majors focus on human ecology and the environment.
Bumpers College has 11 academic departments that offer 15 diverse majors.
Majors for the bachelor of science in agriculture degree are agricultural business; agricultural education, communication and technology; animal science; biological engineering; crop management; environmental, soil, and water science; food science; horticulture; poultry science; and turf and landscape horticulture.
Majors for the bachelor of science in human environmental sciences and bachelor of interior design degrees are apparel studies; food, human nutrition and hospitality; general human environmental sciences; human development and family sciences; and interior design.