Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections

Andrew Dickson White in 1902.

In the months before his inauguration, Andrew Dickson White set out to assemble a top faculty for Cornell University. White's hires provoked animosity, according to historian Morris Bishop. "The Cornell idea itself, with its proclaimed need for an overturn in educational theory and practice, insulted every established college. Cornell's capture of the land grant left burning jealousies in many a starveling institution."

None of this troubled White, and as he took the reins of Cornell leadership Oct. 7, 1868, he articulated his vision for the university. "White and Cornell had both been ill, but they roused from their beds for the ceremony," Bishop writes. Preceding White, Ezra Cornell said: "I believe that we have made the beginning of an institution which will prove highly beneficial to the poor young men and the poor young women of our country."

White, "gaining strength as he spoke," dealt with ideas including the "close union of liberal and practical education, unsectarianism," the need for equality in prestige between courses of study, "the combination of study and physical labor, the magnification of scientific study. In short, the University would adapt itself to current needs of the nation."

The "thrilling" speech, "wildly applauded by all the liberal-minded listeners," Bishops contends, "remains a fundamental statement of the Cornell Idea."

-- Adapted by George Lowery from Morris Bishop's "A History of Cornell."