UMass celebrates founding

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

By DIANE LEDERMAN

dlederman@repub.com

AMHERST - More than a thousand people joined Gov. Deval L. Patrick, UMass President Jack M. Wilson and state and local officials at the campus Fine Arts Center yesterday in a rousing celebration to mark the founding 145 years ago of what is now the University of Massachusetts.

Led by the Minuteman Marching Band students cheered, waved streamers and yelled "Go UMass."

This was the first ever celebration of founders day, which was initiated by interim Chancellor Thomas M. Cole Jr.

Students from all over the area including the Springfield High School of Science and Technology performed in the morning festivities before the noontime appearances by Wilson and Patrick. Despite the rain, the university put on a barbecue in tents outside and hundreds of students ate burgers and cupcakes.

On April 29, 1863, Gov. John A. Andrew incorporated the board of trustees for the Massachusetts Agricultural College which has grown into UMass.

Both Wilson and Patrick praised the history as well as the university's position in the world.

Patrick said the university "is well positioned as any place on the planet for taking education to the next level." He talked about the Q microbe, found at the Quabbin Reservoir by Susan B. Leschine, a microbiologist at UMass, that he said is "going to revolutionize biofuels."

But he said "we're not going to be able to fuel the future on fumes of the past. We have to reach forward and lean forward."

He talked about the $2 billion bond bill that will be used for building improvements on all public education campuses. He said the state has "to reduce the burden of mandatory fees" for students and to increase the number and salaries for faculty. Faculty, who were holding a banner in the Fine Arts Center reading "No More Pay Cuts," applauded. Faculty and staff had also been handing out an informational flier asking for "no more pay cuts" and asking the governor and Wilson to be "real champions for pubic higher education by offering fair contracts."

"I do not have all those answers," Patrick said. But he intends "to work in partnership" to get those answers.

Wilson said that the university has grown from its agricultural days to a university with 10 colleges and the recipient of $130 million in grants. He said the university has world-class stature and when he was in Japan recently, he met with presidents of four other Asian universities who were all UMass alumni.

In remarks before his speech he said the university has changed "in some ways dramatically and in some ways it hasn't changed a bit." Instead of predominantly agricultural, it's moved on to nanotechnolgy and life sciences but is still serving its mission.

Founders Day is a reminder "of everything the university has meant to the world."

Patrick went from Amherst to Northampton, where he had lunch with Northampton Mayor Mary Clare Higgins and swore in Probate Court Judge Linda S. Fidnick. At City Hall, the governor announced the awarding of two state grants benefiting the local economy.

Amherst Woodworking & Supply Co., which recently became the first business at Village Hill Northampton, the former Northampton State Hospital development site, received a $44,000 Workforce Training Fund grant. The money will help the company train 44 employees in new manufacturing techniques. Patrick said the state will award $18 million in similar grants over the next 60 days and touted the concept as a way of preserving the dwindling supply of manufacturing jobs in Massachusetts.

The governor also announced that the state Department of Agricultural Resources has chosen the Three County Fairgrounds to participate in its Fair Improvement Program. The designation makes the fairground eligible for $50,000 in state funds to renovate buildings, animal stalls and other structures.