Contact: Sammy McDavid
Inauguration remarks
Dr. Robert H. Foglesong
Thank you for the warm welcome and the kind words--those extended today and throughout the past six months. Mary and I have been overwhelmed by the hospitality and the acceptance of the community, the state, and the Bulldog family. We can never thank you enough for making us feel that we've come home.
And we're happy to be home. After three years overseas, hundreds of thousands of miles traveled, and stops in dozens of countries across three continents, we're glad to be back in the United States--the best and most respected nation in the world. Mary and I are here to proudly announce that we're born-again Americans.
And we're equally delighted to be back in Mississippi--for the third time. We have lifelong friends here. Our youngest son was born here. As Johnny Cash used to sing, "I've Been Everywhere, Man," and I can tell you--there's nowhere we'd rather be.
We're proud of Mississippi. We were proud of the state last year, watching from Europe on CNN, when you responded to Hurricane Katrina with determination and resolve--and without pointing fingers or worrying about who to blame. We were proud of your character and courage, then, as we are now.
And we're excited to be part of the wave of energy and optimism that is apparent everywhere we go in Mississippi. Our state has enormous strengths and vast opportunities.
Our economic fabric is woven from a strong blend of tradition and innovation, and both strands are important to our future. From catfish and cotton in the Delta, to furniture manufacturing in Northeast Mississippi, to automobile manufacturing in the central part of the state, to shipbuilding and shrimping on the Coast, to the developing aerospace corridor in the Golden Triangle--Mississippi is in motion.
And Mississippi State University has been and will continue to be one of the powerful engines that propels our state forward toward a better quality of life for all of our citizens.
The character and optimism that pervade this state, along with this university's reputation for quality and its pivotal role in Mississippi's progress, exerted a strong attraction for Mary and me. We wanted to be part of this team.
But let's be clear--while this ceremony would make my mother proud, it is not about us. It's about the State of Mississippi and Mississippi State University. One STATE--One TEAM.
This day is about everybody pulling together in the same direction. All of us--faculty, staff, and students; our 108,000 living alumni; community leaders in Starkville, West Point, and Columbus; state and federal officials; and friends everywhere--we're all part of One STATE--One TEAM.
Today, as we formally reaffirm the commitments and mission of this great institution and establish new directions for its future, we invite all of you to join us by "stepping into the Maroon" and being a part of the Great Bulldog Nation.
What is Mississippi State University? And what is its place in the life of this state and nation? On occasions such as this one, those are questions worth pausing to think about--where we've been and where we are today.
We're proud of our history and heritage as a land-grant institution--one of the universities made possible in each state in the latter half of the 19th century by the federal Morrill Act of 1862.
These new institutions had the avowed purpose of bringing higher education to the mass of American citizens, with a focus on agriculture and the "mechanical arts" that we now know as engineering.
Land-grant colleges offered to working class families an alternative to the tradition of classical education for the social elite, and provided to their states a vital source of trained professionals, useful research, and statewide service.
This institution, founded in 1878 as Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College, has evolved, like other land-grants, into a comprehensive university. We offer about 150 undergraduate and graduate majors through eight colleges and more than 50 academic departments.
But MSU retains much of the character and the focus of its origins. We are still The People's University, and wear that label proudly.
Mississippi A&M opened its doors in the fall of 1880 to 354 students. Under the first president, Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee, it operated in military style. The students--nearly all of whom were male--wore uniforms, rose to reveille, attended daily chapel, and performed mandatory daily labor. The three buildings were heated by coal-burning fireplaces and lighted with kerosene lamps.
The first graduates received their degrees in 1883. In 1932, Mississippi A&M became Mississippi State College. The first doctoral degrees were awarded in the 1950s. Mississippi State College became Mississippi State University in 1958.
The university now enrolls more than 16,000 students representing every state and every county of Mississippi, as well as countries around the world. Almost half of the students are women and about 20 percent are African-American.
MSU ranks 55th among the nation's more than 600 public universities in research and development expenditures. Its outreach and extension efforts are supported by offices in every county through partnerships with local communities.
As Congress envisioned when the land-grant system was created, MSU retains its multiple missions of teaching, research, and service.
We educate the youth of the state (and increasingly, citizens of all ages); we perform useful research that is directly linked to economic development; and we provide direct assistance to agriculture, business and industry, schools, and communities across Mississippi in keeping with our responsibility for statewide service.
Gen. Lee oversaw the first bold steps that led to the Mississippi State we know today. During the years since, the efforts, strength, and wisdom of 16 other presidents, more than 7,300 faculty members, and thousands of staff members, students, and alumni have transformed the fledgling A&M into the comprehensive and highly-regarded institution we celebrate today.
As the torch passes to us, we have attempted to envision what our Future STATE will look like. It will be more of the same--but much more!
Our vision as a university is to gain respect, for our current quality and for our commitment to continuous improvement. And our primary mission, as it has been for more than 125 years, is to produce an educated workforce capable of leading within our state and nation.
This institution has awarded more than 140,000 degrees. We have produced thousands of engineers, a large proportion of the state's teachers and other school professionals, hundreds and hundreds of architects and veterinarians, and thousands of other professionals, agriculturalists, and government servants--including my late friend and mentor Sonny Montgomery.
We are also proud to have helped commission generations of officers for the U.S. Army and Air Force.
To build on that legacy of achievement and service, we devised over the past few months a strategic plan for the coming decade. We call it FutureSTATE 2015, and its goals logically mirror the mission of our university:
· To enhance student growth and development, and all that implies--including the recruitment and continued development of a solid faculty, providing the tools for teaching and learning, and giving students opportunities to development their character and leadership potential.
· To conduct useful research that supports economic development and leads to a better quality of life for our citizens.
· To strengthen pride and involvement throughout the Great Bulldog Nation, and
· To assure that university operations are fiscally sound and efficient.
Enhancing student growth and development is our first and foremost goal because Mississippi--perhaps more than any other state--needs more men and women who have gained the skills and knowledge associated with a college education and who are prepared to put those assets to work.
The benefits are huge, to the individual graduates and to the communities and states where they live.
The U. S. Census Bureau estimates that a college graduate typically earns $2.1 million during his or her working life--or almost $1 million more than the average high school graduate, while enjoying a much wider array of employment and promotion opportunities.
And repeated studies have shown that college graduates have higher levels of personal savings, enjoy more hobbies and leisure activities, live longer and stay healthier, are more likely to vote, spend more time with their children, and pay more in taxes. And they are less likely to go to prison, rely on government support, or smoke. That seems like a good deal to me.
FutureSTATE 2015 incorporates dozens of specific initiatives, and we have taken the first steps to put some of them into place.
· We have broadened access to the People's University by providing need-based tuition grants for qualified Mississippians from low-income families through the MSU Promise program.
· We have established a framework to provide new leadership and character development opportunities for selected students through the Appalachian Leadership Honors Program, and are working on an academic minor in leadership studies.
· We have organized in a way that will allow us to respond more effectively to the needs of communities across the state through the Mississippi State Community Action Team.
At every turn, we have been supported and helped by talented and dedicated faculty, staff, and students; by legions of loyal alumni and friends; by state-level leaders and policymakers who understand and appreciate the contributions of higher education; by forward-thinking community leaders; and by colleagues in other state colleges and universities.
Building on the great achievements of the university's past, and drawing on the broad-based coalition of believers in the future of Mississippi State, we are reaching for excellence.
For the tremendous honor and privilege of joining this team, Mary and I are profoundly grateful.
Our hope is that one day we will be able to look back and have the satisfaction of knowing that we had a part in making Mississippi State a more respected university, in opening a bit wider the doors of access for deserving students, and in helping young men and women develop in character and leadership.
We asked for two tickets to Paradise--what a delight to discover that the color of Paradise is Maroon.