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Penn weirdly also has a veterinary school; I believe the only college-level one in the state and ranked quite highly, too. You would think it would be at rural, land grant Penn State and not at a major, urban university in the 5th largest American city, but no... Not quite sure how that happened.
Equestrian sports are a big deal in Philadelphia's collar counties, what with the Radnor Hunt and the Devon Horse Show, both located in Chester County. There are a lot of "gentleman" horse breeders in the area too; Triple Crown contender Smarty Jones in the late 1990s was the product of a local horse farm.
Penn's large animal hospital, the George D. Widener* Veterinary Hospital at the New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, is located in Chester County as well. (The small-animal hospital is on the main campus in Philadelphia's University City section.) I suspect that around the turn of the 20th century, a number of Proper Philadelphians and some new-money arrivistes decided to chip in on a school of veterinary medicine at Penn for this reason.
*George D. Widener is one of two brothers who made a ton of money in streetcars in Philadelphia in the latter half of the 19th century. The other one, Peter A.B., went on to endow Harvard University's main library after his son Harry Elkins Widener (Harvard 1912) went down with the Titanic. George endowed a school for children with disabilities in upper North Philadelphia that's now run by the School District of Philadelphia, and I believe that Fitz Eugene Dixon, who wrote a check that kept the former Pennsylvania Military College from closing, in gratitude for which they renamed the school for his family, was one of George's descendants as well. The New Bolton Center animal hospital is the only connection the Widener family has to Penn.
Equestrian sports are a big deal in Philadelphia's collar counties, what with the Radnor Hunt and the Devon Horse Show, both located in Chester County. There are a lot of "gentleman" horse breeders in the area too; Triple Crown contender Smarty Jones in the late 1990s was the product of a local horse farm.
Penn's large animal hospital, the George D. Widener* Veterinary Hospital at the New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, is located in Chester County as well. (The small-animal hospital is on the main campus in Philadelphia's University City section.) I suspect that around the turn of the 20th century, a number of Proper Philadelphians and some new-money arrivistes decided to chip in on a school of veterinary medicine at Penn for this reason.
*George D. Widener is one of two brothers who made a ton of money in streetcars in Philadelphia in the latter half of the 19th century. The other one, Peter A.B., went on to endow Harvard University's main library after his son Harry Elkins Widener (Harvard 1912) went down with the Titanic. George endowed a school for children with disabilities in upper North Philadelphia that's now run by the School District of Philadelphia, and I believe that Fitz Eugene Dixon, who wrote a check that kept the former Pennsylvania Military College from closing, in gratitude for which they renamed the school for his family, was one of George's descendants as well. The New Bolton Center animal hospital is the only connection the Widener family has to Penn.
Actually, there is an Indiana State University. It's a former state teacher's college (formally known as Normal Schools); See: https://www.indstate.edu/
Interesting history of Pennsylvania's universities... Ironically, the Penn State name imbroglio isn't the first time big, bad University of Pennsylvania name raised confusion and angst for another school in the state. All the way on the other end of the state, Pitt, the University of Pittsburgh, was originally known as the University of Western Pennsylvania and, well, you see where this is going... Apparently it came to a head in 1893 at the World Colombian Exhibition (aka: the Chicago World's Fair) when in (I believe) the Arts & Sciences exhibition hall, U. Penn had a very large natural history cabinet display (skeletons, stuffed animals, plants, insects and the like) which was right next to that of, you guessed it, that of University of Western Pennsylvania; the latter being much smaller and IIRC, the Penn people were highly insulted that people confused their grand exhibit with the tiny one of University of Western Pennsylvania, letting the latter school hear about it, to the latter chagrin ... and even greater insult and chagrin, and at the conclusion of the World's Fair, vowed to do something about it...
But U. Western PA had bigger problems: the Pittsburgh (then spelled "Pittsburg" in those days, by most people -- not quite sure exactly when the "h" was hooked on at the end; sometime after 1900 I believe) was small, weak-financed vagabond school moving around every couple decades from place to place in/around the rapidly growing steel city (between 'Pittsburg' and the adjacent small town of Allegheny, which the former eventually annexed); worrying about its name was superfluous... But Penn, itself ironically, had recently (as in a decade or so) been a similar broke, lesser-known commuter school -- but Penn had come into some cash and moved from Center City Philadelphia across the river from it's cramped 2-building quarters (1 building for the college, the other for the medical school) wedged in next to Independence Hall, out onto verdant (then) farmland of West Philly (the school swung a deal with the City, which owned the land, to obtain a significant chunk free of charge, in exchange for a perpetual deal that at least 100 City kids received full-tuition scholarships -- a deal which came into question by city officials in the late 1990s as the Ivy League school had seemingly, quietly moved away from this policy, instead granting such scholarships from kids around the country ... somehow the controversy was eventually settled, somehow)...
It wasn't until after the turn of the 20th Century that the U. of Western PA itself found itself the recipient of some serious coin; just not U.Penn-level coin (UWP's
$$ coming from the Mellon family IIRC) to move to a permanent home on a plot of Pittsburgh hilly farmland, which came to be called "Oakland." It was then officials decided to end the maddening U.Penn confusion by changing their schools name to the University of Pittsburgh. Sadly for Pitt that, while a very good school, it just could swing that Ivy League/Ivy-like swagger of the big time cross-state private U... but it came close... Just prior to 1900 when UWP officials were looking for money and a permanent home, they turned to then uber-wealthy Pittsburgh steel-man Andrew Carnegie -- he of poor Scottish, HS dropout, immigrant beginnings who, by 1900, was in the twilight of life and, by then, giving his fortune away to cities, colleges and universities to build libraries ... with his name on them, of course. Had UWP-turned-Pitt become the prime beneficiary of Carnegie's vast wallet, well... Unfortunately for Pitt, Carnegie, instead, established (in 1900) his own, separate Carnegie Technical Schools, a series of Voc-Ed schools that quickly morphed into Carnegie Tech institute/university, morphing into a prestigious MIT/Caltech-type engineering institute (with, weirdly, a bigtime drama department) and then (in the 1960s) merging with the Mellon Institute to form Carnegie Mellon University ... a school which, obviously, itself has considerably more academic swag than Pitt (though, again, very good itself) and is more in the academic league with Penn...
... poor Pitt; just couldn't quite catch a break.
Very interesting stuff. I hadn't realized any of the funding information related to PA's "state" universities, though I did realize Pitt and Temple were "quasi" state schools; I didn't realize that about Penn State. I had just assumed it was just another one of the land-grant universities developed to promote farming science (and starting with Michigan in the early 1800s). Also didn't realize that Carnegie was hit up for funds to support Pitt (though I guess that would make sense … I'm sure Westinghouse, Phipps, et. al. were also). BTW: Carnegie Mellon isn't noted only for drama (as a fine art), it's noted for a full range of fine arts subjects (and has been since it stated in 1912 … yes, chartered in 1900 but didn't actually have degree candidates until 1912). So, the drama thing isn't really an outlier. Pratt Institute in Brooklyn has a similar, though I think much less illustrious, history (apologies to Pratt alumni in advance). All reinforces your point that CMU is a pretty unusual and distinct school.
Penn weirdly also has a veterinary school; I believe the only college-level one in the state and ranked quite highly, too. You would think it would be at rural, land grant Penn State and not at a major, urban university in the 5th largest American city, but no... Not quite sure how that happened.
No mystery on "how that happens." Every University of (state's name) is public....except for the University of Pennsylvania. Little known is the fact that Penn actually was a state university for a short period of time when the state of PA took over the institution shortly after the Revolution, but the school, of course, was returned to private status. It was during this state oriented era that the term University of Pennsylvania was first used.
So for that "University of<state's name>" (allowing for city names coming afterwards), you will find them in every state except for Pennsylvania....and, I believe, additionally only Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, New Jersey, and New York (I don't count SUNY as being of that word structure. Until the 1960s, Iowa didn't have one either since the university in Iowa City was named the State University of Iowa"). And only in Louisiana does that word structure represent (two) non-flagship state universities.
You are right. The Ivies have traditionally been intellectually stuffy and anything that smacks of being vocational and not (allegedly) "knowledge for knowledge sake" has traditionally been looked down upon. And even though Cornell is a part public land grant school with programs like agriculture, mechanical arts (older general term for engineering), veterinary, hotel, etc... Penn has been viewed as the practical/vocational Ivy, and been frowned upon by the Big 3 (Harvard, Yale & Princeton) which, more than others, tend to set the course for all the Ivies. It's no secret as to why Penn and Cornell have been viewed as being (allegedly) at the bottom of the Ivy League... But these days, Penn is one of the hottest schools in the Ivies and nationally in terms of applications and admissions standards... As they say: every dog has his/her day.
and (GASP!), Cornell has cursed with very short ivy roots in the ground: a "we're not worthy" 18(yes, 18!)65 with all the others were founded not in the United States, but in colonial America. And let's make it (GASP! again) worse: only Cornell was founded in a location (Ithaca, NY) that was not within the colonies.
and one further and even bigger GASP!: Cornell alone has a public component, having the NYS land-grant ag (GASP once more) school....so, yes, New Yorkers can go to Cornell ag and get an in-state tuition.
No mystery on "how that happens." Every University of (state's name) is public....except for the University of Pennsylvania. Little known is the fact that Penn actually was a state university for a short period of time when the state of PA took over the institution shortly after the Revolution, but the school, of course, was returned to private status. It was during this state oriented era that the term University of Pennsylvania was first used.
So for that "University of<state's name>" (allowing for city names coming afterwards), you will find them in every state except for Pennsylvania....and, I believe, additionally only Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, New Jersey, and New York (I don't count SUNY as being of that word structure. Until the 1960s, Iowa didn't have one either since the university in Iowa City was named the State University of Iowa"). And only in Louisiana does that word structure represent (two) non-flagship state universities.
That boldfaced phrase referred to why the only veterinary school in the state is located at a private university in a large city and not at the university founded to educate farmers in best practices* in a more rural location. I answered that above.
Actually, the more specific chronology is this: In 1779, after the colonies declared their independence, the Pennsylvania legislature formed an institiution it called the "University of the State of Pennsylvania" and seized the buildings of the College of Philadelphia (chartered 1740, first classes 1755), whose trustees were pro-British, to house it. This, by the way, was the first university established in the United States. The College of Philadelphia had already become a university in form when it established its "Medical Department" - the nation's first medical school - in 1765.
The College trustees fought to get their buildings back over the next decade-plus. ISTR that the two institutions were merged into one under the control of the private College trustees but now called the "University of Pennsylvania" around 1791.
So yes, Penn WAS a state university, for a while. The first in the country to boot.
*Someone told me once that the Pennsylvania State University was originally called the "Farmers High School" when it was established in 1855. I've seen no documentation of this.
That boldfaced phrase referred to why the only veterinary school in the state is located at a private university in a large city and not at the university founded to educate farmers in best practices* in a more rural location. I answered that above.
Actually, the more specific chronology is this: In 1779, after the colonies declared their independence, the Pennsylvania legislature formed an institiution it called the "University of the State of Pennsylvania" and seized the buildings of the College of Philadelphia (chartered 1740, first classes 1755), whose trustees were pro-British, to house it. This, by the way, was the first university established in the United States. The College of Philadelphia had already become a university in form when it established its "Medical Department" - the nation's first medical school - in 1765.
The College trustees fought to get their buildings back over the next decade-plus. ISTR that the two institutions were merged into one under the control of the private College trustees but now called the "University of Pennsylvania" around 1791.
So yes, Penn WAS a state university, for a while. The first in the country to boot.
*Someone told me once that the Pennsylvania State University was originally called the "Farmers High School" when it was established in 1855. I've seen no documentation of this.
This one is strictly a guess on my part: Penn State is the only true flagship of a state that started life as a college. Penn State was PA's land-grant and was dedicated to agriculture and related fields like other flagships.
Milton Eisenhower, Ike's brother, became president of Pennsylvania State College after WWII and during the era of the great expansion of public universities with returning veterans and soon afterwards baby boomers en masse. It was under Eisenhower the college transformed in 1953 from college to university as through Eisenhower's leadership, Penn State was turned into a comprehensive public university and one worthy of flagship status. So truthfully, Pennsylvania came to the state flagship university later than other states (arguably all states, save for NYS)
Penn State, along with Michigan State, holds the honor of first land-grant. And MSU, like PSU, transformed from college to university status and becoming a more comprehensive school during the same era and under a similar dynamic university president, John Hannah.
MSU differs from Penn State insofar as Michigan already had a flagship, certainly one of real note, in U-M. Like other schools like it, U-M fought (obviously unsuccessfully) Michigan State College's efforts to become a university which it did 1955. Less than ten years later, it was allowed to shed the "of Agriculture and Applied Sciences" from its name.
Ugggh. I would never use the terms "like" and "respect" in the same sentence with MSU. Ever. Nassar cover-up and denials, rape culture. They're in a league with Penn State and Baylor. Deplorable. Also feel sorry for you that you think MSU you should be held in the same regard as Michigan, UVA and Cal. I'm not even sure what to say to that one. I wonder how Cal, Michigan and VA would respond. You're a good poster edsg, I just vehemently disagree with you here.
Michigan State students do not support a "rape culture", either in theory or in practice! The vast majority of students and staff at this enormous university are disgusted with the Nassar cover-up, as am I.
I can tell you this for certain as a Michigan resident and parent of a current student, as well as another who is a graduate, one male and one female. They and their many friends who are alumni and current students, are truly horrified. They do, however, greatly respect the quality of education and student opportunity at their school, and have no regrets.
The Nassar circus is truly obscene (especially the man at the center)--- but you know the media milked it for all it's worth. The uglier the news, the more coverage it gets, in all facets of life. You've probably noticed this. It's what they do, 24 hours a day. They have jobs to keep.
This certainly does not honestly reflect on the quality of the staff, students, and programs as a whole.
*Someone told me once that the Pennsylvania State University was originally called the "Farmers High School" when it was established in 1855. I've seen no documentation of this.
Michigan State students do not support a "rape culture", either in theory or in practice! The vast majority of students and staff at this enormous university are disgusted with the Nassar cover-up, as am I.
I can tell you this for certain as a Michigan resident and parent of a current student, as well as another who is a graduate, one male and one female. They and their many friends who are alumni and current students, are truly horrified. They do, however, greatly respect the quality of education and student opportunity at their school, and have no regrets.
The Nassar circus is truly obscene (especially the man at the center)--- but you know the media milked it for all it's worth. The uglier the news, the more coverage it gets, in all facets of life. You've probably noticed this. It's what they do, 24 hours a day. They have jobs to keep.
This certainly does not honestly reflect on the quality of the staff, students, and programs as a whole.
Very well said.
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