University of Vermont - History

History

The University of Vermont was founded as a private university in 1791, the same year Vermont became the 14th state in the union. In 1865, the university merged with Vermont Agricultural College (chartered November 22, 1864, after the passage of the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act), emerging as the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College. The University of Vermont draws 6.8% of its annual budget of about $600 million from the state and Vermont residents make up 35 percent of enrollment; 65 percent of students come from other states and countries.

Much of the initial funding and planning for the university was undertaken by Ira Allen, who is honored as UVM's founder. Allen donated a 50-acre (200,000 m2) parcel of land for the University's establishment. Most of this land has been maintained as the university's main green, upon which stands a statue of Allen.

The citizens of Burlington helped fund the university's first edifice, and, when fire destroyed it in 1824, also paid for its replacement. This building came to be known as "Old Mill" for its resemblance to New England mills of the time. The Marquis de Lafayette, a French general who became a commander in the American Revolution, toured all 24 US states in 1824/5 and while in Vermont laid the cornerstone of Old Mill, which stands on University Row, along with Ira Allen Chapel, Billings Center, Williams Hall, Royall Tyler Theatre and Morrill Hall. A statue of Lafayette stands at the north end of the main green.

The University of Vermont was the first American college or university with a charter declaring that the "rules, regulations, and by-laws shall not tend to give preference to any religious sect or denomination whatsoever."

In 1871, UVM defied custom and admitted two women as students. Four years later, it was the first American university to admit women to full membership into Phi Beta Kappa, the country's oldest collegiate academic honor society. Likewise, in 1877, it initiated the first African-American into the society.

Justin Smith Morrill, a Representative (1855–1867) and Senator (1867–1898) from Vermont, author of the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act that created federal funding for establishing the US Land-Grant colleges and universities, served as a trustee of the university from 1865 to 1898.

In 1924, the first radio broadcast in Vermont occurred from the college station, WCAX, run by students then, now the call sign of a commercial television station.

Prior to 1970, UVM's winter carnival celebrations for many decades included a widely attended competition known as Kakewalk ("Walkin' fo' de cake"). The event involved males wearing bright suits and blackface performing athletic dance routines in imitation of Black minstrel shows. Greater awareness of and sensitivity toward Black Americans promoted by the Civil Rights Movement led the University of Vermont to abolish Kakewalk in 1969.