Political Quotes

“I rise today to recognize the bicentennial of the University of Michigan. The university has adopted the motto ``Always Leading, Forever Valiant'' for its bicentennial year--a motto that captures its 200 years at the forefront of American academic excellence. The genesis of the University of Michigan predates the founding of my home State of Michigan. On August 26, 1817, Lewis Cass, Governor of the Michigan territory, enacted a charter to create the University of Michigania, aligned with territory judge Augustus Woodward's envisioned System of Universal Science. In 1852, the university's first president, Henry Philip Tappan, pioneered a model of higher education in which scholars do not settle for existing knowledge but actively pursue new knowledge through rigorous science. This approach solidified the university's enduring legacy as a center for scientific research and discovery. The university has paved the way for future innovation with many firsts throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. It was the first university with a chemical laboratory, the first to own and operate a hospital, the first to teach aeronautical engineering, the first public university with dental and pharmacy schools, and the first with a program in human genetics. Perhaps the most game-changing first--it was the first large State university to open its doors to both men and women.…”