COMMITTEE ON THE FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY | The Only Land-Grant Ivy

The views expressed in this article are entirely those of the undersigned authors and do not reflect the opinions of the Committee as a whole.

The work of the Committee on the Future of the American University has brought into sharp relief the erosion of public trust in institutions of higher education. Some of this distrust is due to the perception that universities are, increasingly, islands unto themselves with limited meaningful engagement with communities, organizations, families and workers outside their walls. This view of universities is one of the most urgent threats to higher education and stands at the heart of the committee’s task to reimagine Cornell’s trajectory over the next 50 years. 

In an era of growing questions about universities' relevance to everyday Americans, Cornell stands uniquely positioned to offer a much needed model that integrates knowledge discovery and public impact. As the only land-grant institution in the Ivy League, we sit at the intersection of leading private research universities and the democratic ideal of serving the people, within New York and beyond. This dual identity isn't a contradiction — it's our greatest strength. It also offers us a clear path forward. Cornell’s public engagement tradition provides a blueprint for higher education in linking cutting-edge, rigorous research with applied tools, practices and policies, alongside training and technical assistance to myriad stakeholders, from farmers to union members and entrepreneurs to families and youth. 

Shaping our future requires understanding our past. Cornell’s public engagement mission is inextricably linked with our founding, although the nature of our federal and state relationship is often misunderstood. The Morrill Act, a federal law codified in 1862, funded colleges that “promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes,” emphasizing the need “to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts.”

Ezra Cornell wrote of his own goal to “do the greatest good to the greatest number of the industrial classes of my native state, and at the same time to do the greatest good to the state itself.” He joined with his fellow state senator, Andrew Dickson White, to convince New York State’s legislature to designate a new university as the state’s recipient of Morrill Act support. The result was Cornell University, an institution not intended for the wealthy and elite, but to serve the needs of New York State and humanity broadly: to “do the greatest good.” It would combine practical and liberal education while being broadly accessible to students historically excluded from higher education.

The federal government invested in land-grant institutions through the Hatch Act of 1887 to support agricultural research and its dissemination, and the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 to support community-based cooperative extension services. In both cases, this support bolstered work already happening at Cornell as part of its commitment to extending impact beyond our Ithaca campus.

Cornell’s third president, Jacob Gould Schurman, would expand Cornell’s public impact efforts with his vision of “a People’s University,” a private university with a public mission. He persuaded New York State to partner with Cornell to establish contract colleges that addressed specific state needs, beginning with Veterinary Medicine in 1894 and followed by Agriculture in 1904, Home Economics (now Human Ecology) in 1925 and Industrial & Labor Relations in 1945 (plus a short-lived College of Forestry in 1898).

But as a land-grant institution, Cornell’s commitment to public engagement is woven into the DNA of the entire university, not just the units with state affiliations. This identity and mission means embracing a fundamentally different relationship with society than our Ivy peers. Our land-grant mission has complicated roots, which we haven’t always navigated well — the Morrill Act’s problematic legacy of Indigenous dispossession is just one example — but we should keep aspiring to do better. We have an obligation to engage with real-world challenges and problems, directing university knowledge, expertise and resources to communities and individuals through accessible education and training, applied research and evidence-based policy recommendations. 

This work is already flourishing across Cornell, through countless units, programs and initiatives that place public impact and community engagement front and center. The range of stakeholders reached through these efforts is impressive and wide-ranging. And yet, there is more we can be doing at this moment of great societal need across all units.

In this time of immense turbulence — with new technologies reshaping how we work and interact, longstanding social agreements being renegotiated and institutions facing new pressures and expectations — our public engagement mission is more important than ever. We have been preparing for this moment for 161 years. Our strengths as an institution position us to leverage our teaching and research capabilities to understand the features of this transformation and, no less important, to engage with society in a robust and bidirectional manner. Being a land-grant institution means recognizing that our success is measured not only by our rankings, publications and research dollars, but by our impact on the well-being, progress and prosperity of the communities and stakeholders we’re co-creating the future with.

As we consider ways to reimagine our institution, we should remember and realize this foundational attribute. Academic excellence and public impact aren't competing values; they're mutually reinforcing imperatives that represent Cornell at its best. Living up to our “People’s University” promise is a critical component of regaining the people’s trust.

Ariel Avgar PhD ’08 is a Co-Chair of the Committee on the Future of the American University and David M. Cohen Professor of Labor Relations. He can be reached at aca27@cornell.edu.

Anthony Burrow is a member of the Committee on the Future of the American University, Ferris Family Associate Professor of Life Course Studies, Director of the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, and Senior Associate Dean for Outreach and Extension in Cornell Human Ecology. He can be reached at alb325@cornell.edu.

Corey Ryan Earle ’07 is the project coordinator for the Committee on the Future of the American University and a Visiting Lecturer in American Studies. He can be reached at cre8@cornell.edu. 

Rick Geddes is a member of the Committee on the Future of the American University and a professor in the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy. He can be reached at rrg24@cornell.edu.

David Rand ’04 is a member of the Committee on the Future of the American University, and Professor of Information Science and Marketing and Management Communications. He can be reached at dgr7@cornell.edu.

Jocelyn Rose is a member of the Committee on the Future of the American University, and Barbara McClintock Professor and Director of the School of Integrative Plant Science. He can be reached at jr286@cornell.edu.

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