Day before yesterday, I was riding in the car with Clint on my way home and we passed by the statue of the worker that is situated right before the football stadium and I began to think about the original purpose for this university, and perhaps my connection to it. Tied to this as well, I asl o noticed a bust of Abraham Lincoln sitting in one of the foyers on campus, dedicated to his contribution to the university with the signing of the Morrill Act. This university was founded to educate the children of farmers and laborers. It was a socialized program, begun with the Morrill Act to offer education to those who were not the wealthy elite. Its original purpose was to inspire these communities, help them develop and enhance their farms, their lives, and their communities by learning skills and inventive methods. There was a true social element at the core of this vision. I often wonder what it is today. I think about the founding of this university and its comparable stance with my families alma mater, Alabama State University and also Tuskegee University. Alabama State is a land grant institution just the same and although Tuskegee is private the intentions were the same. It makes me think of my Uncle Fess McDavid and how he would bring the professors and other people from Tuskeegee into Autauga County to teach the farmers new methods of farming, to interact with the students in his school. It was quite a philosophy of doing things. I think it is blessed. God Bless Fess McDavid and all other progressive minded people.