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| Christmas cheer from the Morrisons of Morris - Ed, Helen Jane and son Jim - from days when UMM was young. |
The successors will not see everything from the same perspective. Our contemporary perspective is that UMM carries on from year to year. It's a given. We may have opinions on how this is done, but the institution is like a piece of foundation for this community.
The pandemic loomed. People donned masks. UMM has worked to get back to some normality, as we all have. A challenge, yes. But surely the doors of the institution will stay open. The occasional controversy comes and goes. What else would you expect in such a "marketplace of ideas" place?
Helen Jane Morrison's perspective was one of appreciating the very existence of our U of M institution. She would never have taken it for granted. It was something to savor in ways that words could hardly describe. But hers was a family that embraced words and communication. It was their raison d'etre, a term which I'm careful to spell correctly so I don't confuse it with a breakfast cereal. So, it's "raison" and not "raisin." I had to correct a headline for a blog post once because of the distinction.
The Morrison family business was the newspaper, the Morris newspaper. The newspaper threw its weight behind the drive to ensure that the U of M would come to Morris and stay in Morris. That whole challenge may be fading into the mists of history. Fewer people are around with first-hand recollections. I was about kindergarten age when it all happened.
I gathered in my own household that UMM might not have the most firm foundation. We did our part to keep the "experimental" endeavor going once the seeds were planted. But the Morrisons were involved well before that. They were here when the West Central School of Agriculture was nearing its end, as such schools were entering obsolescence. The writing was on the wall for them.
Whither our campus after that?
Visionaries like the Morrisons knew how to advocate. It wasn't easy to be sure. The Morrisons were part of the regional group known as the West Central Educational Association. The group advocated for the public liberal arts college that would develop here. It would be the fledgling U of M-Morris. "Affordable and accessible."
The advocates pooled their talents and resources. They had competition from the south of here. Who'd be the winner? It's not fun thinking of winners and losers but Morris did indeed become home to the vibrant new University of Minnesota-Morris. "The rest is history," eh?
Southern Minnesota eventually got consolation with the state college called Southwest in Marshall, what my father always called "Little Marshall" (not in an admiring way). We're all encouraged to get along nowadays, as part of the contemporary zeitgeist. The potshots we once took at St. Cloud State being the "party college" aren't cool now. Education institutions simply must serve their respective missions. We can all be happy if this is realized.
UMM certainly has its challenges, perhaps to a degree that the general public here may not realize. It's not a secret that the liberal arts has gotten a gut check in the recent past. We hope that UMM can adjust in a fluid way, keeping its robust student body. A tiny family secret to be revealed here: my late father always had a little skepticism about the laser focus of UMM on "liberal arts." It was wise in the past to keep such thoughts to yourself in these parts.
I developed the same feelings as my father. Maybe we were wrong and maybe the liberal arts is fully sustainable as UMM's long-term focus. OK "raison d'etre." And if that is the case, wonderful! Maybe I have some personal jealousy because I was always a "problem student" in math and science!
Helen Jane's husband Edward wrote to the U of M board of regents in 1959: "You know the facilities are available. You know the students are available. You have the unquestioned authority to conduct such a pilot study. We urge you to take definite action now."
Back in those days, Minnesotans did not even have the Twins or Vikings to cheer on. Hard to imagine such times.
UMM welcomed its first students in September of 1960. There was a gender disparity: 64 women and 174 men! Hmmm. There was no women's varsity athletics in those days. Most students were 17 and 18 years old. Oh, and 92 percent of the first-year students were from within 35 miles of Morris. Many students commuted to school. Actually there were two sets of students, some still studying with the West Central School or Agriculture. My father Ralph directed music groups that combined both.
An historical account maintains that "academic standards were very high." I think my father felt the standards might have been a little too high. For me growing up, hearing about the super high standards and super intelligence of UMM students, it was not healthy, fed an inferiority complex. Oh, seriously. Have I recovered yet?
The Morrison family could reflect on their profound influence. It was a legacy for the Morris community that can hardly be acknowledged in words, so profound it was. And now Helen Jane has joined her husband Ed in the next life. My late mother would say "they're in a better place now." But Morris became a much better place thanks to the Morrisons of Morris.
Their mission is continued by son Jim and his wife Elizabeth, the former Elizabeth Martin. Jim is Class of '70 Morris High School, Liz Class of '71. Oh, yours truly is '73! Helen Jane Morrison, RIP. What a long and blessed life.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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