The Youngest State University

mT HE State University of New York, the newest of the state .t universities, came into being as a corporate body in April, I949. The act of the I948 Legislature creating the University followed the recommendation of the New York Temporary Commission on the Need for a State University, of which Owen D. Young was chairman. The report of the Commission, filed on February i6, I948, included the results of a two-year study. The functions and the responsibilities of the State University were outlined in the Report to include the planning, supervision, and administration of all facilities for higher education now or in the future supported, in whole or in part, with state moneys. It is dedicated to providing facilities in higher education for the qualified youth of the state, regardless of race, color, creed, place of residence, or economic status. The structure of the growing organization reflects this purpose. The modern American university exists to prepare youth for life in a democracy. This proposition is axiomatic. It is vital only in terms of the assumptions that shape the educational programs. Among those basic to the development of the newest and last of the state universities-the State University of New York-are the following: First, our greatest resources are our human resources; our greatest power is human power when fully developed. The abilities and talents of each person must be discovered and developed in his own interest, and for the common welfare. If a dictatorship can be defined as a system which cuts its citizens down to a pattern decreed by authority, a democracy not only permits but encourages its citizens to grow in the direction of their abilities. Second, higher education should be easily available to all who are qualified to profit from it. No human resources should be lost through bar

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