University of Minnesota-Morris

University of Minnesota Morris

Motto	A renewable, sustainable education
Type	Public Liberal Arts College
Established	1960
Parent institution	University of Minnesota System
Academic affiliation	Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges
Endowment	$12,661,923
Chancellor	Michelle Behr
Students	1,896
Location	Morris, Minnesota, U.S.
Campus	Rural
Colors	Maroon & Gold
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division III – UMAC
Mascot	Pounce the Cougar
Website	morris.umn.edu

West Central School of Agriculture and Experiment Station Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
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Location	600 E. Fourth St., Morris, Minnesota
Area	42 acres (17 ha)
Built	1910
Architect	Johnston, Clarence H. Sr.; et al.
Architectural style	Bungalow/craftsman
NRHP Reference #	02001707
Added to NRHP	January 15, 2003

Morris Industrial School for Indians Dormitory
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Off 4th St., Morris, Minnesota
Area	less than one acre
Built	1899
NRHP Reference #	84001696
Added to NRHP	May 10, 1984

The University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) is a public liberal arts college and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges located in Morris, Minnesota. As part of the University of Minnesota system, it was founded in 1960 as a public, co-educational, residential liberal arts college offering Bachelor of Arts degrees.

Although UMM officially opened its doors in 1960, the history of what became the current institution reaches to 1887. That year, the first building of the Morris Industrial School for Indians, an American Indian boarding school, was constructed on the site and run by the Roman Catholic Sisters of Mercy under contract to the US government. Beginning in 1898, the Office of Indian Affairs (today's Bureau of Indian Affairs) took over operations to introduce a more progressive curriculum. The school closed in 1909, under a Congressionally authorized program to reduce the number of boarding schools in preference for locating schools on reservations, so that Indian families and communities would not be broken up. The campus was transferred to the State of Minnesota under the agreement that American Indians would always be admitted free of tuition; the current UMM still follows this policy. In 1910, the University of Minnesota (at the time based only in the Twin Cities campus), established a boarding school on the campus called the West Central School of Agriculture. In the 1950s, the University of Minnesota began phasing out its regional agricultural school. The residents of the Morris region convinced the university to develop the campus as a liberal arts college. The current UMM opened in September 1960.