FOUNDED ON DEC. 25, 1890, only 20 months after the Land Run of 1889, Oklahoma State University began as Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, the state’s land-grant institution. When the first students assembled for class in 1891, no buildings, books or curriculum existed. It took 2 1/2 years after classes began in local churches for the college’s 144 students to move into the first academic building, Old Central. Oklahoma A&M’s first commencement, with six graduates, was in 1896. Land-grant institutions were created during Abraham Lincoln’s presidency to provide all citizens with greater access to a college education. OSU continues that landgrant tradition today. The large and comprehensive Stillwater campus comprises 27,819 acres and 493 buildings, all while maximizing the personal attention given to each student.
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