Kansas State University, originally named Kansas State Agricultural College, was founded during the American Civil War on February 16, 1863, as a Land Grant institution under the Morrill Act. The school was the first Land Grant college newly created under the Morrill Act, although several other universities claim to be the oldest Land Grant school. K-State is the fourth-oldest school in the Big 12 Conference and the oldest public university in the state of Kansas.
The effort to establish the school began in 1861, when Kansas was admitted to the United States. One of the first things the new state Legislature needed to do was establish a state university. That year, the delegation from Manhattan introduced a bill to convert the old Blue Mont Central College (a private college incorporated in Manhattan in 1858) into the state university. But the bill establishing the university in Manhattan was controversially vetoed by Governor Charles L. Robinson of Lawrence, and an attempt to override the veto in the Legislature failed by two votes. In 1862, another bill to make Manhattan the site of the state university failed by one vote. Finally, on the third attempt, on February 16, 1863, the state accepted Manhattan's offer to donate the Blue Mont College building and grounds, and established the state's Land Grant college at the site – the institution that would become Kansas State University.
When the college opened for its first session in September 1863, it became only the third public institution of higher learning to admit women and men equally in the United States. The enrollment for the first session was 52 students: 26 men and 26 women
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