Southeastern Massachusetts University - Scrimshaw Yearbook (North Dartmouth, MA)

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Southeastern Massachusetts Technological Iinstitute was created in 1960 by an act of the General Court on the recommendation of the Governor to provide a diversified educational program for the Southeastern Massachusetts area and for the Commonwealth. ln enacting this legislation, the General Court directed that SMTI assume the responsibilities of two existing colleges in the area - Bradford Durfee College of Technology and the New Bedford Institute of Technology, both of which had been established in 1895. These institutions were consolidated into SMTI in 1964 and since that time the Institution has been engaged in an intensive program of development. One aspect of this development has been enrichment of the curriculum. ln September of 1965, baccalaureate degree programs in the humanities and social science were instituted to complement existing programs in engineering, the sciences, business administration, textile technology and the fine and applied arts. As a result of this enriching diversification of curricular offerings, Governor Francis B. Sargent of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts signed into law at the Commencement Exercises, June 9 1969, a bill advocating a change of name from Southeastern Massachusetts Technological Institute to Southeastern Massachusetts University. Thus, on September 7, 1969, the Institute officially became a University. Southeastern Massachusetts University is situated on a wooded 7 1O-acre site in Dartmouth, a town of 23,000. The concept for the University's national award winning campus was created by architect Paul Rudolph. The campus design is the personification of the SMU character why not.

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SMU offers its students an opportunity for genuine self-discovery, for broad learning in the various academic disciplines, and for the chance to combine these with the acquisition of practical skills leading to definite career capabilities. SMU's basic premise-that an educational institution must combine excellence with the specific, practical needs of those it would educate-also finds expression in its community programs. Many graduates find employment in local business and industry, SMU is working closely with these groups, both to provide feedback to its students about changes in a given career area, and to fulfill its goal of actively contributing to all aspects of life in the southeastern Massachusetts community. A comparable commitment to enriching the cultural life of the region is expressed through SMU's numerous programs and activities, including concert series, art exhibits, lectures, dramatic productions and other events which are made available to the public. SMU is a blend of the practical and the visionary in which the vital connecting link is, and will continue to be, the individual 's ability, determination, integrity, and imagination. The words practical and visionary, describe the kind of students that are conducive to SMU: practical men and vvomen who have goals in life, and vvho knovv that no worthwhile goal is arrived at without exploration, experimentation, and a mastery of basic skills,' and students vvho are visionary not only in the sense of dreaming bold dreams as they plan a career and a lifetime in a vvorld of incredibly expanding opportunity and challenge, but vvho also have a willingness to blaze the trails and perform the hard work required to translate their dreams into reality, and the ability and record of past achievement which are essential in this effort.

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Photos: K. Santos