This thesis is an historical account of the band program at Auburn University from 1991--2021. The Auburn University Band Program has experienced a long history of rich traditions and continued excellence, so much so that the school's fight song even contains the line "On to vict'ry, strike up the band." What started as a small ensemble…

The Morrill Act of 1862 provided the funding mechanism for the modern land-grant college system. In the over 160 years since its passage, the tripartite land-grant mission of teaching, research, and service has become the most recognizable legacy of the legislation. Recent scholars of land-grant education caution against viewing the history of…

There has been much written on the topic of higher education in America. All facets from formation to expansion to experimentation to controversial issues in institutions of higher education have been discussed and dissected. However, one of the most compelling higher educational topics is the emergence and development of the junior college. This…

This dissertation argues for an expansive understanding of academic fiction in the postwar period--specifically as associated with the rise and fall of the "Golden Age of the American University"--beyond the conventional forms of the campus and academic novel. Rather than restricting academic fiction solely to types of novels that are…

This research traced the history of mathematics education in Haitian secondary schools from 1935 until 2015. While there is not much explicit historical evidence of how mathematics education evolved in Haiti, its development gave some insight into the history of mathematics education in a Caribbean country with a colonial past. One might ask,…

Henderson State Teachers College (HSTC) began operations on the former campus of Henderson-Brown College (HBC) in September, 1929. Founded as a publicly supported teacher training college, the first thirty years of operation of HSTC proved to be full of crises with the institution lurching from one to another while working to establish an…

Drawing on a qualitative review of historical artifacts, the author explores the birth and rise of the American Association of College News Bureaus and its successive organizations. The author performs a historical study, interlacing an interpretive biographical lens and rhetorical theory. The study seeks to determine what formative events and…

Between 1820 and 1860, dozens of new denominational colleges opened throughout the United States. Nowhere was this growth as dramatic as in the Old Northwest in general and in Ohio specifically. Through the mid-twentieth century, most historians saw these colleges as steps backward in the development of higher education in the United States, with…

This study of the master planning process of Virginia's public community college system investigates the factors that influenced decisions for site selection of the community colleges and the ways in which the community college system was integrated into the larger postsecondary education system in Virginia. This research illustrates how the State…

This dissertation explores the history of the Truman Commission, the United States' first national commission on higher education policy, and the origins of its case for federal aid to support universal college access. Historians and higher education scholars cite the Truman Commission's report, "Higher Education for American Democracy,"…

The purpose of this study was to explore factors leading to the founding of the Virginia Technical College System (VTCS). These factors are observed primarily within the timeframe of 1954-1966. The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) evolved from the Technical College System, and began in 1964. Classes started at the first technical colleges…

Historical studies on higher education often utilize traditional historical methods. This practice has produced a body of literature, both historical and contemporary, which has a particular focus on (a) the histories and mythologies of institutions, (b) the individuals who function within the system at the administrative or student levels, and…

From the very founding of the United States, education's actual influence on American society has not measured up to Americans' belief in education as a vehicle of meritocracy. Shortly after the American Revolution, the lexicographer, editor, and would-be education reformer, Noah Webster noted that in the United States "The constitutions are…

Situated within the context of globalization, the purpose of this historical policy analysis study was to identify and describe the ways in which multiple actors shaped national higher education internationalization policy within the U.S., and to capture the emerging direction in higher education internationalization policy at the national level…

The history of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) tends to be overwhelmingly linear in structure and drawn from the interrelationships between northern philanthropy and denominational groups. While important to their origin and development, the analysis tends to be one-sided and monolithic. Moreover, little voice or perspective…