[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 114 (Friday, September 22, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1575]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES NATIONAL HISTORICALLY 
                 BLACK AND UNIVERSITY WEEK LANE COLLEGE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN S. TANNER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 22, 2000

  Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to acknowledge the tremendous 
contributions and individual success stories that have helped our 
communities grow out of the presence of Lane College in Jackson, 
Tennessee, the heart of the Eighth Congressional District.
  Lane College is one of six Historically Black Universities and 
Colleges located in Tennessee that have helped set a standard for 
academic excellence.
  Lane was founded in 1882 as the C.M.E. High School by the Colored 
Methodist Episcopal Church of America. But the seeds for this great 
institution were first planted four years earlier in 1878.
  William Miles, the first Bishop of the C.M.E. Church of America 
presided over the Tennessee Annual Conference in 1878 accepted a 
resolution by the Rev. J.A. Daniels to establish a school.
  Two years later, after the great yellow fever epidemic and the 
ascension of Bishop Isaac Lane to the head of the Tennessee Annual 
Conference, four acres of land were purchased for $240 and in 1882 the 
school's doors were opened.
  Bishop Lane's daughter, Miss Jennie Lane, was its first teacher.
  In 1884 its name was changed to Lane Institute. Then, 12 years later 
a college department was organized and the Board of Trustees changed 
the school's name to Lane College.
  Lane College is a small, private, co-educational, church-related 
institution with a liberal arts curriculum offering degrees in the Arts 
and Sciences.
  Led by Dr. Wesley McClure, the College's ninth president, the school 
continues to play a critical role in Jackson and surrounding 
communities as an institution committed to academic excellence.
  Lane College is one of 120 historically black universities and 
colleges located in 23 states across the nation. Lane is one of six 
located in Tennessee and the other five are Fisk University, Knoxville 
College, Meharry Medical College, Lemoyne-Owen College, and Tennessee 
State University.
  In 1997, 28 percent of African Americans who received a bachelors 
degree earned them from historically black universities and colleges.
  Moreover, about 40 percent of African American undergraduates 
enrolled at historically black universities and colleges in 1996 were 
first-generation college students.
  Over its first 118 years, Lane College has ensured its place in the 
community of academic institutions devoted to the growth and 
achievement of our young people.
  So Mr. Speaker, we are quite certain it will build on that vision of 
community leadership and academic excellence well into the 21st 
Century.
  Thank you for setting aside this time tonight so that we may 
recognize the important role historically black universities and 
colleges play in our country.

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