Throughout our long history, perhaps the most distinguishing characteristic of the University of Michigan has been our commitment, as President James Burrill Angell noted in 1879, to provide "an uncommon education for the common man."  This aspiration contrasted sharply with the goals of the nation's earliest colleges, which traditionally served only the elite.  The journey from this early ambition to real diversity at Michigan, however, has often required intense struggle.  Our current successes did not come quickly, easily, or without detours along the way.  

Our slow but continuous advancement has come from the efforts of thousands of courageous individuals and groups who followed a vision of equality in the face of great opposition.  a