Foreword

The foreword is not part of the document that follows. It supplies, however, a necessary perspective for interpreting the document.

Medical student rights and responsibilities at Michigan State University are part of the social and historical background of the University. When, more than a century ago, the people of Michigan established this institution on the land-grant principle, they framed a new conception of the role of the university in American life. A land-grant university is a trusteeship of intellect in the service of society. It gathers society’s creative and intellectual powers and uses them to advance the common good and to solve fundamental problems.

This document is significant not merely because it establishes that medical students have certain rights and responsibilities, but particularly because it affirms that they are parties to the social trust shared by all in the University community who are charged with preserving and advancing the genius of scholarship and the conditions of inquiry which society has entrusted to our care.