$1,000 increase in wages, the use of the president's house and grounds and enough feed for two horses and two cows. Although Burrowes had never worked at a college, his hiring restored faith in the state that the school would thrive. His contemporaries described him saying, "President Burrowes took charge of affairs with his customary confidence, enthusiasm, and vigor, infusing new life and hope into what had seemed to some to be a hopeless cause." He immediately made changes including reestablishing the school's focus as an agricultural school, changing the year's term to run February to December—to better align with the crop cycle, and almost tripling the school's student body from 20 to 59. Burrowes believed that physical labor would instill pride in the school, and lessen homesickness. He required that men work on maintaining the grounds, building new roads, and working on the farms for their first two years of the Agricultural School's five-year program. In his student's recollections they agree with his philosophy saying that the cleaning of the grounds did instill pride because they were "happy to live in a beautiful garden." However, he did not let the boys work alone and often was seen working on the farm himself. Thomas Henry Burrowes believed that a practical approach to farming was necessary and so created an annual harvest reception called Harvest Home when nearby farmers and alumni could come and learn about new farming techniques and machines. In fact, during the Harvest Home in 1870, a group of alumni decided to form a group to meet every Thursday night and so the Penn State Alumni Association was born. Thomas Henry Burrowes established close relationships with his students, and often took them on camping, hiking, and fishing trips, feeding them his famous Allegheny Stew. He was noted for his, "genial disposition, ready wit and fine conversational powers." It was one of these trips into the mountains that Thomas Henry Burrowes caught a fatal cold. He died in office, on February 25 at the age of 65. Burrowes' landmarks and legacy Buried in St. James Churchyard in Lancaster, a monument was erected over his grave. It reads "He gave his best; his giving was princely; his work has been grandly cumulative and will be so through the ages. To no man now living does Pennsylvania owe so great a debt of gratitude." John Hamilton, a colleague of Thomas Henry