As the pioneer land grant university, MSU has historically sought to provide educational opportunities to a wide variety of students, especially to those from the farming and working classes. Former President Peter McPherson stated "access to MSU and the education it offers is one of our roots" while noting the challenge, even irony, in maintaining such openness as the University's quality makes it ever more popular and difficult to be admitted into. In the 2004 State of the University Address MSU President M. Peter McPherson stated: "At Michigan State, we are elite. But we are not elitist.". In more recent years, "town and gown" relations have soured as students and permanent residents looked at each other with increasing hostility. This erupted in clashes involving the police in 1997, 1998, and 1999. Local and national news referred to the disturbances as riots. After several years without any major incidents, another disturbance broke out on April 2, 2005, after the North Carolina men's basketball team defeated MSU in the 2005 NCAA Final Four. Officially called a "civil disturbance," the ensuing violence sparked accusations of police brutality in East Lansing.