PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (Sept. 3, 2025) – Prairie View A&M University incoming freshman Noah Ethen Pumphrey’s interest in public health stemmed from gardening. To grow his garden, Pumphrey joined his high school’s Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter, where he learned about “food deserts” and the importance of access to healthy, affordable food.
“I knew that gardening gave me and my family a level of convenience and sustainability, and I wanted to give that to others,” he said. “I began giving extra produce away to family, friends, and community members.”
Pumphrey brings that community spirit to Prairie View.
The public health major and member of the Honors Program received the 2025 Regents’ Student Merit Scholarship, which covers up to $10,000 per academic year for tuition and mandatory fees.
He sees the award as both a gift and a challenge. “To me, it means I need to work even harder,” Pumphrey said. “I’ve seen what staying focused can bring me, and if I want to reach more success, I’ll need to stay grounded in the values that have brought me this far.”
The scholarship also gives him space to try new things. “I’m not usually a risk taker, so having the financial burden lifted, I’ll experiment more with different organizations and on-campus activities.”
Drawn to Prairie View A&M for its community and identity as an HBCU, Pumphrey said he could tell on his first visit that “people enjoyed being a part of the campus. I was sold when they offered me a scholarship.”
Back home in Garland, Texas, Pumphrey says he saw how the fresh food from his garden helped put a smile on people’s faces. “I saw how it helped them, and I wanted to continue helping, not just them but others too,” he said. “Public health as a major stood out to me because I saw it as a way to directly address the issue of food insecurity through policy.”
Being a helper is who he is. He is also a doer.
When he wanted a more casual, informal setting than a therapist’s couch to discuss mental health, but didn’t see any available options around him, Pumphrey started his own Mental Health Awareness Club at Naaman Forest High School.
“My biggest motivation was wanting to give people the resources that I would’ve wanted,” he said. “I knew that I would have appreciated having a safe space to discuss mental health. I didn’t have one, so I decided to make one for others.”
He shared one moment from the club that still stays with him: At one meeting, attendees went around sharing what they appreciated about the people around them. As their group activity, they wrote letters of appreciation to friends, families, and teachers. The simple activity taught him the power of gratitude and saying, “Thank you.”
Pumphrey comes to PVAMU with already varied experience in leadership. As FFA vice president, he learned resilience after narrowly losing the election for president his senior year. “I began to slack until my advisor reminded me that leadership isn’t about a title but about responsibility,” he said. “That taught me that setbacks should push me to work harder, not pull away.” He also served as an NAACP Youth Council officer.
“Being a leader has taught me that I won’t always have the best answers, solutions, or even make the best decisions,” he said. “But I humble myself from my mistakes and try to do better next time.”
Whether in Prairie View or beyond, Pumphrey wants to make a difference by creating safe spaces. “I want to make the medical industry a safer place,” he said. “Health institutions have lost a lot of the public’s trust, especially in the Black community. Coming from a family with a cancer survivor, having a doctor you trust is essential. That trust won’t be easily regained, and I’m committed to healing that trust in my future career in the medical industry.”
Looking ahead, Pumphrey hopes to attend medical school and is considering careers with the FDA or CDC, where he could help create policies that fight food insecurity. Beyond academics, he’s excited to explore student organizations that match his passions for gardening, baking, mental health, civil rights, and the medical industry. He describes his future college experience in one word: optimism.
By Christine Won
-PVAMU-