PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (October 6, 2020) – As the Morrill Act of 1890 arrives at its 130th anniversary this year, a program hosted by Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) and the University of Kentucky (UK) has received $15,000 from Purdue University to pilot a new agricultural leadership symposium. Putting Culture back in AgriCulture: An Innovative Symposium and Student Leadership Program aims to foster cultural awareness and establish a pipeline of diverse leaders in the community development industry.
“PVAMU is the only HBCU [Historically Black College/University] with a community development program centering equity in urban neighborhoods. UK has a pensive extension program focused on rural communities. Both institutions have a long history of producing students with master-level application skills,” said PVAMU Assistant Professor of Community Development Tiffany D. Thomas.
Tiffany D. Thomas
“The Community Development Program at PVAMU was established 20 years ago as a graduate program in the School of Architecture [SOA],” said SOA Dean Ikhlas Sabouni. “It is one of the oldest programs in the country that prepares graduate students to contribute to the development and enhancement of the physical, social, and economic aspects of communities.”
Putting their two program strengths together, Thomas co-developed the pilot program with UK to identify and facilitate new methods of connecting students from underserved populations with local community and agricultural organizations. Along with providing a venue for connections, the program will offer mentoring while enhancing cultural awareness among students and organizations.
“Ultimately, we want to shift the paradigm in how we engage with communities as institutions and with the students we teach. Through the pilot symposium between PVAMU and UK, funded by Purdue, we can include more engaged research opportunities for the community development program and undergraduate and graduate students across campus,” Thomas said.
PVAMU, UK, and Purdue are all land-grant institutions, established as part of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. Part of the mission of these land-grant institutions is to teach practical skills—something that this new program will set out to do.
“As Prairie View celebrates 130 years of the Morrill Act of 1890, the legislation codifying historically Black colleges, we need to acknowledge our history as an institution but also envision how our teaching, research, and service-learning expands throughout the state and responds to current movements,” Thomas said.
A symposium will take place this semester, with the project expected to continue into the spring. The funding from Purdue will kickstart the program and provide a starting point for future collaborations.
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