Huntington University Celebrates Agriculture Legacy
Published: Friday, December 13, 2024
Huntington University agriculture students, alumni and supporters gathered together last Tuesday evening during the ninth annual Huntington harvest dinner. A highlight of the evening was keynote speaker and writer Jack McCall.
President of Huntington University Sherilyn Emberton shared some updates and successes of the school's agriculture program, including a record enrollment year, the implementation of an annual missions trip and graduating the 2024 Miss Congeniality.
The Haupert Institute for Agriculture Studies was launched in the fall of 2014 with its first students admitted in 2015.
Emberton recalled the inception of the Huntington ag pro-gram. It began with the request for funding from Dale and Elaine Haupert.
"It was my first ask as a president," she said. "'I know it sounds crazy, and people are going to think it's old fashioned to start agriculture when agriculture doesn't seem to be at that time what everybody was talking so much about as STEM this and STEM that,' but I said, 'But I just believe there's an opportunity for a rural Christian college to make their mark in agriculture.'"
Nearly 1,800 students enrolled at Huntington University for the 2024-25 year, with students coming from 64 of Indiana's 91 counties, 37 states and 35 countries. Fifteen percent of the 1,777 students are enrolled in agricultural studies. Overall, 12% of university students are studying agriculture.
A new agriculture professor, Tamra Williams, recently joined the staff as an agricultural education professor. Also new to the agriculture program is an online international agriculture option. The course offers both MBA and a standalone graduate certificate. Classes will begin Jan. 13.
Two students, Lilly Pryor of Franklin, Ind. and Ryan Brown of Pierceton shared their experiences in various agricultural roles and events they achieved through Huntington's ag program. Pryor held internship positions at the Indiana State Fair, National FFA Convention and will intern with Indiana Soybean Alliance in communications. Brown attended the Agriculture Future of America Leaders Conference several years in a row.
"Each year, I leave with something new to think about," he said.
McCall shared stories from the good 'ole days in Tennessee including riding in the back of his dad's pickup truck, learning to respect adults and raising his own family.
One highlight he mentioned was his youngest son's T-ball career. One year he went all the way to their own "T-Ball World Series" and in the last inning, with his team down by one point with bases loaded and two outs.
"The situation was so tense grown men had climbed up on that chain-link fence and were swinging back and forth like orangutans," he said. "He (McCall's son) didn't hit the ball, he killed the ball!"
McCall later asked his son what was on his mind as he walked up to bat.
"'Keep your head down and your eye on the ball'" was the reply.
"In a world that's moving so fast, sometimes it's hard to stay focused on what's really important," McCall said. "What a great coach to teach my son that in the heat of the moment, when the pressure's on, it's not how far you hit the ball, it's not how hard you hit the ball, the No. 1 thing is to hit the ball."
Another story he shared was visiting a man with terminal cancer. What McCall learned from him is to care for other people, because as he spoke with this man in his last days, the man said he did not pray for more time any longer. He prayed that he could help another person in the time that he did have.
All these stories McCall shared led up to one point: "Anytime a step in a natural process is skipped, something is always lost. And sometimes we spend our lifetime, parents, trying to recapture what was lost because we skipped it. And so I say to you, in a world that's moving so fast, we cannot afford to skip the relationship step."
Relationships, he said, are the most important aspect of people's lives.
"In real estate, we say it is 'location, location, location.' In living well, it's 'relationship, relationship, relationship.'"
Friends and acquaintances, anyone who someone chooses to surround oneself with, affects them, McCall said.
His closing advice to attendees is to "spend more time with those people who bring out greatness in you."
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