June 9, 2020
The Diversity Programs Office Update and Upcoming Events
The Diversity Programs Office (DPO) in the College of Agriculture is dedicated to providing and promoting leadership opportunities, understanding, goodwill, diversity, and friendship among the students, staff, and faculty in the College of Agriculture and K-State Research and Extension. As we are in these unprecedented times, I want to remind you that the College of Agriculture/KSRE DPO is here to serve you. We must have healthy dialogue on the issues at hand to move forward in action. Now is the time to move! Please read Dr. Ernie Minton, Dean & Director’s statement on Race and Justice. As stated, he and I are working now to strategize and realize some inclusion and diversity efforts that are currently in place.
Through the most recent incidents in the first half of 2020, the second decade of the 21st century, there are immediate examples of systemic racism. A picture is worth a thousand words. Further, I heard the entertainer Will Smith state, “racism has always been here, it is just being filmed now.” It is now time to move while continuing the dialogue. This is not the last time you will hear me! Looking forward in the College of Agriculture and K-State Research & Extension (KSRE) making the paradigm shift for cultural understanding, knowledge and sensitivity. I know systemic racism is here and our job is to eradicate it now. Talk to you again soon. Now, join me in reading the diverse success below.
On behalf of the Diversity Programs Office (DPO), we would like to congratulate all of the Spring 2020 graduates who have been a part of our office’s programing during their time here at K-State. Most importantly, you have made history by graduating during the health pandemic. We look forward to your leadership and contributions in the future. Commencement is a time where we see the culmination of our efforts yield new beginnings. Therefore, we would like to thank all of the students that have made an impact on our office. This includes those students with whom we have grown familiar with seeing in the Diversity Programs Office, those who have participated in the MAPS Summer Bridge Program, the students that were involved in the KSRE programs, students that participated in MANRRS, and other efforts for inclusion and diversity.
We hope that the K-State family has helped you pursue your dreams in your respective fields of interest. The DPO and its staff wish you the best of luck as you transition into the future.
The start of June means that summer programs have officially begun in the Diversity Programs Office (DPO). We are excited and energized for what is to come during the summer. Along with the other changes on campus and throughout the world, we decided to continue our program in virtual status. With such a great selection of students we did not want to miss the opportunity for this cohort to work with our excellent research faculty and graduate students. Please join us as we welcome the 2020 KSRE research fellows and a special thanks to our research mentors who will guide our students into the summer. Our final presentations will be July 30, 2020. The fellows are listed below:
• 2020 KSRE Summer Fellowship: This program is educational in nature and designed so that the participants receive the primary benefit by learning hands-on research techniques, methods, procedures, and about related topics. By the end of the 8-week period, June 3 to July 25, students should have produced tangible research results demonstrating his/her knowledge of experimental research and will report the results in a special research forum. The following students are participants of the 2020 KSRE Fellowship:
• Kamaya Brantley, University of Georgia
• Evan Buckner, University of Arkansas
• Daria Clinkscales, Virginia State University
• Terrell Hills, Southern University
• Miya McAntire, Clarke University
• Karsyn McCain, North Carolina A&T State University
• Alyssa Perry, Prairie View A&M University
• Jazmine Whitaker, Tuskegee University
• The 2020 Project IMPACT summer bridge programs will take place in August this year. We are pleased they will continue. More information will come during the summer.
• We will not have the Nicodemus Educational Camp, in partnership with the Kansas Black Farmers Association (KBFA), KSU and the College of Agriculture, due to the health pandemic.
• Finally, please join us as we celebrate Raymond Thomas as he was elected to the 2020-21 National MANRRS executive board as the Graduate Student VP for Regions 3 & 4. Currently, he is completing his Masters in Agriculture Business and serves as the K-State MANRRS chapter graduate VP and will serve as the co-coordinator for the 2020 KSRE fellows program.
We expect a busy summer and so I ask that you continue to look for our diversity programs as we continue to advertise. We appreciate your support and presence. For more information about upcoming events, or to collaborate with the DPO, please call 785-532-5793 or contact the DPO staff Lonnie Hobbs, Jr., lhobbs@ksu.edu; or Dr. Zelia Wiley, Assistant Dean, zwiley@ksu.edu.