SU Ag Center and College of Ag Holds Successful Ag Week
Baton Rouge, La.- On Sept. 11-16, 2023, the Southern University Ag Center and College of Ag partnered with SU Athletics to host Ag Week for the community and agriculture students leading up to the game.
The week of events kicked off on Monday with Fireside Chats: Recharging Your Mind, Reconnecting with Nature. The mental health session, led by SU Ag Assistant Specialist for Mental Health, Ashlyn Harrison, allowed students to sit in The Educational Forest and participate in a series of activities including self-reflection, interactive art therapy, imagery, and guided meditation all while reconnecting with nature.
On Tuesday, at the Connecting Green Synergies: Capacity Building Day, students majoring in Agriculture, more specifically Agricultural Sciences and Urban Forestry majors, were given information by CN Utility Consultants and Wright Tree Service employees on their companies and how to properly present themselves as quality candidates when applying to green careers.
A Community Garden Giveaway was held on Wednesday which included sweet potatoes, tomatoes, okra, homemade jam, honey and ground meat fresh from the Southern University Meat Lab. Students also participated in the Student Hometown Cuisine Cookoff. Given one hour, students prepared a dish that was special and unique to their region that was judged based on taste, creativity, presentation, and adherence to the hometown theme. Each criterion was given a certain weightage, with taste having the highest weightage. Georgia and Alabama duo, Kentry Harbor and Arynn Jenkins won third place for their Spicy Honey Wings, Opelousas, Louisiana’s, Brian Thomas won third place for his rendition of ‘Black Pot’, a dish consisting of rice and hen gravy, and lastly, Jaden Cheatham from Donaldsonville, Louisiana took the first-place prize for his spicy Red Beans and Rice dish.
That evening, the Ag Center and the College of Ag was highlighted on the Overtime Talk Show with Roman Banks show at TJ Ribs. Information of our Center was given by Chancellor-Dean, Dr. Orlando F. McMeans, and Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement and External Relations, Dr. Katara Williams.
On Thursday, Brunch & Learn was held featuring panel of Chancellor-Dean, Dr. Orlando F. McMeans, Senior Advisor for Racial Equity to the Secretary of Agriculture, Dr. DeWayne Goldmon, and Administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, Mr. Daniel Whitley. Students were given information on how they can properly prepare themselves during their collegiate careers to be successful when pursuing careers in agriculture.
Jagie’s Research Rampage: A Social Media Adventure, highlighted some of the Ag Center’s research projects including SUN Beef from the College of Agriculture, the groundbreaking Viticulture and Enology degree and research program in partnership with the McBride Sisters Collection and Darjean Jones Wines, and the SU Human Nutrition Department's partnership with Geauxkiro and Kroger throughout the day on our social media platforms.
At the “Kick back and Chill”: Ag Game Gear Giveaway on Friday students made ice cream, received information on the programs available within the College of Agricultural, Human, and Environmental Sciences and received Ag Gear for the AG football game.
To close out AG week, the SU Ag Center and the College of Ag hosted a Field to Fork Tailgate which included food, cooking demonstrations by EBR and East Feliciana Parish Nutrition Educators, Chrishana Littlejohn-Thomas and Evan Egana, student presentations, and a live performance by Lil Nate. Ilera Holistic Healthcare also provided information on telemedicine during the tailgate. The Southern University Jaguars won at the AG game against the Alabama Bulldogs that evening.
Photos from the events held during AG Week are available here.