Alumni and friends of the college join Carroll Moseley of Syngenta, center, along with Aggie and Agatha, in celebrating Ag Day at Truist Stadium on Oct. 15.
CAES celebrates students, sponsors with ‘Ag Day’ football tailgate
The College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences celebrated the college and promoted opportunities awaiting in agriculture-related fields with two days of festivities this month.
On Oct. 14, the college held Ag Awareness Day for students at the University Farm Pavilion. Industries and governmental agencies specializing in agriculture, such as USDA, were on hand at the University Farm Pavilion to talk with students about opportunities awaiting them within their organizations.
“I’ve been talking to a bunch of people about internships for the summer,” said Leila Noufal, an agricultural education major. “It’s really great to have so many in one spot and to have such a variety.”
“It is our first Ag Awareness Day,” said Dean Mohamed Ahmedna, Ph.D. “It was designed to engage our partners with our students and highlight our programs and, at the same time, raise scholarship funding for our students. It’s the best of two worlds: our students being connected in the industry, and the fundraising to support them during their time at A&T.
“Also, it provides a chance to highlight the importance of agriculture to our state. It’s the largest industry in North Carolina, and every one of our cities is interested in seeing a strong workforce in agriculture.”
Associate Dean Antoine Alston, Ph.D., Smithfield Foods Vice president of Community Development Steve Evans and CAES Dean Mohamed Ahmedna, Ph.D.at the Ag Day tailgate. Smithfield Foods was title sponsor of the event.
Some of the businesses at Ag Awareness Day included Chobani, Smithfield Foods, Syngenta, N.C. Farm Bureau, N.C. Electric Cooperatives, N.C. Grange, Merck Animal Science, N.C. Farm Credit, BASF, John Deere and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
On Oct. 15, industry partners joined alumni and students for Ag Day at the football stadium, including a tailgate before the game against Edward Waters University.
The game day tailgate was presented by pork producer Smithfield Foods, Inc., who was recognized on a banner as title sponsor of the event. Joining Smithfield were sponsors Syngenta AG and Chobani.
“It’s very important that we have corporate partners like Smithfield, Syngenta and Chobani,” said Antoine Alston, Ph.D., associate dean of academic studies. “It’s very important to our students to promote the experience of learning to them and to provide them with a debt-free education. We really appreciate this partnership with Smithfield, and we appreciate their title sponsorship. It’s really important in agriculture to connect the students to the industry.”
Steven Evans, vice president of community development for Smithfield Foods, was equally grateful for the partnership.
“As a company that is agriculturally founded, the operation of our business is our concern that we provide good food responsibly,” said Evans. “To do that and to feed our world, we need smart, confident personnel and A&T has one of the best ag departments. Their students are exemplary, and it’s just a great fit to have that connection between A&T and the operations that we do, not to mention that the largest point of our operations is in North Carolina. It only makes sense to have this connection and this engagement.”
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