Tuskegee University is a renowned historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. The campus is designated as the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site by the National Park Service. The university was home to scientist George Washington Carver and to World War II’s Tuskegee Airmen. USHCA started working with Tuskegee University when we honored George Washingon Carver as one the 3 scientists that inspired the inaugural virtual U.S.-China Ag Roundtable in 2021. Then Dean Walter Hill of Tuskegee University’s College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences (CAENS) participated in the first virtual U.S.-China Ag Education Leaders Dialogue in March 2021. USHCA was later asked by Dean Hill to provide 2 segments of programs about China for the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference (PAWC), which was initiated by Booker T. Washington in 1894. For the first time in its long history, PAWC offered a program about China in its 2021 conference with support from USHCA.
When we arrived at the campus of Tuskegee University on April 18th, we were greeted by Dr. Raymond Shange, Director of the Carver Integrative Sustainability Center; 1890 Extension Administrator, Cooperative Extension & Associate Dean. The Carver Integrative Sustainability Center (CISC) was established in 2010 by an initial memorandum of understanding signed by then Tuskegee University President Gilbert Rochon and then United States Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack. The CISC serves as a science-based research and resource center focused on technologies, programs, and policies that enhance the profitability and sustainability of small farmers, ranchers, landowners, and rural communities. The center functions in the tradition of George Washington Carver as a regional, national, and international resource in developing and sharing holistic, earth, farmer, and consumer-friendly agricultural and food innovations, with specific activities including applied research, collaborative education, and service.
Dr. Shange gave our small delegation – Dr. Xiaopeng Pang (Chinese visiting scholar from Renmin University), Dr. Lou Swanson (USHCA advisor, retired sociology professor, former Vice President of Extension at Colorado State University), Min Fan (USHCA Executive Director), and Jason Conley (USHCA Program Associate) – an introduction of the college and its extension responsibilities. Dean Olga Bolden-Tiller, who was traveling that day, also connected with us via Zoom. Following a tour of the state of the art James H. M. Henderson Hall Agriculture and Life Sciences Teaching, Research and Extension Building, our delegation walked around the campus to the monument for the educator and founder of Tuskegee University, Booker T. Washington.