By DIONNE BERTLING
"It's more than a building, but it's a heck of a building."--Dr. Rod Barr, Director of the School of Agricultural Sciences
Approximately, 300 people and 2 Guernsey calves showed up for the ribbon cutting ceremony of the new Agricultural Learning Center at Northwest Missouri University on July 30, 2021.
It's a 29,000 square foot center located on Northwest's 448-acre R.T. Wright Farm. The Wright Farm was established in 1971 when Northwest bought the land from the Kline family.
The ALC cost $11.4 million to build. A big portion of the money came from the University's Homesteaders Society which is a group of donors who gave $25,000 or more. The state of Missouri provided $2.5 million. All said there were more than 250 individual gifts.
The ceremony lasted 45 minutes and included speeches by:
-Dr. Rod Barr, Director of the School of Agricultural Sciences
-Dr. John Jasinki, President of Northwest
-Chris Chinn, Director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture
-Rep. Allen Andrews, MO State Rep of Grant City
-Dr. Bob Burrell, President of the Northwest Foundation Board of Directors
-John Kline, parents sold their farmland to Northwest for the R.T. Wright Farm
MO State Rep Allen Andrews, who is also a 1989 alumni of Northwest, said that what separates Northwest from other schools is vision. He stated, "Today we are celebrating opportunity."
Dr. Rod Barr was emotional as he talked about the center. He said, "The ALC will allow faculty to expand profession-based learning experiences that will allow students to be career ready, day one."
At the end of the last speech, there were several distinct moo's that could be heard, the 2 Guernsey calves got the last word as they issued their stamp of approval on the ALC.