Fergusons donate $50 million to Oklahoma State University

Kayleen and Larry Ferguson of Hot Springs announced a $50 million from the Ferguson Family Foundation to Oklahoma State University's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources on Wednesday, one of the largest donations in the university's history.

"The monetary value is extremely important, and without that we wouldn't be able to pursue this building in any reasonable way," OSU College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Dean Tom Coon said, noting the Fergusons "really helped us with the jump-start campaign, but also they've really shared with us that their vision isn't just about having a new building; their vision is about having a college that really is a key part of solving the problems of hunger."

Coon said the Fergusons told them they feel their mission is to help feed the world and they see their investment in the college to be a step toward completing that mission.

Larry Ferguson is the retired president and CEO of Schreiber Foods, the world's largest employee-owned dairy company, and Kayleen Ferguson, a Hot Springs native, is a retired educator who primarily taught English.

It is not the foundation's first donation to the school; in 2016, it made a gift to the university's dairy program.

The couple are "just tremendous partners in this, helping us to sharpen the focus on our mission of teaching people to be involved in the agriculture and food industry in a way that really comes to the benefit of all of humanity," he said, "and to have people like them articulating that higher education is how they see us improving the world, that means the world to us."

The Fergusons said their faith and belief in education, and love for the "OSU family," inspired their giving, a news release said.

"We have a responsibility to the betterment of future generations," Kayleen Ferguson said in the release. "You have to work hard, but you have to pass it on as well. It's not yours to keep. It's not yours to hold onto. It's yours to pass on."

The release states the Fergusons credit Oklahoma State as an impetus for much of the success they experienced throughout their lives.

"I would never have become CEO without coming to Oklahoma State and going through the program here," Larry Ferguson said in the release. "Kay and I believe education is the way to solve the economic problems of our country. This gift is about more than just education. This is a way of helping feed the world. It is our sincerest hope that our fellow alumni will invest in the future of OSU Agriculture and join us in the New Frontiers campaign."

The donation will fund half of the $100 million construction project of the University's new agriculture building.

"They've got us halfway there, now we have other donors who have come on board as well, and I think we'll see even more now that their gift and their generosity has come out," Coon said. "You take (their donation) away and we're still struggling to raise money for a really significant and transformative building."

Coon said the new building is not merely a matter of replacing an old, aging building, but instead it's about giving the college the kind of facility it needs to adopt new teaching methods.

"A lot of our classrooms are set up where the professor stands at the front and lectures, so they take notes sitting in rows, and it's really just a sterile learning environment," he said. "Really what a lot of our faculty are doing today are trying to get students more engaged in learning so they're not just memorizing what the professor says. ... And just to be really clear, we hope that helps us attract more students to our college within Oklahoma and across the country."

OSU was founded under the name Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College.

"Our original mission was really focused on agriculture way back in 1890, so it's always been a key part in the university," Coon said. "It's certainly a big part of our identity. The cowboy mascot relates to the importance of cattle in Oklahoma, so in that respect it has the feel of the University."

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt attended the announcement of the donation Wednesday.

"The agriculture industry in our state also employs over 300,000 Oklahomans that are truly feeding and fueling the world," he said in the news release. "The success and rich history of agriculture in our state is due in large part to this institution and what it means to our state ... I commend the university for the innovation, for the teaching, the research and the extension efforts that have been critical to the growth of our state."

According to the release, the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources will be renamed the Ferguson College of Agriculture, pending approval next week from the Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents, in recognition of the gift.

Local on 01/17/2020

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