    [House Hearing, 114 Congress]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                         1890 LAND-GRANT INSTITUTIONS:
                           RECRUITMENT CHALLENGES AND
                           SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

                            COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
                            HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                        ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 SECOND SESSION

                                   __________

                                DECEMBER 7, 2016
                                   __________

                               Serial No. 114-59

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

              Printed for the use of the Committee on Agriculture
                             agriculture.house.gov

                                       ______

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                            COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE

                      K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, Texas, Chairman

    RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas,             COLLIN C. PETERSON, Minnesota,
        Vice Chairman                    Ranking Minority Member
    BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia              DAVID SCOTT, Georgia
    FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma             JIM COSTA, California
    STEVE KING, Iowa                     TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota
    MIKE ROGERS, Alabama                 MARCIA L. FUDGE, Ohio
    GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania         JAMES P. McGOVERN, Massachusetts
    BOB GIBBS, Ohio                      SUZAN K. DelBENE, Washington
    AUSTIN SCOTT, Georgia                FILEMON VELA, Texas
    ERIC A. ``RICK'' CRAWFORD, Arkansas  MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM, New Mexico
    SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee          ANN M. KUSTER, New Hampshire
    CHRISTOPHER P. GIBSON, New York      RICHARD M. NOLAN, Minnesota
    VICKY HARTZLER, Missouri             CHERI BUSTOS, Illinois
    DAN BENISHEK, Michigan               SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, New York
    JEFF DENHAM, California              ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona
    DOUG LaMALFA, California             PETE AGUILAR, California
    RODNEY DAVIS, Illinois               STACEY E. PLASKETT, Virgin Islands
    TED S. YOHO, Florida                 ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina
    JACKIE WALORSKI, Indiana             GWEN GRAHAM, Florida
    RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia               BRAD ASHFORD, Nebraska
    MIKE BOST, Illinois
    DAVID ROUZER, North Carolina
    RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana
    JOHN R. MOOLENAAR, Michigan
    DAN NEWHOUSE, Washington
    TRENT KELLY, Mississippi

                                     ______

                        Scott C. Graves, Staff Director

                     Anne Simmons, Minority Staff Director

                                      (ii)

                                 C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page
    Adams, Hon. Alma S., a Representative in Congress from North
      Carolina, opening statement....................................    23
    Allen, Hon. Rick W., a Representative in Congress from Georgia,
      opening statement..............................................    25
    Ashford, Hon. Brad, a Representative in Congress from Nebraska,
      opening statement..............................................    22
    Conaway, Hon. K. Michael, a Representative in Congress from
      Texas, opening statement.......................................     1
        Prepared statement...........................................     3
    Graham, Hon. Gwen, a Representative in Congress from Florida,
      opening statement..............................................    25
    Peterson, Hon. Collin C., a Representative in Congress from
      Minnesota, opening statement...................................     4
    Scott, Hon. Austin, a Representative in Congress from Georgia,
      opening statement..............................................    24
    Scott, Hon. David, a Representative in Congress from Georgia.....     4
        Submitted legislation........................................     7

                                   Witnesses

    Cleaver, Hon. Emanuel, a Representative in Congress from Missouri    19
    Cramer, Hon. Kevin, a Representative in Congress from North
      Dakota.........................................................    20
        Prepared statement...........................................    21
    Bell, Ph.D., Juliette B., President, University of Maryland
      Eastern Shore; Outgoing Chair, Council of 1890's Executive
      Committee, Princess Anne, MD...................................    26
        Prepared statement...........................................    27
    Jackson-Hammond, Ed.D, Cynthia, President, Central State
      University, Wilberforce, OH....................................    30
        Prepared statement...........................................    31
    Jones, Ph.D., Paul A., President, Fort Valley State University,
      Fort Valley, GA................................................    33
        Prepared statement...........................................    34
    Robinson, Ph.D., Larry, Interim President, Florida Agricultural
      and Mechanical University, Tallahassee, FL.....................    49

                         1890 LAND-GRANT INSTITUTIONS:
                           RECRUITMENT CHALLENGES AND
                           SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

                                  ----------

                          WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2016

                              House of Representatives,
                                      Committee on Agriculture,
                                                       Washington, D.C.
        The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:00 a.m., in Room
    1300, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. K. Michael Conaway
    [Chairman of the Committee] presiding.
        Members present: Representatives Conaway, Lucas, King,
    Gibbs, Austin Scott of Georgia, Benishek, LaMalfa, Davis, Yoho,
    Allen, Rouzer, Abraham, Moolenaar, Kelly, Peterson, David Scott
    of Georgia, Walz, Fudge, DelBene, Lujan Grisham, Kuster, Nolan,
    Plaskett, Adams, Graham, and Ashford.
        Staff present: Bart Fischer, Mollie Wilken, Mykel Wedig,
    Stephanie Addison, Anne Simmons, Evan Jurkovich, Keith Jones,
    Matthew MacKenzie, Nicole Scott, and Carly Reedholm.

    OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, A REPRESENTATIVE
                         IN CONGRESS FROM TEXAS

        The Chairman. Good morning. Before we start, I want to ask
    David Scott to open us with a prayer. David.
        Mr. David Scott of Georgia. Dear Heavenly Father, we come
    before your throne of grace to first of all say thank you. We
    thank you for so much. So many blessings you bestow upon us
    that we don't even know. We thank you for that. We thank you
    for our health and our strength. And dear Heavenly Father, we
    ask your special blessing to anoint this Committee room this
    morning, that you would usher in your Holy Spirit into the
    hearts and minds of everyone sitting in this room, that we
    understand the full responsibility to provide for our African
    American community the true opportunity, the financial support
    that we need for scholarships. This is what we pray for this
    morning, dear God.
        We thank you for this mindful Committee. We thank you for
    the Chairman with the insight and the compassion to have this
    hearing. And we just ask in your holy name that we be
    successful in doing your work, in doing your will, which is to
    provide these scholarships for these African American students,
    for these African American colleges that were founded through
    the grace coming out of the Civil War. We made it through.
        And dear God, only in your kindness, as you give us your
    loving-kindness, please spread your loving-kindness today in
    this Agriculture Committee room, that we be successful in this
    journey to take the first step here today to award these
    colleges $1 million each year to help our African American
    students. And this we pray and we thank you for. In the name of
    your son Jesus Christ we say amen.
        The Chairman. Thank you, David.
        This hearing of the Committee on Agriculture entitled, 1890
    Land-Grant Institutions: Recruitment Challenges and Scholarship
    Opportunities, will come to order.
        Good morning. Today, we will discuss one of the Committee's
    longstanding areas of jurisdiction, agricultural research
    universities. More specifically, we will hear from our 1890s
    institutions, the land-grant colleges and universities for
    African American students established pursuant to the Second
    Morrill Act of 1890.
        Last July, we had a hearing to celebrate the 125th
    anniversary of the 1890 universities and the contributions they
    have made and they continue to make to the agriculture industry
    in the United States. Today, we will build on that discussion
    and explore challenges that the 1890s face in recruiting
    students to careers in agriculture. There is currently an unmet
    demand for highly skilled jobs within the agricultural
    industry. The 1890s have recognized the opportunity that such a
    gap presents for graduates with degrees in agricultural
    studies, and they are focusing their efforts on generating
    greater interest in agricultural programs within their
    respective schools.
        Today, we will start by hearing from a panel of our fellow
    Congressmen who have sponsored H.R. 6020, Funding for Student
    Scholarships for the 1890s Land-Grant African-American Colleges
    and Universities Act. I am looking forward to the acronym on
    that one.
        Now, as my colleagues will explain, this bill allocates
    scholarships to 1890 universities for students interested in
    food and agricultural sciences.
        In our second panel, the Committee will hear from the
    Presidents of three of those schools about the challenges they
    face in recruiting African American students to agricultural
    areas of study, as well as their suggestions for moving
    forward.
        While only three of the 1890s Presidents will testify this
    morning, we are fortunate that Presidents and/or their
    representatives from several of the other 1890 schools are in
    attendance today, and we would like to recognize them at this
    time.
        In addition to our witnesses, we have Dr. Makola Abdullah,
    President of Virginia State University.
        Mr. Abdullah. Thank you very much.
        The Chairman. Okay, thank you. Dr. Anthony Jenkins,
    President of West Virginia State University.
        Dr. Larry Robinson, interim President for Florida A&M
    University. Dr. Robinson, glad you are here.
        Dr. Kirk Pomper, Director of Land-Grant Programs in
    Kentucky State University.
        Dr. Albert Essel, Director of Cooperative Research and 1890
    Administrator, Lincoln University. Good morning, sir.
        Zachary Faison, General Counsel and Vice President for
    External Affairs, Tuskegee University. Zachary, good morning.
        Dr. Antoine Alston, Associate Dean for the College of
    Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, North Carolina A&T.
        And finally, Mr. Tony Wells, previous President of the
    Alumni Association for Tennessee State University. Tony, good
    to have you with us this morning.
        If there are others in the audience who we haven't
    mentioned, please know you are welcome. We are glad you are
    here. We value your contribution.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Conaway follows:]

      Prepared Statement of Hon. K. Michael Conaway, a Representative in
                              Congress from Texas
        Good morning.
        Today we will discuss one of the Committee's longest standing areas
    of jurisdiction--agricultural research universities. More specifically,
    we will hear from our ``1890s'' institutions--the land-grant colleges
    and universities for African American students established pursuant to
    the Second Morrill Act of 1890.
        Last July, we held a hearing to celebrate the 125th anniversary of
    1890 universities and the contributions they have made and continue to
    make to the agricultural industry in the United States. Today, we will
    build on that discussion and explore challenges that the 1890s face in
    recruiting students to careers in agriculture.
        There is currently an unmet demand for highly-skilled jobs within
    the agricultural industry. The 1890s have recognized the opportunity
    that such a gap presents for graduates with degrees in agricultural
    studies, and they are focusing efforts on generating greater interest
    in the agricultural programs within their respective schools.
        Today, we will start by hearing from a panel of my fellow
    Congressmen who have sponsored H.R. 6020, the Funding for Student
    Scholarships for the 1890 Land-Grant African-American Colleges and
    Universities Act. As my colleagues will explain, this bill would
    allocate scholarships to 1890 universities for students interested in
    food and agricultural sciences.
        For our second panel, the Committee will hear from the Presidents
    of three of those schools about the challenges they have faced in
    recruiting African American students to agricultural areas of study, as
    well as their suggestions for moving forward.
        While only three of the 1890s Presidents will testify this morning,
    we are fortunate that Presidents (or their representatives) from
    several of the other 1890 universities are in attendance today, and I
    would like to recognize them at this time:
        In addition to our witnesses, we have joining us:

        Dr. Makola Abdullah, President of Virginia State University;
        Dr. Anthony Jenkins, President of West Virginia State University;
        Dr. Larry Robinson, Interim President of Florida A&M University;
        Dr. Kirk Pomper, Director of Land Grant Programs at Kentucky State
                University;
        Dr. Albert Essel, Director of Cooperative Research & 1890
                Administrator, Lincoln University;
        Zachary Faison, General Counsel and Vice President for External
                Affairs, Tuskegee University;
        Dr. Antoine Alston, Associate Dean for the College of Agriculture
                and Environmental Sciences, North Carolina A&T State
                University; and finally
        Mr. Tony Wells, Previous President of the Alumni Association,
                Tennessee State University.

        If there are others in the audience that I didn't mention by name,
    please know that the Committee values your contributions.
        It is now my pleasure to recognize the Ranking Member for any
    comments he wishes to make.

        The Chairman. And now it is my pleasure to recognize the
    Ranking Member for any comments he has.

    OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. COLLIN C. PETERSON, A REPRESENTATIVE
                       IN CONGRESS FROM MINNESOTA

        Mr. Peterson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And welcome,
    everybody, to today's Agriculture Committee hearing.
        As the Chairman said, today's hearing is focused on
    recruitment challenges and scholarship opportunities at 1890
    land-grant universities. We are also going to be learning more
    about legislation sponsored by Congressman David Scott, H.R.
    6020, to make more scholarships available to students attending
    these schools. Our land-grant universities play an important
    role in agricultural research, extension, and educational
    programs, and I am looking forward to hearing today's
    testimony.
        I want to welcome the 1890 Presidents who are joining us
    today and some of whom were here last summer when we met to
    recognize the 125th anniversary of the Second Morrill Act.
        Before I yield back, Mr. Chairman, this is our final
    hearing of this Congress, hopefully.
        The Chairman. Yes.
        Mr. Peterson. And I believe that we have held more than 80
    hearings, which is a record. As we wrap up here, I want to just
    thank all the Members for their hard work and the Chairman for
    his leadership and service to the Committee. And, with that, I
    yield back.
        The Chairman. Well, I thank the Ranking Member for those
    kind comments at the end. We have had a great 114th Congress
    and most of us are looking forward to a great 115th Congress.
    We may have a few folks that move on to committees of lesser
    importance throughout the Congress as we move forward, but it
    has been a great pleasure.
        So, with that, the chair will request other Members submit
    their opening statements for the record, so the witnesses may
    begin their testimony and to assure there is ample time for
    questions.
        I would like to welcome our first panel, the Honorable
    David Scott, Member of Congress from Georgia, Member of the
    Committee; the Honorable Emanuel Cleaver, Member of Congress
    from Missouri; and the Honorable Kevin Cramer, the only Member
    of Congress from North Dakota.
        Congressman Scott, begin when you are ready, sir.

      STATEMENT OF HON. DAVID SCOTT, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
                              FROM GEORGIA

        Mr. David Scott of Georgia. Well, thank you very much, Mr.
    Chairman. First of all, I want to thank you, Chairman Conaway,
    for your dedication and for your understanding, and for your
    longtime support of the 1890s African American colleges and
    universities. Thank you so much for this hearing.
        I also want to thank Speaker Paul Ryan, who was very
    helpful to us in getting this moving.
        And I certainly want to thank our Ranking Member Peterson
    for the great job he has done over the years. He has been a
    champion of the 1890s.
        I want to thank my cosponsors too, if I may, Mr. Chairman.
    Representative Kevin Cramer, my dear good friend. We have been
    on this journey now for a couple of years in getting this bill
    moving and our bill to provide training and job training for
    African American young men as we move to rebuild the crumbling
    infrastructure. I want to thank Ms. Marcia L. Fudge, our former
    Chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, who has been a
    stalwart supporter of our African American schools; Brad
    Ashford from Nebraska, who is a great sponsor; Mrs. Mia Love,
    another one of our Republican cosponsors; Ms. Gwen Graham; Ms.
    Alma S. Adams; Mr. Pete Sessions, who is the Chairman of our
    Rules Committee; and my good friend Reverend Emanuel Cleaver,
    who is an extraordinary champion. Thank you all for this. We
    appreciate it.
        Thank you for your staff work on this, Mr. Chairman, your
    staff, and my hardworking staff of Ashley and the team back in
    my office.
        This is a monumental moment in the history of our African
    American colleges and universities, ladies and gentlemen. We
    humbly come before this Committee to plead our case that we
    establish the grants in this bill that will enable the African
    American land-grant universities to be able to provide $1
    million each year for scholarships for our African American
    students. The caveat is that the African American students will
    then commit to careers in this burgeoning field of business
    agriculture. The most important industry in the world is
    agriculture. It is the food we eat. It is the clothes we wear.
    It is our energy. It is high finance. It is derivatives. It is
    risk management. It is commodities and futures trading abroad,
    which makes just the derivatives sector a $800 trillion piece
    of the world's economy. And we want this opportunity for our
    students.
        I want to say one other thing. There was a great
    conversation that was held by two great Americans. One,
    President Abraham Lincoln; the other, General Robert E. Lee.
    The Civil War had ended. And they had this conversation right
    on these hallowed grounds. And as they looked over the expanse
    and looked south to Virginia, Mr. Lincoln said to General Lee,
    ``It is not incumbent for us to complete this task,'' and
    before he could finish that, General Lee finished that sentence
    by saying, ``But, Mr. President Lincoln, neither are we free to
    desist from doing all we possibly can.''
        That is what is at our place today. And, Mr. Chairman, I
    want us to have this opportunity. There is no greater need in
    the African American community, as in all communities, than
    economics, jobs, financial security, and the education and job
    training that goes along with them. That is why all of us
    sponsors have sponsored a companion bill to provide job
    training targeted for the 18-39, the hardest hit group, to help
    build the crumbling infrastructure. That sits in another
    committee, but today this is the education piece.
        And, Mr. Chairman, this also gives us an opportunity. I
    received some notice that President-elect Donald Trump is
    interested in what we are doing with these two bills. I want us
    to have an opportunity, give us this opportunity, because in
    these two bills it is the Secretary of Labor that will be the
    supervisory agency for the jobs bill, but this bill will come
    under the new Secretary of Agriculture. It is important that we
    engage them.
        And I take President Trump, and as many of you know or some
    of you may not know, he and I finished from the great Wharton
    School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania together. I
    ask for an opportunity to allow us to work, and maybe we bring
    some of that Wharton School of Business magic to this. I
    appreciate the opportunity to do that and hope you will pass
    this bill out. Thank you.
        [H.R. 6020 and H.R. 6021 follow:]

     H.R. 6020, Funding for Student Scholarships for the 1890s Land-Grant
                 African-American Colleges and Universities Act

     [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

       H.R. 6021, Jobs, On-the-Job `Earn While You Learn' Training, and
               Apprenticeships for African-American Young Men Act

     [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        The Chairman. The gentleman yields back.
        Reverend Cleaver.

    STATEMENT OF HON. EMANUEL CLEAVER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
                             FROM MISSOURI

        Mr. Cleaver. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member
    Peterson, for having this hearing. And I would thank my
    colleague David Scott for the vision that he has. You will hear
    from my esteemed colleagues, the original sponsors of H.R.
    6020, on the importance of this legislation and its benefits.
        I will just say that this bill is critical if we are to
    increase the number of African American young people seeking
    careers in agriculture and agribusiness. When I look back, I
    happen to have known both of my great-grandfathers. On the
    Cleaver side, they tend to live into their nineties. My father
    just reached 94. I had the chance to know them. And on both
    sides, they were farmers. Henry Barton and the Reverend Noah
    Albert Cleaver, my great-grandfathers. And my great-uncle was
    the head of the agricultural department at Prairie View A&M
    University.
        There is an 1890 university in my state, Lincoln
    University, and we are very proud of it, as I am proud to be a
    Prairie View A&M graduate, in fact. When my nephew graduated 2
    years ago, he made the 15th Cleaver to graduate from Prairie
    View. And it is a school that has produced two Members of
    Congress. Some of you probably served with Craig Washington,
    who filled the seat that is now held by Sheila Jackson Lee of
    Houston. And many people know of the Gang of Three in New York,
    one of them Percy Sutton. You see his name almost always
    associated with Congressman Charlie Rangel. Percy Sutton is a
    Prairie View graduate, as is Mr. T. Mr. T was a freshman when I
    was a senior. And Cecil Cooper who, for the baseball fans,
    played for the Red Sox. And, of course, Otis Taylor and Ken
    Houston and Jim Kearney and many others were NFL standouts.
        Lincoln University in Jefferson City was established at the
    end of the Civil War by members of the 62nd United States
    Colored Infantry. It was created to educate freed African
    Americans. The school was founded on the idea of combining
    study and labor. In 1890, Lincoln became a land-grant
    institution, enabling the university to offer industrial and
    agricultural courses. As one of Missouri's two historically
    black colleges and universities, Lincoln University has
    continued to open its doors to a diverse population.
        You may be surprised to learn that my close friend, Blaine
    Luetkemeyer, is a graduate of an HBCU, Lincoln University. And
    Prairie View A&M University, the first state-supported college
    in Texas for African Americans, was established during the
    reconstruction period after the Civil War. It is the second
    oldest public institution of higher education in Texas.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, and especially
    to my colleague and friend David Scott.
        The Chairman. I thank the gentleman. Do I have it correct
    that both you and David have degrees from land-grant schools?
        Mr. Cleaver. Yes. I am a graduate of Prairie View.
        The Chairman. And David?
        Mr. David Scott of Georgia. And I am a graduate of Florida
    A&M University.
        The Chairman. All right.
        Mr. David Scott of Georgia. Go Rattlers.
        The Chairman. Mr. Cramer, can you top that, sir?

     STATEMENT OF HON. KEVIN CRAMER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
                           FROM NORTH DAKOTA

        Mr. Cramer. No, Mr. Chairman. I am getting a strong sense
    of what it is like to be in the minority, however.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Peterson, and
    Members of the Committee, for this wonderful opportunity to
    provide testimony on this important bill.
        And I am sure Wharton is fine, but it is clearly no Florida
    A&M, so I am glad we got that out of the way. I wouldn't fault
    any of you for being curious right now about how a white
    Lutheran Republican from Fargo, North Dakota, gets hooked up
    with a black liberal Democrat from Georgia, but it has been a
    great pleasure, I'll tell you that.
        The seeds of this bill that we are discussing were planted
    at the beginning of this Congress, 2 years ago in January, when
    I introduced H.R. 3, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act, as its lead
    cosponsor. And Congressman Scott, and I am not one bit shy
    about saying, changed my heart when he took to the floor to
    support that bill, to the point where this very conservative
    capitalist Republican went to his office to learn more, to
    learn more about his vision for how we change America, about
    how we can use economic bills and economic solutions to solve
    social problems and crises. And I thought to myself, man, if I
    believe that a rising tide lifts all boats, then I need to hang
    around David Scott more, because he taught me that there are
    legitimate strategic ways to do that. And I am so far off my
    script now, I am going to have a hard time getting down here.
        But what he taught me, what he showed me is that, with a
    high unemployment rate among young black men, and nationwide it
    is about 40 percent, in many places it is 50 percent or higher,
    that with minor adjustments to policy, even outside of policy,
    David and I, ever since we have been working on policy
    together, we have been talking to companies and labor unions
    and trade organizations who are very enthused about being
    strategic, about how we match the workforce demands with the
    availability of a workforce and our education system, to get it
    all back in sync and change for the better. By the way, I want
    to stress, it is not just for economic benefit, not just for
    job creation, but to heal our land, for the benefit not just of
    our country but of this institution that needs help healing as
    well.
        And so I am enthused, David, to stand here with you. You
    had me at the prayer, by the way. You had me at the prayer.
        So our final amendment wasn't included in the Keystone XL
    bill, the amendment that would target enthusiasm for job
    training, but the concept lives on. And hopefully yet, as we
    start working on a major build-out of our infrastructure of
    this country, as we strive to feed a growing population in the
    world with the same number of acres or less, we need smart
    people. We need smart people who learn from the universities
    represented on the next panel to help us grow more food in a
    responsible way, to train up the engineers, to train up the
    soil agronomists, and train up the horticulturists and all
    those smart people that help our farmers do what they do so
    well, and that is feed a hungry world. And if in the process we
    serve a testimony to what people can do working together, all
    the more great, you see, to me, all the more great.
        And so, Mr. Chairman, I am absolutely convinced that the
    concepts promoted in this legislation and in the companion
    legislation that David talked about earlier to provide targeted
    training and, really, encouragement more than anything, can
    change a country and can change this body and perhaps could
    change this town that is so vital to changing policy. And then
    in the process, we can go home and work on changing hearts as
    well, just as David Scott has done for me.
        And so, with that, Mr. Chairman, thanks for the opportunity
    to highlight this important issue today.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Cramer follows:]

     Prepared Statement of Hon. Kevin Cramer, a Representative in Congress
                               from North Dakota
        Chairman Conaway, Ranking Member Peterson, and Members of the
    Committee, thank you for this opportunity to provide testimony today in
    support of H.R. 6020, a bill introduced by my good friend and Committee
    Member, Congressman David Scott.
        Please know I will not fault you for being curious as to why a
    Congressman from North Dakota, where the nearest 1890 land-grant
    university is over 900 miles away, is the lead Republican cosponsor of
    a bill to establish a scholarship program for young African American
    college students. My interest in this issue stems from my close
    relationship with Congressman Scott, and our shared mission of seeking
    pragmatic solutions to fix our nation's most pressing economic and
    social crises.
        The seeds of the bill we are discussing today were planted at the
    beginning of the 114th Congress during the House's consideration of
    H.R. 3, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act. As lead sponsor of the Keystone
    XL legislation, Congressman Scott approached me about working together
    on an amendment to help tackle a social crisis in his district and
    around the country, which is the high unemployment rate among young
    African American men. The unemployment rate among this group is around
    40 percent nationally and as high as 50 percent in some inner city
    communities. Our proposed amendment would have utilized existing
    apprenticeship programs to urge labor unions and contractors to
    actively recruit and train African American men between the ages of 18
    to 37 for jobs related to the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
    Both Congressman Scott and I saw this as a unique opportunity to not
    only help spur the hiring of underemployed blue-collar American workers
    who are ready and eager to rebuild the nation's infrastructure, but
    also as a strategy to help alleviate a social crisis without the use of
    additional Federal resources or mandates.
        While our amendment was not included in the final Keystone XL
    pipeline bill passed last year, Congressman Scott decided to expand on
    this effort through the introduction of two inter-connected pieces of
    legislation, H.R. 6020 and H.R. 6021.
        H.R. 6020, which is before the Committee today, would establish
    scholarship programs at the 19 historically black land-grant
    universities for students interested in studying agriculture-related
    fields such as agribusiness, food production, retailing, horticulture,
    and soil sciences.
        H.R. 6021, modeled off our Keystone amendment, would urge the
    Department of Labor to work with businesses, labor unions, and
    contractors to actively recruit, hire, and provide on-the-job training
    and apprenticeship programs in infrastructure-related fields for
    African American men between the ages of 18 to 39.
        While the unemployment rate has fallen in recent months, the number
    of Americans who have dropped out of the labor force continues to
    climb, and good paying jobs are still difficult to find for many
    Americans. According to the latest employment statistics released by
    the Department of Labor, a record 95 million Americans have dropped out
    of the workforce. Moreover, the current labor force participation rate
    sits at 62.7 percent, which is among the lowest levels we have seen in
    the last 40 years. Looking at just the agriculture industry alone, the
    number of farmers in the United States has declined over four percent
    in recent years and the median age of an American farmer is now 60
    years old.
        These alarming statistics indicate a new strategy is required to
    better sync our country's education system with the needs and demands
    of a 21st century workforce. The bills offered by Congressman Scott
    provide a targeted two prong approach to helping improve America's
    employment crisis by increasing the number young people receiving a
    good education in career fields which need the labor, such as
    agriculture, while also encouraging the building trades to invest in
    the wealth of human capital and potential which currently sits untapped
    on the sidelines.
        To conclude, I firmly believe these two bills will reap major
    rewards for the nation, all at a minimal cost to the Federal
    Government. Further, there is no social program more successful than a
    good education which leads to a good paying job. In North Dakota, I
    have witnessed the economic power which can be unleashed when the
    education system and private industry work in tandem to meet the needs
    of our state.
        I am proud to support this bipartisan piece of legislation, and I
    encourage the Agriculture Committee to give it full consideration. I
    want to thank Chairman Conaway and Ranking Member Peterson for agreeing
    to hold this hearing and for the opportunity to provide testimony in
    support of this important bill.

        The Chairman. The gentleman yields back.
        I thank all three of you. While we are not going to
    question each of you, are there other Members who would like to
    discuss H.R. 6020 as a part of the conversation this morning? I
    would be happy to recognize anyone for 5 minutes. Brad.

      OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BRAD ASHFORD, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
                         CONGRESS FROM NEBRASKA

        Mr. Ashford. Yes, thank you. And I would like to reflect
    just a bit as well, and I will be brief.
        Nebraska is a state where the TransCanada pipeline has now
    ceased to go. In Nebraska, we struggled with trying to move the
    pipeline, and Kevin knows about this, and David. We have a
    little bit of history on the pipeline part of this or the
    construction job part of this.
        But I also want to talk about the speech very quickly that
    David Scott gave on the floor, because I was only in the
    Congress a week or so when David gave that speech. And I have
    been working in my community for 35 years with the African
    American community, ran a housing authority, did work there,
    and have been struggling with how do we put together, as
    Representative Cramer aptly says, put together the job
    opportunities with the unemployment rates that are so
    staggering.
        And when David gave that speech, and I was listening. I
    just, again, had been there just a brief time, maybe 2 weeks. I
    didn't know David very well. I didn't know anybody at that
    time. And I went up to David. I said, ``David, that was truly
    the greatest speech I have ever heard on the issue, because it,
    in fact, identified in clear language a problem and a crisis
    and an issue of black male unemployment between 18 and 39,''
    something I have struggled with in my community my entire adult
    life, trying to find that way out. And I said, ``David, this is
    great, I want to get on this deal.''
        So we talked to Kevin Cramer and all the other cosponsors
    got involved. But of all the pieces of legislation I have been
    involved in all my years of legislative experience in Nebraska
    and a few years here, this is really one that I am most proud
    of, because it really is, and combined with the scholarships,
    is just an ingenious merging together of the education with
    jobs and with the mentoring piece.
        And I just want to take this opportunity in my last day or
    so here in Congress to underline my appreciation to the three
    of you, certainly, and to David for his eloquence that got me
    going 2 years ago on this issue.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
        The Chairman. The gentleman yields back.
        Ms. Adams, 5 minutes.

     OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ALMA S. ADAMS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
                      CONGRESS FROM NORTH CAROLINA

        Ms. Adams. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        And let me thank all of the Presidents and the deans and my
    colleagues for not only your support of this bill, but for the
    work that has been done on it. And, Congressman Scott, I
    especially want to thank you. I am just pleased to be a proud
    sponsor, a cosponsor as well.
        But I sit here today in this Congress because of North
    Carolina A&T State University. I am a proud alum. I am a
    graduate twice from North Carolina A&T. I do want to recognize
    Dr. Antoine Alston, who is our Associate Dean for Academics at
    the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. And I
    want to thank you for being here and thank North Carolina A&T
    for all that it did for me, who took a poor black girl from the
    ghetto of Newark, New Jersey, came to North Carolina in the
    mid-sixties, was able to complete my work there, because A&T
    saw a lot in me and what I could become, and they made an
    investment. And so I was able to complete my degrees there and
    to go on to the Ohio State University and complete my Ph.D.
    there, only because of the North Carolina A&T.
        So I say that to say that I understand the plight of
    students. I am a 40 year educator. I taught at Bennett College,
    a small college, African American women's college in
    Greensboro, for 40 years. I have that HBCU experience inside
    and out. And I understand what it did for me, and I know what
    our 1890 schools can do and what they have done.
        And I am so pleased to support this legislation, because I
    know that it is going to not only benefit many of our students.
    Now, we do a lot with little. Our schools do a lot with little.
    I am proud to say that we are the largest HBCU in North
    Carolina and maybe even in the nation. I haven't looked at all
    the numbers. But we do great things for students who deserve an
    opportunity. And W.E.B. Du Bois said a long time ago that the
    most fundamental right is a right to education. And providing
    opportunities for scholarships for these young people will
    certainly do that, and help us with our unemployment rate.
        I am proud to say that my daughter, my only daughter, is a
    graduate of North Carolina A&T from the School of Agriculture,
    and is doing very well in Greensboro. But this is a field that
    is an important area. And as Congressman Scott has said, it is
    about everything, agriculture. It is about the clothes we wear.
    It is about energy, agribusiness, all of those things that we
    need and depend on.
        I don't know if Congressman Mark Walker is still here, one
    of the members of his staff, who now, as they changed my
    district, you all may have heard about all of that. But, at any
    rate, I represented North Carolina A&T and will through the end
    of this year. I am happy to not only advocate now but to
    continue to do that. But Congressman Walker has been given that
    part of the district now, and so I invited him to come. But I
    just want to say that we too have had some great Congressmen to
    come through from North Carolina A&T. Former Congressman Jesse
    Jackson, Jr., Edolphus Towns, and now Alma S. Adams.
        And so, Mr. Chairman, I just want to thank these gentlemen
    and ladies for coming today and for advocating for what I know
    will be a tremendous benefit to all of our schools and the many
    students that we seek to serve. I am way off script too.
        But anyway, those are the comments of my heart. And I just
    wanted to thank all of you for being here and just say this is
    a very important piece of legislation, and we certainly hope
    that you will join us in supporting that and getting this bill
    passed.
        Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
        The Chairman. The gentlelady yields back.
        Austin Scott, 5 minutes.

      OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. AUSTIN SCOTT, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
                         CONGRESS FROM GEORGIA

        Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        I just wanted to take a second to thank my long-time friend
    and colleague David Scott. We have known each other since 1996.
    He has been a great advocate on many things that have helped
    move the country in the right direction.
        And any time I think of Fort Valley State, I can't help but
    think of another friend of ours, Lynmore James, who was a great
    advocate for Fort Valley, did a tremendous number of things
    when he was a Member of the State Legislature in Georgia and
    served with us. I just want to thank you, David, for your work
    on this, look forward to supporting it, and I look forward to
    continuing to work with you.
        Mr. David Scott of Georgia. Thank you, sir.
        The Chairman. The gentleman yields back.
        Gwen Graham, 5 minutes.

      OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. GWEN GRAHAM, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
                         CONGRESS FROM FLORIDA

        Ms. Graham. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        And I want to thank my colleague Mr. Scott for including me
    in this legislation. I am proud to be an original cosponsor as
    I am ending my term in Congress and leaving Congress. My
    district was redistricted too, Congresswoman Adams.
        There is nothing that I could be prouder than to be able,
    in some of my last days, to be here advocating on behalf of
    HBCUs. And I want to recognize Dr. Robinson, who is the interim
    President of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, and I am so
    proud to represent the Rattlers. Strike, strike, strike again.
    I am still working on the wrist action, still working on it.
        The 1890 land-grant universities, they have the important
    task of recruiting, educating, and ensuring that future
    generations are excited about, and prepared for, careers in
    agriculture. This is an immediate need. And I know that we must
    do all we can to support these wonderful universities in that
    effort.
        This bill would make an education in agriculture more
    accessible and affordable. And I know in north Florida that
    what Florida A&M is doing is helping young people get into the
    field of agriculture, and it is such a critically important
    area. As the age of those that are in agriculture goes up, we
    need to encourage young people to get into this wonderful
    field. Again, I want to thank you. It is such an honor to
    represent Florida A&M.
        And, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
        The Chairman. The gentlelady yields back.
        Rick Allen, 5 minutes.

     OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. RICK W. ALLEN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
                         CONGRESS FROM GEORGIA

        Mr. Allen. Well, I have to tell my David Scott story real
    quick. But Kevin, all I can tell you is he walks the talk,
    because I had the opportunity to ride back to Georgia on an
    airplane and got to sit next to Congressman Scott. And he had
    his Bible open and, of course, we got into a discussion about
    his study and our faith journey. And I can't tell you,
    Congressman, how much I appreciate that opportunity to talk
    about how we could make a difference. Thank you, and thank you
    for walking the talk.
        Mr. David Scott of Georgia. Thank you very much. I
    appreciate that.
        The Chairman. The gentleman yields back.
        Are there others who want to be heard?
        I want to thank our first panel for getting us kicked off
    in a great way.
        We will now ask our second panel to join us at the witness
    table.
        The Chairman. I would like to welcome our second panel now
    to the witness table.
        We first have Dr. Juliette Bell, who is President,
    University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD,
    outgoing chair of the Council of 1890s Executive Committee. We
    also have with us Dr. Cynthia Jackson-Hammond, who is
    President, Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio; and Dr.
    Paul Jones, President, Fort Valley State University, Fort
    Valley, Georgia.
        I would also again like to welcome the other Presidents and
    representatives of the other schools. During the question-and-
    answer period, Members will be able to ask questions not only
    of the witnesses at the table, but of any of the other guests
    who represent the 1890s schools.
        So, with that, Dr. Bell, the floor is yours for 5 minutes.

            STATEMENT OF JULIETTE B. BELL, Ph.D., PRESIDENT,
     UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE; OUTGOING CHAIR, COUNCIL
                     OF 1890's EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE,
                           PRINCESS ANNE, MD

        Dr. Bell. Thank you very much. And good morning to the
    House Agriculture Committee. It is my great pleasure to have
    another opportunity to speak before this august group.
        First, I want to thank the Chairman for his support and for
    providing this opportunity for us to speak before the
    Committee. And I also want to thank Congressman Scott for his
    diligence and his undying support, and those who are also
    cosponsors of this bill. We are very encouraged by your support
    and we appreciate the opportunity to speak before you this
    morning.
        As was said, my name is Dr. Juliette Bell. I am the
    President of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and the
    immediate past Chair of the Council of 1890 Universities, and
    of the USDA/1890 Task Force established by the U.S. Secretary
    of Agriculture.
        My purpose here this morning is to really speak to you
    about the importance of providing scholarship support that will
    help our students to achieve their dreams of careers in the
    agriculture fields.
        Let me start by saying, I grew up on a farm in Alabama. I
    picked cotton and corn and all other kinds of things. And one
    of my greatest ambitions was to get off the farm, and I was
    able to do that as a result of being a first-generation college
    student with support through scholarship. I find it in some
    ways ironic and in some ways divine providence that I am now
    leading a school that is a land-grant agriculture-based
    institution, because many of my students have similar
    backgrounds to myself. They are first generation, economically
    disadvantaged students.
        The advantage that I see for my current students is that
    the agricultural field has evolved greatly, and there are many
    opportunities for our students to explore the use of technology
    and to learn what modern agriculture really is all about. We
    want to be able to increasingly provide that opportunity to
    more students of African American descent and help them to be a
    part of the American Dream.
        As I mentioned, we serve a very diverse student population.
    Many of my students, about 50 percent are first-generation
    college students; and about 70 percent of my students are Pell-
    eligible, meaning they are also economically disadvantaged.
    And, on top of that, about 90 percent of my students depend on
    some form of financial aid.
        When students in that situation are faced with whether they
    can afford to come back to school, whether they are
    academically prepared or not, oftentimes they are forced to
    withdraw and as a result of that withdrawal, they lose the
    opportunity to achieve their dreams. This bill will provide the
    university, in particular my university, and the other 18 1890
    institutions an opportunity to provide some financial support
    to those students who are academically well-prepared, but just
    not economically prepared to sustain their educational
    experience.
        We know that the workforce is underrepresented in terms of
    African Americans in agriculture. We also know that the
    workforce is graying, especially in agriculture. I believe I
    heard that the average age for farmers now is 60+ years, and
    among African Americans that number is proposed to be much
    higher. We also know that it is important that students know
    that agriculture is a career that they can pursue and that
    there are jobs.
        A report that I cited in my testimony indicates that ten
    percent of the economy is driven by agriculture, but the number
    of jobs that are being filled is much less, and the diversity
    of those jobs is even less.
        So this bill will provide our universities, which are often
    not able through endowments and private funding, to be able to
    provide that level of support to these very deserving students,
    not just to help them get a degree, but to address the
    workforce needs and the economic development of our regions,
    and of our country.
        So, again, I ask for your support. I thank you for this
    opportunity, and I will be happy to answer any questions.
        [The prepared statement of Dr. Bell follows:]

    Prepared Statement of Juliette B. Bell, Ph.D., President, University of
      Maryland Eastern Shore; Outgoing Chair, Council of 1890's Executive
                          Committee, Princess Anne, MD
    Moving Full STEAM Ahead: Meeting 21st Century Challenges for Innovation
            in Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, and
            Mathematics
        To Members of the Agriculture Committee of the U.S. House of
    Representatives--Good morning!
        My name is Dr. Juliette B. Bell and I am honored to speak before
    you, not only as President of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore,
    but also as the former chair of the Council of 1890 Universities, which
    consists of Presidents of the nineteen 1890 Universities, and as former
    co-chair of the USDA/1890 Taskforce established by the U.S. Secretary
    of Agriculture.
        I am here today to testify in support of H.R. 6020, a bill that
    establishes funding for Student Scholarships for the 1890 Land-Grant
    African American Colleges and Universities Act. I ask your support of
    this bill, which provides much-needed student scholarship funding of
    $1,000,000 a year for 5 years for each of the 19 Historically Black
    Land-Grant Universities, including the University of Maryland Eastern
    Shore (UMES).
        Congressman Justin Morrill, one of the founders of the Republican
    Party, authored the Land Grant College Act of 1862, in order that
    colleges be established for the endowment and support of the education
    of the ``sons of toil;'' that they should be educated not only in
    classical studies and military drill, but also in the mechanical arts,
    and agriculture, which Morrill described as ``the foundation of all
    present and future prosperity.''
        Enacted in the midst of the Civil War, The Morrill Act did not
    provide for the education of the African American citizenry, as
    segregation of races prohibited the admission of African Americans to
    many of these land-grant colleges. Following the Civil War, in the
    years of reconstruction, Senator Morrill, continued his advocacy for
    the ``sons of toil,'' this time seeking to include those citizens of
    color who were not provided for under the original Act.
        Thus, in 1890, with the enactment of the Second Morrill Act, funds
    from the sale of public lands were set aside for ``the more complete
    endowment and maintenance'' of land-grant colleges except that no funds
    would be distributed to states where there was a ``distinction of race
    or color'' in admissions. However, the Act did stipulate that ``the
    establishment and maintenance of such colleges separately for white and
    colored students'' would be considered compliant with the Act provided
    the state ``equitably divided'' those funds between the institutions.
        Last year, we had the honor of celebrating the 125th anniversary of
    the signing of the Second Morrill Act, with several activities here in
    Washington, D.C. including testifying before this august body, the
    Agriculture Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. In
    recognition of the critical mission of 1890 Universities as educators
    of the nation's ``sons of toil'', Congressman Scott has introduced H.R.
    6020, to support our efforts. We salute him and the cosponsors of H.R.
    6020. For many students, our institutions represent their only access
    and opportunity to attaining a college education.
        The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) is pleased to be
    one of the nation's 1890 Land-Grant Universities. Founded in 1886, UMES
    is located on the Delmarva Peninsula, east of the Chesapeake Bay and
    west of the Atlantic Ocean, in the heart of Somerset County, on
    Maryland's Eastern Shore. In less than a 3 hours' drive from where we
    sit today, one can tell that ``agriculture'' is a driving force on
    ``the Shore.'' From the time of the first settlements in our state, the
    economy of the Eastern Shore has traditionally been driven by the land
    and the waterways that make our region so bucolic. Farmers, oystermen,
    crabbers, fishermen and poultry growers have not only made livelihoods
    for their families and employed countless others, but they have helped
    our region thrive. Further, the Atlantic Ocean, lined by sandy beaches
    and natural habitats, provide for a booming tourism industry that
    undergirds the state's economy. Indeed, one cannot think of Maryland's
    iconic foods (Maryland Crab Cake) and places (Annapolis, Baltimore, St.
    Michael's and Ocean City), without thinking about the contributions of
    the many stewards of the land and sea that make our state the land of
    opportunity.
        As a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) with a land-
    grant mission, much of our work at UMES has been to open doors of
    opportunity for capable students from diverse backgrounds and prepare
    them for meaningful careers that enable them to support their families,
    our state and our nation.
        The university's 3,900 students are culturally and geographically
    diverse. Currently, UMES is one of the most diverse HBCU's in the
    nation--67% of our students are African American, 13% are white, and
    20% are multi- or other-race students. More than \3/4\ of our students
    are Maryland residents, with a significant number from others states
    and some 30 nations. And, all of these students are being prepared for
    careers that will move us forward in our efforts to make America
    greater.
        One common denominator that many of our students share is their
    economic status. We recognize that the 1890 Universities serve a
    diverse population and that many of our students are economically
    unprepared to fund their college education. At UMES, more than 50% of
    our students are the first in their families to go to college and
    nearly \2/3\ are Pell-eligible. Unfortunately, many of these students,
    while academically succeeding, are forced to drop out of college
    because they don't have the money to cover the modest tuition that our
    institutions charge. At the same time, our institutions do not have
    large endowments and private support that allow us to assist every
    student who needs it.
        The scholarship funds provided by H.R. 6020 will help our students,
    not only African Americans, but also the many white students that our
    1890 Universities proudly serve. These economically disadvantaged
    students, black and white alike, will benefit from the scholarship
    funds that will help them fulfill their dreams of a college degree in
    fields that will help them land good jobs, contribute to the nation's
    economy, and improve the lives of their families for generations to
    come.
        Your support of the H.R. 6020 is critical to our ability to assist
    these students and support the economic growth and development of our
    country. This bill would provide scholarships for students to pursue
    careers in food and agricultural sciences, including agribusiness; food
    production; retailing; clothing industries; energy and renewable fuels;
    and farming marketing. All of these are vital career paths for
    residents in rural communities like ours on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
        Despite the strides that our nation has made in diversifying many
    industries and professions, minorities are still grossly
    underrepresented in the Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture,
    and Mathematics--what we call STEAM--disciplines. The 1890 Universities
    continue to be major producers of minority STEAM graduates in areas
    including engineering, mathematics and statistic, agriculture, and
    marine sciences.
        A recent report by the White House Office of Science and Technology
    Policy (OSTP) and the White House Rural Council, in collaboration with
    Federal agencies and private-sector stakeholders, in announcing new
    efforts to expand and diversify the U.S. agriculture workforce, brought
    the issue of the diversity in agriculture into stark reality. The
    report, titled America the Bountiful Initiative to Strengthen U.S.
    Agricultural Workforce, stated the following:

              Agriculture and its related industries provide nearly ten
            percent of U.S. employment, but the number of students
            graduating with degrees in agricultural fields is not meeting
            industry demand. Agricultural education needs to attract a
            diversity of students and keep pace with the increasingly
            complex nature of agricultural innovation needed to address
            global challenges. Falling behind in agriculture is a threat to
            national security and must be addressed as such.

        UMES offers more than 30 undergraduate majors including:
    Agriculture and Agribusiness and offers more than 20 graduate programs
    including masters and doctoral degree programs in Food and Agricultural
    Sciences, Food Science and Technology and Marine and Estuarine
    Sciences, Natural Resource Sciences and Quantitative Fisheries and
    Resources Economics.
        With additional support, UMES can continue to engage our students
    in ways to enhance our ability to deliver solutions in key areas. For
    example, funding under H.R. 6020 would allow us to support students to
    engage with our faculty in expanding the work of four centers of
    excellence that we launched last year in the following areas:

       Chesapeake Water Quality Center;

       Center for Obesity Prevention;

       Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development; and

       International Center for Personal Protective Equipment.

        At UMES, we have translated our historic land-grant mission to
    support 21st century life and learning. Academic programs such as
    engineering, cybersecurity, aviation, construction management, and
    technology, have their roots in the mechanical arts. Further still,
    programs like hospitality and tourism, child and family development and
    human ecology owe their genesis to the former domestic sciences, which
    have long been a staple of the land-grant mission. And even agriculture
    has had a 21st century transformation in the areas of precision
    agriculture, renewable energy, sustainability and biomedical and life
    sciences.
        UMES is appreciative of funding from the U.S. Department of
    Agriculture to support our 1890 land-grant mission. Largely due to this
    support, the university has been able to expand its research portfolio,
    which enabled the university to achieve the coveted status as a
    Carnegie Doctoral Research University in February of this year. The
    university's research portfolio includes such innovative projects as
    using beets as a source for jet fuel, and converting chicken waste to
    fuel and fertilizer. Moreover, the University currently serves as the
    lead institution in a coalition of six universities nationwide in the
    operation of the Living Marine Research and Cooperative Science Center
    (LMRCSC), which conducts research to preserve the marine and estuarine
    environment so vital to the health of the Chesapeake Bay and other
    waterways in the country.
        Our scientists have continued to position themselves at the cutting
    edge of new innovations. For instance, given the importance of food and
    water security, our scientists are exploring how unmanned Aerial
    Vehicles (UAVs) can be used to improve the efficiency of water use and
    application of nutrients to large commodities such as corn with very
    promising results.
        Just over a decade ago we were able to establish a state of the art
    research facility with Federal and state support where critical
    research on poultry and seafood safety and quality is carried. Our
    scientists are nationally recognized. Indeed Dr. Parveen one of our
    Food safety specialists serves on the Secretary of Agriculture's
    National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods.
        Through our extension funding, we have engaged our local community
    through numerous community forums and presentations in an effort to
    educate them about the benefits of agriculture to our community, our
    state and our nation. And, UMES actively engages youth in order to
    promote careers in the STEAM disciplines.
        I believe that strategic investment in 1890s will lead to a more
    level playing field that will allow us to be even more competitive and
    effective. Our graduates have been successful in diversifying the
    workforce and making meaningful contributions in the Federal, state,
    and business sectors. Certainly, by supporting H.R. 6020 and funding
    for Student Scholarships for the 1890 Land-Grant African American
    Colleges and Universities Act, you will be making an investment that
    will reap dividends for our students and this country.
        Strategic investment in 1890 Universities is an investment in the
    future. Again, thank you for your commitment and continued support of
    the 1890 Universities and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

        The Chairman. Dr. Bell, thank you.
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond, 5 minutes.

    STATEMENT OF CYNTHIA JACKSON-HAMMOND, Ed.D., PRESIDENT, CENTRAL
                   STATE UNIVERSITY, WILBERFORCE, OH

        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank
    you, Committee, for allowing me to be here to talk about some
    of the issues that are associated with Central State University
    and other 1890 universities.
        I must try to restrain myself because, as a college
    President, the first thing you want to do is tell the wonderful
    things about your university. I don't have much restraint. Let
    me begin by telling you a little bit about Central State
    University.
        Central State University is the only 1890 public land-grant
    university. We are also partners with an 1860, a little school
    in Columbus called the Ohio State University. Our partnership
    with them is very, very critical to making sure that we are
    meeting the needs of the people of the entire State of Ohio.
        We are the last of the 1890 institutions, receiving the
    designation February 13, 2014. And that was really a charge
    that came out of the farm bill and supported so fervently by so
    many people. And we certainly do want to recognize Congresslady
    Marcia L. Fudge, who we have adopted as a Centralian, and we
    thank her for all of her efforts in that regard.
        We do have wonderful alums who have come from Central State
    University, and the list goes on. But one that you might know
    quite easily is Congresslady Joyce Beatty, who is a soft-
    spoken, demure Congresslady who has done a tremendous amount of
    work here in support of land-grant institutions. She is one of
    our stellar alums.
        You've heard President Bell talk about the needs of our
    students. And I want to make sure that we are very clear in
    understanding that the students who attend 1890 universities
    are very academically gifted students. We have the same sort of
    expectations, the same requirements, the same performance
    outcomes as any 1860 university. We expect for our students to
    perform. We expect for them to be contributors to society. We
    expect for them to get in, get out, get a job and contribute to
    the State of Ohio.
        We are very, very happy to know that we have a supportive
    governor, Governor John Kasich, who supports Central State;
    Representative Jim Buchy from Ohio, who is also a very
    supportive person for Central State's 1890 land-grant
    initiatives. On our staff, we have retired Senator Chris
    Widener from Ohio, who is also a proponent of support for
    Central State University.
        Our main focus as an 1890 university is to address some of
    the common issues that plague so many of our Ohio residents:
    Health issues, nutrition, obesity, high blood pressure, all of
    those issues that really can be ameliorated through a very,
    very sound agriculture program. What do you eat? What do you do
    with the food that you ingest? We are really proud to have a
    research component and an extension component that reaches out
    to ten counties, along with the Ohio State University, to try
    to solve those issues.
        This particular legislation, H.R. 6020, will allow
    students, and not just African American students, but a vast
    amount of all students who wish to seek this kind of
    educational experience, to be contributing citizens of the
    State of Ohio. It is important that we begin very early in
    training and preparing students to understand their worth and
    value added to the state. In support of H.R. 6020, we need this
    sort of legislation to help keep students in school.
        Basically, you cannot get a job at USDA or improve the
    economy if you are not well-educated. H.R. 6020 allows us to
    provide those opportunities. Too many of our students stop out,
    not because of academic reasons but because of financial
    reasons. And this is a burden on the families and on the
    students. And in order to make sure that we are meeting the
    state performance for students being able to contribute, they
    have to be able to get into school, complete their course of
    study within 4 or 4\1/2\ years.
        Now, if you are a STEM-Ag major, it is going to take you a
    little bit longer because of the increased number of science
    courses that are associated with those fields. They need some
    additional help. Our students who are in our STEM-Ag programs,
    they get employment opportunities before they graduate. Water
    resource management, agribusiness, sustainable ag, ag
    education. It is important that we keep those students in
    school and try to increase the number of students who are going
    into those fields.
        Students make the decision about what field they want to go
    into based on what they can afford. And it should not be that.
    It should not be that rationale. It should be what can we do to
    contribute to the state and to the nation. By 2020, USDA has
    said that they will have over 60,000 job availabilities. We
    need to be in a position to fill those jobs.
        We ask for your support for H.R. 6020, and we know that we
    will make a difference because of its passage. Thank you very
    much.
        [The prepared statement of Dr. Jackson-Hammond follows:]

    Prepared Statement of Cynthia Jackson-Hammond, Ed.D, President, Central
                       State University, Wilberforce, OH
        Members of the Committee on Agriculture and other Congressional
    Members, thank you for giving me, the President of Central State
    University, an audience in order to provide testimony in support of
    H.R. 6020. I wish to especially thank the Members of the Ohio
    Congressional leadership for their support of our efforts and their
    willingness to support this very important legislation. Thank you,
    Congressman Gibbs for your introduction of me to this Committee. Thank
    you, Representative Fudge and Representative Beatty for your direct
    engagement with Central State University in encouraging and providing
    innovation and unending support to the countless students from Ohio and
    all students who need ``champions'' for their success!
        The history of Central State University, an 1890 Land-Grant
    Institution, begins with our parent institution, Wilberforce University
    (WU), named in honor of the great abolitionist William Wilberforce.
    Established in 1856 at Tawawa Springs, Ohio, WU is affiliated with the
    African Methodist Episcopal Church and is one of the oldest Black-
    administered institutions of higher education in the nation.
        In 1887, the Ohio General Assembly enacted legislation that created
    a Combined Normal and Industrial Department at Wilberforce University.
    The objectives of this new state-sponsored department were to provide
    teacher training and vocational education, and to stabilize these
    programs by assuring a financial base similar to that of other state-
    supported institutions.
        The statute establishing the Combined Normal and Industrial
    Department declared that the institution was ``open to all applicants
    of good and moral character'' thereby indicating no limitations as to
    race, color, sex, or creed. It was clear, however, that the Department
    and its successors were designed to serve the educational needs of
    African American students.
        Although this Department operated as part of Wilberforce University
    in most respects, a separate board of trustees was appointed to govern
    the state-financed operations. In 1941, the department expanded from a
    2 to a 4 year program, and in 1947, it legally split from Wilberforce,
    becoming the College of Education and Industrial Arts at Wilberforce.
    The name was changed in 1951 to Central State College, and in 1965, the
    institution achieved university status. The University has grown
    steadily since its' founding. In recent years, it has added new
    academic programs, established a new College of Science and Engineering
    and constructed the accompanying Joshua I. Smith Center of Education
    and Natural Sciences, four new residence halls, and completed
    construction of a new University Student Center in fall 2015.
        In February 2014, the 113th Congress of the United States
    designated Central State University an 1890 Land-Grant Institution.
    This designation is a distinct recognition for an Ohio institution of
    higher education, and Central State is one of two institutions to hold
    this distinction. The major impetus of the designation is to provide
    access to education and to promote opportunities for students with
    interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and
    Agriculture (STEM-Ag) integrated through all academic disciplines.
        In tandem with progressive academic achievement, the University has
    embodied tenets of Service . . . Protocol . . . Civility'.
    Its faculty, staff, and students will provide service to the
    institution, and various communities for the greater good; be guided by
    protocol and adherence to best practices in order to gain desired
    results; and actively demonstrate civility with the understanding that
    respect for each voice is essential to a learned society.
        Much more has changed at Central State University throughout its
    history. However, one constant is the commitment to providing an
    excellent, affordable education to the residents of Ohio and beyond.
        Embedded in the University's Strategic Plan is Six Compelling
    Priorities that will be the focus of Central State University's
    initiatives. Those Compelling Priorities are:

      1.  Provide quality collegiate and academic experiences.

      2.  Focus on targeted student enrollment.

      3.  Reduce time to degree.

      4.  Promote higher retention rate.

      5.  Development of graduates with the knowledge, skills and
                dispositions for professional careers and/or advanced
                studies.

      6.  Implement efficient and effective institutional operations.

        Each of these Priorities is correlated to Ohio's performance model
    that allocates 50% of the University's state funding based on course
    completion and graduation. Central State University is the only 1890
    public university in Ohio and it is has the highest percentage of
    students (83%) who are Pell Grant eligible. As of 2016, 87% of the
    student body applied for loans to subsidize attendance.
        In order to receive Grants, Loans or Institutional Aid, students
    must meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) threshold. Every
    year, Central State University's attrition rate is on average 40%
    across the University with the highest attrition occurring between the
    first and second year. Approximately, 73% of the students who do not
    return are students who have met the SAP eligibility but, are unable to
    maintain their monthly debt loan payment.
        Although the University attempts to ameliorate this serious
    attrition issue by providing institutional funding and by teaching
    financial literacy modules, we are unable to provide substantial
    support that will stop the erosion of students who must ``stop out'' or
    completely withdraw from the University.
        The H.R. 6020 presented by Representative David Scott of Georgia
    and co-presented by Mr. Cramer, Ms. Fudge, Mr. Ashford, Mr[s]. Love,
    Ms. Graham and Ms. Adams supports the hundreds of students who have the
    academic propensity and acumen to not only change their future but the
    future of their families and communities. Beyond the financial
    stability that H.R. 6020 would provide, there are other benefits that
    can be derived: complete their college degree uninterrupted; graduate
    with little or no debt to the Federal Government or to the institution;
    better focus on college completion and securing employment or an
    advance degree; less concern and stress on working families who support
    the college experience; opportunities to pursue meaningful academic
    disciplines in STEM-Ag and opportunities to pursue internships in
    fields that lead to careers with the U.S. Departments and or other
    state and Federal agencies.
        Central State University with a 129 year history of academic
    excellence has produced outstanding graduates who have made significant
    contributions in medicine, arts, politics, business, law, education and
    certainly in service sectors. Representative Joyce Beatty is an alum
    and she joins such notables of history as Leontyne Price, Arsenic Hall,
    Michael Ajisefe (President of ABUAD University, Nigeria), Hugh Douglas,
    Joshua I. Smith, Michael D. Brown, Hastings Bandu, and Nancy Wilson.
    All of these notables of history were first-generation college
    students. The students we educate today are so very much like the
    mentioned alums. The difference is that today's students are more at
    risk because of the lack of family financial support and knowledge of
    sound financial decision making.
        H.R. 6020 will set a standard of support that breaks the cycle of
    ``unfulfilled'' promise to many generations of students who can either
    positively make their mark as productive citizens or become a part of
    the American dream that's often relegated to the shadows and fringes.
    Central State University has the ability, dedication and determination
    to produce the best graduate possible. As President of this iconic and
    historical institution, I seek your support for H.R. 6020.

        The Chairman. Thank you, Dr. Jackson-Hammond.
        Dr. Jones, 5 minutes.

    STATEMENT OF PAUL A. JONES, Ph.D., PRESIDENT, FORT VALLEY STATE
                      UNIVERSITY, FORT VALLEY, GA

        Dr. Jones. Chairman Conaway, Ranking Member Peterson, and
    Members of the House Committee on Agriculture, my name is Paul
    Jones and I am privileged to serve as the 10th President and
    probably the newest President of the 1890 Fort Valley State
    University, which is located in the heart of middle Georgia.
        I am honored to be here today, along with several of my
    colleagues, to testify for your support, support of
    scholarships for young men and women who aspire to serve our
    nation pursuing careers in the agricultural and related fields.
        This bill is designed to address the urgent need to train
    and educate students to fill crucial jobs in our country. USDA
    estimates, as Dr. Jackson-Hammond said, nearly 60,000 jobs will
    be available in these related fields, and yet they only
    anticipate our ability to meet the needs of about 30,000. There
    is a significant gap.
        With the resources from this scholarship support, we
    believe, as 1890 institutions, that not only do we have the
    potential, but we have the capacity to address this urgent
    concern. The National Center on Educational Statistics data
    shows the power and potential of HBCUs. The data reveals that
    while HBCUs constitute three percent of postsecondary
    institutions, they are home to approximately eight percent of
    African Americans enrolled in colleges and universities during
    the period of 2012 to 2014. And NCES predicts that African
    American enrollment in higher education will increase through
    2025.
        The characteristics in the same USDA report reflects that
    the percentage of ethnic minority students in agriculture, life
    sciences, veterinary medicine will continue that increase. And
    1890 land-grant institutions have played a major role in
    fueling this continued increase. We are proud at Fort Valley
    State University in that we have the distinction of ranking
    number six in awarding the number of agricultural degrees
    earned by African Americans. And this funding is important as
    HBCUs look to actively recruit and embrace a more diverse
    student body.
        There is a popular misperception about HBCUs and 1890 land-
    grant institutions, and that is that we are not diverse. As a
    matter of fact, HBCUs and 1890s are very diverse, diverse in
    terms of race, ethnicity, political backgrounds, nationality,
    you name it. And issues of affordability and the strength of, I
    believe, our academic programs have been major factors in
    ushering this diversity, this welcome diversity that we are
    seeing on our campuses.
        The notoriety of signature academic research that we do, at
    Fort Valley State we are very proud of the cutting-edge
    research that we are doing; and we do that even partnering with
    many of our other land-grant institutions, both 1890 and 1860
    institutions. The fact that our biotechnology and plant science
    graduates routinely are accepted in Ph.D. programs across the
    country is a testimony to the quality. And I believe that
    quality is something that we all share together. It is often
    another misconception that to choose our campuses is to
    sacrifice in terms of quality.
        I have attended two land-grant institutions in my career,
    and I will say that our land-grant institution, and the other
    1890s, equally have the same quality. And we are under the same
    accreditation as our peer institutions. And so we don't
    apologize for what we do.
        But your support of this legislation I believe is very
    important, important not only to us but the history--or the
    future of this country in our number one industry.
        I thank you for allowing me a few minutes to testify before
    you. I thank you for your support, your bipartisan support, and
    we look forward to your conversation. Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Dr. Jones follows:]

      Prepared Statement of Paul A. Jones, Ph.D., President, Fort Valley
                       State University, Fort Valley, GA
    Regarding H.R. 6020, Funding for Student Scholarships for the 1890s
            Land-Grant African American Colleges and Universities Act
        Chairman Con[a]way, Ranking Member Peterson, and Members of the
    House Committee on Agriculture, I am Paul Jones and I have the
    privilege of serving as the tenth President of Fort Valley State
    University located in the heart of Middle Georgia.
        I am honored to be here along with my colleagues to testify in
    support of H.R. 6020, funding for scholarships for young men and women
    who aspire to serve our great nation by pursuing careers in the food
    and agricultural sciences including agribusiness, food production and
    food distribution.
        As the only 1890 Land-Grant institution in the State of Georgia,
    Fort Valley State University has, since 1895, contributed greatly to
    the advancement of agriculture and agricultural research in the state
    and beyond. Those contributions started modestly by simply planting
    gardens to feed students. Today, the university is an international
    leader in many aspects of agricultural research and leads a worldwide
    consortium research involving small ruminant animals like goats.
    Because of the support you have provided through the Department of
    Agriculture and other agencies, Fort Valley State University has forged
    collaborations with other universities, including the University of
    Georgia and Oklahoma State University to research and develop
    sustainable bioenergy systems. Our university has partnered with the
    United States Department of [Agriculture] Rural Development and the
    Forest[] [S]ervice to provide technical assistance to farmers and
    citizens in 35 rural counties in Georgia. The university's outreach in
    those counties has been particularly focused on supporting beginning
    farmers, ranchers and military veterans. Fort Valley State is engaged
    in developing cost-effective strategies to address food safety issues
    like controlling pathogens in animals and teaching those strategies to
    farmers and meat processors. As part of the Expanded Food and Nutrition
    Extension Program, the university is helping parents learn how to make
    healthy choices to feed their children and thereby addressing the
    increasing problem of childhood obesity.
        Fort Valley State University has been able to make such amazing
    contributions in agriculture because of the support you and your
    predecessors on this Committee have historically provided. This
    Committee understands the importance of agriculture to every person in
    every state and around the world. This Committee intimately understands
    the seriousness of issues like obesity, hunger and the increasing
    challenges associated with an increasing population. In particular,
    while the human population is increasing, the number of farmers is
    decreasing. I am thankful that your consideration of H.R. 6020,
    provides the opportunity to highlight the importance of having a
    consistent and sufficient number of educated, trained individuals eager
    to face our agricultural challenges and carry forward the critical work
    of feeding, clothing and providing energy for a global society.
        I'm elated to share with you that 1890 land-grant universities are
    ready to meet the noted challenges by using our excess capacity to
    educate a greater number of students in Agricultural disciplines.
    However, affordability remains a huge impediment for those wanting to
    earn a college degree. The majority of students at Fort Valley State
    University, and I am sure it is the same at other 1890 land-grant
    institutions, qualify for need-based financial aid. Sometimes, a few
    hundred dollars may be the only thing standing between a student who
    can and cannot enroll in college. The funding requested in H.R. 6020
    would provide opportunities not only for students to pursue a college
    degree, but also to work in a career field that is critical for the
    prosperity and health of our nation. The USDA projected in its United
    States, 2015-2020 Employment Opportunities for College Graduates in
    Food, Agriculture, Renewable Natural Resources and the Environment
    report that there will be 57,900 annual job openings for graduates with
    bachelor's degrees or higher in those areas. The report also states
    that only an annual average of 35,400 graduates with those degrees will
    be available to fill the 57,900 openings.
        The Characteristics of Graduates, in that same USDA report reflects
    that the percentage of ethnic minorities with degrees in Agriculture,
    Life Sciences and Veterinary Medicine has continued to increase since
    2013. 1890 Land-Grant colleges and universities have played a major
    role in fueling that continuing increase. In fact, according to the
    publication Diverse Issues in Education, Fort Valley State University
    ranks sixth in the nation in Agricultural degrees earned by African
    Americans. Enrollment in our Agricultural programs increased 28% from
    Fall 2014 to Fall 2015. However, overall, there is a huge opportunity
    to increase African American participation in agriculture careers. Fort
    Valley State University has strong programs and the capacity to assist
    in making that increase.
        All of the university's agriculture programs are accredited by the
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Four of the eight
    undergraduate agriculture programs have additional professional
    accreditations. Our program and research areas include small ruminants,
    bioenergy, medicinal plant biotechnology, horticulture and agronomy,
    food product technology and safety, and agricultural economics. Our
    students regularly excel in national and international research
    competitions. We have multiple faculty members who have received
    recognition from United States Presidents. Current faculty members
    Sarwan Dhir and Isaac Crumbly, and retired faculty member Clinton Dixon
    each have received the President's Award for Excellence in Math Science
    and Engineering Mentoring. Professor Young Park is world renowned for
    his research in dairy technology. His books and publications have been
    translated into several languages. The Dean of our College of
    Agriculture, Dr. Govind Kannan, serves on the National Agriculture
    Research, Extension, Education and Economic Advisory Board to the
    United States Secretary of Agriculture and was recognized at the White
    House as a Champion of Change for Global Food Security.
        The university is located in the middle of the state, in the heart
    of peach and pecan country. Students in rural Georgia see agriculture
    through the windows of their Blue Bird school buses but may not
    recognize the tremendous career opportunities available in agriculture.
    The university is surrounded by high schools with large and active
    Future Farmers of America chapters of students with a passion for
    agriculture. H.R. 6020 funding will enable us to more successfully
    recruit and educate students that already have an interest in
    agriculture as well as those whose vision of farming is a mule and a
    plow.
        Fort Valley State University graduates go on to make outstanding
    contributions in their career fields. Some graduates, like Romanda
    Phelps, go to work for the USDA or other government agencies. Some
    graduates go to work in the private-sector like Dexter Johnson, an
    employee of Weyerhaeuser. Others choose to pursue an advanced education
    degree like Betsy Ampofo who is about to earn a Ph.D. at Cornell.
        Funding requested in H.R. 6020 will help 1890 Land-Grants continue
    to contribute to the much needed supply of Agriculture and Ag-related
    graduates. In addition, the funding requested in H.R. 6020 will assist
    1890 Land-Grant institution's efforts to successfully recruit non-
    traditional students, including returning veterans, to our universities
    and into careers in Agriculture. 1890 Land-Grant institutions are doing
    great things in Agriculture and most have the capacity to do more if
    given the opportunity and the resources. H.R. 6020 will provide the
    funds necessary to allow us to use our capacity do even more.
        I am grateful for this opportunity to address the Committee. I
    especially want to thank you, Congressman Scott for your unceasing
    efforts to support public education in general and 1890 Land-Grant
    institutions in particular.

        The Chairman. Well, I thank our witnesses.
        I will remind our colleagues that during the question
    period, you can ask questions of the witnesses at the table or
    of any of the other individuals representing land-grant schools
    that are in attendance as well. I also ask that Members be
    recognized in order of seniority for those who were here when
    the gavel went down, and subsequent to that they will be
    recognized upon arrival.
        So, with that, I recognize myself for 5 minutes.
        Again, thank you for being here. Dr. Jackson-Hammond, you
    mentioned the partnership you have with the Ohio State
    University.
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. Yes.
        The Chairman. And I know that, I believe, Prairie View A&M
    and Texas A&M have partnerships as well. Can you talk to us
    about the benefits that brings to the educational experiences
    that students have? For all of you with the other land-grant
    schools in your states, how are the educational opportunities
    that are strengthened by having cross-pollinization, for lack
    of a better phrase, with the 1862 schools that in many
    instances are bigger with broader programs that allow your
    students to specialize and/or do things that you couldn't
    necessarily do if you were on a standalone basis? Is that going
    on and, if so, can you explain to us? We will just start with
    Dr. Jackson-Hammond and then Dr. Bell and Dr. Jones.
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. Absolutely. And thank you so very much
    for that question. It is important to realize that the Ohio
    State University has been an 1860 land-grant institution for
    somewhere around 100 years. With that designation they have a
    jump start over us.
        At the time, President Gordon Gee was the President of the
    Ohio State. He really did try to foster and did foster with the
    Ohio Legislature the ability for us to seek that designation.
    And from that point, we have been working with the Ohio State
    to help build our structures as a new 1890 land-grant.
        There are two parts of the 1890 funding: Research and
    extension. We work on our work plan with the Ohio State and
    will be submitting a joint report indicating the colocations we
    have in ten counties throughout Ohio State. Those counties--
    yes.
        The Chairman. Actually, Dr. Jackson-Hammond, thank you. I
    was trying to figure out the experiences of students that would
    get these scholarships. Can they take classes at the Ohio State
    University? How do you facilitate that crossover?
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. In the state of Ohio, we have a SOCHE
    plan that allows for any students to take courses that are not
    offered at their university at another university at no cost.
    That partnership was already established.
        But our research plan does include both institutions
    working on joint research projects where students do
    internships at the Ohio State, and Ohio State students will
    also be able to do joint research with us at Central State
    University.
        The Chairman. Dr. Bell.
        Dr. Bell. Thank you very much for that question. The
    University of Maryland Eastern Shore works very closely with
    the University of Maryland College Park, which is an 1862 land-
    grant for the State of Maryland. In particular, we work closely
    in our extension programs. Our extension programs operate
    jointly. And so there are many opportunities for our students
    who participate in the agriculture programs to be involved and
    engage with students from College Park.
        We also have joint degree programs, and especially at the
    master's and doctoral levels. One in particular is our Marine,
    Estuarine and Environmental Science Program, which is a joint
    program between University of Maryland Eastern Shore, College
    Park, and several other institutions. And through that program,
    students take joint courses. They have joint research projects
    and so forth. There is good collaboration between the
    institutions.
        The Chairman. Dr. Jones, how about in Georgia?
        Dr. Jones. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for that question as
    well.
        One quick example of a partnership with University of
    Georgia is with our veterinary technology program, which is the
    only accredited program in the state. That partnership allows
    our students to have a clinical rotation of 12 weeks at the
    University of Georgia. I think that is a wonderful partnership,
    and as we are able to expand with scholarship support, it will
    enable us to develop more of those rich kinds of experiences
    for our students going back and forth between the two campuses.
    That to me is a great example of something that we believe we
    can enhance through this scholarship support.
        The Chairman. Are there distance learning programs between
    the schools where students can take specialized classes that
    might not be offered at the 1890 school that would strengthen
    their role in production agriculture as they go out? Can they
    take those classes at the 1862 schools by distance learning?
        Dr. Jones. I will say that being part of the University
    System of Georgia, that is one of the real positive things that
    we have in our system, the opportunity for students to take
    courses through, we call it eCore, or other collaborative
    efforts that we have underway where our students can take
    courses on any of the campuses. But certainly, University of
    Georgia is a good example of where our students may take those
    kinds of courses.
        The Chairman. All right. Dr. Jackson-Hammond, is it the
    same thing there at your school?
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. Yes, a similar collaboration exists
    within the State of Ohio. Because we are primarily an
    undergraduate institution, we have opportunities with the Ohio
    State to help build master's and doctoral programs, and that is
    where we are. Especially in one of our recent disciplines that
    we are trying to get on board is having to do with water
    conservation and water resource management.
        By the way, we have the only water resource management
    undergraduate program, residential program in the United
    States. That is a really strong program that the Ohio State
    University is really trying to work with us to develop graduate
    and collaborative programs throughout.
        The Chairman. I want to thank our witnesses. I am over
    time.
        David Scott, 5 minutes.
        Mr. David Scott of Georgia. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        It is very important also for the Presidents to address the
    importance of this bill in relationship to their own standing,
    their own ability that this will heighten their ability to
    genuinely have a seat at the table in higher education in a
    much more profound way than we have now.
        On two points that you mention, we want to make sure that
    the Committee is aware that we have White students as well at
    these schools. And it is very important also to know that
    several of our colleagues who are Congressional partners here:
    Congressman Luetkemeyer, who is a graduate of Lincoln
    University; and Senator Joe Manchin III, who is a graduate of
    West Virginia State University. You see the critical role in
    the reach-out here.
        And then the other point, following up on your excellent
    line of questioning, Mr. Chairman, is the enhanced position
    that these universities will have as they interlock with the
    1860s, who are much further, more well-endowed financially to
    be able to do that. So that there will come a day when students
    at the University of Georgia will come over and be able to take
    courses that they don't have or that experience that they can't
    have at the University of Georgia at Fort Valley.
        So the other point I would like to get to is, the other
    measure of this is the African American community itself. And I
    would like to just ask each of the Presidents to respond to
    what this bill will mean to you in terms of an enhanced role of
    leadership in the African American community, which is
    certainly badly needed. I am not sure many people realize that
    we do have a critical crisis of a breakdown in the African
    American family structure and what this means to be able to
    provide that kind of financial assistance.
        I might just add, Mr. Chairman, that I am, as you know, a
    product of an 1890. But my experience is the experience of
    literally hundreds of thousands of young African Americans out
    there. For when I graduated from high school, I got an
    opportunity only because the people of Daytona Beach, Florida,
    got together and raised $300 for me to go to the college of my
    choice. I gave my mother $150. I took $150 and a Greyhound bus
    ticket to Tallahassee, Florida. Thank God there was Florida
    A&M. That situation exists today, and that scholarship opened
    up into others. Eighty-eight percent of all of the African
    American students that obtain a college education do so because
    they have had scholarship and financial assistance.
        So if you could, I know my time is running short, but could
    you please respond as to what this truly means to you in each
    of your schools in terms of the leadership you can provide for
    the African American community and the nation as a whole?
        Dr. Bell. Thank you, Congressman Scott. I would like to
    start in addressing that the University of Maryland Eastern
    Shore sits on the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland in Somerset
    County, which is the poorest county in the State of Maryland.
    We draw a large percentage of our students also from Prince
    George's County, which is the inner city of Baltimore, and so a
    higher education is a transformative thing for many of our
    students. Having the opportunity to pursue a course of study
    that will lead to a lucrative career where there are jobs
    available is going to transform not only the immediate person
    that the scholarship will address, but it will also transform
    that family as well as that community.
        So we see this opportunity, as I have indicated from my own
    situation, as transformative. Getting an education that opens
    up doors of opportunity certainly not only impacts the
    immediate recipient but everybody that that person touches. And
    so we are very excited about the opportunities that this type
    of award will provide for our students and the communities we
    serve.
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Scott, for that
    wonderful question about what we do; 1890 universities are
    about the value-added that we give to families and communities.
    As Dr. Bell said, we work with a population of students who are
    academically gifted but may not have had role models or a level
    of leadership within their immediate communities that could
    guide them through the college experience. When they come to
    our institutions, and it is not just one ethnic group, it is
    all students who come to our university, they get hands-on,
    touch points at every level that helps to build their
    character, their self-esteem, their confidence, so that they
    can become competent leaders once they leave the universities.
        One of the things that we do at most 1890 universities is
    say that your job is beyond getting just a college degree. It
    is about changing the landscape of the people in your
    communities. That is a built-in inherent part of our
    educational program. And the thousands and thousands of
    students who have gone on to make that difference is
    unbelievable.
        Dr. Bell talked about her experience as a child in Alabama.
    I am from Louisiana. I have to share this, my father had a
    graduate degree but was not allowed at that time to practice as
    a psychologist. He became a school principal and worked in a
    very agrarian area of Louisiana where they had something called
    split sessions, and the students went to school year round
    because they had to pick cotton during the off seasons. I don't
    really know how that works. But it was a 12 month experience.
    And those are the students, for generations and generations
    while he served there, learned the importance of giving back to
    their communities. And that was long before there were
    institutions in some of these areas that spoke to the land-
    grant mission.
        But that land-grant mission was embedded in those students,
    and we still embed that in the students that we work with
    today. Giving back to the communities, becoming leaders,
    becoming change agents. That is the core of what we do as an
    1890, in addition to providing opportunities academically, so
    that they can have jobs and careers that change the economic
    and social dispositions of their communities and their states.
        The Chairman. Dr. Jones, if you would respond quickly. We
    are way over time with Mr. Scott.
        Dr. Jones. Yes. Let me just briefly say that in terms of
    your question, Congressman Scott, in terms of the impact from a
    leadership standpoint, I believe that today more than any other
    time in our history, our communities are calling for
    extraordinary leadership. The kind of visibility that this will
    bring to our communities that are challenged right now a great
    deal from an economic standpoint, from a social standpoint,
    from just about any way in which you would like to look at
    this.
        So this call for leadership is important, and what we can
    bring in this kind of initiative or this kind of scholarship
    support can dramatically increase the visibility and the
    economic impact in our communities. Our communities are calling
    on all of us to bring forth a level of leadership that they
    have never seen before, and we are excited to be a part of that
    and thank you for this kind of opportunity.
        The Chairman. The gentleman's time has expired.
        Mr. King, 5 minutes.
        Mr. King. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate being
    recognized and I appreciate the testimony of the witnesses.
        I want to start out and say I am completely convinced all
    of your hearts are right. And we will make that point first,
    but then I want to put a little piece of history in. We always
    have to do that for our own locale and point out that the Iowa
    Legislature was the first state legislature to accept the
    provisions of the original Morrill Act. They did that on
    September 11, 1862. And they would have been the first
    designation of a state agriculture college had it not been for
    K-State, bumped us on the third turn and slipped in ahead of
    us.
        So we pay attention to land-grant colleges and know what it
    means to have the resources. I would prefer that they were
    based on the land, especially when you are focused on
    agriculture, rather than on the cash that came with the 1890
    version. However, that is where we are today and land is a lot
    harder to come by, so I don't see any reason to try to change
    that. It is just, I notice the distinction.
        And I wanted to point out also that listening to the spirit
    of this discussion here, that the inner cities in America are a
    disaster. Anything that we look at from the data out of the
    inner cities, especially young men, especially young African
    American men, it is a resource to this country that we have
    just not figured out how to mobilize. We haven't figured out
    how to lift them up and get them into the flow.
        And I say that because the next statement I want to make
    is, and I would sense this from Dr. Bell in particular, but the
    rest of you, the very best place in the world to raise a family
    is on a family farm. And if we are going to do good things to
    help our society to go in the right direction, then for me, if
    we can get people going to the farm and raising their families
    there, they learn about the whole spectrum of life, the cycles
    of life of livestock from birth to death, to, we call it now
    harvest rather than that other word that seems to be abhorrent
    to people in the inner city, and it is what I grew up all
    around and had to wash it off my hands afterwards. But, all new
    wealth comes from the land. And we can trace every dollar right
    back to that soil.
        So this is inspiring to me in these ways. But I am getting
    to a but. And it is this, that I have a deep conviction and
    strong support for Ward Connerly's Proposition 209 in
    California. I have invested a significant amount of my
    legislative time in that and succeeded to a degree, in fact, in
    conflict with the current Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary
    Vilsack. But I would point out for this Committee what that
    proposition is, and we haven't had discussions in a long time
    on that. And it says this: The state, meaning the State of
    California, that was a constitutional amendment, the state
    shall not discriminate against or grant preferential treatment
    to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color,
    ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public
    employment, public education, or public contracting.
        Now, that language of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or
    national origin is lifted exactly out of Title VII of the Civil
    Rights Act, and I support it 100 percent. It is the right
    thing. It is the right thing for us to pour forth all resources
    and all constitutional focus and all statutory focus to provide
    equal opportunity.
        And so my question, and I would start first with Dr. Bell,
    is this an equal opportunity bill before us or is it a
    preferential treatment bill before us?
        Dr. Bell. Thank you, Congressman, for that question. Let me
    say that, as I indicated before, our institutions, the 1890s,
    and mine in particular, are diverse institutions. My
    institution, in particular, consists of about \2/3\ African
    American students, about 13 percent White students, and about
    20 percent of students who either classify themselves as
    multiracial, or of other race, including Hispanic.
        Mr. King. Excuse me. Could I ask you then, is it your
    expectation that the scholarships that would be granted in your
    institution under the foundation of this bill would reflect the
    diversity within your institution today?
        Dr. Bell. The total scholarship package that we offer to
    students, including those resources provided through this bill,
    would provide opportunities for not only the African American
    students, but other students as well. We see this as an
    opportunity to leverage our support from the Agriculture
    Department and for our students.
        Mr. King. Thank you. I am running out of time. I am sorry.
        But would that also be your observation then, Dr. Jackson?
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. Yes.
        Mr. King. And Dr. Jones?
        Dr. Jones. Yes.
        Mr. King. Then I would point out that in the bill, there
    are four references here that say, and it is the language that
    jumped out at me, four references that say young African
    Americans, four places. It seems to me the bill is more
    specific to this than you anticipate. And I wonder if you would
    be open to maybe making a little more specific language here
    that would allow for more equal opportunity.
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. Thank you for that observation. It is
    important that, although we mention the word is historically
    black colleges and universities. We have never been
    institutions that eliminated or disenfranchise any group of
    people who wish to come. As a matter of fact, Central State
    University's charter speaks not to African American students,
    but it speaks to those of good character who wish to have----
        Mr. King. Thank you, Doctor. We are out of time. I would
    point out that the word historical doesn't show up here in
    these four references that I made. I appreciate your testimony.
        I yield back the balance of my time.
        The Chairman. The gentleman's time has expired.
        In deference to trying to make sure everybody has a chance
    to talk to you, I am going to be a little tighter on the clock.
    Ms. Adams, 5 minutes.
        Ms. Adams. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, I want to thank
    our Presidents and deans for coming today.
        I want to say, again, what a proud honor it is for me to be
    a graduate of North Carolina A&T, an 1890 school, and to
    support the legislation.
        When we talk about what we are talking about today, we are
    talking about equal opportunity. We are also aware that there
    has been inequity in terms of funding for 1890 schools and
    HBCUs in general over the years. I am responding to the
    question that you asked. It is about equal opportunity. And
    most of our students, as we have mentioned who attend 1890
    schools, are first generation, come from families with very,
    very meager means, and who just don't have the finances. And of
    course, if you have access to get into college and you don't
    have the money, then you don't have that opportunity.
        I am a proud co-chair of the bipartisan HBCU Caucus, and I
    am still committed to raising the profile of 1890s and the
    Historically Black Colleges and Universities as institutions
    that not only promote and nurture students. Some of the
    students, a lot of the students are students that look like me.
    Many of them don't. But we are about educating and providing a
    great education.
        So my first question is to the entire panel. If each of you
    can outline the importance of having a more diverse workforce
    in the field of agricultural science and speak briefly to how
    your schools are contributing to this critical pipeline.
        Dr. Bell. I will start in trying to address that question.
    I think that, clearly, we believe that diversity is important
    from every aspect and every discipline. In particular, many of
    the communities that suffer the most in terms of food deserts
    and issues related to the production of food, fiber, and fuel
    are minority communities. And we believe that diversifying the
    workforce, including more ethnically diverse members in this
    community who are working toward solutions, will bring
    different perspectives to solving these major issues that
    confront us today.
        Ms. Adams. Thank you.
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond.
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. Thank you so very much. Where Central
    State University is situated, it is in a very small community,
    and the majority of the residents there are not persons of
    color. This particular bill and this particular opportunity to
    reach out to a diverse population of students who don't look
    like me but also need the opportunities to go into fields such
    as science, technology, and ag, we certainly diversify the
    campus, the environment, and the communities so that there is a
    synergy about building a strong workforce in the area of
    agriculture.
        Ms. Adams. Thank you.
        Dr. Jones.
        Dr. Jones. If I may, I am sorry that Congressman King is
    not here, but just for a clarification standpoint, I do think
    that this is an equal opportunity solution here. And I believe
    that very strongly. And I believe that having this funding
    support allows us to leverage in a way that all students, all
    Americans benefit. And this kind of support is critical to our
    community, to our region, to the state, to the nation, and I
    just wanted to say that to make sure that is on record.
        Ms. Adams. Well, thank you very much. Let me quickly say
    that when we had our last Committee hearing with the 1890s, a
    number of the Presidents addressed the issue of the state 1-to-
    1 matching funds and, of course, we have seen a trend where our
    schools are struggling. And the inequality, as far as I am
    concerned, is very problematic. Has there been any progress
    made on that issue and has the lack of funds impacted your
    universities? Anybody? We have 23 seconds here.
        Dr. Bell. That is still a major issue of concern to the
    1890 universities.
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. It is definitely a concern, but I can
    say in the State of Ohio, we have a very supportive governor
    and legislative body who supports Central State University.
        Dr. Jones. It remains a concern, however, I will say in
    Georgia, we do get the 1-to-1 match. We are very proud of that.
        Ms. Adams. Thank you very much. I am out of time. Mr.
    Chairman, I did want to just recognize my intern whose last day
    will be with me on Friday, who is a very proud graduate as well
    of North Carolina A&T, Alana Covington.
        The Chairman. The gentlelady yields back.
        Mr. Gibbs, 5 minutes.
        Mr. Gibbs. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Talk about a little bit, Dr. Jackson-Hammond is from Ohio,
    Central State, and they are doing a great job down there. And
    they started a new ag education program that is much needed,
    and she mentioned in her testimony about the job placement and
    how these are the next generation of young men and women that
    are getting jobs right off the bat, so the need is there, and
    also the program they are doing with water and it is a huge
    issue in Ohio with Lake Erie and some other areas in the state
    with some challenges.
        But something I want to maybe reemphasize, it is really
    important, Central State is the last 1890 land-grant, and they
    just became that, I don't know, 3 or 4 years ago?
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. In 2014.
        Mr. Gibbs. In 2014. Because Ohio State, the Ohio State
    University in Columbus is the land-grant. But, what needs to be
    talked a little bit about is how that all came about. She
    mentioned Dr. Gee, but think about this, you have the massive
    the Ohio State University, that saw the benefit to making
    Central State an 1890 land-grant.
        And so Dr. Jackson-Hammond, can you maybe expound a little
    bit on that? Because, that is really remarkable when you think
    about that. And I know we talk about the research and the
    partnership, but also there are some cost-benefits there. But
    Ohio State, in the legislature, had to recognize the benefit
    this was to the people in Ohio and maybe more broadly. And, it
    is worth maybe talking a little bit about, because when you
    think about that, Mr. Chairman, that is really incredible.
        And you think Ohio State University, that might be the
    largest university in the country now. It is right up there,
    and to have this partnership and then make the partnership work
    even better to a university with only a couple of thousand
    students, is remarkable.
        So, Doctor, would you maybe expound on that a little bit
    more?
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. Thank you, Representative Gibbs, for
    giving me the opportunity to give a little history. And I am
    fortunate to have with me Senator Chris Widener, who was one of
    the Senators who carried that legislation in the Ohio
    Legislature. Is he here? Senator Widener in the back.
        Mr. Gibbs. And a former colleague of mine too.
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. Yes, yes. And, of course, we were
    designated in the House for centuries, a century ago, but it
    did not carry through. And one of the groups that did not
    support Central State as a land-grant was the Ohio State
    University contingency. However, as years and decades passed,
    Gordon Gee and others began to see that we were an untapped
    resource in the State of Ohio and that they needed us as a
    partner to reach the various communities, the urban
    communities, some of the rural communities; that they could not
    make the necessary inroads just as a singular institution.
        So along with Senator Widener and many of the legislators
    during that time, along with Gordon Gee, said, ``You know what,
    we are wasting a resource.'' And Central State University as a
    land-grant can certainly supplement, support, and have a wider
    opportunity to make a difference in the State of Ohio. With
    that, we went on in 2012 to receive the State Legislature
    designation and in 2014, we received the Federal designation
    through the farm bill.
        Mr. Gibbs. But, Ohio State was involved in this somewhat.
    They saw a real benefit, not just for the students, but it was
    a cost-benefit. And I believe that your tuition is low.
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. Yes, extremely. Nowhere compared to
    the Ohio State, but at the same time, we have the same level of
    academic performance. We have the same expectations. And so as
    a small institution, we are able to reach that population of
    students who cannot afford the Big Ten schools or go to some of
    the larger institutions. We are very cost affordable.
        I was sharing with the Congressman earlier that we have a
    large population of students from out of state. Forty-three
    percent of our students come from urban communities. And these
    are the students who want to remain in the State of Ohio and to
    be associated with the land-grant mission and the academic
    programs associated with that.
        So we have certainly reduced our surcharge. We are the most
    affordable institution in the State of Ohio. We are addressing
    college affordability, academic performance, and economic
    growth.
        Mr. Gibbs. Thank you. And thank you for being here and
    sharing all of the great things you are doing there. And,
    hopefully, this legislation will get passed the next Congress
    and give more opportunities for a lot more people.
        Thank you, and I yield back.
        The Chairman. The gentleman yields back.
        Stacey, 5 minutes.
        Ms. Plaskett. Thank you, sir, and thank you so much for the
    dedication and all of the work that you give young people all
    over this country. I have a son who is presently at the
    University of Arkansas in Pine Bluff where he is doing a
    fantastic job and really loves his experience there. He is the
    third generation to go to that institution, and the students
    are stellar from that institution and from so many of your own.
        One of the things that I was interested in finding out was,
    Dr. Jones, in your testimony, your written testimony, you
    discuss that there is a 28 percent increase in agricultural
    degree program enrollment at Fort Valley State between 2014 and
    2015. Can you explain what is the cause of that increase? And
    do you sense that there are more young people being drawn to
    the agricultural careers or is there another reason why this
    may be happening?
        Dr. Jones. And my dean is here who could probably
    elaborate, but what I will say is that we have had a much more
    focused effort in this regard over the last couple of years. We
    are doing a great job. We created an outreach coordinator to
    begin to work with young people and creating more exposure to
    the field, but also to the institution as well.
        There is far more visibility from our College of
    Agriculture these days, the way in which they are branding the
    programs and the institution and their marketing efforts. We
    can learn a lot from what they are doing with the rest of the
    campus. It is a combination of things that are happening. I do
    think there is more capacity.
        Ms. Plaskett. Right.
        Dr. Jones. I think the challenge we have today is the
    limited scholarship support for those students who wish----
        Ms. Plaskett. Who are interested in this.
        Dr. Jones. Right. Right.
        Ms. Plaskett. Because I can imagine that if there was the
    scholarship and the support, you could probably find even more
    students who would be making the application to try and come to
    these institutions. There are students who just won't even
    apply because they look at the amount and they realize that
    there is no way that they or their families can be able to make
    this happen. And so they are just falling off of the grid
    completely in terms of even making the initial effort to come
    after an education that can change not only their lives, but
    the lives of their family as well.
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond, have you conducted any, I think that
    this is more a financial term, but an ROI, a return on
    investment estimate to determine what kind of economic loss
    Central State suffers when students have to stop their
    education or stop out, when they take some time off because of
    the financial aspects of going to school?
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. Absolutely. Thank you so very much for
    raising that question. We look at our financial performance
    annually, monthly, to see the impact of stop outs on the
    university. Ohio is one of those states where the allocations,
    financial allocations are based on performance, college
    completion, graduation rates, course completion, and retention.
    All of those factors impact the amount of allocations that we
    receive from the state.
        When you have 73 to 78 percent of your students who are on
    Pell grants and still have to have loans to supplement that,
    those are the kinds of dialogues that we are having every day
    about how do we keep students in school. When students drop
    out, then that impacts our performance with the state and,
    certainly, our graduation completion rate. We are limited in
    the funding that we receive from that.
        It also impacts default rates when students take out loans
    and they cannot pay those loans back because there is just not
    enough revenue coming in from the family to support them. That
    default rate, in turn, comes back as a cost factor to the
    university. And so that is a serious implication not only for
    Central State, but for most 1890 universities where these are
    first-generation students without any financial support.
        So it is great, and we do a great deal of financial
    literacy courses, programs, to apprise students and their
    families about the responsibility, but that level of education
    only is supported by students who have the wherewithal to pay.
        Ms. Plaskett. Thank you. Thank you for that information
    related to the cost to the university for students who do not
    have the financial support necessary to complete the degrees on
    time.
        And just in closing, I would always invite you all to work
    with the University of the Virgin Islands, which has
    agricultural programs. We would love to be supportive of you as
    well. Thank you.
        The Chairman. The gentlelady's time has expired.
        Austin Scott.
        Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Dr. Jones, welcome to Washington. It is good to see you.
    And one of the things that I don't think we talk about enough,
    or give these institutions credit for enough, is the research
    that occurs there. And Fort Valley State, the small ruminant
    program there is among the best in the country. And certainly,
    any scholarships that we are able to give to people to go to
    that university, help the university as a whole. And so I look
    forward to supporting this and look forward to helping you do
    more to promote your institution and the valuable research and
    all that is done there.
        And I will tell you, while sheep are not a large part of
    the U.S. agricultural economy, they are a tremendous part of
    the world agricultural economy. And when we get into many of
    these other countries, the ability to help a farmer with his
    sheep herd goes a long way towards instilling goodwill in
    areas. I want to thank you for that program that you have there
    and the research and the extension that goes on there. And I
    recommend the cheese over the ice cream.
        But I want to ask you a couple of quick questions. And I
    know in your testimony, you have talked about the FFA,
    obviously 4-H, and other extremely important organizations in
    our area and throughout the United States and the chapters that
    surround the university. Can you talk a little bit about the
    partnership with high schools and community organizations that
    help students become aware of the opportunities at Fort Valley
    State and the agricultural sector?
        Dr. Jones. Yes. Thank you, Congressman Scott. And I
    appreciate your continued support.
        That is another area that I believe is very strong for us
    in terms of the work that we do through our College of
    Agriculture with high schools and even prior to that, the
    outreach that is conducted by our, whether it is through our
    extension or through other programs. Those are areas that I
    think is the reason why we are seeing the growth also in our
    programs. That work is very important, getting them exposed.
        FFA, for example, we will see nearly 500 students that will
    come to the campus at any given time, and getting them exposed
    to the work that we do is important. And that is what is also
    enhancing the diversity within our base. Our College of
    Agriculture, by far, is the most diverse of our other programs,
    but it is through this outreach effort and through the work
    that they are doing in the high schools and middle schools, is
    aiding us tremendously.
        Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. As you know, we have nine
    military installations in the State of Georgia, a tremendous
    number of veterans in the area. Could you speak to some of the
    things that Fort Valley is doing to help recruit veterans who
    have served our country into your university and to the
    agricultural fields?
        Dr. Jones. Right. Well, we are proud of the Robins Air
    Force Base that we work with. We are designated as a military-
    friendly institution. We do a great deal of work with the base
    and are looking at ways to expand our work. We are very proud
    of a new program that we were just authorized in, our Supply
    Chain Logistics Program that is really designed to work with
    the base and returning military men who are looking for
    careers, a change in some of their careers.
        But we have a very strong relationship with them, and we
    could do more. We want to see how we can expand those programs.
    We have a center in Warner Robins now that we are trying to
    expand the work so that we can create more educational
    opportunities for our servicemen.
        Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia. Well, I thank you for being
    here, and I hope when you see my friend Lynmore James there you
    will tell him I said hello.
        With that, I yield the remainder of my time.
        The Chairman. The gentleman yields back.
        Gwen Graham, 5 minutes.
        Ms. Graham. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And, again, I want to
    recognize Dr. Robinson from FAMU University. I am so proud to
    represent FAMU. Every time I come on the campus the students
    are so kind to me. They even dance with me. And I love to dance
    and they just put up with me. They show me some new moves.
        My family would not be in Florida but for agriculture. My
    grandfather moved to south Florida and started one of the first
    dairy farms. This is something near and dear to my heart. And I
    really know that we need to encourage, as I mentioned in my
    opening remarks, we need to encourage young people to get into
    the field of agriculture.
        Mr. Scott took my question, but I forgive you, Austin. I
    was going to ask about veterans because it is so important. And
    I appreciate, Dr. Jones, your comments on that.
        Last summer, I had the first ever annual north Florida farm
    tour. We went to 14 counties, and I was honored to be able to
    have a panel discussion at FAMU. And we brought together just a
    wide variety of people, young people, veterans, people
    interested in agriculture. And it was such a great experience
    to get out all the wonderful things that were going on at FAMU.
    And I am curious if the other universities represented here
    have taken the opportunity to brag about what is possible and,
    also, hopefully this legislation that I am so proud to be an
    original cosponsor of, will allow many others to have an
    opportunity to take advantage of all the great things that are
    going on at your universities. This is your chance to just brag
    a little bit. Thank you.
        I yield back. I yield to the panel.
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. Thank you so very much. That is what
    we do best, we brag about our institutions.
        It is very difficult to tell you a lot about Central State
    because you have to envision this beautiful place and this very
    agrarian community. You could drive for about 20 miles and you
    see nothing, and then out of the beautiful landscape is Central
    State University. And it has become a hub for so many people,
    especially students from urban communities who have never had
    an opportunity to really touch grass and see beautiful trees
    and enjoy the flora and fauna.
        And when they get there, they see the community of
    scholars, strong academicians, supportive staff, who really
    want to take a personal interest and do take a personal
    interest, because we realize that every student that comes to
    Central State University must leave as an emerging leader for
    themselves and for their communities. That is our charge. We
    can give them every opportunity and every academic program, but
    until they really internalize that, and they do internalize,
    they have a greater responsibility to a greater community.
        At Central State, we have three tenets that we follow. It
    is embedded in everything that we do. The curriculum, the
    social activities, the student groups. And those three tenets
    are service, protocol and civility. And those are not
    meaningless words for our students. They understand that the
    education that they get is because they must give back in
    service. They understand rules, regulations, or protocol that
    that is how the world works. And they understand the importance
    of civility. How do we get along with each other, how do we
    respect the views of each other. And amid all of that character
    and intrinsic attributes that we provide, they also get a
    strong, solid academic experience.
        I am proud to say that last year, we had 18 athletes who
    graduated, and 82 percent of them were in STEM-Ag majors. This
    year we have 18 football players who are graduating and 72
    percent of them are STEM-Ag majors. And that is phenomenal,
    because we have this traditional thought about what athletes
    do. Our students are students who happen to be athletes. And so
    we have a very wide range of high-performing students across in
    the College of Business, Education, Engineering, and Social
    Sciences.
        Ms. Graham. Thank you, Doctor.
        Mr. Chairman, I think Dr. Robinson would like to say a
    couple of words from FAMU, I would appreciate that opportunity.
    Thank you.
        The Chairman. Be brief. We are trying to get everybody in,
    so be brief.

     RESPONSE OF LARRY ROBINSON, Ph.D., INTERIM PRESIDENT, FLORIDA
        AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL UNIVERSITY, TALLAHASSEE, FL

        Dr. Robinson. Thank you, Representative Graham, for what
    you have done on behalf of north Florida, and in particular
    Florida A&M University. And thank you very, very much for the
    novel concept of the road tour so we can tell more people in
    north Florida about what we do at Florida A&M University for
    small, large, medium farmers around the state. We are a land-
    grant institution and we have a statewide impact.
        I guess one key point I want to make, and that is the
    economic impact that we have in the State of Florida. Just as
    an example, Florida A&M University has a Center for
    Viticulture. That center has led to the development of nearly
    20 viticulture operations around the State of Florida. Of
    course, we specialize in the type of wine that doesn't grow
    everywhere else because of the climate in Florida. But the
    economic impact of the research done by Florida A&M University
    doesn't directly benefit us because we are prohibited from
    benefiting from it financially. But we have developed at least
    20 wineries around the State of Florida that are making jobs
    available for citizens, not only up in the Panhandle, but
    throughout the state. And in fact, it expanded throughout the
    South in general.
        There are vineyards and wineries in South Carolina, and our
    neighbors, Representative Scott up in Georgia, who are
    benefiting from the research done at Florida A&M University. I
    just want to emphasize the economic impact of these
    institutions in the 1890 community on the cities and towns in
    which we reside. Thank you.
        Ms. Graham. Thank you, Dr. Robinson. You are also producing
    great hand cream as well.
        Okay. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
        The Chairman. Mr. Benishek, 5 minutes.
        Mr. Benishek. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank you all for
    being here this morning.
        I just want to make it clear about this bill, is there a
    preference in the legislation for students from a certain area
    or background or is every student on a level playing field in
    regard to these scholarships? Anyone?
        Dr. Bell. As you have stated it, we are interested in
    creating opportunities for students who are particularly
    interested in the agricultural professions, so careers in
    agriculture, to be able to qualify for the scholarships so that
    they can complete their education. We are looking at these
    scholarships as an opportunity to augment what we currently do
    in terms of supporting students who have need. I think that
    having financial need is one of the factors that we would look
    to as well.
        One of the issues that we are looking to deal with and as
    HBCUs and 1890 universities, one of our goals is to provide a
    diverse workforce for the agricultural community. There is a
    strong need for that among agribusinesses, and I serve on a
    roundtable ag diversity and inclusion roundtable made up of
    businesspeople in some of the major industry areas who are
    interested in trying to find a diverse workforce for their
    industry.
        And we are one of the top producers or the top sector in
    producing students of color for this industry. We see it as an
    opportunity to----
        Mr. Benishek. Does that mean that a person of color is more
    likely to get a scholarship than a person who is not of color?
        Dr. Bell. I am sorry?
        Mr. Benishek. Does that mean that the scholarship, the
    question is, is there preferences based other than, to me, a
    need is a strong reason for a scholarship and as would be the
    desire to be in agriculture. But it seems like you are telling
    me that diversity, or there are some race-based rules for those
    scholarships. That is what I am trying to ferret out to you
    with these lines of questions, like Mr. King was talking about.
        Dr. Bell. I am not equipped to clarify that further than
    what I have already stated, but we certainly can----
        Mr. Benishek. Does anyone else have an opinion?
        Dr. Bell. Anybody else have a comment?
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. Because the larger population of our
    students at our institutions are African Americans, certainly,
    some of the scholarships are applicable. But we don't see
    anything related to a race-based scholarship. When we bring
    students into our institutions, race is not a consideration.
    Any time a student says, ``I want to be a STEM-Ag,'' that is
    our charge, is to educate and provide as much support. And all
    of our students have financial need.
        Mr. Benishek. Yes, I know.
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. All of them, so we are not making any
    delineation.
        Mr. Benishek. Let me go on to another question then,
    because several people mentioned this, and that was people that
    start at the university and yet drop out after a while because
    of financial issues, how often does that occur? What is the
    dropout rate after the freshman year, for example? Anybody have
    an answer to that?
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. We look at the attrition rate from
    freshman to sophomore year, and usually that can range anywhere
    from 32 percent to maybe 40 percent. However, in the last
    couple of years, we have done a great deal of providing
    financial literacy to our students. And as we prepare for next
    semester and for the next year, we are finding more and more
    students being able to be retained because of their
    understanding of financial literacy concerns.
        Mr. Benishek. Is that a similar number to you, Dr. Jones
    and Dr. Bell? That seemed like a pretty high number to me, 35
    percent of people are dropping out after the first year.
        Dr. Jones. That is correct. The number, it has gotten
    better over the last couple of years through a number of
    initiatives.
        Mr. Benishek. In your opinion, is that more of a financial
    issue than an educational issue?
        Dr. Jones. Oh, absolutely.
        Mr. Benishek. It is not like they can't grasp the material.
        Dr. Jones. It is primarily.
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. Primarily.
        Dr. Jones. It is primarily.
        Dr. Bell. Primarily it is financial. And our numbers are
    about the same, about 30 percent. Some of the students do stop
    out versus drop out, but a large percentage of them, once they
    leave, they don't make it back.
        Mr. Benishek. Right. I know it is very difficult to go
    back.
        Dr. Bell. We try to keep them from stopping out.
        Mr. Benishek. I am out of time, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
        The Chairman. The gentleman yields back.
        Mr. Davis, 5 minutes.
        Mr. Davis. Thank you to the panel and thank you, Mr.
    Chairman.
        I too, Dr. Jones, had questions about veterans. And if you
    have anything to add in regards to how your programs or how
    H.R. 6020 would help recruit veterans, I mean, you are more
    than welcome to expand on your first answer, if you would.
        Dr. Jones. Thank you, Congressman Davis. Absolutely, the
    funds are needed. Many of our veterans that come to us, even
    though they often have support, they have other daunting tasks,
    other family concerns.
        Mr. Davis. Are these veterans usually using the GI Bill?
        Dr. Jones. Some of them, yes.
        Mr. Davis. Besides the funds, what is your institution
    doing to help recruit veterans?
        Dr. Jones. Well, one of the things that we did that has
    been very helpful, the University System of Georgia, has led an
    extraordinary charge within our system to recruit and support
    our veterans. In fact, so much so, we have now a Vice
    Chancellor for Military Affairs. And so we created centers,
    support centers on our campuses that are supporting these
    students.
        Many of them come with a great deal of challenges coming
    back, depending if they are coming back from war. And so the
    kind of support that we provide to them has been very helpful
    in helping them navigate our environment.
        Mr. Davis. Okay. Well, thank you. It seems like your
    success is showing. We appreciate what you are doing there.
        I guess I will ask the rest of the panel questions on what
    are your thoughts, Dr. Bell, on the state of our competitive
    award programs, from AFRI to the other small competitive
    programs?
        Dr. Bell. Well, I think that there is continuing need to
    enhance the competitiveness of our institutions. A number of us
    have very strong research programs, but we have a deteriorating
    infrastructure. And so in order to be very competitive for
    those research funds, we have to have the facilities and the
    infrastructure to support them.
        Mr. Davis. You would be in favor of them investing more in
    capital?
        Dr. Bell. Investing more in infrastructure, equipment,
    those kinds of things that support the research enterprise. At
    the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, we were just this
    past year, as a result of primarily USDA research support
    funding, able to be advanced in our Carnegie classification
    from a comprehensive to a doctoral research university. And so
    we are looking to build on that by being more competitive for
    Federal funds, especially those that come through the USDA.
        Mr. Davis. I guess I have a question for myself while we
    are on this. In the competition for USDA grants, is it any
    different relative to the competition for other agencies
    funding, like NIH or NSF?
        Dr. Bell. Maybe one of our research directors can answer
    that question.
        Mr. Davis. Somebody is raising their hand back there. I
    missed the first panel, sir, so I didn't get your name.
        Dr. Robinson. Mr. Chairman and Representative Davis, well,
    this is probably unfair, because I served as the last civilian
    science advisor at USDA CSREES before it transitioned into what
    is now NIFA. And when I came into that role, my job was to
    advise them on science, more broadly. But I had a particular
    concern about research opportunities for an 1890 community.
        And one of the things that I had to do was the annual
    report for the National Research Initiative, as you recall. And
    in that report, it was fascinating to discover that the success
    rate of 1890 land-grant institutions in the big pool, in the
    AFRI, and NRI, the success rate was just as comparable as it
    was for an 1862.
        The difference was that we were only about one percent of
    the applicants. And so what I did then is how do I encourage
    the community to submit more competitive grants over here,
    because some of the limitations really go to the issues around
    additional resources, infrastructure, and so forth, but for
    those of us who competed, we were just as successful. And that
    pretty much pans out throughout the Federal sector, with some
    exceptions.
        However, what we have been able to do with USDA is to use
    the capacity-building funds that they have to enhance our
    competitiveness over here in the larger pools of money. And
    Florida A&M University too itself was just reclassified as a
    research 2 institution in the Carnegie Classification because
    of the success that we have had. And for a university of our
    size, that is pretty phenomenal with the resources that we
    have.
        And that is the type of unlocked, untapped talent that is
    resident within all of these schools, because what really makes
    you great in research is having great faculty, but also having
    great students, right, to carry out those research agendas. And
    this type of program that you have would allow us to make a lot
    of progress on attracting the kinds of students who can engage
    in the world-class research that our faculty already do.
        Mr. Davis. Thank you very much. Thank you to the panel.
        The Chairman. The gentleman's time has expired.
        Mr. Allen, 5 minutes.
        Mr. Allen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        And of course, what an honor it is to be here today and
    talk about our own Paine College there in my district, which
    was founded by the United Methodist Church, which I am a proud
    member of, and a proud supporter of Paine College, and of
    course, Fort Valley in our state as well.
        And real quickly, I really don't understand why we are
    having problems at all universities recruiting folks in
    agriculture. I am a member of the Hephzibah Agriculture Club,
    and we had an extension agent that came down from Atlanta and
    talked to us. And he told a young lady who didn't know one end
    of a chicken from another, who, for whatever reason, decided
    maybe that is something she should get involved in, and he got
    her involved in 4-H and she started doing demonstrations; ended
    up getting a full ride to the University of Georgia on a
    poultry science scholarship; graduated top of her class. And
    she had like 12 offers in six figures to go to work in the
    poultry industry.
        So there are lots of opportunities, and somehow we have to
    figure that out and get our messaging out and get our young
    people more directed into these jobs that we need to fill out
    there. Particularly in my district, it is cyber. It is all
    about cyber and high tech and that sort of thing. Somebody told
    me there are over a million job openings in that industry
    across this country right now.
        So with that, my first question is, and, Dr. Jones, I will
    start with you. These universities were started for a purpose.
    And how do we stay the course by giving those who otherwise
    wouldn't have this opportunity to get the kind of education
    that you are offering? Because, obviously, Paine and Fort
    Valley and many others I have heard here today have outstanding
    graduates. How do we give those folks who otherwise wouldn't
    have that opportunity an opportunity to do this?
        Dr. Jones. This is a wonderful opportunity here today as we
    look at these scholarships. That is greatly needed. Many of us
    can speak to the need. Having served at several colleges,
    universities across the country, I have to be honest and say, I
    don't know that I quite understood that before joining this
    university less than a year ago.
        What I see here are students, they may come with meager
    beginnings, but they have extraordinary opportunity. But
    unfortunately, because of the lack of, or limited, resources,
    we struggle oftentimes in helping them get to that mark. And so
    to have something like this, as I would say to my colleagues,
    is a game changer, is a life-changing opportunity for our
    universities to help not only African American students,
    because that's where the focus is today, but it is what it is
    going to do for our nation.
        Mr. Allen. What I am saying, and I also serve on the
    Education and the Workforce Committee, somehow we have to get
    to these young people earlier. And my kids went to an inner
    city high school. We had 500 freshman in the high school and we
    graduated 250. What happened to those other 250 kids? It is
    tragic. How can we get to them when they are younger, some
    teachers tell me you got to get to them before middle school
    because that is when it goes off the charts.
        But is there any strategy to get into the the 4 to 6 or 4
    to 9 formative ages and get these folks on a career path and
    say, ``Hey, you have an opportunity here? This is why you need
    to get an education.''
        Dr. Jackson-Hammond. I thank you so very much for that
    question, and I want to share with you the importance of
    agricultural education. And we have just started our School of
    Ag Ed. And the purpose of the ag ed is to prepare ag education
    teachers who are in the P-12 schools working with 4th, 5th, 6th
    graders very early on a track. When you talk about the Future
    Farmers of America, 4-H Club, Tri-C Club, these are our
    opportunities for students and families to know very early
    there is a ``projectory'' that leads to a college degree. Our
    School of Ag Ed just started, and so we are having an enormous
    amount of impact in rural communities where students may not
    have even thought about going to school, but they know that
    there should be something more and something better out there
    if they could just have a ``projectory'' to follow. And that is
    what we are doing with our education program.
        Mr. Allen. Right. That is great news. Thank you. Yes.
        Dr. Bell. May I just add that one of the things that our
    agriculture students engage in is a program called MANRRS,
    which is Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and
    Related Sciences. We have started a junior MANRRS program at
    our institution that brought in about 150 middle school
    students to participate and to learn more about the
    agricultural profession, to work on our farm with our students.
    And so that has been very successful in piquing the interest of
    students in the agriculture profession. I believe that that is
    one way to address building that pipeline that we so
    desperately need.
        Mr. Allen. You are on it. Great.
        Dr. Bell. Yes.
        Mr. Allen. I yield back.
        The Chairman. The gentleman's time has expired.
        Mr. Scott, any closing words?
        Mr. David Scott of Georgia. Yes. Thank you very much Mr.
    Chairman. Thank you and your staff for pulling this hearing on
    the bill together.
        But first of all, I would like to give a response to
    Congressman King's point because it is very, very important for
    everyone to know that this is an equal opportunity bill; no if,
    ands, and buts about it. It is very important for everybody to
    know that the 1890s were founded on the principle of equal
    opportunity, because the 1890s came to fruition because of the
    Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision which maintained that
    we have a doctrine of separate but equal. And the 1890s have
    been striving to be equal.
        The one thing that has held the 1890s back is that they
    were never given the necessary resources to achieve that
    equality. We want to make sure to clear the air, and I may
    mention in each of the sections where Congressman King
    mentioned we mentioned African Americans, if I may state, that
    the title of this Act is the following: This Act, and this is
    page 2 of the bill, ``This Act may be cited as the `Funding for
    Student Scholarships for the 1890s Land-Grant African-American
    Colleges and Universities' ''. It does not say funding for
    African American student scholarships. We want to make that
    clear.
        And where we do reference the African Americans, as he
    pointed out in three other areas, on page 3, we say: ``There is
    a great need to increase the number of young African-Americans
    seeking careers in the food and agricultural sciences''. There
    is inequality in the job market of careers because we have not
    had the resources to prepare the young people for that.
        And then on page 5, it says: ``To increase the number of
    young African-American individuals seeking a career in the food
    and agricultural sciences . . . including agribusiness, food
    production, distribution, and retailing, the clothing
    industries, energy and renewable fuels, and farming marketing,
    finance, and distribution.''
        And then finally, on page 5, it says: ``To provide
    scholarships to African-American students seeking careers in
    the food and agricultural sciences.''
        So I wanted to make sure as we go forward, and Mr.
    Chairman, as I mentioned, we have two White constituents,
    fellow Members of Congress who are graduates of this
    institution. It is very important as we go forward that the
    record reflects that the 1890s and this bill is about equal
    opportunity for all, White, Latino, any and everybody that will
    come would have an opportunity.
        However, we know of the shortage and the low number of
    careers in this burgeoning area of agriculture and
    agribusinesses that the African American kids are not allowed
    to get into. And that is where we referenced that, so that we
    continue to strive for equality. Thank you.
        The Chairman. Well, I thank the gentleman. I thank the
    three witnesses for being with us today. I appreciate your
    patience with me trying to maintain the clock, but everybody
    has a lot to say on these important issues. And those who
    didn't get to testify, thank you for making the trip to
    Washington to be in support of this legislation.
        As Mr. Peterson mentioned, this is our last hearing. This
    session of Congress will adjourn sine die shortly. And so we
    will need to start all of this exercise over again, as is the
    requirement of the House Rules that we form a new Congress
    altogether in the 115th Congress.
        But I want to thank my fellow Members for the good work we
    have had. Hopefully, we haven't worn you out with too many
    hearings.
        We anticipate in the 115th Congress we will have to take up
    the CFTC reauthorization. We will have to take up, of course,
    the reauthorization of the farm bill, and we need also at the
    front, harvest all of that great work that Jackie Walorski and
    James P. McGovern did on the SNAP 2 year review. That report is
    being released this morning. And so we have a lot of work to do
    in the next Congress. David, I look forward to working with you
    on that.
        Under the Rules of the Committee, the record of today's
    hearing will remain open for 10 calendar days to receive
    additional materials and supplemental written responses to any
    questions posed by a Member. If there are things that you
    prefer to have placed in the record that you didn't get to talk
    about because we ran out of time with the clock, please submit
    those to us. We will put those in the official record of this
    hearing and then it will be a part of the work that goes
    forward when this bill is, I suspect, reintroduced in the 115th
    Congress.
        With that, the Committee on Agriculture hearing is
    adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 12:04 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]

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