1-8-99

Contacts:
Gerald Klonglan, Agriculture, (515) 294-4763
Steve Jones, News Service, (515) 294-4778

STUDENT EXCHANGE WITH TUSKEGEE SHAPING UP FOR MARCH

AMES, Iowa -- Several College of Agriculture students will be Iowa State University's first participants in an exchange program with Tuskegee University.

Up to 10 students are expected to spend spring break (March 15-19) at Tuskegee, a historically black institution in Tuskegee, Ala. The exchange will be one of the first activities in a proposed long-term partnership between ISU and Tuskegee.

Plans also are under way for the College of Agriculture to host a contingent of Tuskegee students and faculty in 1999.

The partnership is based on several factors, including the common bond of George Washington Carver, said Gerald Klonglan, associate dean in the College of Agriculture. Klonglan co-chairs the Carver All-University Celebration's academic subcommittee, whose members proposed the partnership.

Carver spent 47 years at Tuskegee, becoming a world-famous scientist. He joined the Tuskegee faculty after earning two degrees at Iowa State, in 1894 and 1896. Carver was ISU's first African American student and faculty member.

Klonglan said students representing the agriculture student council and the ISU chapter of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences have expressed interest in visiting Tuskegee. Two faculty or staff members will accompany them.

At Tuskegee, ISU students will visit with students and faculty, tour campus facilities and local farms, and explore academic and cultural areas of interest.

"The exchanges are just the beginning," Klonglan said. "We view this partnership as a long-term affair that will benefit both campuses. In addition to the exchanges, we see shared educational programs for students, joint research projects among faculty, cooperative extension efforts and other activities."

Klonglan and four other ISU officials traveled to Tuskegee in December to discuss the partnership. Tuskegee officials, Klonglan said, are interested in a partnership that will improve each university.

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Revised 1/8/99