Corner Post Editorial —
What's your agriculture IQ?
Students on stereotypes
by Dalena Hardy, posted Dec. 7, 2007
Country, redneck, uncultured, close-minded, aggie: all common connotations that describe individuals who come from rural, agricultural areas and students who pursue agriculture-based disciplines.
I quickly noticed a divide in students while in College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources classes. I enjoyed my ag econ classes very much. I remember one class in particular. We were discussing unemployment and the instructor was presenting employment data. A curious student commented.
“I don’t understand why are the unemployment rates for the Latinos, Asians and blacks so much higher than that of whites,” the student said.
The instructor politely tried to answer the question.
I turned to the girl next to me and our eyes met and we starting laughing.
“That’s CAFNR for you,” she said.
I thought about her comment and the many jokes I heard while in the class. I sought to examine this idea by asking MU students and student representatives in CAFNR their thoughts on stereotypes.
Some students recognize a divide.
“From talking with friends and other students, it seems as if the stereotypes against agriculture students may be that they are all farmers, small-town students who are probably all conservative in political ideology and out of touch with mainstream social life,” said Kourtney Mitchell, a senior English major. “These stereotypes became clear upon starting classes during my freshman year.”
Others attribute isolation to be a factor.
“I think the divide exists because it seems to me that undergraduate agriculture students are a tight group and do not interact with the rest of campus,” said Jesus Santiago, an international business major.
Claudia Liddle, a political science and economics student, recalls being a part of an organization and noticed the CAFNR students formulated their own clique.
“Until I got to know them better, it was quite difficult to have any substantive conversations with them because I did not know about CAFNR, and that was seemingly all they were interested in talking about,” she said.
Another aspect students were divided on was defining the typical CAFNR student.
“[They are] usually from a smaller community and have at least some exposure to agricultural issues,” Liddle said.
Santiago has changed his view.
“My view has changed since coming to college,” Santiago said. “Now, I would say the typical agriculture student is either male or female, wasn’t raised on a farm and plans to work in industry after college.”
CAFNR has compiled demographic information for the 332 students who attended Summer Welcome in 2007.
The report included ethnic data for the 332 students and reported 26 of the students, or 6.93 percent, were identified as American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, black, Hispanic or other. The MU total was 9.67 percent.
CAFNR students also recognize common stereotypes.
“One common stereotype of agriculture students would be the standard ‘redneck’ wearing overalls and plaid shirt, dirty man with no teeth,” said Sarah Shaw, CAFNR Student Council officer. “I believe this stereotype has become common due to the media.”
CAFNR is home to a number of student organizations one of which — Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) — is focused on promoting agriculture and natural resource sciences in a positive manner to ethnic minorities.
“We pledge to initiate and participate in activities and programs that will ensure that ethnic minorities will always be involved and associated with these disciplines,” said Alyce Johnson, president of MANRRS.
Getting acceptance from classmates and finding lab partners are some challenges students of color face in CAFNR, Johnson said.
The statistics and student comments opened my eyes. I had to examine my thoughts regarding the “divide.”
Despite the stereotypes, many non-CAFNR students have an understanding that agriculture and natural resources has an impact on our quality of life.
“I think it is great that students are pursuing agriculture … that industry is the backbone of society,” said Rafeal Parker, a sophmore information technology major.
