Kansas State University

Jr. MANRRS and BSU Summit success

Submitted by Summer Santillana

Happy Celebrate Diversity Month!

On March 28, the College of Agriculture and K-State Research and Extension Diversity Programs Office and Diversity Booster, Inc. hosted the second annual K-State Jr. MANRRS, or Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, and Black Student Union Summit at K-State Olathe campus. There were more than 120 students from middle and high schools across the greater Kansas City area present at the event.

The summit featured Antoinette Redmond, diversity, equity and inclusion manager for Dairy Farmers of America, Ben Wolfe, CEO and dean of K-State Olathe, and Ian Smith, K-State alumnus and National JR MANRRS director. There were a variety of workshops to teach students about higher education, K-State and agriculture. This event was hosted in partnership with Dairy Farmers of America, National MANRRS, Diversity Booster, Inc., and the K-State Black Faculty and Staff Alliance.

We greatly appreciate the planning team: Tiffany Dixon, founder of Diversity Booster, Inc.; Summer Santillana, diversity programs coordinator and K-State Jr. MANRRS advisor; and Zelia Wiley, assistant dean, director of the College of Agriculture's Diversity Programs Office and K-State MANRRS advisor.

Additional thanks to each of our sponsors and breakout session facilitators: Chiquita Miller, KSRE Family and Consumer Science Agent – Wyandotte County; Kayla Rink, Dairy Farmers of America manager of dairy science and farm practices; Cary Rivard, associate professor and extension specialist in horticulture and natural resources; Londa Nwadike, assistant professor and extension specialist of food safety; Katelynn Stull, extension associate of produce safety; and K-State MANRRS graduate representatives and office staff April Mason-Taylor, Raymond Thomas, Charles Carpenter III, Olayemi Ojeokun, Rae Daniels and Me’Laiha Enriquez.

Thank you for your continued support of our programs and efforts. If you require any additional information about these events, please contact Zelia Wiley at zwiley@k-state.edu or 785-532-5793.  You can follow along on social media: Twitter/X: @dpooffice, Instagram: @dop_kstate, Facebook: Diversity Programs Office-Kansas State University.