MANRRS:
The National Society for Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, 1986-92
Eunice Foster and William Henson
Eunice Foster was MANRRS Historian and Associate Professor of Crop and Soil Science at Michigan State University. William Henson was MANRRS President and Assistant to the Dean of Minority Affairs, at the Pennsylvania State University, where he directed Minority Student Programs.
Historically, ethnic and racial minorities who had the opportunity to pursue professional or scientific careers have concentrated mostly in a limited number of options. Teaching, preaching, and practice of medicine and law, for example, have long been high prestige, attractive professions in African American communities. In the early days of rigid racial segregation, the most promising professional career opportunities for African Americans were those that primarily directly served African American client bases. Later, the established pool of practitioners served as role models and mentors to attract new entrants. Today, institutional and societal barriers continue to make entry to, and advancement in, certain professions difficult for minorities. Professional advancement is enhanced by interaction with others in the same and related professions. Networks within professions usually evolve over time, and tradition often defines the qualifications for participants and new entrants. For minorities, there are often real or perceived limits on entry to the inner circles of interaction within some professions. In fact, under-representation of minorities in certain professions can itself be an effective barrier to entry for other minority people. Agricultural sciences are often examples of this dilemma.
The agricultural sector is the foundation of any society but, in the U.S., "few and far between" are minority students and career professional in agricultural sciences. This distribution of small numbers over many disciplines and geographic locations limits opportunities to network and form linkages for mutual support and advancement. It also limits the visibility of minority role models in agriculture for minority students making career choices. Agriculture provides about one in every five job opportunities in the Nations and demand for graduates in many agricultural sciences exceeds supply, a disparity expected to continue for some years. African American and other minorities are ill advised to ignore professional career opportunities in agricultural sciences. Cooperation can facilitate mutual advancement in these areas and simultaneously attract new entries.
Before MANRRS
Inthe early 1980s, a concerned minority student recognized the need for a support group for minority students in agricultural programs at Michigan State University (MSU). With the help and guidance of a sensitive college advisor, he set out to form such a group on his campus. From these efforts, The Minority Agriculture and Natural Resources Association (MANRA), a registered student organization in the College of Agriculture at MSU, was founded in the Spring of 1982. News of MANRA reached a staff person whose responsibilities included promoting participation of minority students in agricultural sciences at The Pennsylvania State University (PSU). In 1985, after a series of communications between institutions, representatives of MANRA and their faculty mentor visited P.S.U. to help form an organization for minority students in it's College of Agriculture. Out of this meeting, Minorities in Agriculture (MIA) was formed by the Penn State group. MANRA and MIA have similar objectives, recruitment of minority students and provision for support systems for them in agricultural sciences at their respective institutions. However, these organizations were destined to provide the foundation for a larger purpose.
The Genesis of MANRRS
In April, 1986, MANRA and MIA jointly sponsored "The First Annual Conference of Minority Students in Agriculture and Natural Resources" at M.S.U. A primary focus of the conference was the problem of how to organize student disciplinary interest groups on university campuses. The basic format for future conferences, even after MANRRS came on the scene, was set at this first meeting. It featured a role model keynote speaker, various workshops, and corporate/graduate school information/recruitment activities. However, much emphasis was also placed on informal networking among students and professionals from different disciplines in the agricultural sciences and from different geographic locations. Over 40 students and faculty from six colleges participated.
The second conference, also sponsored jointly by MANRA and MIA, was held April 1987 at P.S.U. More than 60 people from 11 colleges, six government organizations, and five private firms participated.
MANRA and MIA were formed on the campuses of 1862 Land Grant institutions, state agricultural schools funded under original land grant legislation. However, the concerns addressed by these groups were equally relevant to students on campuses of the 1890 Land Grant institutions. The Historically Black College counterparts of the 1862 institutions were represented at the P.S.U. conference and the "1890s" assumed a major role in setting the future course for MANRRS. The conference also drew representation from a broad geographic base that included registrants from New York, Montana, Texas, Georgia and points in between. Additionally, while most registrants at the first conference were students, almost half of those at P.S.U. were professionals. The alliance was moving toward its destiny, a national participation base with service to both minority professionals and students.
The third conference was held at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, April 1988. This was a pivotal meeting for the formation of MANRRS. Student and faculty representatives from all 1862 and 1890 land grant colleges and universities, including Tuskegee University, were invited. Representatives from interested public and private agencies and firms were also invited. At this conference, the national alliance convened under the name Minorities in Agriculture and Natural Resources Association which maintained the M.S.U. acronym MANRA. However, after deliberation by the assembly, it was agreed that MANRA did not adequately reflect the range of disciplines that formed the target population for the association membership. The MANRRS name was adopted by majority vote to extend the audience served by the association to include agriculture "related sciences." Slates of national officers of professionals with student counterparts were elected, the national constitution was adopted, and a student member public speaking competition was introduced.
The 1989 conference at The Fort Valley State College saw the initiation of proposals for private foundation funding and significant refinement of the national constitution. The 1990 conference at College Park, MD, sponsored jointly by the University of Delaware and USDA's Soil Conservation Service, witnessed the formal registration of charter student chapters on 11 university campuses. There were about 300 participants at this meeting.
1990-91 was another year of accomplishments for MANRRS. The society's first full-time salaried professional position, that of Project Coordinator (PC), was staffed. It was funded by a Planning Grant from the Ford Foundation. Appointed in March, 1991, the PC was charged to pursue activities related to funding MANRRS's initiatives and maintaining and extending MANRRS's membership base. The PC was located at University of Florida, Gainesville, for logistical reasons.
During this period, the first five members of the MANRRS were also seated. Though the number was small, it included representatives from both the public and private sectors including university administrators of 1862 and 1890 institutions.
Also during 1990-91, five new institutional members with outreach as far as New Mexico State University, were brought into the MANRRS fold. The April, 1991, MANRRS conference was at Gainesville, FL. and significant increases in external support for both the national society and its student chapters were witnessed. The meetings were co-sponsored with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region, USDA's Soil Conservation Service, the 1890 Association of Research Directors, and the Ford Foundation. Travel expenses for some students who attended the conference were subsidized by contributions from private firms. For example, E.I.duPont DeNemours and Co., Wilmington, DE, and Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories, Rahway, NJ, financed the travel expenses for one student chapter. Monsanto Agricultural Company, St. Louis, MO, provided yet another form of support for MANRRS's student members. At the conference, a Monsanto contribution of $2,000.00 was presented to each of 10 MANRRS student chapters to help finance academic support initiatives for their members.
At least 10 potentially new institutional members were represented at the 1991 conference. The Advisory Board and the newly appointed PC were also presented to the general assembly at this time. Conference attendance again appeared to have been larger than for any previous year but the final count is not yet recorded.
MANRRS Today
MANRRS is a non-profit organization registered in the state of Michigan. The central thesis for the organization is stated in its constitution as follows:
We the members of this society pledge to support endeavors that will always foster and promote the agricultural sciences and related fields in a positive manner among ethnic minorities. We also pledge to initiate and participate in activities and programs that will ensure that ethnic minorities will also be involved in and associated with the agricultural sciences and related fields... We pledge to work for the inclusion, achievement, and advancement of all people in the agricultural sciences.
MANRRS is a national society that welcomes membership of people of all racial and ethnic group participation in agricultural and related sciences careers. MANRRS members are encouraged to be full participants in other professional societies for their basic disciplinary and career interests. However, MANRRS attempts to provide networks to support professional development of minorities. It is a springboard for their entry into and advancement in careers where they otherwise could be lost in the sheer number and established connections of mainstream participants. For student members, MANRRS provides role models and networking opportunities. MANRRS also offers students opportunities to enhance leadership and organizational and public speaking skills, and to experience professional critique of scholarly worked in a "user friendly" environment. An annual membership directory is planned to provide student members national exposure in career and graduate study markets. MANRRS professional members are often the only, or one of few, minority participants in their basic disciplinary societies or at their career locations. MANRRS provides them a network of counterparts from similar background with related interests and goals. More experienced members serve as mentors for newer graduates. The historical roots of traditionally formed networks within professions will prevent their replacement by MANRRS or any other alliance. However, MANRRS provides its members a similar inner circle of relationships to circumvent some of the exclusionary impacts of established professionals' lines of communication. Finally, MANRRS also serves employers in the broader agricultural sector. It provides them a locus to identify prospective well qualified employees who are members of ethnic groups, which, when combined, are projected to be the new majority in the work force in the not too distant future.
MANRRS Tomorrow
MANRRS is yet a young, dynamic, society. In some ways, its future continues to unfold. However, certain initiatives have been identified by the leadership as goals for the future. These include:
1. A MANRRS Educational Endowment Fund to provide educational scholarships for undergraduate student members.
2. A MANRRS Ambassadors Programs for outreach to under-represented minority populations to inform potential students about opportunities in agriculture and related sciences.
3. A MANRRS Research Support Endowment Fund to provide grants for research relevant to the society's goals and for professional development of society members.
4. A MANRRS periodic publication to disseminate research results and other items of interest to the membership and the general public.
5. A MANRRS Research Apprenticeship Program to attract additional highly qualified minority students to the agricultural and related sciences.
6. A MANRRS Student Endowment Fund to provide grants to help pay the expenses for student participation in the society.
Through these and other initiatives, MANRRS's goal will always be promotion of equitable representation of minorities in agriculture, natural resources, and related sciences.
From: Kluwer Academic Publishers, Agriculture and Human Values, Volume IX Number I, Winter, 1992, pp79-81.
Reproduced with kind permission from Kluwer Academic Publishers (http://www.wkap.nl/journalhome.htm/0889-048X)
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