Tailgate celebrates New Frontiers donors and progress for new home for OSU Agriculture
Monday, September 27, 2021
Media Contact: Mandy Gross | Senior Manager of Strategic Communications and Special Projects | 405-744-4063 | mandy.gross@okstate.edu
Fall is here and so is Oklahoma State University Cowboy Football. The OSU Foundation partnered with OSU Agriculture to host a New Frontiers Tailgate Sept. 25 during the Roots and Boots game against Kansas State University.
The tailgate was attended by more than 150 Ferguson College of Agriculture alumni and New Frontiers donors who helped celebrate Cowboy Football and the construction of the new home for OSU Agriculture.
“We appreciate all our alumni, donors, students, friends and family for spending their afternoon with us and learning more about the progress of our state-of-the-art teaching, research and Extension facility,” said Thomas G. Coon, vice president and dean for OSU Agriculture.
Coon, his wife Rhonda and Blaire Atkinson, OSU Foundation president, were recognized during the game as Roots and Boots sponsors for their leadership in the New Frontiers campaign.
“This year’s Ag Day game theme, Roots and Boots, is symbolic of the foundation of this university,” he said. “Agriculture’s roots run deep at OSU and are at the heart of our land-grant mission.”
The $50 million historic gift from the Ferguson Family Foundation launched the New Frontiers fundraising campaign in January 2020 to build a new facility for OSU Agriculture. Half the funds create an endowment to support operations at the Ferguson College of Agriculture, and the other half contribute to the $50 million fundraising goal.
Since the launch of the campaign, 387 donors have helped OSU Agriculture reach 91% of its fundraising goal.
“Although we are close to hitting our goal and wrapping up the New Frontiers campaign, we still have work to do,” Coon said. “We continue to meet with prospective donors to make our vision of the new building a reality and position our faculty and students in facilities that will equip them with the skills, knowledge and ability to work together to solve world hunger.”
New Frontiers major gift donor Brenda Sidwell of Goltry, Oklahoma, attended the tailgate with her son Brady and his wife Emily.
“I was truly impressed to see so many alumni, students and supporters attend the tailgate,” Sidwell said. “I’m looking forward to the campaign coming to a close and more progress being made on the construction site. My philosophy is if you build it, they will come, and the future looks bright for OSU Agriculture.”
Not only did tailgate goers see the construction site from the tailgate tent, but they also got to enjoy items from the Dairy Bar menu. The Dairy Bar was a staple on OSU’s Stillwater campus from 1928 until 2006. The New Frontiers Agricultural Hall will feature a re-envisioned Dairy Bar for future Cowboys to enjoy.
Construction began in May with the removal of the parking lot and demolition of Agriculture North to make room for the footprint of the New Frontiers Agricultural Hall. Construction crews then brought in truckloads of fill, which was covered with gravel to prepare the site for the building pad and foundation.
The new $100 million facility, which will change and modernize OSU Agriculture, is scheduled to open in 2024. Visit New Frontiers for campaign progress, construction updates and donor stories, or visit the New Frontiers Tailgate gallery to view photos from the event.