OSU Agriculture marks one year in new Agricultural Hall
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Media Contact: Mandy Gross | Sr. Manager of Strategic and VP Communications | 405-744-4063 | mandy.gross@okstate.edu
OSU Agriculture is celebrating a transformative year inside its new home, Agricultural Hall, embracing the expanded opportunities the space has brought to teaching, research and Extension.
The updated and improved building fosters collaboration, innovation and engagement for faculty, staff and students.
“One year ago, we opened the doors to Agricultural Hall with the vision of creating a space that would energize and unite OSU Agriculture,” said Dr. Randy Raper, OSU Agriculture assistant vice president of facilities. “Today, that vision is thriving. This building has become more than just a facility; it’s a hub of collaboration, innovation and connection. Faculty, staff and students have embraced it, bringing life to every corner and making it a true reflection of OSU Agriculture.”
The original Agricultural Hall, now Legacy Hall, was closed off and uninviting, Raper said. There were very few spaces to use outside of class, and most students only came to Legacy Hall for instruction and left when dismissed.
When designing the new building, Raper put emphasis on utility and usefulness.
“I wanted to see people utilizing every nook and cranny,” he said.
Agricultural Hall is now a “destination building” thanks to its wide variety of seating areas, study spaces, conference rooms, the Hilst Center for Student Success and Larry and Kay’s Dairy Bar, Raper said. The building draws people in and encourages them to stay, for both work and leisure.
The overall environment of Agricultural Hall is transparent and welcoming, Raper added. Many classrooms and labs feature large windows, allowing people passing by to see the inner workings of OSU Agriculture.
For researchers, this transparency increases the visibility of their work, said Dr. Tyson Ochsner, Regents professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences.
In the spirit of collaboration, many lab spaces are shared across similar research areas. This transition from individual to cross-disciplinary labs marked a new chapter for researchers.
Ochsner shifted from an individual soil physics lab to a lab shared with other plant and soil science researchers.
“Though it’s an adjustment, the shared lab is going to make it easy to collaborate with other groups,” Ochsner said. “Over time, the natural exchange may lead to new types of research projects.”
Natural exchanges between professors and students have changed, as well, said Dr. Bailey Norwood, professor in the OSU Department of Agricultural Economics. With students spending more time in Agricultural Hall by utilizing the resources the building offers, professors see students on a more regular basis.
“Students are around all the time,” Norwood said, “and it’s really nice to get to interact with them and build relationships this way. We didn’t know what we were missing in old Ag Hall.”
For Norwood, Agricultural Hall also provides a much-needed improvement to the Agricultural Product Marketing and Sales class.
During “Ready, Set, Sell Night,” the class’s semesterlong project, students are put into groups with a salesperson and give a mock sales call. There weren’t enough rooms in Legacy Hall to accommodate the number of groups, Norwood said.
“Professors used to give up their offices for the event,” he said. “Now we can use the conference and study rooms and not impose.”
For students like Ethan Drake, an agricultural education senior, Agricultural Hall has become a powerful resource.
“In the teaching lab, we’re presenting to the class, but we’re also presenting to people who may be in the hallways because of the windows,” Drake said. “It helps us learn to focus and be more intentional with our students, which will help us succeed when teaching in the classroom.”
Students use Agricultural Hall for more than academics. The building provides spaces for fellowship and to decompress from the stresses accompanying studies.
“My classmates and I have used Ag Hall for all-nighters to cram for tests, and we’ve used it to have movie and board game nights,” Drake said. “It really does it all.”
After being in the new building for a year, Raper said he’s talked to several individuals about their experiences in the building, including Norwood, who provided a memorable insight.
“He looked at me and said something that stuck,” Raper said. “Norwood responded, ‘You’ve provided us with something we didn’t know we needed, but I don’t know how we could live without it.’”
Story By: Baylee Smith | baylee.r.smith@okstate.edu