OSU celebrates second annual Land-grant Week

Thursday, October 2, 2025

Media Contact: Jeff Hopper | Communications and Media Relations Manager | 405-744-5827 | jeff.hopper@okstate.edu

Oklahoma State University recently hosted its second annual Land-grant Week to highlight the school’s land-grant mission and its ongoing commitment to improving lives across the state through research, education and Extension. 

Groups from across the Stillwater campus filled the week with demonstrations, giveaways and opportunities to learn more about how the Cowboy family fulfills its land-grant mission on a daily basis.

"Well, I always like to describe Oklahoma State University as the people's university,” OSU President Jim Hess said. “We have a lot of institutions in this state, but our land-grant mission makes us unique.

“What I'd like for all of our students, our alumni, our donors and our supporters to remember is that the land-grant mission focuses on a single concept, and that is solving practical problems that our state and our society face. Then we provide those solutions in a research application or an Extension application or an instruction application to solve their problems.”

Staff members from different departments gave away ‘We are Land-grant’ branded merchandise such as stickers, pennants, T-shirts and hats. They also used the interactions with the students to educate them on what it means to be a land-grant institution and how the students can fulfill that mission both on and off campus. 

Among the week’s many demonstrations was one from the Oklahoma Aerospace Institute for Research and Education team, which used two different unmanned aircraft and a quadruped ground vehicle — aka robot dog — to deliver simulated supplies and blood to first responders working a simulated vehicle collision incident.

“This demonstration reflects our primary mission as a land-grant university, which is to serve the public,” said Dr. Jamey Jacob, OAIRE director. “We tend to think of aerospace and drone research as something that’s very high tech and doesn’t necessarily touch everyone on a daily basis. However, this drones-as-first-responders demonstration perfectly embodies our land-grant mission and shows something that isn’t just research, but something that is actually a service that we’re providing to and working with the first responder community.”

From drones and new wheat varieties, to new One Health research, 

Cutting-edge drone technology research signals that a lot has changed since Oklahoma State University was founded. Still, its mission remains clear, and Dr. Hess said OSU’s teaching, research and Extension efforts continue to address society’s most pressing problems. 

“That’s what being a land-grant university is all about,” Hess said.  

“Our land-grant university's history goes all the way back to the Morrill Act in 1862 and this institution's founding in 1890. When you think about the number of people whose lives have been affected and the problems that were solved as a result of our land-grant mission, our state would not be where it is today had it not been for Oklahoma State University."