Scholarships totaling $627,533.97 were awarded to students of The College of Agriculture, Foods, and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) during its annual banquet held Oct. 25.
Just over 340 people gathered to recognize the donors and the accomplishments of students. The college gave out 277 scholarships.
Luke Geraets and Peyton Kelderman are students who received scholarships and were recognized during the event.
“I think they did a good job running things and Prexy Council did a great job setting up,” Geraets said.
Kelderman agreed and said, “I like the student involvement in it. As far as having the students speak during it.”
The students who spoke at the event were part of the Prexy Council, according to their Facebook page, is “the connecting point for clubs and organizations within the College of Agriculture.” Tessa Erdmann serves as the CAFES advocate on the Prexy Council which helped with the organization of the event.
“Prexy Council officers spoke at the banquet, Bryce Adrian, the vice president, Kristen Smith, the president, and me,” Erdmann said. “The rest of the officers helped at the photo station, lining up scholarship recipients, setting up, and cleaning up. They did a lot of behind-the-scenes work.”
The Prexy Council aided the success of the event by completing many essential tasks.
“Prexy Council, the academic programs office, and CAFES working communication work really well together and did great planning the event,” Erdmann said. “Prexy Council helps put together events that provide opportunities, both professionally and personally, for CAFES students.”
Joseph Cassady, dean of the College of Agriculture, Foods, and Environmental Sciences, was pleased with the event.
“Every year it’s very exciting to gather with our students and our donors to celebrate the continued success of the students. The generosity of our donors is critically important because it better enables our students to pursue their academic interests,” Cassady said.
He was also impressed with the students who spoke, saying, “Emily Matejka and Frank Huber did an outstanding job as emcees.”
Cassady is not the only one who is grateful for donors.
“It’s really nice that the donors are willing to give money and give back to the community, especially the students. It means a lot and it helps,” Geraets said.
Cassady also expressed goals for the future. “We plan to continue to grow our scholarship pool,” he said. “We’ve been adding more scholarships every year.”
Concluding the banquet, Erdmann talked about her favorite part of the event. “It was just really cool seeing CAFES students succeeding so well and being recognize for their achievements,” she said.
