We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross, a resident of State College and Penn State’s 2020 Philanthropist of the Year, has recognized the limitless potential of the Student Farm and has donated $2 million toward the farm’s expansion and operations! This extraordinary gift for the farm will allow it to further pursue its mission to provide hands-on learning experiences for students, engage the community, and demonstrate a sustainable local food system. The Student Farm is now proudly named the Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Student Farm, and we are eager to begin exploring all the new possibilities for the farm’s future!
Since its beginning in 2016, the farm has intentionally incorporated students into every aspect of its operation. Students have the opportunity to grow crops, market the produce, organize and promote events, experiment with new techniques, and get involved with many other aspects of the farm and its outreach and education. This decision to make the farm student-centered has created a program that is unique among other university programs. Students who engage with the farm do not just fill a pre-established role. Instead, they have the capability to truly shape the program because they are such an integral part of the farm’s operation and development.
View of the farm from The Village.
Holding leadership positions that make a real impact on Penn State’s campus and the State College community fosters a lot of pride within students. Senior Jade Menow is the executive director of Student Farm Club and an intern on the farm, and she is proud of the visible benefits to the community that she has helped create.
“The farm gives school spirit to people who may not necessarily care strongly about sports,” Menow said. “It’s really created my college experience, and I’m using it in every aspect of my adult life. The Student Farm is ultimately a well-rounded experience because it allows students to be passionate about something that involves the community.”
The Student Farm’s student-centered approach attracts people from a wide variety of interest areas who want to contribute to this impactful, rewarding program. This gift for the farm means that even more students can assume leadership roles to improve the farm and give back to the university and community.
Along with feeling the pride of creating a physical, beneficial product, students are able to supplement their school curriculum by working on the farm. The knowledge one gains from having hands-on experiences expands beyond the scope of a textbook. Working on real projects allows students to put theories into practice and discover passions that they may not have recognized before, and this donation will make countless more projects possible for curious students. Junior Cole Connolly is the Hydroponics production director for the Student Farm and a plant science major. Cole believes that one of the best aspects of the farm is the opportunity it gives to students to interact with plants outside of a classroom setting.
“My favorite part about Student Farm Club is working with plants in-person,” Connolly said. “I remember that during freshman and sophomore years, everything was theoretical, and you never actually saw any plants. So, that was always the best part of the club because you could apply what you were learning, or just have a cool place to be with real plants that you normally wouldn’t get in a dorm room. It’s a really good place for underclassman to get started to find out if they really enjoy being around plants in a farming environment.”
The farm’s beginning in 2016.
The Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Student Farm may be the only opportunity that students across different majors have to work in a living farm system while in college. Ideally, the farm will evolve to reflect the modern image of farming so that students gain as realistic of a working farming experience as possible. While modern practices have always been the goal, financial restrictions have limited the progress of the Student Farm. Because of Dr. Ross’s incredible gift, the farm will now be able to update its technology to reflect modern, sustainable farming practices. This improvement will bring the Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Student Farm to the next level in hands-on education. Junior Claire Byrnes is director of campus outreach with the Student Farm Club, and she is excited to see this gift reshape the way that the farm operates.
“The ideas we’re considering, like in-ground hydroponics, solar-panel greenhouse and a drone, would allow us to keep up with the times,” Byrnes said. “These are not brand-new technologies. Plenty of farms are using them. For us to keep pushing the boundary of what a farm can look like, having this technology is important. It is expensive in terms of buying the equipment and receiving training, so this our chance. Using new technologies for education will make us a more attractive program to future students and create more opportunities for interdisciplinary work.”
Along with improving the technology used for the farm operations, Dr. Ross’s gift will allow the farm to expand its community outreach. One of the program’s core goals is to be rooted in community, and having new infrastructure and resources will make community engagement even more robust. Hosting events is many students’ favorite part of their farm experience because of the welcoming and joyful atmosphere the events create. Senior Lex Trevelino is the Field Production Director with Student Farm Club and an intern on the farm, and he is looking forward to interacting with State College residents in new ways.
“As we try to make the farm more permanent, it’s nice to have more permanent support from locals,” Trevelino said. “Interacting with people in the community and local K-12 students is unique because this space is available to them as they grow up. It’s really exciting to teach the next generation of farmers.”
This big news has inspired farm alumni to think back to their Student Farm experiences during their time at Penn State. Just six years ago, the Student Farm was only an exciting idea that a small group of ambitious people ran with, and it is inspiring to see how far it has come. Alumna Hayly Hoch graduated in 2017, and she was part of the farm’s initial visioning and formation. As a plant science major, Hayly believed that having a space to get your hands dirty and work with plants was essential to an environmental education, as well as for getting other people excited about the outdoors.
Provost Nick Jones speaking at Harvest Fest with The Village in the background.
“It was the coolest project I think I will ever be a part of,” Hoch said. “When people ask me for something that I’m proud of, the Student Farm is my number one thing. The best part of my experience was being connected with people across campus that I never would have met because they were coming at this project from a totally different angle. It burst my bubble and helped me connect with so many people I never would have met.”
Along with expanding her network, Hayly gained many skills that set her apart from others in the professional world as she advocated for the creation of the Student Farm.
“Learning to be a supportive leader, preparing presentations for partner companies, and sitting in front of the dean of your college to make requests as a student were all very challenging,” Hoch said. “It’s clear to me now in my professional life that my peers didn’t have those opportunities and have had to play catch up. We were so passionate about the Student Farm project that we really honed in on using those skills. It was so much more than planting carrot seeds.”
Hayly Hoch attends student lunch at The Village.
Thankfully, the high-stakes interactions of farm alumni were a success, and the program has now established its permanence as an essential asset at Penn State. Dr. Ross’s gift has ensured that the hard work of farm alumni will endure, and now the next generation of Penn Staters can benefit from the program that prior students worked so hard to establish. Alumna Carissa Brewton also played a major role in founding the Student Farm Club and creating the farm we know today. Carissa is looking forward to seeing how the farm progresses in the future.
“I like the term ‘living laboratory,’” Brewton said. “The ‘laboratory’ addresses the skill-building side of the farm, but the ‘living’ addresses the community where we live our lives together and cross paths, and it creates room for evolution and change. That change affects all of our lives, and the fact that students experience that in an authentic and genuine way through the Student Farm is amazing.”
The farm evolves as people develop and share their new ideas. Without creativity and ingenuity, the farm would remain stagnant. Luckily, the farm’s mission is to grow leaders, and enthusiastic students are constantly thinking of ways to bring the farm to its fullest potential. With so many new opportunities ahead as the Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Student Farm, the farm will be able to grow many more leaders who are ready to improve systems in any aspect of life using organization, persuasion, and leadership skills.
“The word that describes the Student Farm experience is ‘agency,’” Brewton said. “These [skills] give students of any age and major the agency to create their own learning experience and to develop the tools they’ll need going forward.”
It is exciting to think about the beginnings of the farm and where it is today. It started as a seed of hope that passionate students latched on to, and it has maintained that student focus throughout its history. The farm is growing college students into leaders who are actively shaping Penn State’s food system and the community’s relationship to agriculture. Dr. Ross’s extraordinary gift will take these efforts to the next level. The technology and community engagement that will be possible has ushered in a wave of new ideas that will establish the farm as a prestigious, permanent demonstration of a sustainable food system. We are delighted to see a community member recognize and support the farm’s mission so whole-heartedly. Alumna Alyssa Gurklis, who has supported and shaped the farm from its very beginning, described the feeling of appreciation that we all feel so deeply.
Thank you, Dr. Ross, for believing in the Student Farm!
“We all believed in the Student Farm, and we still believe in it,” she said. “We are proud of it and know that it’s a worthy thing to have at Penn State. It’s exciting to see that other people believe in the farm and the value of this opportunity for students too. Belief is what has sustained it.”