The College of Agriculture brought Kansas State students together Tuesday evening outside Weber Hall for the annual Watermelon Feed.
The event gives clubs in the college a chance to promote themselves and recruit new members. The College of Agriculture council served free watermelon as clubs gave handouts to the students.
Around 35 clubs attended, spanning different fields in the agriculture industry — from bakery science club and Collegiate Cattlewomen to the agriculture economics club.
Despite varying interests within the industry, event attendees said the College of Agriculture has a strong sense of community.
“Sometimes we try to do social events together — networking and getting to know everyone — and offer that social outlet to meet people in classes,” Olivia Logan, senior in agribusiness, said. “Going to classes in the College of Ag is such a different feel than going to any other college class because we all have a similar cultural value, and that provides a whole community in itself.”
Many students said joining clubs is exciting, and College of Agriculture council president Brooks Nichols said he was thankful to see familiar faces.
“I think everybody here knows … the majority of people here,” Nichols, senior in animal sciences and industry, said. “We’ve had some sort of interaction with them, whether it be class, clubs, different events or things like this.”
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Students outside the College of Agriculture also attended the event, with clubs embracing students with unrelated majors looking to join. Jess Johnson, junior in animal sciences and pre-veterinary medicine, said the desire for involvement has skyrocketed after a year spent partially online because of COVID-19,
“A lot of people are really excited to be in-person,” Johnson said. “There’s also some people who are pretty apprehensive, so there’s a lot of reassurance that we’re following, protocol-type stuff, and making sure that we’re safe so we can continue to stay in person. The biggest thing is just that people are glad to be here.”
For some students, this semester is their first experience with in-person college life. Brooklyn Bennett, sophomore in agricultural economics, said there were many clubs and events she did not know about.
“Sometimes you get an email about something and just kind of brush that off, but talking to people in-person about stuff is really nice,” Bennett said.
The College of Agriculture is currently looking for student leaders as part of the Ag Leadership Program. Current agriculture students interested in the nine-week program can enroll, with the first meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 7 in Waters Hall.
