OSU expands beyond America

By Mike Schulte
Kingfisher, Okla.

When Harry S. Truman made his inaugural address in 1950, little did America know the fourth point in his speech would take Oklahoma State University to a region on the other side of the world.

The fourth point in Truman's speech resulted in the Point IV Program that took OSU's College of Agriculture to Ethiopia, which began "OSU's Ethiopia Project."

"In the beginning, many responsibilities and concepts were so new that the United States government had not developed an infrastructure for this type of program," said Conrad Evans, former executive director of OSU International Programs.

Harry S. Truman made it clear the United States did not have enough money to solve everyone's social and political problems.

However, Truman did say America's wealth of technology was one thing this nation would share if other countries wanted it for advancement purposes. Ethiopia took the United States up on its offer and requested to use the technology.

"Prior to the Point IV Program, Ethiopian schools did not offer the opportunity to get a bachelor of science degree in agriculture," said Evans. "Most secondary education was located in the capital city."

With this in mind, the United States developed an infrastructure to create the University of Agriculture, which later became Alemaya University.

Henry G. Bennett, OSU president and strong proponent of public education, was selected to start the new program. Bennett was an official in the Marshal Plan for Europe. This was a program developed for land-grant research in European countries. During his time in Europe, he met Jack Bennett. Jack Bennett had been to Ethiopia earlier to set up the National Bank of Ethiopia.

Jack Bennett became close friends with Emperor Haile Selassie. Selassie asked Jack Bennett his opinion for a leader of the land-grant system for Ethiopia. He replied there is only one man for the job ¾ Henry G. Bennett from OSU.

Before President Truman appointed anyone to the Point IV Program, Selassie told Truman he wanted Henry Bennett to be in charge of the program.

"We must remember when Henry Bennett received his formal title of Point IV director, he took the liberty of giving OSU the first opportunity to create extension programs overseas," said Evans. "Creating these type of programs for any school was new, and OSU had first opportunity out of any school in the United States to participate."

Oklahoma A&M provided the administrative infrastructure for the Point IV Program in Ethiopia. Personnel were hired for the U.S. government and for the agricultural projects led by OSU.

"People in Ethiopia were extremely excited about the opening of the school. Over 500 students applied for acceptance, and 50 were selected," said Evans. "Students selected were chosen by grades that were shown on high school transcripts, and then an interview process followed."

OSU started Ethiopia's agricultural school in an old catholic mission that had fallen into disrepair. Classes were taught in this building. Across the street, another building was donated for a boys' dormitory. Faculty and staff had some old houses they repaired and used for living.

Maintenance on the campus was performed in a different way than most college universities. Students and faculty had hours allocated to them every week where they had specific jobs and chores that had to be done. It was not unusual for students and teachers to work together, completing tasks such as mowing the grounds. All students and staff worked hard to maintain a clean habitat for the campus.

When the first-year students entered the college, communication was not a problem. English had been taught in most ele-mentary and secondary schools; however, some mistakes with programs did occur.

"OSU faculty went to Ethiopia with the mindset that all solutions with agricultural problems could be solved on the college level," said Evans. "Faculty tried using a new hybrid corn on test plots, but they failed to take into consideration the difference in growing seasons."

The hybrid corn matured in Ethiopia's rainy season. Students and faculty had a difficult time harvesting the hybrid corn because much of it rotted in the fields before it could be cut.

"Faculty and staff soon realized that different cultures do things for certain reasons," said Evans.

Shortly after the United States developed an infrastructure and the program was under way, changes began to occur. Some of the problems that might have led to low retention could have included many students' distance from home, regulated campus life, 10 p.m. bed checks, and early-starting days filled with an intense schedule," said Evans.

Students also had cultural differences from faculty with food preparation and the way they dressed. When women students first came to school in 1966, they dressed in full length dresses. Later, after doing research work and being in the labs, women soon changed the way they dressed and began to wear clothes that looked American.

The differences in food often led to many discussions in home economics. Ethiopian students and American faculty often exchanged cooking techniques. Ethiopians soon became accustomed to the American way of cooking. Ethiopian women liked having the ability to have modern cooking technology in their kitchens that they did not have before.

In 1968, 16 years after Alemaya University began, the U.S. Agency for International Development decided it was time to turn over Alemaya University to Ethiopia.

"Essentially OSU went over to Ethiopia to work ourselves out of a job, and that is what we did," said Evans. "There was some question to whether OSU terminated and left its work over there too early. Many Ethiopians say that we did."

Students were trained about agricultural affairs; however, they were not trained in administration. The staff somewhat failed in preparing the Ethiopian students to assume those duties that were required.

Despite some minor problems in the beginning, the campus is still functioning today. The campus is larger in scope and operates at a higher level than it did when OSU left. The college had 200 students in the late '60s and today it has around 2,000 students who attend. The college is composed of agriculture, health and education.

Many students have gone on to teach at the university level, and other campuses have been started in Ethiopia with the help of graduates from Alemaya.

Bill Weeks, OSU professor of agricultural education, visited Ethiopia this past summer. Weeks went to Debub University while staying in Ethiopia.

"It is interesting to see that things have stood still with technology. The resources are not there like we have here," said Weeks.
Weeks said most of the faculty and staff at Debub University are graduates of Alemaya University.

"Agriculture today in Ethiopia is much like it was centuries ago," said Weeks. "It is not uncommon to see people carrying buckets of water from a dug well over long distances for drinking purposes."

While the need for technology in Ethiopia is still there, USAID is trying to help with educational programs. Ethiopia became a socialist state in the '70s, and many problems occurred with different reforms that took place. Today, there are those who believe this has caused Ethiopia not to become as advanced in agriculture as was hoped after Alemaya University was started.

"The Ethiopia Project" allowed for faculty and staff to see the world on a global perspective. It taught people how important foreign relations are for the United States to stay competitive with foreign markets as well as with foreign affairs in general.

"USAID is interested in expanding programs both in agriculture and education," said Weeks. "OSU assumes there will be opportunities for the university faculty to participate again to develop programs for different schools in Ethiopia."

When Alemaya University began, no one would have ever imagined the university that it is today, all due to a little help from a school in the heartland of America ¾ Oklahoma State University.