The U.S. Department of Agriculture lifted its suspension of the 1890 National Scholars Program after nearly a week.
The USDA last week announced the suspension of the program pending further review. Responding to a question from The Commercial, a USDA spokesperson said the suspension was “to ensure the most efficient use of taxpayer resources,” adding the review was completed late Monday afternoon.
“The review did not impact the more than 300 USDA 1890 National scholars currently enrolled in the program,” Sally Gifford of the USDA said.
The Hill, a Washington, D.C., newspaper that covers the federal government, quoted a spokesperson as saying the USDA is “optimizing operations and strengthening its ability to serve farmers, ranchers and the agriculture community” in line with a directive from President Donald Trump and that USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins would review the program, its mission and metrics.
On its homepage for the program, the USDA announced its application period has been reopened and applications will be accepted through March 15.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“Young people around the country are invited to complete and submit their applications online through an e-application,” Gifford said. The link to the e-application is included on the homepage.
The program, managed by the OPPE, is open to high school seniors, college sophomores and college juniors for application. Its stated goal is to bolster educational and career opportunities for students from rural or underserved communities around the country.
“The USDA Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement (OPPE) will host a webinar for applicants on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, to discuss more information about the USDA 1890 National Scholars Program,” Gifford said. “… OPPE will continue to support applicants and selected scholars as they matriculate through the program.”
Recipients attend one of 19 historically Black universities, including the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, that are known as 1890 institutions. These schools were founded under the Second Morrill Act of 1890, which mandated that states where Blacks and other minorities were discriminated from schools created under the First Morrill Act of 1862 either establish separate land-grant campuses for minorities or demonstrate that admission to the 1862 land-grant is not restricted by race.
UAPB issued a statement Tuesday morning following the suspension lift, saying it was pleased with it.
“As one of nineteen participating Historically Black Colleges and Universities, university leadership and students are grateful for the partners who worked with the U.S. Agriculture Secretary to continue the support of students who endeavor to pursue the diverse agriculture fields of study and those new scholars who will apply for fall admission by the extended deadline of March 15, 2025,” the statement reads. “UAPB values the longstanding partnership with the USDA and remains dedicated to fostering opportunities that empower our students.”
Scholarship recipients are required to study one of these disciplines: agriculture, ag business/management, ag economics, ag engineering/mechanics, ag production and technology, agronomy or crop science, animal sciences, botany, food sciences/technology, forestry and related sciences, home economics/nutrition, horticulture, natural resources management, soil conservation/soil science, farm and range management, or other related disciplines such as non-medical biological sciences, pre-veterinary medicine or computer science). Their scholarships may be renewed each year, as long as academic requirements and normal progress toward a degree have been satisfied.
It was reported during the suspension more than 300 students who participate in the program would be able to complete it. The Commercial sent an email to a spokesperson for the program seeking comment.
The pause drew the ire of members of the Congressional Black Caucus, according to The Hill. A message seeking comment was sent to the office of U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Arkansas, whose Fourth District includes Jefferson County.
A similar program stoppage impacted Winston-Salem State University, a North Carolina historically Black university that is not one of the 1890 campuses.
Anthony Graham, a candidate for UAPB chancellor and education professor at WSSU, revealed Friday a $4.7 million grant used to support the Winston-Salem TEACH program was halted. The program has not indicated a possible relaunch on its Facebook page.
“This is a devastating blow, as more than 75% of this grant directly supported stipends for our residents – aspiring educators who have committed to teaching in Title I (Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools),” according to a Facebook post by Winston-Salem TEACH. “These stipends are a critical way we combat the key factors driving teacher turnover in Title I schools, most importantly the financial barriers that prevent talented educators from entering and staying in the profession.”
Graham is a principal investigator on three USDA-supported grants and told the audience at UAPB he had to notify staff members connected to each grant of their job separation. The scholarships coming from the grants will not be sustained after this semester, he clarified.
“This is highly problematic for all of our institutions, but specifically our minority-serving institutions, more explicitly our historically Black colleges and universities, because we leverage these resources to diversify the various disciplines that exist,” Graham said. “Diversifying STEM professions, diversifying agriculture professions, diversifying education, healthcare … the federal government is now saying ‘We are not funding the space of diversity, equity and inclusion,’ which threatens the very existence of the work we do at our HBCUs, particularly our land-grant HBCUs.”
Each of the four candidates has been asked to address the role of an 1890 campus in the modern higher education landscape. Robert C. Mock Jr., executive vice president for strategic initiatives at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, another 1890 campus, was the first finalist to meet the public last Wednesday.
UAPB Vice Chancellor Carla Martin and Fisk University (Tenn.) Provost and Vice President Robert Z. Carr Jr. will have their public forums this Wednesday and Friday, respectively, starting at 2 p.m. at the STEM Conference Center.