$1.5 million gift to students pursuing agriculture, natural resources at University of Kentucky
Channel: University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton
Date: 2022-04-14

$1.5 million gift to enhance educational opportunities for minorities pursuing agriculture, natural resources paths at University of Kentucky 

By Aimee Nielson 

LEXINGTON, Ky., (April 14, 2022) — To Jim Coleman, everyone has three options when faced with overwhelming challenges and life decisions—give up, leave and start again somewhere else or seize the moment. As a Kentucky native and descendent of enslaved people, Coleman said he prefers to seize the moment. He wants young people to learn how to do the same, so he’s funding a scholarship program for minorities pursuing agriculture, natural resources and related sciences degree paths at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. 

 “You have to focus on the controllables, and not what you can’t do,” Coleman said. “It’s saying to yourself, ‘How do I go about accomplishing my mission when I’m faced with so many unimaginable roadblocks and barriers?’” 

In honor of his late wife Cathy, who was his college sweetheart at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Coleman is giving $3 million to fund scholarships at UK and Howard University, with $1.5 million going to UK to fund the Cathy and James Coleman Scholarship Fund. Coleman didn’t graduate from UK, but he feels a strong personal connection to the university because of the college’s responsiveness and commitment to his farm’s success. Coleman said he was moved by College of Agriculture, Food and Environment Dean Nancy Cox’s visit to Coleman Crest Farm when he launched the restoration of the farm in 2020. 

“Dean Cox runs one of the largest colleges of agriculture in the United States, but she found time in her busy schedule to be there with me right from the start,” he said. “I had my first meeting with her and UK CAFE Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Mia Farrell to discuss the future of Coleman Crest while touring my farm’s cemetery where my ancestors are buried. It was so amazing to me to see how Dr. Cox and her team immediately demonstrated their commitment to my farm’s success and my family’s legacy.”   

Coleman Crest Farm, located just eight miles from UK in Fayette County, has been a source of sustainability and economic empowerment for the Coleman family for more than 134 years. Coleman Crest was purchased by Jim’s great-grandparents, James and Lucy Coleman, on March 27, 1888, for $1,200. 

As a result of owning the farm, Jim’s grandparents, John and Mollie, sent five of their seven children to college during the Great Depression. 

  “My parents, Sam and Cleo, raised five children at Coleman Crest and all of us were able to go to college as a result of using the proceeds from the sale of tobacco, produce and livestock, combined with taking out notes on the farm,” Coleman said.  

Jim’s sister, Ruth, was the first woman and first African American to graduate from UK’s College of Civil Engineering.  Coleman Crest financed Jim’s college education at Howard University where he graduated in 1983 with a degree in Economics and married Cathy on June 2, 1984 at Rankin Chapel on campus. 

The “Cathy and James Coleman Scholarship Fund” will benefit students who are members of the Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences Program. When fully endowed, it will provide more than $75,000 annually and in perpetuity for scholarships. “Cathy will always be alive and relevant through this scholarship program,” said Jim. 

“We are pleased that Jim is choosing to honor his late wife Cathy and the legacy of his family’s farm in this way,” said Dean Cox, who also serves as the University’s vice president for land-grant engagement. “He’s inspiring our MANRRS students and showing them they can accomplish anything they set out to do.” 

Through the years, the Coleman family has had many opportunities to meet and to work with some of America’s most influential barrier breakers through their pursuit of higher education. Jim’s uncle, Stanford Coleman, was a Lincoln University classmate of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thorogood Marshall. When Jim decided to pursue politics at Howard University and run for Liberal Arts Student Council president, it was now-U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris who helped him pass out campaign flyers in the women’s dorms. Coleman said Harris’ help contributed to his decisive win on election day.  

Coleman said these relationships were formed because his great-grandparents planted the seed by seizing the moment and purchasing the land they had tilled as enslaved people. 

....CONTINUE ARTICLE HERE:  https://news.ca.uky.edu/article/15-million-gift-enhance-educational-opportunities-minorities-pursuing-agriculture-natural
Contact: Brent McCauley, Brent.McCauley@uky.edu 

UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, through its land-grant mission, reaches across the commonwealth with teaching, research and extension to enhance the lives of Kentuckians.