HU raises $385,000 at the Haupert Institute’s Harvest Celebration and Auction

One hundred and twenty-seven people attended the Haupert Institute for Agricultural Studies Harvest Celebration and Auction on November 10 at Huntington University’s Habecker Dining Commons. This is the first year for the event.

The evening’s celebration kicked off with a complimentary dinner and was followed by special-guest speakers Ron Clauson, Clauson Farms, 2016 Indiana Farm Family of the Year, and Bryan Kirkpatrick, author of Faith and the Farm: God, Family and Life in America’s Heartland.

A live auction during the event was conducted by Steve Ness, broker-owner and auctioneer for Ness Bros. Some of the auction items included a Hyper Mountain Bike, One Night Getaway & Breakfast at the Purviance House, Electric Power Washer, Moose 25 Gallon Sprayer Tank and Holland Propane Heater. The Harvest Celebration and the auction raised more than $100,000 for the Haupert Institute for Agricultural Studies. A special tribute also was included in the program for long-time Huntington University board member and friend, Dr. Dale Haupert.

Dr. and Mrs. Douglas Ware of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, presented a gift of $250,000 to Huntington University in honor of their late father Dale Ware, a 1936 graduate. In addition to the Ware gift, University officials also announced a total of $285,000 in lead gifts have been received to build a crop science production facility adjacent to the Dowden Science Building during the summer of 2017.

“Many times new programs need to be subsidized by external financial support until those programs reach full enrollment and can be supported by tuition. We are so thankful for the continued outpouring of support, both solicited and unsolicited, for the Haupert Institute for Agricultural Studies,” stated Vincent Haupert, vice president for advancement.

The Haupert Institute for Agricultural Studies opened in the fall of 2015 and promotes a Christian perspective on agriculture, which recognizes our responsibility to be good stewards of God’s creation and to examine questions of sustainability and justice. The agribusiness program is intended to meet the growing need for agribusiness professionals and includes concentrations in agricultural education, agrimanagement, agrimarketing, agrieconomics and finance, agrientrepreneurial small business management, crop production, communication and public policy, and ministry and missions.