Fort Valley State University (FVSU) is one of 19 historically Black 1890 Land-grant Universities participating in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 1890 National Scholars Program.
Established in 1992, the program is a collaboration between the USDA and the 1890 institutions to increase the number of minority students studying agriculture and various disciplines. This includes areas such as agriculture, animal sciences, agricultural economics, computer science and business management.
Criteria for the scholarship includes being a U.S. citizen, attending an 1890 Land-grant institution, maintaining a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better and studying an agricultural, food, natural resources science or related discipline.
Currently, there are 13 FVSU scholarship recipients participating in the program for the 2024-2025 school year with six sponsoring USDA agencies. Those agencies are the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Farm Service Agency (FSA), Economic Research Service (ERS), Agriculture Research Service (ARS), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the National Institute of Food and Nutrition (NIFA).
Karla Hollis is the 1890 USDA liaison officer for FVSU. Some of her duties include overseeing the application process for the program, advising students on career opportunities and providing information about USDA programs to farmers and community members.
Hollis, who has served in the position since 2010, is also a graduate of FVSU (1995, agricultural economics). She says she thoroughly enjoys her role as liaison officer.
“The thing I love most is seeing students advance and develop into young adults and professionals,” she said.
Furthermore, she said scholarship participants have impressed her by being very goal oriented and taking leadership roles with little or no initiative from her.
“They’ve followed my guidance, and I just enjoy the fact that they are going to be true leaders and that has made my job that much easier,” the USDA officer said.
The FVSU alumna said the scholarship program is an asset to FVSU by helping to create leaders without students facing financial debt.
“It also allows them to move into USDA and agricultural careers at a mid-management level,” Hollis said.
Once a scholarship recipient graduates, they will receive a USDA assignment based on an agency’s budget or personnel needs.
Asharaya Selah, a freshman from Fresno, California, is majoring in agricultural economics. She said that she’s very proud to be a scholarship awardee and elaborated on its benefits.
“It opens so many opportunities for you when you’re in and out of school. I experienced so many connections with people that I didn’t know I could make and it helps you build on your future career,” Selah said.
After graduation, Selah plans on working for her sponsoring agency, the USDA APHIS. She plans to pursue a career in natural medicine.
For more information about the USDA 1890 National Scholars Program, visit https://bit.ly/48Dtuvo.