Pistol Pete helps announce the Ferguson Family Foundation’s contributions and the renaming of the college. Photo by Brittny Richards.
PREPARING FOR
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THE BIG REVEAL AGCM alumnae help implement college’s name change
y 3:46 p.m. Jan. 15, 2020, everyone involved with Oklahoma State University’s Ferguson College of Agriculture had felt emotions from shock to excitement — all while showing gratitude to those who made the future of the college and the name change possible. The staff in the OSU Agricultural Communications Services unit had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to communicate the name change and future of the college, said Melissa Mourer, manager of communications and marketing for the Ferguson College of Agriculture. “The name change has been the
hardest and the coolest thing I have ever had a chance to be included in professionally,” Mourer said. “It’s nothing I could have ever dreamed of being a part of. “When I found out, I got tearyeyed,” Mourer added. “I was so excited for who we are as a college and where we are heading, and I was honored to have the opportunity to play a small role as a communicator and see the change happen.” As alumnae, Mourer and Samantha Siler, communications coordinator for the Ferguson College of Agriculture, had the responsibility to help communicate the change. From
the behind-the-scenes preparations that began in November 2019 to the January announcement, a redirection of this magnitude has been a memorable opportunity, Mourer said. However, the new name does not change the culture of the college, Siler said. “The feeling of family is real,” Siler said. “Family is very much still a part of who we are and communicating that has been the easy part, easy because it’s apparent. “We very much felt, when we were students and now as we have worked in this college, that it is a family,” Siler added. “It’s not just a slogan.” Mourer said the communications VOLUME 22 NUMBER 2 | 15
