Our Mission

Mission Statement

The 1890 Center of Excellence to Motivate and Educate for Achievement and the 1890 Center of Excellence for Student Success and Workforce Development (jointly known as MEA Center) seek to foster and to elevate the academic success of minority students. The MEA Center also seeks to boost of the collective capacity of the 1890 land-grant universities to provide supportive learning environments and programs to increase the diversity of the U.S. agricultural workforce in food, agriculture, natural resources, and human (FANH) sciences.

Background

The 1890 Center of Excellence for Student Success and Workforce Development was funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) in 2021 as to complement the 1890 Center of Excellence to Motivate and Educate for Achievement, or MEA Center, funded in 2020. Both centers, jointly known as MEA Center, seek to increase the diversity of the agricultural workforce in the United States.

As the global leader in agriculture, the U.S. must take a leading role in meeting the world’s need a more diverse and highly skilled workforce that will enable us to meet the food, clothing and natural resource needs of a growing population.

While the 1890 land-grant universities were created largely to provide educational opportunities for African Americans and other minority groups and help address the development of this workforce, their success has been hampered by the lack of student interest, agriculture literacy, STEM skills, financial resources and inter-institutional coordination to overcome barriers to attracting and graduating students. Consequently, there is a need to develop collaborative programs and initiatives at 1890 land-grant universities to significantly increase the number of underrepresented individuals in agricultural careers.