The Piney Woods School Fall 2025 College Tour

As part of our Fall 2025 College Tour, Piney Woods scholars embarked on a transformative, multi-state college tour designed to expand their academic horizons and deepen their understanding of opportunities particularly within agriculture, environmental science, veterinary medicine, food systems, public policy, and research. 

At Piney Woods, we know exposure leads to access, and access leads to outcomes. We intentionally design our college tours to move beyond brochures and virtual presentations. Our scholars walk campuses, engage with faculty, interact with current students, and experience firsthand the rigor, innovation, and possibilities of leading institutions across the country. 

More than just a tour, our college visits signal a strategic investment in vision — connecting classroom learning to real-world application and positioning our scholars to see themselves as future researchers, scientists, policymakers, and industry leaders. 

Exploring Agriculture as Innovation and Industry 

Our scholars began at the University of Tennessee, where they received an in-depth tour of the College of Agriculture. Students walked through a newly constructed agriculture academic building and were introduced to cutting-edge food science technology — including innovative systems used for food production and dairy research. 

They toured laboratory spaces and classrooms, visited the veterinary sciences building, and engaged directly with current veterinary students. In the university’s agricultural gardens, our scholars witnessed the growth cycle of produce and discussed the economic impact of agriculture within the state of Tennessee. They also learned about scholarship pathways specifically within the School of Agriculture — making the experience not only inspirational, but actionable. 

The following day, our scholars traveled to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). After an immersive visitor center orientation, students explored the campus in smaller groups, allowing for deeper dialogue and personalized questions. 

They learned about the university’s history and the modern role agriculture plays within it. Students toured academic grounds, experienced the university commons — where food grown by the agriculture department is served — and explored the intersection of athletics, architecture, and academic life. 

The message was clear: agriculture is not a narrow field. It is science, business, sustainability, research, technology, and global impact. 

Agriculture on the Ivy League Stage 

From Virginia, our scholars traveled north to Cornell University — an Ivy League institution with one of the nation’s most respected agriculture programs. 

Walking the campus on foot, students experienced the seamless integration of land, water, and architecture that defines Cornell’s environment. To reach the agriculture quadrangle, they passed through the Colleges of Arts & Sciences, Public Policy, Biological Sciences, Technology, and Business — physically demonstrating how agriculture intersects with every academic discipline. 

The agriculture division maintains its own quadrangle and library, underscoring its academic prestige. Students explored classroom buildings, research spaces, athletic facilities, the main library, chapel, bookstore, and the river flowing through campus — witnessing firsthand that agriculture holds equal standing among the most elite academic fields in the country. 

Along the broader tour experience, scholars were also exposed to additional world-class institutions including Harvard University, Duke University, Davidson College, Morehouse College, and Spelman College — broadening their understanding of liberal arts, research universities, and historically Black colleges and universities. 

Representation, Research, and Returning Home 

For one of the culminating visits of the tour, we traveled to North Carolina State University, where scholars visited the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. 

There, they were welcomed by Piney Woods alumna Dr. Zakiya Leggett, now a professor within the college. In a powerful, full-circle moment, Dr. Leggett introduced students to associate deans, faculty members, and current college students who shared their journeys into agricultural and environmental sciences. 

During an extended session, scholars learned about groundbreaking research underway within the department and explored pathways into internships, high school research programs, and collegiate opportunities. Students toured campus facilities, rode public transit across campus, visited the Black Student Union, residence halls, student centers, and athletic facilities — envisioning themselves not as visitors, but as future scholars. 

Representation mattered. Access mattered. Exposure mattered. 

Cultivating Access. Advancing Opportunity. Accelerating Impact. 

The Fall 2025 College Tour reflects the Piney Woods broader commitment to Love, Integrity, Faith, Excellence, and Empowerment — our LIFE² core values in action. 

For our scholars — many of whom come from rural or historically underserved communities — exposure to institutions of this caliber shifts trajectories. It reframes what is possible. It connects classroom learning to real-world application. It demonstrates that agriculture is not simply farming; it is biotechnology, environmental stewardship, food security, entrepreneurship, and global leadership. 

Through intentional exposure to leading institutions — from flagship public research universities to Ivy League campuses and distinguished HBCUs — our scholars experienced agriculture as innovation, sustainability as strategy, and research as a pathway to economic mobility. They saw how food systems intersect with technology, how environmental stewardship connects to public policy, and how representation in academic spaces transforms aspiration into achievement. 

For many of our students, this experience marked the first time stepping onto campuses of this scale and prestige. For all of them, it expanded what feels possible. 

This is the power of investment. This is the impact of access. This is Piney Woods in action. 

With the continued partnership of our donors, foundations, and grant partners, we are deepening these pathways, strengthening college readiness, expanding career exposure, and cultivating leaders prepared to shape the future of agriculture, science, business, and beyond. Their investment makes initiatives like the Fall 2025 College Tour possible, ensuring that Piney Woods scholars not only envision opportunity, but step confidently into it. 

We are not simply preparing students for the next step. We are preparing them to lead it. 

Join us in cultivating access and accelerating impact.

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