Hear ye, hear ye

On the North Carolina stop of a series of rural town hall meetings to gauge the concerns of rural residents, U.S. cabinet members, as well as SAES representatives, got an earful.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Education Secretary Arne Duncan hosted the meeting at Richmond Community College in Hamlet, where a standing-room only crowd attended. Many of the concerns voiced by the score of speakers were issues directly addressed by Cooperative Extension programs, and Extension representatives Dr. M. Ray McKinnie and Celvia Stovall left the meeting with a potential to-do-list. Of particular note, were issues concerning community development, an area addressed in Extension programming. Agricultural issues that were discussed were also of interested to the A&T delegation, which was led by interim Dean Dr. Donald McDowell and included Dr. Ralph Noble, chair of the department of animal sciences.

There is coverage of the meeting highlights in the Charlotte Observer and many other North Carolina newspapers. Click here to view slideshow from the event.