Farmland supports scholarships for ag students

Thanks to Dr. Robert and Virginia Schneider, a piece of western Oklahoma land has been invested to endow scholarships for Kansas State University students in the College of Agriculture.

In 1952, Robert and Virginia met at a Methodist Wesley Foundation event. He was a junior in agricultural education and she was a freshman studying nursing. A movie date led to another and by fall 1954, they were married and on their way to Robert's first teaching job in western Kansas.

One move, two children and a decade later, Robert and Virginia traveled back to K-State for his master's degree exam. After the exam, Robert was asked to apply to K-State's U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) project in Zaria, Nigeria.

"I had been teaching vocational agriculture in western Kansas," Robert says. "Dr. Jacobs asked me if I'd be interested to teach agricultural mechanization skills in Nigeria. We said yes."

Two USAID tours bookended Robert's doctorate, allowed the Schneiders to serve a high purpose and explore the world with their children. At the end of the final tour, they returned home to Kansas to visit family and Robert accepted a university position in Kentucky.

K-State and the Schneider family have a long history. Robert's dad and siblings attended, followed by a dozen Schneiders. "All of this means we have a lot of 'purple blood' in our systems," Robert says.

Virginia inherited a few quarters of Oklahoma farmland. The Schneiders planned to give the land to their son, but his untimely death meant they looked for the next best place to gift the land. Recognizing K-State's agricultural education leadership and a desire to avoid substantial capital gains taxes, Robert and Virginia gave their land to K-State and endowed the Schneider Family Agricultural Scholarship to help undergraduates pursue their K-State education.

"We created the scholarship because attending college is much more expensive than 65 years ago," Robert says. "Many students cannot enroll in college without financial assistance, or they have to work so much to stay in school."

"The education we received at K-State provided us with the keys to the life we've lived. However, one has to willingly accept those keys, open those doors, step through and then have the fortitude to accept those new challenges. We hope these scholarships will give many students those keys to take advantage of their education at Kansas State University and have a rewarding and productive life."
—Robert Schneider