By Larry Stalcup Contributing Editor SPICER GRIPP MEMORIAL ROPING BOOSTS WEST TEXAS A&M AGRICULTURE
W ith many of the world’s best ropers tethering more than $760,000 in total payout, the 2023 Spicer Gripp Memorial Roping saw tie-down, steer and team roping that rivaled the biggest roping events from coast to coast. The result was wide-open competition among cowboys and their mounts, and huge support from dozens of spectacular sponsors. They helped The Gripp, as it’s known in its hometown of Hereford, Texas, continue to boost scholarships for students seeking to study agriculture at West Texas (WT) A&M University in Canyon. Sponsorships and entry fees enabled the memorial event to provide WT with a check for $100,000 for use in its college of agriculture.“The event is important to our agriculture program,” said Kevin Pond, Ph.D., dean of WT Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences.“The roping event is put on for people to come and enjoy themselves, and for our students to participate by helping put it on.” The roping is named after Spicer Gripp, who died in the early 1990s. He was a Hereford resident who loved helping kids. Whether it was for 4-H, FFA or getting a college education, he wanted kids to succeed. Friends of Spicer got together to start the memorial roping in 1994, and the Spicer Gripp Memorial Event Center made its debut in 2001. The Spicer Gripp Memorial Youth Foundation administers proceeds from the roping event, as well as gifts from family and friends of Spicer Gripp. WT’s Spicer Gripp Memorial Scholarship Fund makes scholarships available for students pursuing a degree in agriculture sciences or participating on the WT Rodeo Team.
Many Hereford and Panhandle area people are WT alumni and are involved as sponsors and volunteers to the annual event. Prior to accepting the $100,000 check, Pond told CALF News how important The Gripp was to the university. “The 2022 event also provided $100,000 for the WT Spicer Gripp Endowment Fund for Scholarships. The Paul F. and Virginia J. Engler Foundation matches these funds,” he said. “Essentially that means $200,000 [per year] going into the Spicer Gripp foundation. That generates essentially two $5,000 scholarships or four $2,500 scholarships that will go on forever.” Since 2016, WT has made a dramatic investment in its college of agriculture. The result has been the attraction of more ag students from across the country.“We will have record enrollment again this year. We will have over 1,100 students in agriculture. They include students from all over the Panhandle, Texas, the states around us and all over the nation. WT is a destination spot for many.” WT’s research into livestock
Cody Chandler of Chandler Insurance, left, and Zane Tisdale of Micro Technologies, right, present Kevin Pond, dean of WT Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, second from left, and Lance Keith, associ- ate dean, with a hefty check for $100,000 for the WT’s Spicer Gripp Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Ed Montona, popular Texas troubadour and member of the Amarillo Coors Cowboy Club, entertain before the Spicer Gripp awards reception.
we have been able to hire new faculty. With new funding this year, we’ve been able to hire even more faculty to meet the demand we have.” The WT Research Feedlot has been instrumental in providing valuable information for the massive regional cattle feeding area – which finishes more than 28 percent of the nation’s fed cattle, with plans to grow. “We are going to be expanding and building a new research feedyard that will have large pens to conduct
production, processing and marketing is admired across the nation. Its meat lab is second to none. Plant science studies and research also benefit farmers across the High Plains and elsewhere. A wealth of prominent professors help WT provide the knowledge needed by students. “We have always been known for a tremendous base of professors,” Pond said. “With federal and state funding,
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