6. A New Home For Davis College w/ Dr. Clint Krehbiel

A Dean’s job is big, but Dr. Clint Krehbiel keeps coming back to simple questions: Who are we serving, and what kind of impact lasts? We talk through his journey from a central Kansas farm and ranch background to research leadership roles across the Plains, and why Texas Tech University felt like the right place to pour that experience back into students, rural communities, and the future of agriculture.

The heart of our conversation is the new Davis College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources flagship building. We break down why the project matters beyond square footage: it creates a true home on campus where students from animal and food science, plant and soil science, ag economics, ag education and communications, landscape architecture, and more can gather and build community. We also connect the Davis college’s mission to West Texas realities like the Ogallala Aquifer, water conservation, heat, and the need for sustainable farming and ranching systems that can adapt.

We get specific about what’s planned inside: modern classrooms, student success support, multimedia space for communications, high-quality research laboratories for analytics, genetics and genomics, and a food innovation area designed for training and hands-on learning. A major theme is collaboration, with intentional community space where industry partners and stakeholders can meet faculty, co-create ideas, and move technology from campus into the real world.

If you care about agricultural innovation, natural resources, or what it takes to build a campus destination that educates every time you walk through the door, you’ll want to hear this one. Subscribe, share the episode with a colleague or alum, and leave us a review with one feature you think every “college home” should include.

Transcript

Welcome To Deep Roots

Vikram Baliga 0:00

Hi, and welcome to the Deep Roots Podcast, a production of the Davis College of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources at Texas State University. Today we're talking to Dr. Clint Krable, Dean of the Davis College. We talk about his journey to where he is today. Um, the college in general, what he loves so much about it are incredible people. But most importantly, we discuss the new Davis College flagship building and everything that's gone into it and what we can expect from it. I think you're gonna learn a lot in this episode. Dr. Krabel is such a good storyteller, and I can't wait for you to hear more about what we have coming up in the college. Well, Dr. Krabel, thanks so much for coming in to talk to us today. Uh, it's exciting to have you on Deep Roots. And um, I was hoping you just introduce yourself a little bit, tell us who you are and and what you do in the Davis

From Kansas Farm To Academia

Vikram Baliga 0:44

College.

Clint Krehbiel 0:44

Sure, yeah. Vikram, thanks for the opportunity. Uh, always appreciate uh chance to visit a little bit about the great things that are happening in Davis College for sure. So I happen to be the dean of Davis College, and so uh very honored and humbled all at the same time to serve in this role. Uh what a what a fantastic uh college, series of departments, institutes, centers, students, uh, and and again, just a great time to be in Davis College and at Texas Tech University. So came from a farm and ranch background and so grew up in in central Kansas. A lot of people have have heard my story, but education and and agriculture are how I was brought up, and and I have not strayed far from that. Um, couple of degrees at Kansas State University, actually went to community college and and judged livestock for a couple of years at Hutchison Community College. Uh on to K-State, uh, did a did a bachelor's and uh as many students that that we talked to, um trying to figure it all out, not really understanding what it means to be a university professor for sure, uh what that even entails, but again, good mentoring and advising. And uh Jeff Stevenson, who's a reproductive physiologist in animal science and industry, there brought me into his lab, uh introduced me into research, got me excited about that. And I I tell people all the time it it really wasn't uh uh because of what I knew, uh, but it's really mostly because of the work ethic that I that I received growing up again on a on a farm and ranch. And I was a student that was willing to get up at all hours of the night and go tail bleed holsting dairy cows for reproductive study they had going on. And um, so just just kind of evolved and grew from there and piqued my interest, and and so went on and did a master's there and um opportunity to uh go to the University of Nebraska for a doctorate degree. And so at every really at every you know, every step, every stage, doors opened up and uh took the opportunity to step through those uh and uh and grew uh and again had very good good mentorship along the way. So all very, very good. But those leadership opportunities, and and again, it's great to visit with students about that as well as uh make make sure you're building relationships and connections and that you're following through on those, but uh but also as doors open to you, don't be afraid to step through those. Uh, because again, there there is a plan and a purpose uh for your life that's that's greater than any of us individually, and um basically taking those chances lead the oftentimes lead the lead to great things. So first position uh out of my doctorate degree at the University of Nebraska was at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center. Again, a really great experience. Um then New Mexico State University into a faculty position. Um when I great, really a great opportunity to be in Las Cruces and New Mexico State, of course, introduced me to an ecosystem much different than the than the Midwest and where I grew up in Kansas and Nebraska. And um, and then the people and the culture was very different, and and so just a growth opportunity for Shelly, my wife, and I uh was tremendous in in Las Cruces. Uh but had a chance to move closer back to home, and so a position opened up at Oklahoma State that if I could have if I could have identified my dream job coming right out of a PhD, that would have been it. It was 70% research, 30% teaching, uh in the in the beef cattle space, which is which is where I was trained, and and again, fit my roots. Uh speaking of roots uh very well, and so moved to uh Oklahoma State and served on the faculty there for 17 years, came through the ranks as uh as professors do in academia, um, had the opportunity to to walk through again some open leadership doors along the way that was um uh very influential in terms of the career path, and got a call to return back to the University of Nebraska and a department head role in animal science there. And then this opportunity uh came up. And so again, each each step was a growth opportunity for me personally, but but I also felt called into those spaces uh and given the opportunity to to lead and and drive impact, which I truly believe is is why we're why we're here, why we're in these positions. And and so again, just a great time to be at Texas Tech University. That was a long answer. That was a great answer.

Vikram Baliga 5:50

You know, I that makes my job really easy. Like uh, and you're a great storyteller. So like I I enjoy hearing that. And you know, you mentioned impact and you mentioned walking through doors and talking about your career and your life.

Why He Chose The Dean Role

Vikram Baliga 6:03

Like Dean is a big title and a big job, right? We have a diverse college, a lot of departments, we cover everything from water and uh landscape architecture and urban centers to um uh animal agriculture and education, so many things. Uh can you talk a little bit about one why you wanted to pursue that role? You know, you talked about open doors and things, but then two how do you view your current role as an opportunity to make an impact?

Clint Krehbiel 6:33

Sure. Yeah, and and really this opportunity at this time at Texas Tech, um, and you know, looking looking at a position description and and knowing a lot of people here and having conversations about what that potential opportunity is, you don't fully appreciate that likely until you're until your boots on the ground, until you're here. But but the reality is, again, growing up in the central plains, um more more water in central Kansas where I grew up, but a lot of the very similar issues relative to rural communities and serving those rural communities, uh, and then driving um needs for agriculture and and conservation of natural resources, of course, uh the landscape I've always been drawn to. I've always loved uh the plain states, and again, that's where I grew up. So coming coming to Texas Tech was a couple of things. One, again, I knew the people, um, knew the knew the area, uh, semi-arid ecosystem, and and so the opportunity uh to drive impact was very real here. Again, didn't fully appreciate that, certainly have gained an appreciation for that now. And sure, of course, it starts with water, as you mentioned, right? And so uh irrigated out of the Ogallala aquifer, I guess, since the late 40s and and early 50s, and there's no reason why farmers would have known that that was a limited resource at that time, right? I mean, the the aquifer recharges, and the farther north you go in the Nebraska where I was, the greater recharge they have. But that that issue here is real. Uh, and so the opportunity again uh to sustain farming and ranching in this environment is a great opportunity for us. It's an important opportunity for us. And again, it's it's an area I'm passionate about, predominantly because of the people uh and and these rural communities and ensuring uh that they can continue to raise their families there and that those children, those sons and daughters, have the same opportunity that I was afforded with regard to getting a quality education, uh, opportunity to expand that education uh through a university system and go out and do great things in the future by serving and helping others and paying that forward. And so that that's a strong culture here.

Vikram Baliga 9:02

Yeah.

Clint Krehbiel 9:02

Uh that's what I really love about Texas Tech. You know, the the Gordon and Joyce Davis gift was obviously another draw. Uh, you know, as a as a non-land grant, that resource uh helps us serve mission to drive our mission. And so teaching and learning, research and innovation, but but also then we don't have federal dollars for extension, but we have an outreach and engagement component because again, we were planted. Texas Tech was planted where we were planted to serve West Texans. Right. Uh and so I'm passionate about serving West Texans, as we've talked about. So I I guess again, long-winded answer, uh, but but really uh outlining the opportunity of what I saw in Lubbock, Texas and Texas Tech University, and the opportunity to serve in a way that that truly uh I hope will have long-term impact uh for the people and the students that we serve. Absolutely.

Vikram Baliga 9:59

And I think, yeah, I think that's a great way to think about it too, is how are we serving our students today? But then how are we empowering them for their own future, but then also to serve the communities that they end up in? Absolutely. And and I think that's that's great. Um so your job is also very diverse. There's probably no two days that are exactly the same. You know, I've been here a couple of years, and I doubt you've had two of the same day in that that couple of years. But what what is it that gets you up in the morning? Like what is it that you enjoy about your job on a day-to-day basis?

Clint Krehbiel 10:31

Yeah. Again, I it's serving mission, and it's serving mission with great people. Um so the students that we recruit to Texas Tech University, and and and we talk about this a lot, and and I'm happy that I'm not the only one that recognizes and talks about this, but it's really the uniqueness of our students. And whether whether they're from here, uh wherever they're from, there's something about our culture and our community um that really makes this a special place. And it's it's a special place to get educated, right? To to get a college degree. Um, and so, you know, obviously Davis College and Texas Tech at large, but the opportunity, again, to think about um the impact that we're having. So many of our alums have come from very humble beginnings. Um, and so the the grittiness, the determination, the competitiveness, um, and and yet the gratitude and the thankfulness for for the opportunities that our students get, that that comes out in the majority of our students. And so I really love that about this culture and environment. And so coming to work, understanding that we have faculty that are that are driven by their own passions, right? To to do cutting edge research that's gonna uh secure the future of cotton production, or how we evolve into other production systems that require less water into the future and can can handle more heat, uh, how we're integrating back into more livestock. Uh it's all about, again, conserving the natural resource piece of that, which is in our college's title, on beautiful landscapes and developing landscapes through landscape architecture, designing landscapes that help people uh feel that sense of home, that sense of community, uh, which drives health and well-being, right? So all of it uh is an excite is exciting to me. And so it's it's fun for me. It's really not like getting up and going to work. I never feel that. I'm I never have to drag myself out of bed. I'm always excited to get up and and come to work in the morning. And and again, with with uh with that opportunity, it's really not work, right? It's really it's really life. Sure. So live living life and doing that in Lubbock, Texas at Texas Tech University.

Vikram Baliga 13:01

It's great.

The Flagship Building Purpose

Vikram Baliga 13:03

Um so changing gears just a little bit, you you mentioned um Dr. Davis and and the support he's given our college. And you know, he's our namesake now and has really been instrumental in some of the new things that we've been able to do and and our new initiatives and and just having some resources to meet those goals uh that you were just discussing. And part of that is our new flagship building project, our new Davis College building to house parts of the whole college and finally get us under one roof.

Clint Krehbiel 13:34

Yeah.

Vikram Baliga 13:34

Um tell us a little bit about that. Where did that idea come from and what's the importance of that building to the Davis College?

Clint Krehbiel 13:41

Sure. Yeah. Well, when when Dr. Davis and Dr. Davis and Joyce, Gordon and Joyce gave that gift um, I guess in 2022. Um, you know, I I believe he and the and the president had a conversation at that time about that was really a need for uh for the college, and it and it certainly is. And so really the planning started with with the gift. Uh and Gordon has been in you know, instrumental, influential uh in terms of going out and seeing other facilities, uh really helping us think about what could and what should be. Um and so he's been a huge asset uh to driving this whole project. But that's really where it started. Um and and again, it was it was need. This building that we're sitting in, this dairy barn, was one of the uh original buildings built on campus. And so we just celebrated a hundred years. Uh and so this building has been here a long, long time, and it continues to serve us very well. But we we don't really have a location, a place, a home-like atmosphere where all of our students can gather. Obviously, within each of our departments, uh the departments and the faculty and the chairs have done a great job of uh building and creating community uh for students. Animal and food science sits out, and of course, Red of Red Meats is out there, and so they have a gathering place and a lot of students gathered there. But uh here in the heart of campus, right, we don't really have a a place where uh if you're a plant soil scientist or ag econ, ag ed and communications, um, et cetera, where those students really come and can can establish a sense of community. So I I'd say first and foremost, the importance and the value of that building is is doing just that. Obviously it serves mission, right? So teaching and learning, research innovation, again, outreach and engagement, but uh a home for students to congregate to gather uh as a Davis College student, uh, but but do so with the character that we've talked about previously, very inviting so that other students, any student, doesn't matter your major, uh feels like they have a great place to come and assemble, study, collaborate, eat, um, rest, all of those things should happen in that new building. And I'm really, really excited about that aspect of it.

Vikram Baliga 16:16

I like that thought. And you speak of community a lot, and I I appreciate that of you know, we compartmentalize so much sometimes, and it's like this is home, this is school, but it's all life, right? It's all part of what we do. And so having a space where those things can kind of maybe come a little bit closer and we can meet a little more in the middle is is really great. And I think that speaks very well to the um I don't know, the character and the culture of our college. I think that's you know, you explained that in a way that really fits with what we do.

Designing For Teaching Research Community

Vikram Baliga 16:46

But you know, speaking of community, we don't we don't exist in a vacuum, right? We do everything with our local community, our regional community, our city, state, whatever. Um, how have I guess different groups been instrumental in the development of this building from ideas to design, from engineers to stakeholders to students? Like what has that looked like?

Clint Krehbiel 17:07

Yeah, yeah. So yeah, from from the very beginning, um, and and even when I first got here, right, thinking about what are our strengths as a college, what are our core areas uh of of research strength, and how does that relate again to serving community, uh be that students or or um be that um our external stakeholders. And so all of them were were engaged. I mean, the process starts with hiring someone to do the planning, and so uh H HDR and Park Hill were were employed um to come help us plan for this building from the very beginning. But that involved faculty, that involved um students at a high level, it involved staff, it involved external stakeholders, um, and it involved our colleagues from across campus. And so, again, I think I think the opportunity and where we are headed uh as a university, you know, we have gaps in our college that can be filled by strong scientists and faculty members and in other colleges. And so a lot of the other deans were involved when we started this process. And so really, really sitting down again with our core strengths defined and with our understanding, strong understanding of our mission areas and our needs where the gaps were. We all came together and we started planning, planning the building. So then the planning goes from you know, we need we need high-quality teaching space, we need offices, uh, we need classrooms, we need a multimedia room for activities such as this to be able to house marketing and communication. Uh, we need research labs and and where, you know, we're basically because of what's happening in the college and at Texas Tech, we're outgrowing all of our spaces, right? And so lab space is at a premium, and so ensuring that we have gaps filled for current programs, but also opportunities to grow and opportunities uh to collaborate, critically important. Uh, and then uh to your to your point, right, community is very important, not only within campus, but our external stakeholders. And so where does industry come when they have an idea or they need an idea from a faculty member uh working in Davis College? Where can they come and collaborate, right? Where can we co-create technologies, co-create uh ideas that are again going to support our agriculture and natural resource landscape industries? That needs to happen in our building, right? And so really about a third of the building is in the teaching and learning space. So again, it's classrooms, it's offices, administrative piece, a student success center, um, all things, you know, getting students excited about coming to Texas Tech University, but but once they're here, making sure that they're supported uh all through graduation. And then once they graduate, what kind of careers uh are they going to uh have the opportunity to evolve into uh all of that is is in that building. Uh the the research laboratories, as I indicated, uh would be the second third. Uh and so we have um all the way from a food innovation space, which I'm really excited about, where uh you know we'll be able to train students about food processing and we're gonna make ice cream, we're planning to make ice cream in that building, which will be a lot of fun that we can serve out of Red of Red Meats. Um there'll be uh a bit of culturing knowledge, but then also space again where people can come and train and innovate uh in the food space through a test kitchen and then and then through a century lab. Uh all of that will be in there. About a and and then again, very high-quality collaborative labs for analytical chemistry, uh for uh genetics and genomics, all things that cover the breadth and the spectrum of what we do as a college from a science perspective. Uh and then what I'm really excited about is the last third of the building is community, right? And so big atrium, uh opportunity to host community members for various events, uh, a lot of places, again, for students just to come and hang out, but also for our community to engage uh with us, be they from agriculture uh or not, but in particular, those industries that we serve that are either adopting our technologies or co developing our technologies will also have some space in that building. So um really, really exciting. Excited about the space.

Vikram Baliga 22:01

Yeah, no, and you it is exciting. It is very exciting. And I think the fact that we're gonna have ice cream and breakfast burritos is gonna be a problem for me. It'll be a good problem, but it's gonna it's gonna be a thing.

Clint Krehbiel 22:12

It's gonna be too convenient for moving in. You know, 100 feet from my office.

Vikram Baliga 22:16

It's you know, uh I don't even have to walk very far and get steps in to get ice cream. Um so this has been, I know, a long process, you know, a lot of iterations of designs and going back and

Budget Design And Groundbreaking Plans

Vikram Baliga 22:31

talking to folks. And so I I think just for folks listening, where are we now in the process? And what are our next steps?

Clint Krehbiel 22:39

Yeah. So really, really good news on that front. We just finished our last schematic design um series of meetings and and again honing things in, right? And so we're we're moving from the the plan of what needs to be in a building to specific space within the building and and what those specific spaces look like. And so that's been a been a fun part of the process as well. Um and now we're trying to match our budget with those spaces. Sure. Uh and and so we have one one additional meeting on Monday where we'll we'll finalize that. Um Lee Lewis Construction, they've been been great to work. All all of these companies have been excellent to work with uh throughout this entire process. But again, matching you know what our budget is with those spaces, making sure that all lines up. Uh, of course, Spanish Renaissance will be maintained uh across campus. Really excited about the look of the building. Uh it'll have kind of a they're calling it a uh a rancher's renaissance flair to it as well. So it's a cool combination. Uh again, that's that's really gonna celebrate our culture and our our history here. Um so all of that will come together with what's going to be in the building. So the Dean Suite, Raider Red Meets, this innovation lab I talked about, all the classroom space. A lot of our classrooms will be ready, uh, Raider classrooms, raider classrooms. Um and and so there'll be opportunity again to celebrate ag not only for ag students, but across campus. And so there'll be a lot of a lot of traffic drawn through uh through our building, excited about that. Uh and then as you go up in the building, um, security increases. There'll be more laboratories on the second floor, but that'll be both teaching and research laboratories. Uh, and then on the the third story will be predominantly uh research. Uh there'll be be some offices up there and grad students, et cetera. So um so we're close. And again, not not only has the Davis College team been incredible, um, but what uh the university has provided from from Vice President Kennedy's office and and uh that development team advancement has been really good and their marketing and comms team, and but but now the story will really all come together and it'll come to light. And and so we'll be able to uh get out and share with the public what this space is really gonna look like and who it's gonna serve and and uh uh why the spaces that are in it are in it uh and and how we move forward with the construction process. And so we're really hoping to break ground uh late fall.

Vikram Baliga 25:33

Okay.

Clint Krehbiel 25:34

Um homecoming has come up, and I mean we'll want to make promises there. We'll see how that all that all unfolds. But um late late this fall, groundbreaking, um, and then they'll start construction. And so it'll be hectic for a couple of years while that's all taking place, but it'll be very short-term pain for long-term gain. Absolutely. Uh so really, really excited about it all.

Vikram Baliga 25:57

And that's such an exciting thing. And and to that point, you know, as Dean and sort

Making The Building A Destination

Vikram Baliga 26:02

of the the captain of the ship and steering us along, uh you you've carried a lot of like weight and responsibility through this. And it's I know been a lot of work, and we appreciate your leadership in it. But for you, as you know, someone on the very front edge of this process, what's been the most exciting moment or part of this for you?

Clint Krehbiel 26:22

I think I think seeing it come to life, really. And by the way, the whole Dean part, if you look at my pictures when I started here, I had uh my hair was darker for some reason. No, it's it's it's been good. Again, I really don't feel like I'm coming to work. I pinch myself to make sure this is all real. But um, you know, I I think I think watching it come to life and then um the engagement of people and and them thinking about this is almost fictional uh to becoming reality and and really how that has evolved over time. People are genuine, genuinely excited about the building, right? And we should be. Yeah. Uh and they are, but I think it's I think watching that evolution in this process has has been the most rewarding. Uh again, it's it's very few deans have an opportunity to be involved in a building project of this magnitude. I don't take that lightly, it's a big responsibility, but at the same time, uh it's really exciting to have the opportunity to think about the past, the now, and the future of agriculture and natural resource and and uh uh landscape design uh and and really develop a structure uh that's not just a building, but but it's but it's really home, right? For for the people that we serve. And and again, that part's been really exciting.

Vikram Baliga 27:52

So you you mentioned this a little bit uh already, um, but uh what do you hope this building will represent for the people who use it? Yeah.

Clint Krehbiel 28:02

I I mean it the whole the whole intent was uh really to celebrate and to educate, right? And so really, really want this building, we talked about this through the design process, to be a destination for people that are coming to Lubbock. And so if you're if you're an alumni, um or obvious certainly if you're looking for a place uh to come to school, um we want this building to be inviting and to draw people uh in. And as they're drawn in to the to the new building, um we want them to feel agriculture in the southern high plains, right? And so what what does that entail? What's our history here? Um again, there'll be a dairy aspect, there'll be um cotton, there'll be sorghum, there'll be uh landscape design, spaces that talk about where we've come from. Um and and again, it's taken a lot of grittiness and a lot of resilience for a lot of our alumni who will come back uh and see this facility. We want them, we want it to resonate with them, right? We want them to go, wow, right? This is this is really cool. This is where we've been. Uh I was a part of this as a student, and I can continue to be a part of this now as as an alum. Um for for the students that are from from business, from arts and sciences, um, from engineering, right, when they when they come into the building, we want them to sense uh the importance and the value of agriculture, or maybe they're they're potential students that are coming here to to visit. Sure. Um we want them to understand that agriculture matters. We don't think about that, right? When we get up and get dressed every morning, we don't think about how much cotton we're putting on. Right. Um when we go out to eat at noon or have our breakfast, you know, we don't really relate that all the way back to where that food originated from. Um and so we just want people to get a sense of the value and the importance and the excitement, mostly the excitement, uh, about the future of agriculture. Uh and so we want them to sense that. Uh, but then to the future, right? Thinking about, okay, we did things this way in the past, but we're gonna have to evolve and adapt and change and grow. Uh, and so how do we how do we provide the next generation technologies that are gonna serve the industry in the future to help us be sustainable? Um, so really again, celebrating and educating. I I would love for every inch of that building uh to be educating people that are observing it in some way.

Vikram Baliga 30:50

Yeah, that's great. That's great. Uh, you know, I had a colleague, uh a mentor at one point in my career that said in education, everything speaks from from you know the temperature of the room to the way this the chair, like everything speaks. And I think that this is such a great opportunity. And you know, as educators, we're storytellers at heart, as scientists is really, you know, um, to to tell our story, like you say, and I think that that's really exciting. Um, having known you for a couple of years and getting to know you a little bit, I know you're a again, a scientist and educator through and through at heart. Uh, and as part of that, we never stop learning, right? That is it is a constant pursuit. So uh as someone who's leading this effort, what has this whole process taught you new things maybe about leadership and teamwork?

Leadership Lessons From The Project

Vikram Baliga 31:42

Yeah.

Clint Krehbiel 31:43

Well, I've I've learned a lot about architecture and engineering that I didn't know, and then and uh the complexities of building a building, right? That's that's all all been new to me and it and it's all been great. But I and I I've not done this perfectly, Vikram, by by any stretch of the imagination, but but the importance of um having um people at the table uh and an understanding that, yeah, I I can I can have a vision as a leader. Uh I can think of about how I think things should be. But if I turn around and there's nobody following me, uh I've not been an effective leader, right? So I th I think it's ensuring that um and not not every single voice in a in a complex uh design can be at the table, but but certainly representatives of those voices need to be at the table, uh, and they need to be heard. And and so again, the more the more minds uh that are in a room and and speaking towards what this facility should look like, what our what our Davis College flagship building should look like, uh the better it will be. And so I think that's been critically important is to making sure that that I'm listening and and hearing uh and that we're getting all of that information out and on the table. Uh somebody then is assimilating all that and and pulling that all together. And at the end of the day, we have a super, super nice facility. Um, so it it's it's a lot. It's a lot. Um, but it's been it's been a great process. And again, we have really good people. We have excellent people that are working on this, so it's been fun. That's awesome. Yep.

Vikram Baliga 33:29

Um, so as we start to wrap up here, uh I'm gonna ask you to like think think about the future a little bit. Um so years from now, you're retired, your feet are kicked up on a you know, a lounge chair on the beach somewhere, you're sitting in the mountains drinking coffee. What do you hope that people visiting the Davis College building, students, alumni, visitors, like what do you want them to feel? What do you hope they get out of that experience?

Clint Krehbiel 33:54

Yeah. Well, thanks for using coffee as the example of what I may be drinking on the booth. Um you know, and again, it it's not about me in any shape or form, right? And and so um we're we're planted to serve for a period of time and and we can we can drive impact uh in our time. But it it's really, as our campaign slogan goes, it's really the on and on. Um so when people when people come through the building, uh they're not gonna they're not gonna think about Krable was dean when this happened at all, or or any of the players that were involved in the in the design process. But what I do want them to continually get a sense of is how important agriculture is to uh national and global security uh and how valuable it is to be a part of that. Uh if I'm a student and I'm looking for an opportunity where I can serve and have an influence on mankind, uh, that I want to be involved in agriculture. So if our students, be they from ag or other other places, other interests at the time, come into there and they really understand wow, agriculture's cool and it's important. Uh I could be a part of this. There's cutting-edge work going on in here. Uh, if they if they get that sense again of a bit of our history, I think the history piece is important, uh, but also where we're now and most importantly about the future, uh, then we've done our job in developing this flagship building. It's awesome.

Vikram Baliga 35:34

Well, Dr. Crable, I appreciate your time. This has been a great conversation. And, you know, as as faculty in this college, I appreciate your leadership and your just your enthusiasm for the the process and the project and your support. It means a lot to us, and I know that uh it'll mean a lot to students and faculty in the future. So thank you for

How To Follow The Progress

Vikram Baliga 35:52

that. Um if folks listening want to learn more about our college, about the building process, about everything else going on, where should they go?

Clint Krehbiel 36:01

Yeah. Well, look into our marketing and communications website, and and uh there'll be uh great guidance there. Um I'm open for conversations anytime, and so very, very transparent. People can certainly email me. Um, but on our website, there will be information about how you can connect with this process and and really hope uh if you're alum uh or if you value agriculture that you'll want to be a part of it, and there will be opportunities for you to be a part of this building.

Vikram Baliga 36:34

Great. Well, thanks so much. I appreciate you coming in.

Clint Krehbiel 36:36

Yeah, my pleasure.