Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
We inform. You decide.
Thursday, March 28, 2024
NEWS  |  CAMPUS

Yeehaw! Country singer Luke Bryan donates $8,000 for a UF student scholarship

Luke Bryan isn’t only ‘Huntin’, Fishin’ & Lovin;’’ he’s also donatin’.

Country singer Luke Bryan donated $8,000 on Tuesday for “The Luke Bryan Farm Tour Scholarship,” which will go toward UF students with local farming backgrounds and who are pursuing careers in agricultural sciences, said Katherine Davies, the director of development for the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

The check will be deposited into the UF Foundation and will supplement the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences scholarship fund, she said.

“A lot of our students go back to their family farms or start in the agricultural industry after graduating,” Davies said. “Not all students have the financial means to get through college debt-free.”

In 2018, Luke Bryan brought his 10th annual Farm Tour to six cities where concerts were set up to celebrate local farmers, Bryan’s business manager Shannon Easley said.

On Oct. 4, a concert was hosted at Whitehurst Cattle Company in Archer, Florida, Easley said.

Bryan decided to give back to farmers by awarding college scholarships to students who are attending a local college or university near the tour stops, the closest being UF at the time.

“Luke was raised on a peanut farm,” Easley said. “He decided to bring concerts to small areas like where he grew up because people don’t get the chance to go see a concert.”

The college is incredibly grateful Bryan is supporting its students, said Dana Edwards, the strategic communications manager of College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Undergraduate students are selected for College of Agricultural and Life Sciences scholarships based on their responses to the college’s general scholarship application, which closed March 12 for the 2019-2020 academic year, Edwards said.

The college is projecting it will make the $8,000 last over two academic years, Edwards said.

The amount that will be divided for each student recipient and the amount of recipients has yet to be decided, she said.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox

“Even though this one scholarship is divided among many students, we believe it will help with their academic endeavors,” Edwards said.

Sara Humphreys, a 21-year-old UF food and resource economics senior and Luke Bryan fan, believes it’s important for an influential celebrity to fund a dwindling industry and promote higher education.

“I love agriculture. It’s my heart and soul,” Humphreys said. “The interest in the industry is dying with younger generations. The fact that he wants to make sure it lives on is amazing.”

Support your local paper
Donate Today
The Independent Florida Alligator has been independent of the university since 1971, your donation today could help #SaveStudentNewsrooms. Please consider giving today.

Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2024 The Independent Florida Alligator and Campus Communications, Inc.