HUNTINGTON, Ind. — A Whitley County couple – the first to fund Huntington University’s new agriculture institute – is hopeful area students will take advantage of the opportunity to learn in a small, faith-based setting.

The program, which opens its doors this fall, has been named the Haupert Institute for Agricultural Studies in honor of the couple, Dale and Elaine Haupert, of South Whitley.

“I told (Sherilyn Emberton, university president) she didn’t need to do that,” Dale Haupert said. “She said it’s going to be that way.”

The Hauperts are well known in the area and highly respected in the agricultural community statewide, Emberton noted. “(They) passionately support the mission of Huntington University and have made strong commitments to ensure the future of all students through their generosity,” she said.

“Their deep commitment to investing in youth and the university has resulted in numerous students receiving a high-quality, Christ-centered education.”

To date, the Hauperts have committed $180,000 to the institute. The couple have been involved in farming for more than 50 years. They previously farmed about 500 acres and now lease about 2,600. Dale has been a member of the university’s Board of Trustees for 25 years.

“It’s not all about us, it’s about the students,” Elaine stated. “We want to see more young people involved in agriculture. I know they’ll get an excellent education at Huntington University and become stronger in their faith. If that happens, that will make me happy.”

Huntington, a Christian college of liberal arts, has undergraduate and graduate degree programs in more than 70 areas of study. The faith-based agricultural curriculum will be the first of its kind in the state, the university said.

The process of starting an agricultural program at Huntington began more than a year ago after a conversation Dale had with Emberton, then the university’s new president.

“We were talking and she asked why all the kids go to Purdue,” he remembered. “I said it’s because there’s nothing else available. We thought it would be a good program to get more students. It’s not just the money, it’s the students.”

A task force was formed in December 2013 to work toward creating the program and the institute was announced last August. The curriculum will initially focus on agribusiness and have concentrations in such areas as management, economics and finance, crop production, ministry and missions and communication and public policy.

The university eventually hopes to have 200-300 students enrolled in the institute, Emberton has said. Businesses and organizations have already contacted the school about offering scholarships, Dale added.

“I’ve always been an advocate to get more students,” he said. “(The institute) just seemed like the right thing to do. We’ve got a lot of potential with a lot of students who want a faith-based, smaller atmosphere. I don’t have anything against Purdue, but if the students want to be close to home and not go to a big university, they have it made here.”

Elaine hopes to see a strong agricultural missions program at the institute.

“A lot of students are interested in that,” she said. “Farming is a business and the program will cover so many areas related to agriculture. But they also need strong faith to get them through the bad times (in farming) – and there will be bad times.”