OPINION - EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL: Milk money

In Oklahoma, not Arizona …

Every now and then the fog lifts, the sun comes out, and the politics hush. And we are left thinking people aren't so bad after all. In the same paper in which you see obits, you also find birth notices. In the same paper you see bankruptcies, you also find marriage licenses. In the same paper you see crime news, you also find the fishing report. Sometimes, the glass really is half-full.

The story we noticed Friday wasn't a big one. It wasn't even written by the Democrat-Gazette staff. It was out of Hot Springs, and appeared on page 6B. A family had given a gift to a school.

It wasn't even an Arkansas school. But there was something remarkable about the story. That is, we felt the need to remark.

Kayleen and Larry Ferguson, of the Hot Springs Fergusons, gave $50 million to Oklahoma State University's agriculture department. The details about how the money will be used were in the story, and we refer you to it.

But by their words ye shall know them. And the Fergusons said some things that made us think . . . several things and several thinks. All of them good.

"We have a responsibility to the betterment of future generations," Kayleen Ferguson said. "You have to work hard, but you have to pass it on as well. It's not yours to keep. It's not yours to hold onto. It's yours to pass on."

"I would never have become CEO without coming to Oklahoma State and going through the program here," Larry Ferguson added. "Kay and I believe education is the way to solve the economic problems of our country. This gift is about more than just education. This is a way of helping feed the world."

Mr. Ferguson was CEO of Schreiber Foods, the world's largest employee-owned dairy company. Mrs. Ferguson had an even more bizarre hands-on job, one requiring even more attention to herd management, pipelines and preservation methods: She was an English teacher. Their family foundation will now create an endowment and help build a teaching and research facility at OSU. The paper said the gift was one of the largest in school history.

We have a responsibility to the betterment of future generations. Wouldn't it be something if everybody felt that way? And whether it's donating to an alma mater or acting as Santa for an unfortunate family of kids or volunteering at the local public school or ringing a bell for the Salvation Army, that we put a burning priority on providing for the future. And we don't mean 401(k)s. Think of something even more lasting.

Kay and I believe education is the way to solve the economic problems of our country. As if, improve the education system (K-12 and college) and the other problems get easier. Which is why so many of us are obsessed with the subject. Not to mention the predicates involved.

The Fergusons sound like they're just passing through. Like the rest of us. But they also seem to be doing their best to change things while they're here.

Like more of us should.

Editorial on 01/18/2020

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