NEWS
Dr. Don Wagner Returns to Ethiopia to Visit Alemaya University
November 2004
Dr. Don Wagner, the head of the Animal Science department, has the distinction 
of being the sole remaining 
faculty member at OSU who served on the OSU-Alemaya University project long term. Dr. Wagner visited Ethiopia for the Fiftieth Anniversary celebration at Alemaya University in November 2005. Perhaps nowhere else on earth is the importance of the agricultural sector appreciated as much as in Ethiopia. Within the country of Ethiopia, Oklahoma State University and Alemaya University are inextricably linked in people's minds.
The following trip report was prepared by Dr. Ted Vestal:
Oklahoma State University was represented by a three-man delegation at the Golden Jubilee Celebration Program at Alemaya University in Ethiopia on 30-31 October 2004. OSU was directly involved in the founding of Alemaya University in 1954 under one of the first Point Four Program contracts. Members of the delegation were: 1) Chief Delegate, Dr. Don Wagner, Head, Department of Animal Science, who taught at Alemaya from 1965-1968 and is the only veteran of the program still teaching at OSU; 2) Conrad Evans, School of International Studies, who taught twelve years in Ethiopia from 1956-1968 (eight years at the Jimma Agricultural Technical School and four years at Alemaya), the longest tenure of anyone in the program; and 3) Dr. Ted Vestal, Professor of Political Science, who was a Peace Corps executive in Ethiopia from 1964-1966 and is an Ethiopianist.
From the time the OSU delegation landed in Ethiopia until its departure, the group was taken care of by Alemaya alumni and university officials. Indeed, one needs to observe the respect and affection lavished upon OSU’s representatives; words fail to convey the warmth and depth of emotion displayed by the Alemaya community in all of its attentions to the delegation.
On 28 October, its first day in Ethiopia, the delegation arranged for an evening reception at the Sheraton Hotel honoring Alemaya alumni in Addis Ababa. Some sixteen Ethiopians attended the elegant reception in a meeting room with balcony overlooking the skyline of Addis Ababa and surrounding hills at twilight. In addition to Alemaya alumni, a former Attorney General of Ethiopia and an archivist of the Institute of Ethiopians Studies (IES) were guests. The President of Addis Ababa University (AAU) and the Director of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission had hoped to join us but were unable to attend.
Earlier in the day, the delegation had visited the IES at the Sidist Kilo Campus of AAU and viewed the museum’s anthropological displays. Dr. Demeke Berhane invited the delegation to his office to view the Institute’s collection of photographs of the visits of Emperor Haile Selassie to North America (including his overnight stay at OSU) and also IES’s holdings of 15 th-19 th century manuscripts and “magic scrolls.”
The next morning, 29 October, the delegation, accompanied by Dr. Tesfaye Tesemma, OSU International Alumnus of the Year for 1998, flew to Dire Dawa, a city in Eastern Ethiopia, adjacent to Alemaya. What I remembered as a sleepy Mediterranean town of 20,000 is a bustling city of 237,000, the second largest city in the nation—indicative of Ethiopia’s most challenging problem: too many people. We were met at the airport by representatives of Alemaya University who took us to our hotel and provided a vehicle and driver for the duration of our stay. We lunched at the Ras Hotel, where in 1968, then President of Haile Selassie I University, Lij Kassa presented OSU with a bronze plaque autographed by Emperor Haile Selassie and listing all OSU personnel in agriculture who had served in the Point Four/USAID project. That plaque now hangs at the entrance of the Point Four Room in the Wes Watkins Center. We then toured Alemaya University’s impressive fruit orchards and massive construction of “the Tony (Mardikian) Farm Technological College”in Dire Dawa, before continuing to the ancient walled city of Harar, where electric green-hued chat appeared dominant in the market stalls. Nearby were areas that historians claim terraced farming has existed for 5,000 years.
The delegation arrived at Alemaya University in mid-afternoon and began what for the two veterans of the program was a continuous reunion with former students, colleagues, faculty, and staff, including numerous former household employees of the American families. Some Ethiopians introduced themselves to Conrad and Don by saying, “I was only a child when you were here, but I remember you…” Several of the reunions were emotional: tears were shed and when colleagues were asked about, far too many were reported dead (mostly casualties of Ethiopia’s seventeen year civil war). Conrad viewed his handiwork: as physical plant director of the university from 1964-1968; he had built or improved many material aspects of the campus, some of which survive. In the Animal Science areas, Don saw descendant herds of livestock, such as Borona beef cattle and Holstein dairy cattle, that he and colleagues had introduced to the country in the 1960s. Both men visited the homes where they had lived with their families during the Point Four days.
Natural and manmade changes had affected the campus. Lakes had been drained from over-irrigation and drought. Trees planted over forty years ago were no longer saplings. Some flower beds and blooming plants had been maintained in the same spots American women had planted them decades before, but other improvements such as residential rose gardens were gone. Construction of classrooms and residences was rampant as the university attempted to catch up with the physical requirements of a student enrollment approaching 10,000 (in contrast to a student body of about 500 in the 1960s). Masonry walls had been built around university fields to keep intruders away, and ugly barbed wire barriers protected plant life on campus. A bronze plaque, a gift to Haile Selassie from OSU and the people of Oklahoma, erroneously reported destroyed by Cuban troops during the Derge regime, occupies a position of honor in front of the university’s administration building.
An aerial view of the Alemaya University Campus in its early days.
In the evening we dined at the Ras Hotel with some of the world’s great Ethiopian scientists—most residents of the country, others scattered in the diaspora while advancing the cause of agriculture; all alumni of Alemaya University and products of OSU instruction. These gentlemen, as aptly described by Conrad, are the glue that built the nation’s infrastructure. Many of Ethiopia’s current leaders in education and governmental research agencies are graduates of Alemaya. Some had distinguished careers in the FAO, UNESCO, the World Bank, and other international organizations. Other Alemaya graduates established distinguished records in research. Among their outstanding accomplishments were the discovery of a vaccine for rinderpest and achievements in the development of greatly improved varieties of corn, wheat, teff, sorghum, potatoes, and coffee and other food products. The alumni’s work greatly increased potential food production and income for a developing country. In 2004, one alumnus was elected to membership in the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (an honor never before bestowed on a member of the OSU community) and also was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiologist. It is puzzling why OSU has not done more to publicize these sterling achievements by one of its own.
On the morning of 30 October, the formal Golden Jubilee Celebration Program began. OSU’s delegation was seated on the stage along with university and government officials. Following the opening speech by the Guest of Honor, Dr. Ayele Yesehawalul, one of Canada’s leading scientists and a member of the first graduating class of Alemaya University (he was a student of Conrad Evans, and we had dined with him the night before), Dr. Wagner, as head of the OSU delegation, was asked to speak. The Master of Ceremonies for the session, Dr. Belay Kassa, Vice President for Academic Affairs, introduced Don as the President of Oklahoma State University. Dr. Wagner gracefully declined the title and explained that the reason he was the one officially speaking on behalf of OSU was because he was the last remaining active faculty member still at OSU who also had taught at Alemaya. Don ad-libbed brilliantly and read OSU’s “Congratulatory Address to the Alemaya University Family” signed by OSU President David Schmidly and Oklahoma-Ethiopia Society President John Warren (an OSU faculty member recently back from conducting a Blue Nile water survey in Ethiopia and a “second generation” Point Four veteran).
During the lunch break, the delegation visited the jubilee exhibition housed in tents adjacent to the Multipurpose Hall meeting site. Among exhibits from the various departments of the university was a historical exhibition about the founding of Alemaya University (consisting of materials prepared and sent by Conrad Evans to the university).
The afternoon program consisted of panel discussions, mainly by alumni, about “Transforming Ethiopian Agriculture.” Formal papers were presented tracing the past and current agricultural policies of the nation. About 1,600 people (the capacity of the auditorium) attended each of the sessions and stayed throughout the all-day panels and speeches (that ended about 8:30 pm on Saturday and 2:30 on Sunday). The audience was attentive and appreciative. At the conclusion of the evening’s program, students and local villagers formed a half-mile cordon through which participants had to walk to the campus camp fire, the final event of the day. As the ferengi shemageles (“ancient foreign faculty”) made their way through the crowd, the students ululated in appreciation—a sui generis experience for an academic!
Throughout the celebration, the university operated a refreshment tent primarily for the students. Nearby, programs of Ethiopian music and dance were performed, and Dr. Wagner estimated that an audiences of over 800 sat on the hillside overlooking the performance area when he visited the site.
The celebration concluded on 31 October with continuing panels and an awards ceremony. An Alemaya alumnus, Tekalgin Mamo, State Minister of Agriculture, gave the final oration, in Amharic, on “Ways Ahead.” In the afternoon, time was set aside for “Reflections,” and Conrad Evans was called upon to speak first. His brief comments about the significance of Alemaya University and academic freedom could not have been more appropriate nor better stated. Ted Vestal read a message from former Alemaya President Clyde Kindall; outlined the contributions that great universities make to their societies; and quoted the opinion in OSU’s first case before the U.S. Supreme Court (that was handed down at the time the Point Four program was developed) about freedom of thought and expression. The significance of these closing “reflections” was underscored by the subsequent criticism of the celebration by Ethiopian government officials who contended that outspoken political comments against the government’s agricultural policies by some of the invited panelists on the program should not have been allowed (even though pro-government spokesmen were on every panel and a government minister gave the closing oration!).
The next morning at breakfast, the hotel’s patio was taken over by a fully-armed platoon of U.S. Army personnel. They did not want to talk to us and wouldn’t even reveal the outcome of the OSU-OU football game. We didn’t know where they came from or where they were going, but we later saw Ethiopian military along the road to Alemaya and surmised that they were engaged in joint training exercises. What a contrast to the group of Americans from Oklahoma that I had met on my first trip to Dire Dawa in 1964. The Alemaya faculty were there for more benevolent purposes.
We made one last courtesy call on President Desta Hamito (one of Don’s former students) and other officers at the university before proceeding south of Harar for a nostalgic look at Errer Valley and Dakata ( Rock Valley) where OSU personnel used to go camping. The elephant herds that used to tromp through campsites and the lions, leopards, and cheetahs that used to be seen in abundance doubtlessly are fewer in number today. Some of the old forest was gone, and more land was under cultivation. We had to be content to look at grazing camels and a troop of baboons. “Balancing Rock,” one of the country’s best known natural phenomena, still stands amidst an astounding array of rock formations.
The delegation returned to Addis Ababa on 2 November. We were feted at a dinner at the home of Dr. Muluggetta Bezzabeh, an alumnus and former student of Conrad Evans, with seventeen other alumni, almost all products of the Point Four Program. Again, the toasts and affection shown to the former Alemaya faculty should be experienced rather than described. Several of the alumni expressed regrets that in the university’s celebration, OSU had not been properly and adequately honored for its historic contributions to the development of Alemaya. They contended that the younger officers and alumni of the university do not understand or appreciate the role that OSU played in establishing the university and making its progress possible. The OSU delegation did not share the view that the founding Point Four/USAID projects were not properly recognized or appreciated in the formal program.
On the next morning, the delegation left Ethiopia and returned to Oklahoma on 4 November. In terms of representing OSU at Alemaya University’s celebration and being ambassadors of goodwill between Ethiopia and the United States, the trip only can be described as a success. Conrad Evans and Donald Wagner are highly respected celebrities in the Alemaya University community. OSU’s School of International Studies is to be commended for sending these “living legends” to the site of their educational triumphs where they received well-deserved accolades for their accomplishments and for those of other OSU educators and their families who served in Ethiopia. OSU should be proud of what these stalwarts did and of the products of their labor—the alumni who became Ethiopia’s leading scientists, educators, businessmen, and government officials. As Dr. Wagner expressed it: “OSU can rightly claim at least some small credit for assisting and benefiting humanity in a country of polite, wonderful, and appreciative people—and providing some better hope for their future".
[End of trip report by Dr. Ted Vestal]
The Cowboy Journal published an article on OSU's history in Ethiopia. The web address is provided below: http://cowboyjournal.okstate.edu/cjspring02/html/ethiopia.htm
Henry G. Bennett, president of Oklahoma A&M, met with Emperor Haile Selassie in 1950. Their meeting resulted in the Ethiopian government asking for technical assistance under the Point Four Program and the Emperor’s visit to Stillwater in 1954.
Dr. Ted Vestal of Oklahoma State University has written many articles on Ethiopia. To read more, go to the web address: http://fp.okstate.edu/vestal/Ethiopia/ethiopia.htm
Unique among African countries, the ancient Ethiopian monarchy maintained its freedom from colonial rule, one exception being the Italian occupation of 1936-41. In 1974 a military junta, the Derg, deposed Emperor Haile SELASSIE (who had ruled since 1930) and established a socialist state. Torn by bloody coups, uprisings, wide-scale drought, and massive refugee problems, the regime was finally toppled by a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), in 1991. A constitution was adopted in 1994 and Ethiopia's first multiparty elections were held in 1995. A two and a half year border war with Eritrea ended with a peace treaty on 12 December 2000. Final demarcation of the boundary is currently on hold due to Ethiopian objections to an international commission's finding requiring it to surrender sensitive territory.
The capital of Ethiopia is Addis Ababa. As illustrated in the map at right, Ethiopia does not have a port - it is a landlocked country.
The economy of Ethiopia is based on agriculture, which accounts for half of gross domestic product (GDP), 90% of exports, and 80% of total employment.
The major agricultural export crop is coffee, providing 65%-75% of Ethiopia's foreign exchange earnings. Coffee is critical to the Ethiopian economy, and Ethiopia earned $267 million in 1999 by exporting 105,000 metric tons. According to current estimates, coffee contributes 10% of Ethiopia's GDP. More than 15 million people (25% of the population) derive their livelihood from the coffee sector.
Other exports include live animals, hides, gold, pulses, oilseeds, and khat (or "qat") a leafy shrub which has psychotropic qualities when chewed.
Ethiopia's agriculture is plagued by periodic drought, soil degradation caused by overgrazing, deforestation, high population density, and poor infrastructure, making it difficult and expensive to get goods to market. Yet it is the country's most promising resource. A potential exists for self-sufficiency in grains and for export development in livestock, grains, vegetables, and fruits. As many as 4.6 million people need food assistance annually.
Gold, marble, limestone, and small amounts of tantalum are mined in Ethiopia. Other resources with potential for commercial development include large potash deposits, natural gas, iron ore, and possibly oil and geothermal energy. Although Ethiopia has good hydroelectric resources, which power most of its manufacturing sector, it is totally dependent on imports for its oil.