Planting Seeds of Remembrance

On the eve of his graduation from Utah State University, Cody Bingham has not only been finishing senior projects, tending to extracurricular responsibilities and sweating final exams. As spring has made its reluctant approach, the College of Agriculture senator and his wife, Elizabeth “Liz”, have jumped in the car each weekend and headed north to Jerome, Idaho, to tackle field preparation and spring planting on the family farm.

“It all keeps me busy,” says Bingham, who raises sugar beets, wheat, barley and corn and runs a custom grain harvesting operation. “I try to handle each responsibility as it comes up, so I can stay on top of everything.”

On May 6, Bingham joins 2,500-plus classmates who graduate from USU as part of the university’s 115^th commencement. And while Bingham has been unusually visible this year, his campus experiences are similar to many who are receiving diplomas and preparing for new endeavors.

As Bingham talks about his experiences at Utah State over the past six years – four academic years separated by two years served on an LDS mission to Maceió, Brazil – it quickly becomes apparent that he’s packed a lot of living into his undergraduate career. The busy student tackles two majors, agribusiness and agricultural systems technology, with a minor in Portuguese thrown in for good measure. Drawn to leadership activities, he’s assumed numerous ASUSU responsibilities over the past several years. While serving as a College of Agriculture ambassador, Bingham met fellow ambassador Liz, a native of Colfax, Wis.

“I knew she was the one,” says Bingham. “We married in December 2004.”

Yet one of his most defining college experiences came as Bingham prepared for what he thought would be his biggest challenge as ag senator. In preparation for College of Agriculture Week in fall 2005, Bingham dove into planning activities that he hoped would be broad enough to reflect the diversity of disciplines within the college, but specific enough to represent agriculture.

“The College of Agriculture is very diverse,” he says. “We include nutrition and food sciences, animal science, soil science, microbiology, economics, crop science, biometeorology, ag technology. We wanted to make sure the week encompassed the whole college.”

After weeks of details, meetings and planning, Bingham arrived at the opening social on Sept. 26 looking forward to a good time and hoping Ag Week’s loose ends were tied. Then phones began ringing and Bingham first heard about the terrible van accident that claimed the lives of eight classmates and an instructor and left two students critically injured.

“It was a big shock and very confusing,” remembers Bingham. “It was hours before I knew which of my friends were involved.”

Bingham and his wife joined university administrators for an anxious nighttime vigil in Old Main, while awaiting law enforcement and hospital reports. “Into the night, we talked about how we could comfort the families, draw the campus together to get through the sorrowful days ahead and show proper respect for what had happened,” he says.

Even then, Bingham was thinking about a lasting tribute, but focused his attention on the immediate demands of tending to distraught family, friends and classmates.

In the days that followed, Bingham emerged as a calming, guiding presence – fielding tough questions from the media at a university press conference, leading a campus-wide candlelight vigil and deciding how to observe what should have been a festive week for the university; instead a time of profound mourning for the entire community.

“Cody’s maturity, sensitivity and common sense following the van accident and during subsequent events have been an inspiration to us all,” says Noelle Cockett, dean of the College of Agriculture and vice president for University Extension. “He’s one of the strongest ag senators I’ve had the privilege of working with.”

Bingham praises Cockett, along with President Stan Albrecht, for their guidance and availability during the crisis. “I had Dr. Cockett’s number on my speed dial – we had frequent conversations as different issues arose,” he says.

He is also appreciative of the help offered by Student Services Vice President Juan Franco and Tiffany Evans, director of the Student Involvement and Leadership Center, with the many logistics that were involved in planning appropriate memorial activities, as well as ASTE Department Head Bruce Miller and advisor Lisa Allen in the College of Agriculture.

As time has passed, Bingham has had time to return to planning a permanent structure on campus to honor the memories of those who perished. He is cheered by the many individuals and groups who have stepped forward to offer assistance.

“A management and human resources class took on the initial planning of the lasting memorial as their class project and devised ways to raise funds, choose a location for a memorial and develop its design,” says Bingham.

In addition, students enthusiastically supported the use of designated Tier II funds toward the cost of building the memorial. A committee of ASTE students, ASUSU officers and others is overseeing the memorial plan. “We want the memorial to reflect the individuals and their interests,” says Bingham.

Several artists’ renderings are under consideration, but a final decision has not yet been made. The tentative site for the memorial is outside the future agricultural complex, which will likely be constructed on the former site of the Merrill Library. Fundraising efforts will continue to cover the cost of designing, building and landscaping the memorial.

Bingham isn’t in a rush. With a farmer’s patience, he’s preparing the soil and planting the seeds for what he hopes will be an inspirational tribute to the men whose lives ended all too quickly.

As for Bingham, he’s on to new endeavors, but will hang around campus a bit longer. He plans to pursue an MBA degree in agribusiness from England’s Royal Agricultural College through a USU exchange program. He and Liz head to Cirencester in southern England’s Cotswolds in January 2007.

“Liz will tour; I’ll study,” he says.

The duo plans to graduate together in fall 2007 back in Logan, where Liz will complete her bachelor’s degree in agricultural education.

“I’ve loved it here,” says Bingham. “I’ll never regret the decisions I’ve made here.”

And USU is surely enriched by his efforts and leadership.

Bingham’s contributions and achievements were recognized recently at the 49th annual Bill E. Robins Award ceremony, where he received the Bill E. Robins Memorial Award. As the top student award at the university, it is presented to the student who excels academically, displays outstanding leadership ability and shows dedication to Utah State University.

Celebrate the achievements of Bingham and other Aggie graduates at the 115th Commencement. The full schedule of activities is included at the Commencement Web site.

Here’s a profile of USU’s class of 2006.

Spring 2006 Commencement Facts

Utah State University: Saturday, May 6, 9:30 a.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum

Class size 2006: 2,511 (plus 550 in Fall ’05 commencement)

Class size 1996 (to show 10-year changes): 2,315

Degrees: Associate's (235), Bachelor's (2,273), Certificates (3), Master's (325), Doctorate (30)

Annual Resident Tuition: $3,672 (tuition and fees)

Geographic Origin:

States: 49 – 1,867 from Utah

Countries: 37

Ethnicity:

American Indian -- 4

Asian -- 3

African American -- 12

Caucasian – 2,196

Hispanic -- 52

Pacific Islanders -- 67

Multicultural – 1

Unspecified -- 176

Gender: Male (1,222) Female (1,289)

Age Range: Age of youngest graduate: (17); Age of the oldest: (60)

Most Popular Degrees: General Studies (214); Elementary Education (130); Psychology (113); Family, Consumer and Human Development (104).

Commencement Speaker: C. Peter Magrath, immediate past-president of NASULGC, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges from 1992 through 2005)

Honorary Degree Recipients:

C. Peter Magrath (also Commencement speaker)

Manon Russell (Life-long commitment to the arts)

Lorenzo “Ren” Hoopes (Successful career in business and civic arenas)

FACULTY AWARDS

D. Wynne Thorne Research Award: DeeVon Bailey, College of Agriculture

Eldon J. Gardner Teaching Award: Leigh Monhardt

Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award: Edmund D. “Butch” Brodie, Jr.

E.G. Peterson Extension Award: Verl Bagley

Professors of the Year:

-- College of Ag - Rhonda Miller

-- College of Business - Cindy Durtschi