{"id":47599,"date":"2022-11-02T16:03:06","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T21:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.tarleton.edu\/news\/?p=47599"},"modified":"2025-10-30T13:57:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T18:57:13","slug":"tarleton-inks-historic-far-reaching-pact-with-opal-lee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/tarleton-inks-historic-far-reaching-pact-with-opal-lee\/","title":{"rendered":"Tarleton Inks Historic, Far-reaching Pact With Opal Lee"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 A groundbreaking partnership between Tarleton State University and Opal\u2019s Farm highlighted Wednesday\u2019s Coffee and Conversation featuring Fort Worth activist and Nobel nominee Opal Lee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 96-year-old Dr. Lee, who has been awarded three honorary degrees, and Tarleton President James Hurley signed the agreement that will allow the school and the farm to share resources to reach their respective goals of education and second chances, particularly for the previously incarcerated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been trying to find an institution, an educational partner, to help us build a curriculum where experience in the system could be counted toward a degree or certification,\u201d said Lee\u2019s granddaughter and Executive Director of Unity Unlimited, Dione Sims. \u201cWe needed an institution that had an agriculture program that would want to take on that vision with us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides the agricultural aspect of the agreement, Sims and Lee see a future that includes food service options and, ultimately, living accommodations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur shared vision of Opal\u2019s Farm not only provides help with food insecurity, it is a conduit for second chances. It\u2019s not just about ag programs, it\u2019s about culinary, business, criminal justice,\u201d Sims said. \u201cIf we invest in human capital, if we provide second chances, then maybe their time served won\u2019t be time wasted. Doing things together is what will help this country go farther. It\u2019s a big vision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/div>\n\n\n\n

President Hurley agreed that the agreement represents a huge undertaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the Tarleton way,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve signed a lot of partnerships in 25 years, but this has to rank as one of the premier, most exciting I\u2019ve ever been a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Thompson Center stage Wednesday he told Lee, \u201cWe\u2019re thankful for your leadership, for your love for people. The thing I love most about Opal Lee is that all <\/em>means all<\/em>, and she loves all <\/em>people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impetus for Opal\u2019s Farm came from Lee\u2019s volunteer work with a Fort Worth food bank that provides for 500 people a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI talked to people in line at the food bank, and 66 people said they wanted to farm,\u201d she said. \u201cNow we have a farm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half of the food produced at Opal\u2019s Farm is for the food bank. The remainder is sold at a West Fort Worth farmer\u2019s market, with proceeds going back into the operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A resident of Fort Worth\u2019s Riverside neighborhood, Lee credits a strong family background for her drive to help others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy grandparents farmed, and they couldn\u2019t hire hands, so they grew them. They had 19 children. My grandfather was a powerhouse in his community. We were taught that whatever you started you had to finish. He would bring people to my grandmother and have her give them clothes, food and a place to stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI guess it\u2019s in my DNA. You have to help if you can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A retired educator and school counselor, Lee spent most of her career as a third-grade teacher in the Fort Worth ISD. The needs of those 8-year-olds stuck with her when she left the job in 1976.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChildren come to school hungry, and you have to feed them. They can\u2019t learn if they\u2019re hungry or if they need a coat or if they need clothes. When I retired, that followed me. People still need clothes and food.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is perhaps best known for her drive for federal recognition of Juneteenth. At the age of 89, she conducted a symbolic walk from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., collecting signatures for a petition supporting the federal holiday, accumulating more than 1.6 million. President Joe Biden signed the bill in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI walked all over these United States,\u201d she said. \u201cI guess a little old lady in tennis shoes was able to maybe influence a few people. I still pinch myself, but there\u2019s still much to be done. We have to address atrocities like homelessness and climate change that we\u2019re responsible for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, she remains optimistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m asking you young people to make yourself a committee of one to start these changes. Leave here thinking about somebody whose mind you can change. And stick to your guns. It took us over 40 years to get Juneteenth as a national holiday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the close of Wednesday\u2019s event, Lee\u2019s positive attitude was challenged when someone asked about her life\u2019s biggest setback. She replied:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t remember having any setbacks.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 A groundbreaking partnership between Tarleton State University and Opal\u2019s Farm highlighted Wednesday\u2019s Coffee and Conversation featuring Fort Worth activist and Nobel nominee Opal Lee. The 96-year-old Dr. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":47601,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":423,"footnotes":""},"categories":[423],"tags":[431],"class_list":["post-47599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics-research","tag-administration"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"keegan","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/keegan-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2022\/11\/opallee-300x200.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Academics & Research<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Academics & Research<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Administration<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Administration<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 3 years ago","modified":"Updated 6 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on November 2, 2022","modified":"Updated on October 30, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on November 2, 2022 4:03 pm","modified":"Updated on October 30, 2025 1:57 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"Three people smiling, one holding a book titled \"Juneteenth.\"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47599"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54587,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47599\/revisions\/54587"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}