UMES Renames Agriculture School in Honor of Late Professor Simon A. Haley

1 hour ago

Braden Hamelin,

Princess Anne, Md. — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore unveiled a new name for their School of Agriculture and Natural Sciences Tuesday, adding Simon A. Haley’s name to honor the late agriculture professor’s life and legacy.

Simon Haley never taught at UMES, but he carried an inspirational legacy in agriculture education, teaching at several historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) during the Jim Crow era. As the son of two formerly enslaved parents, Simon Haley overcame difficult circumstances to achieve a master’s degree in agriculture at Cornell University in the 1930s.

The professor’s descendants recalled how important education was in the family.

“With that example before me, I have always felt a responsibility really to achieve at some level myself,” Simon Haley’s granddaughter Anne Haley said. “I grew up with the motto that education is the key.”

“For him, the young minds that go to school and graduate is the most important thing that can take you further than whatever your own little dreams can be,” Simon Haley’s grandson Chris Haley said.

Chris Haley added that growing up, his grandfather would always ask about how he was performing in school and what classes he was taking. Professor Haley also taught the grandkids how to express themselves with pride.

Anne Haley said she’s glad that her grandfather is getting recognition for his accomplishments.

“It really is amazing what he achieved. And it just feels good to see other people see that and recognize it,” Anne Haley said.

The agriculture school had been planning the renaming for just over a year, culminating with the unveiling Tuesday.

Agriculture school dean Dr. Moses Kairo said the event links the school to a central part of their mission, training the next generation of food and agriculture professionals and providing opportunities for those who otherwise might not be able to access them.

Kairo wants students to see the Haley name and take a lesson from it.

“Hopefully it gives students, a way in which they can be even more inspired as they think about their own education and the future,” Kairo said.

Chris Haley said he thinks his grandfather would hope to be that inspiration to future students at the university.

“For an institution such as a predominantly black college, which is to say a historically black college university, it would be an honor that maybe he would think he didn’t deserve it, but he would think it would be something that was worth as an inspiration to others, because for him, the young minds that go to school and graduate is the most important thing that can take you further than whatever your own little dreams can be,” Chris Haley said.

He added the importance of learning more about the people whose names are honored by institutions.

“If you ever go to an institution that has a name, always research that name, because so many times you go to a school and it’s a name you’ve never heard of, and there’s a reason why it has that name,” Chris Haley said.