The Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Club is looking to bring back a tradition for its 69th intramural rodeo on April 26 by returning faculty to the program.

AES President Shaynelle Kepaa said that in the 1980s, the annual intramural rodeo had events such as bronc riding, barrel racing, and team roping. She said faculty used to compete against students, but most have either left or can no longer do the more skilled events. 

“I think that would be a great opportunity for students to be able to bond more with their faculty and their professors and just seeing like a different side of their professors than what they usually get to see so outside of the class classroom,” said Kepaa, senior agribusiness major from Glencoe, Oklahoma.

She said “quite a bit” of faculty have expressed interest in the in-between events this year as long as it is safe for them to compete. The events have evolved and adapted not only for faculty but also for students.

“As years have gone by, ACU has strayed from being more of an agricultural school to different paths,” Kepaa said. “We’ve toned it down a little bit to being more of the fun in-between events during rodeos, and a lot of our events are ranch rodeo-based now, just minus the horses, because a lot of students can’t ride horses.”

No qualifications are required to participate, and it is open to members of sororities, fraternities and anyone else who wants to compete. Each team event includes a group of four people who can sign up for offered events such as barrel racing, steer riding, double mugging and calf scramble. 

“As stressful as it is, just because of safety and care and for the animals,” said Lillie Walthall, riding team president, “It’s so fun for us to get to see people that don’t normally do stuff like that every day, and they get to go compete, and they have so much fun with it. It just puts a smile on our faces.”

AES will send out a form for students to sign up and pay to compete in events. However, the rodeo is fully funded by sponsorships and donations. Donors may receive a flag hung in the arena or their name listed on the flyer.

“Either parents can donate, or we encourage a lot of our AES club members to go out into the community and hit businesses and give them a sponsorship form and basically talk about the history of the rodeo,” Kepaa said. “A lot of ACU alumni and your provost are big donors for the rodeo as well, but we rely solely on the efforts of the local community.”

Walthall said fundraising and promotion can prove to be challenging in preparation for the event.

“It’s hard because you don’t know how much others are going to give you,” Walthall said. “You kind of just take what you can get. It’s also hard because the cost is more expensive, and depending on the cattle that we buy. Last year, it wasn’t as expensive, but the cattle also wasn’t as great as we could have gotten them.”

Regarding safety concerns, Walthall said safety is a priority and a medic is available on site.

“If anything does happen, and the steers that we buy are not like stuff that you’re going to see in the NFR rodeo,” Walthall said. “They’re a little bit chilled out, and we have helmets and stuff to care for people. Obviously, you can’t prevent injury. It’s hard because you don’t know what’s going to happen. But there are ways that you’re going to be cared for, and you’re going to be safe.”

Kepaa encourages students and faculty to sign up to compete. Winners will receive a buckle recognizing their accomplishments.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to compete in a rodeo that you might not get to do in other places,” Kepaa said. “Take advantage of it. It’s safer than most places that you would go to, and you get to bond and meet other students that you normally wouldn’t.”