Longstanding campus tradition dating to 1988 brings together lawmakers, agriculture leaders, and University partners around research, Extension, and workforce development

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Indoor-raised shrimp, bass, bluegill, and pawpaw ice cream and cake helped tell Kentucky State University’s story on March 4, as more than 150 guests gathered for the University’s Legislative Fish Fry and a firsthand look at how its land-grant mission serves the Commonwealth.

 
Held in the Cooperative Extension Building, the event brought members of the Kentucky House and Senate, agriculture leaders, industry representatives, and University partners to campus for an evening centered on research, Cooperative Extension, workforce development, and public service.
 
As Kentucky’s 1890 land-grant institution, Kentucky State used the gathering to spotlight work that reaches well beyond campus. The program also reflected the Commonwealth’s broader land-grant tradition through the participation of the University of Kentucky, Kentucky’s 1862 land-grant university.
 
Program participants included Kentucky State President Dr. Koffi C. Akakpo; Dr. Andrew Ray, chair of the School of Aquaculture and Aquatic Science; Dr. Laura Stephenson, dean of the University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment and vice president for land-grant engagement; Brett Connors, head blender at Castle & Key Distillery; and Dr. Marcus Bernard, dean of the College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources and director of Land-Grant Programs, who served as master of ceremonies.
 

Students also shared research posters highlighting faculty-mentored projects, giving guests an additional look at the University’s work in applied research and student development.
 
Dr. Akakpo said the Legislative Fish Fry remains an important opportunity to bring the University’s public-purpose work into clear view for policymakers and partners.
 
“As the Commonwealth’s 1890 land-grant institution, Kentucky State University has a responsibility to serve beyond our campus boundaries,” Dr. Akakpo said. “The Legislative Fish Fry allows us to welcome leaders to campus, share our progress, and demonstrate how our work in education, research, and Extension creates value for Kentucky.”
 
That message was reinforced through an impact report shared with lawmakers in the Kentucky General Assembly. The report highlighted the Hay Testing Lab in Glasgow, $1.7 million in recent USDA Capacity Building Grants, newly approved degree programs including the Bachelor of Science in Aquatic Science, and applied research and commercialization tied to pawpaw products and fermentation and distillation.

 

For Dr. Bernard, those examples reflected the practical reach of Kentucky State’s land-grant mission.
 
“Those are not isolated accomplishments. They reflect what it means for a public university to remain focused on service,” Dr. Bernard said. “Kentucky State University is translating teaching, research, and Extension into outcomes that support producers, expand opportunity for students, and strengthen communities across Kentucky.”
 
Dr. Stephenson emphasized the shared responsibility of Kentucky’s 1862 and 1890 land-grant institutions to move innovation beyond campus and into farms, businesses, and communities across the state, underscoring the value of continued collaboration in support of agriculture and rural communities throughout the Commonwealth.
 
Aquaculture also featured prominently in the evening’s program. An economic impact handout highlighted by Dr. Ray outlined the School of Aquaculture and Aquatic Science’s role in fish health, conservation, aquaculture production, and workforce development across Kentucky, including support for the Commonwealth’s $1.2 billion annual sport-fishing industry.
 
The handout also showed that aquaculture directly supports more than 110 commercial endeavors in Kentucky, including 53 pay lakes, seven licensed live haulers, and 56 aquaculture food producers statewide. Kentucky State has also helped install more than 28 aquaculture systems in Kentucky high schools as part of its STEM and workforce pipeline efforts.

 

The menu brought those connections to the table. Guests were served shrimp raised indoors by Kentucky State’s School of Aquaculture and Aquatic Science, along with farm-raised bass and bluegill from Mayer Fish Farm, with which Kentucky State has partnered since 1999, before finishing the meal with pawpaw ice cream and cake.
 
Castle & Key Distillery also provided refreshments featuring its spirit products, and Connors, the distillery’s head blender, recognized the strong partnership between Castle & Key and Kentucky State while pointing to the value of the University’s fermentation and distillation program in supporting talent development and innovation within one of Kentucky’s signature industries.
 
The Legislative Fish Fry dates to 1988 and traces its origins to a period in the University’s history when Dr. Harold R. Benson, Kentucky State’s longest-tenured Land-Grant director and the namesake of the University’s 302-acre Research and Demonstration Farm, and Dr. James Tidwell, chair of the Division of Aquaculture, helped lead a gathering primarily centered on Kentucky legislators and their staff.
 
At that time, the Kentucky General Assembly held regular sessions in even-numbered years, with more limited organizational sessions in odd-numbered years. In 2000, Kentucky voters approved a constitutional amendment establishing annual regular sessions, and the first odd-year regular session convened in 2001.
 
In 2004, under then-President Dr. Mary Evans Sias, the event evolved into a more public annual gathering that included a broader cross-section of public servants and elected officials beyond the Kentucky General Assembly. The Legislative Fish Fry remains a distinctive Kentucky State University tradition and a continuing expression of the University’s commitment to public service, partnership, and results that matter across the Commonwealth.
 
 
Correction: An earlier version of this release incorrectly identified the Legislative Fish Fry event history. University review of the event’s history indicates the event dates to 1988. The story has been updated to reflect the revised historical information.