Early on in her college days, Lindsay Dube, an agricultural communications major who just graduated from Texas Tech in May, caught the attention of another Lindsay: Lindsay Kennedy. Kennedy is an assistant professor of practice in the Department of Agricultural Education & Communications. She’s also head of the Matador Institute of Leadership Engagement (MILE) program and teaches The Agriculturist magazine production course. 

The MILE program is a development tool for undergraduates across Davis college, helping them grow their professional skills and exposing them to key issues impacting local, state and national agriculture policy. The program enlists 14 students in each cohort and takes place over three semesters. Dube applied to be part of the second cohort. She was a first-year student, but she was impressive enough during the interview process to earn one of the coveted spots. 

“Lindsay was one of two freshman we put in that cohort, and a lot of it was because she presented a maturity beyond her age,” Kennedy said. “She was very sharp and came across as somebody who was very eager to maximize her opportunities at Texas Tech. That’s the kind of student we're looking for.

Dube grabbed the opportunity and ran with it. She joined the MILE program in January 2020, and Kennedy quickly became a mentor she relied on.  “I was in the second cohort, which is when COVID hit, so we didn't get a lot of those experiences that we wanted,” Dube said. “We had to adjust and do things virtually like everybody else in the world.

“But walking through all of that with her leadership was really impactful. She’s always just been in our corner and that's the best way to describe it. She cares a lot about her students and has really shepherded me and helped me flourish during my time at Texas Tech.”

Flourish is exactly what Dube did. Along with the MILE program she was working for the yearbook and the alumni magazine, all while maintaining honors-level grades. She followed that by taking on the role of editor for The Agriculturist to cover arguably the most important story in the college's history: Gordon Davis’s historic gift to Texas Tech and the renaming of the College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources was the natural cover of the magazine. Dube wrote the cover article. The title: “It's Okay to Win.”

“She was in our ag communications block in 2022, and I chose her to be the editor of that publication,” Kennedy said. “I believe that magazine was 148 pages, so it's a massive issue. That class, through the block and through the magazine production process, they write, they photograph, they sell the advertising, they do the layouts. It's a 100% student-led process, and as the editor she was chosen – again through an interview – to lead that process.” 

For Dube, the next step is graduate school down south. She was accepted into a program at the University of Texas and Kennedy helped guide her to take on yet another challenge in a new environment. “I wrote her a letter of recommendation for that program, knowing that she could compete with anybody, and I think it was important for her to know that she was capable of that,” Kennedy said.

CONTACT: Lindsay Kennedy, Assistant Professor of Practice & MILE Program Director, Department of Agricultural Education & Communications, Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-8240 or lindsay.kennedy@ttu.edu  

071NM23 / Editor’s Note: This news item is an excerpt from a TTU Communications & Marketing multi-part story series, which can be found here: A Monumental Climb, A Monumental Climb – Perseverance & A Monumental Climb – Thrive