Baxter Black visited the University of Wisconsin-Platteville as the 2015 distinguished lecturer in honor of the 100-year anniversary of the School of Agriculture on campus.
Black is a cowboy poet, large animal veterinarian and entertainer of the agricultural masses. He has been traveling the United States and Canada for over 25 years, his goal is to share his wit and humor with others
“I’ve always been good at telling jokes,” Black said. “I put stories into rhymes and written word to share with people.”
The story of how he became a cowboy poet is explained in his book Lessons from a Desperado Poet.
Student Senate Director of Inclusivity and Diversity Audera Cox emceed of the event and gave a speech introducing Black. She said her favorite part was singing “Happy Trails” by Dale Evans and Roy Rogers before the doors were open to the public.
“It was great being able to spend nine hours with a truly genuine person,” Cox said. “He gave really good advice and was very humble.”
Pioneer Involvement Center graduate assistant Jeremy Payne helped coordinate the student volunteers for the day. Payne said he enjoyed how Black was able to connect with the audience members who did not have a background in agriculture.
“I’m an urban boy,” Payne said. “[Being] born and raised in Chicago I was worried I wouldn’t be able to connect but thought [Black] did a good job.”
Director of the Pioneer Student Center Valerie Wetzel was the coordinator of the event and said that, Black also spoke at Platteville High School. Her favorite part was the lunch they host with student leaders and faculty members, she said.
“[It] has the concept of family dinner where you never know where the conversation is going to go,” Wetzel said. “It becomes this great experience with two-way conversations talking about things on campus like our points of pride. Overall it was a great experience, opportunity and relaxing time.”
Voting is open for next year’s distinguished lecturer and can be found on PioneerLink.