McNeese Receives Donation from Lee Berwick Foundation

The Lee Berwick Foundation recently donated over seven acres of property in Vinton to the McNeese State University Harold and Pearl Dripps School of Agricultural Sciences through the McNeese Foundation. On hand for the presentation are from left to right standing: Wanda N. Borel, Lee Berwick Foundation representative; Dr. Mitchell Adrian, McNeese provost and vice president for academic affairs and enrollment management; Dr. Chip LeMieux, school director and associate dean of the College of Science and Agriculture; and Richard Reid, vice president for university advancement and executive vice president of the McNeese Foundation; and seated, Edwin Ford Hunter III, Lee Berwick Foundation representative.

The McNeese State University Harold and Pearl Dripps School of Agricultural Sciences has received a donation of property from the Lee Berwick Foundation. Lee Berwick is best known as the founder and long-time president of Delta Downs Racetrack in Vinton, the first American Quarter Horse Association-approved quarter horse races in Louisiana.

The working ranch property – donated through the McNeese Foundation – includes over seven acres of land that were owned by Berwick and managed by his foundation established in 2001.

“We appreciate this donation of property and for all the financial support for student scholarships the school has received from the Lee Berwick Foundation,” said Dr. Chip LeMieux, school director and associate dean of the College of Science and Agriculture. “This donation will enable us to plan for the educational needs of both our current and future agricultural sciences students.”

Berwick was a breeder of purebred Hereford and Brahman cattle and served as president of the Louisiana Cattleman’s Association, the American Brahman Breeder’s Association and the AQHA and was a national and international judge of purebred cattle and registered quarter horses. Berwick was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1994.