During last week’s Indiana FFA State Convention, five of your new seven State Officers are women—including the new Indiana FFA President. However, no woman had served as a State Officer in Indiana until 1974.
Debbie Michel Cortner, who was Reporter for the Indiana FFA State Officer team in 1974-75, was the first to break the glass ceiling. Back then, she was known as Debbie Michel.
She tells Hoosier Ag Today that she first became involved in FFA at Plymouth High School in Marshall County just a short time after females were allowed to become members of the organization.
“Girls were first allowed to be in FFA and take ag classes back in 1969,” she says. “When I was a freshman in 1970, the ag teacher at our school approached me about taking ag classes and joining FFA.”
When the opportunity came for her to become a candidate for State Officer after graduating high school, she says she already had a number of connections with several of the other boys who were candidates.
“Fortunately for me, I had a great officer team,” she says. “One of our officers was David Flint, from Washington, Indiana—at that time he was the Indiana FFA Secretary. We also had Tom Dougherty, who was from Whiteland, and he was the Southern Region Vice President. The other thing that helped too is that Indiana FFA President was Mark Lute, and he and I were in the same high school together at Plymouth, so I already knew somebody. I also had a strong connection with David because we were District Officers before we became State Officers, so when we were working on FFA Conferences and Leadership gatherings prior to becoming State Officers, we had already become acquainted.”
She tells Hoosier Ag Today she faced a number of different challenges at that time.
“Number one, the jacket wasn’t designed for girls, and it was a guy’s cut,” she says with a grin.
“However, as with anything, there are always obstacles of people really not believing that females have a role in agriculture. But, if you look at it today, it’s a pretty dominant field that’s being held by females. It’s just not farming, because agriculture has spread into other diverse fields that’s for men and women.”
Debbie says she’s encouraged to see the number of women who are taking leadership roles—not just in FFA, but in the ag industry as a whole.
“I’m glad to see that there are a lot of women taking interest in agriculture, and I’m glad that the men in the field also take the fact that women have something to say,” she says.
Debbie is humble when it comes to her legacy and contribution to Indiana FFA.
“You’re thinking that I was kind of an ‘ice breaker’, but I don’t see myself as that,” she says. “I think eventually, the way the world was changing, attitudes would soon change, which was our theme back when I was a State Officer—‘An Ever-Changing World’—and boy, has it changed!”
During the recent Past State Officer Reception held at Stewart Hall at Purdue University’s campus before the official start of the 96th Indiana FFA State Convention, Debbie and her State Officer team were recognized for having served 50 years ago. In addition, Debbie was also recognized for her contribution to the organization by being the first woman to serve as a State Officer, which has paved the way for so many young women to follow in her footsteps.
According to the National FFA Organization, about 43 percent of its members are female—with women holding about 50 percent of state leadership positions across the U.S.
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