STATE magazine - Winter 2019

The official magazine of Oklahoma State University

THE MAGIC OF MCKNIGHT OSU CELEBRATES THE ARRIVAL OF ITS CULTURAL CROWN JEWEL

TO YOU A CAMPUS COMMITTED

OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY IS COMMITTED TO PROVIDING THE BEST EDUCATION AT AN AFFORDABLE COST. Our students have hands-on research opportunities as early as their freshman year and faculty who are leaders in their field.

Seniors, apply by the Feb. 1 Priority Scholarship Deadline for consideration for most OSU scholarships. Become a Cowboy today!

okla.st/apply

In T his Issue

The McKnight Center Opens Oklahoma State University is celebrating the new McKnight Center for the Performing Arts, a masterpiece in its own right.

Pages 42-67

2 WINTER 2019

44

50

62

Opening Night Delight

Visionary Giving

A Sculpture of Sound

Music and magic filled the air at the Opening Gala.

Patron donors stepped forward in a big way for The McKnight Center.

The sculpture outside the center, DNA IV, hints at the delights inside.

COVER PHOTO PHIL SHOCKLEY | TOP PHOTO GARY LAWSON

18

18

Homecoming America’s Greatest Homecoming lives up to its billing.

34

‘Woman of the Year’

34

OSU Medicine’s Dr. Kayse Shrum adds to her list of honors.

Plus...

4 Letter from the Editor

76

5 Socially Orange 6 President’s Letter

Leading OSU-Tulsa

8

Dr. Pamela Fry has become the third president of OSU-Tulsa.

92

STATEment

10 Wellness with Ann Hargis 38 Campus News

76

103 Legacy Link 104 Cowboy Chronicles 116 Cowboy Way

Taking Flight

118 Chapter News

The Unmanned Research Institute Lab’s new space provides more room for opportunities.

122 Alumni Update 125 Weddings 126 Births

110

New Distinguished Alumni Named

110

92

The OSU Alumni Association has recognized a new class of honorees.

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 3

STATE

Letters

BR A N D M A NAGEMENT

Kyle Wray | Vice President of Enrollment and Brand Management Erin Petrotta | Director of Marketing and Student Communication Megan Horton | Director of Branding and Digital Strategy Monica Roberts | Director of Media Relations Shannon Rigsby | Public Information Officer Mack Burke | Editorial Coordinator Dave Malec | Design Coordinator Dorothy Pugh | Managing Editor

From the Editor's Desk Fall is a special time at Oklahoma State University.

And this fall has brought more milestones than just our world-famous homecoming celebration.

The long-anticipated McKnight Center for the Performing Arts arrived and it did so in style, opening its doors with the fittingly brilliant fanfare of the New York Philharmonic. The vaunted orchestra doesn’t typically perform in 1,100-seat concert halls, but The McKnight Center

Lacy Branson, Codee Classen, Paul V. Fleming, Valerie Kisling, Chris Lewis, Michael Molholt & Benton Rudd | Design Phil Shockley, Gary Lawson & Brandee Cazzelle | Photography Kurtis Mason | Trademarks & Licensing Pam Longan & Leslie McClurg | Administrative Support Office of Brand Management | 305 Whitehurst, Stillwater, OK 74078-1024 405-744-6262 | okstate.edu | statemagazine.okstate.edu | editor@okstate.edu osu.advertising@okstate.edu Contributors | David Bitton, Derinda Blakeney, Will Carr, Jamie Edford, Jeff Hopper, Jeff Joiner, Dakota Keith, Amanda O’Toole Mason, Karolyn Moberly, David C. Peters, Alexis Shanes, Kylee Sutherland, Nick Trougakos, Gretchen Wagner and Vivian Wang

O S U A L U M N I A S S O C I AT I O N Tony LoPresto I Chair Tina Parkhill | Vice Chair Kent Gardner | Immediate Past Chair Blaire Atkinson | President Pam Davis | Vice President of Engagement and Strategies David Parrack | Vice President of Finance and Operations Jillianne Tebow | Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Communications Treca Baetz, James Boggs, Larry Briggs, Ann Caine, Michael Carolina, Kurt Carter, Kent Gardner, Angela Kouplen, Tony LoPresto, Mel Martin, Aaron Owen, Tina Parkhill, Joe Ray, Tom Ritchie, Darin Schmidt & Tina Walker | Board of Directors Lacy Branson, Will Carr, Chase Carter, Lucy Hodges & Lerin Lynch | Marketing and Communications OSU Alumni Association | 201 ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center, Stillwater, OK 740787043 | 405-744-5368 | orangeconnection.org | info@orangeconnection.org

O S U F O U N D AT I O N Jerry Winchester | Chair Kirk Jewell | President Donna Koeppe | Vice President of Administration & Treasurer Chris Campbell | Senior Associate Vice President of Information Strategy Shane Crawford | Senior Associate Vice President of Philanthropy, Leadership Gifts Stephen Mason | Senior Associate Vice President of Philanthropy David Mays | Senior Associate Vice President of Philanthropy Jamie Payne | Senior Associate Vice President of Development Services Robyn Baker | Vice President and General Counsel Pam Guthrie | Senior Associate Vice President of Human Resources Deborah Adams, Mark Allen, Blaire Atkinson, Bryan Begley, Bryan Close, Jan Cloyde, Patrick Cobb, Ann Dyer, Joe Eastin, Helen Hodges, David Houston, Gary Huneryager, A.J. Jacques, Brett Jameson, Kirk Jewell, Griff Jones, Robert Keating, Diana Laing, John Linehan, Joe Martin, Ross McKnight, Bill Patterson, Jenelle Schatz, Becky Steen, Terry Stewart, Lyndon Taylor, Phil Terry, Jay Wiese & Jerry Winchester | Trustees Jennifer Kinnard, Chris Lewis, Amanda O’Toole Mason, Karolyn Moberly, Michael Molholt, Lauren Knori, Kyle Stringer & Benton Rudd | Marketing and Communications OSU Foundation | 400 South Monroe, P.O. Box 1749, Stillwater, OK 74076-1749 800-622-4678 | OSUgiving.com | info@OSUgiving.com STATE magazine is published three times a year (Fall, Winter, Spring) by Oklahoma State University, 305 Whitehurst, Stillwater, OK 74078. The magazine is produced by the Office of Brand Management, the OSU Alumni Association and the OSU Foundation, and is mailed to current members of the OSU Alumni Association. Postage is paid at Stillwater, OK, and additional mailing offices. Magazine subscriptions are available only by membership in the OSU Alumni Association. Membership cost is $45.

Call 405-744-5368 or mail a check to 201 ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center, Stillwater OK 74078-7043. To change a mailing address, visit orangeconnection.org/update or call 405-744-5368.

Oklahoma State University, in compliance with Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order 11246 as amended, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Higher Education Act), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other federal and state laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, genetic information, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices or procedures. This provision includes, but is not limited to admissions, employment, financial aid and educational services. The Director of Equal Opportunity has been designated to handle inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies.

Contact the Director of Equal Opportunity at 408 Whitehurst, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078-1035; telephone 405-744-5371; or email eeo@okstate.edu. Any person (student, faculty, or staff) who believes that discriminatory practices have been engaged in based on gender may discuss his or her concerns and file informal or formal complaints of possible violations of Title IX with OSU’s Title IX Coordinator at 405-744-9154.

This publication, issued by Oklahoma State University as authorized by the vice president of enrollment management and marketing, was printed by Royle Printing Co. at a cost of $0.97 per issue: 37,622 | November 2019 | #8019 | Copyright © 2019, STATE magazine.

All rights reserved.

4 WINTER 2019

isn’t just any hall.

The jaw-droppingly beautiful, state-of-the-art facility’s breathtaking facade and interior are the backdrop for a resurgence of the arts at OSU and a picture of things to come. In this issue, we explore the hall’s features, how it came to be and what it will mean for the future of the Greenwood School of Music, the university, the city, the state and beyond. Our special section begins on Page 42.

The Stillwater campus also recently celebrated the grand opening of the Unmanned Systems Innovation Laboratory, a facility that will afford Cowboys opportunities to reach new heights in drone research, testing and design.

The College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology welcomed its first in-residence position, which also happens to be the first position of its kind at the university, the OK-LSAMP program received another multimillion-dollar grant from the National Science Foundation and Dr. Pamela Fry became the first woman to lead OSU-Tulsa.

To reiterate, it’s a great time to be a Cowboy.

Of course, the winter issue of STATE would not be complete without a healthy helping of photos from America’s Greatest Homecoming. This year, throngs of visitors came to campus to share in the 99th annual iteration of the celebration with the theme being ‘As the World Turns Orange.’ Relive it beginning on Page 18.

Lastly, the Cowboy family celebrated the life of the ultimate Cowboy, Boone Pickens, who passed away in September at the age of 91. A special edition of STATE magazine commemorated his life and impact on his alma mater and acknowledged his transformational effect on the university that we all love.

Go Pokes!

Mack Burke Editor

STATE Magazine 305 WHITEHURST OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY STILLWATER, OK 74078

EDITOR@OKSTATE.EDU STATEMAGAZINE.OKSTATE.E D U

#okstate

Join the conversation on social media with the Cowboy Family.

@OKStateAlumni

Homecoming Memories @okstate

@McKnightCenter

Now Open

Loyal and True

We are officially open for our 2019-20 Inaugural Season!

We couldn’t have asked for better weather for Hester Street painting! and 75! #okstate #GoPokes

Play Strong @OSU Athletics Our Homecoming wouldn’t be the best without you. See you next year for our Homecoming Centennial, October 31, 2020

Orange Abroad @BeAnOSUCowboy "There's just something about Oklahoma State.” Here’s to a new year! #okstate #GoPokes

Student Support @OSU Foundation

We may be located in Stillwater, OK but when you become a Cowboy, you have access to the world. See what studying abroad can offer you okla.st/2OOhwdc

The Brighter Orange, Brighter Future campaign is under way! This campaign ensures every student can feel the power — and hope — of having the Cowboy family behind them. brighter-orange.com

Oklahoma State University

OStateTV

@okstate

@okstateu

@okstate

Oklahoma State University

Visit social.okstate.edu for more social media connections.

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 5

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Wrapping Up A Busy Fall It has been a thrilling and historic semester at Oklahoma State University.

The opening of The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts exceeded all expectations. The New York Philharmonic performed three shows and brought the house down with the playing of the Oklahoma State alma mater. See our coverage beginning on Page 42.

Many thanks again to Billie and Ross McKnight and the many other donors who made it possible for OSU to create a facility that will transform the arts on our campus and across the region. We have only just begun!

Shortly after the opening, we welcomed Celia Sandys, granddaughter of Sir Winston Churchill to The McKnight Center. She traveled with her famous grandfather the last four years of his life. Sandys has devoted her life to studying one of the 20th century’s key figures and sharing her unique and personal perspective. You can hear her talk at okla.st/ pmstories and read about her visit on Page 90.

In September, First Cowgirl Ann and I had the distinct privilege of visiting partner universities in China. Oklahoma State has several joint degree programs in China, including programs in agribusiness and fire protection and safety engineering. This issue of STATE includes more on that trip on Page 94.

In early November, we held a grand opening ceremony for the new Excelsior lab in the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. OSU has one of the nation’s premier unmanned systems programs in the country, and this new facility gives us much-needed space and advanced facilities for this growing area.

6 WINTER 2019

This issue also recaps another fantastic week of homecoming in October. The Alumni Association and OSU students made this version of America’s Greatest Homecoming one of the best. Relive it beginning on Page 18.

In closing, I am especially excited about our fundraising initiative focused on student scholarships. The Brighter Orange, Brighter Future campaign will raise $375 million for scholarships, student support and more. We want to ensure that any Oklahoma student can attend OSU, regardless of financial standing. See more about this on Page 88.

Thanks for your support of Oklahoma State University. We wish you a safe and happy holiday season. Make it a bright orange one!

Go Pokes!

Burns Hargis OSU President

720 S. Husband Street, Downtown Stillwater | museum.okstate.edu | 405.744.2780

STATE MENT

Dear OSU Alumni and Friends, We have plenty of reasons to celebrate at Oklahoma State University — none bigger than the new McKnight Center for the Performing Arts, which officially opened its doors in October. The world-class performance hall welcomed the New York Philharmonic and guests by the thousands during its opening weekend and ushered in a new era in arts programming and ultimately the brand potential of OSU. A triumph of engineering and teamwork, The McKnight Center came to fruition because of visionary leadership from President Burns Hargis and the forward-thinking generosity of Ross and Billie McKnight. Many donors turned their ideas into action and a plot of dirt into a one-of-a-kind cultural landmark that will delight audiences for generations to come.

The McKnight Center is truly an example of what happens when the Cowboy family dreams big together. In addition to the performances, a new fine dining experience is now possible through a partnership between the Alumni Association and TS Fork Stillwater, offering an exclusive pre-show dining option across the street from The McKnight Center.

Right on the heels of The McKnight Center’s opening weekend, the Cowboy faithful also celebrated 99 years of Homecoming tradition. This year’s theme was ‘As the World Turns Orange,’ and our fantastic students and alumni continue to do just that. As we plan for OSU’s centennial

homecoming in 2020, we hope you’ll support our greatest tradition through a gift to the Homecoming and Student Programs Endowment.

With the holiday season upon us, the Alumni Association has several opportunities to give the gift of orange — no wrapping required. Visit ORANGECONNECTION.org for details on gift ideas and McKnight Center pre-show dinners.

As we end the calendar year and embrace the holiday season, we’re especially celebrating family. Thank you for being part of the Cowboy family — loyal and true.

Go Pokes!

Blaire Atkinson

Kirk Jewell

Kyle Wray

President OSU Alumni Association

President OSU Foundation

Vice President for Enrollment and Brand Management

8 WINTER 2019

PHOTOS P H I L S H O C K L E Y, GARY LAWSON

Visit

STILLWATER and Join the Crowd

Experience the Traditions Experience the Music Experience America’s Friendliest College Town! #FlySWO direct on American Airlines!

WELLNESS

“A fine work of art — music, dance, painting, story — has the power to silence the chatter in the mind and lift us to another place.”

ROBERT MCKEE, AUTHOR/LECTURER

Dear Cowboy Family, The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts has been a dream for many people. Its planning and creation have been a wonderful journey.

Opening night was beyond anything I could have imagined.

Art comes in all forms. In addition to the thoughtful musical structure of The McKnight Center, much consideration has been given to the visual components. From architecture to lighting to seating to artistic displays both inside and outside the building, the meticulous details result in a wellness theme with art at the very center.

I am excited about future performances and the impact The McKnight Center will have on the community, but I am even more excited for the future of students at OSU. Creating and developing relationships

through the mentorship program with world-class performers will not only enhance their lives professionally — it will also enhance their lives personally.

Developing relationships through the love of the arts and being able to share that love with others is a gift.

Elevating the arts at OSU has been a bold undertaking. It has taken many people much time and effort. For me personally, it is the culmination of many components that make OSU America’s Healthiest Campus®.

Art evokes emotion. Music soothes the soul. The arts have the ability to alter a mood and conjure a cascade of emotions. Happiness. Sadness.

Reflection. Calmness. A single song has the ability to transport one back to a moment in time when memories are so vivid and real and wonderful.

It also has the ability to cause one to pause, reflect and quiet the mind.

Research shows art can enrich the lives of those with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and many hospitals have developed programs in art and music therapy. Art is power. From the musical performances to the lectures to the Broadway-caliber shows, The McKnight Center will positively influence our campus and community.

My hope is that each of you will embrace the arts at OSU and that it will touch each of you as only art can.

Let’s enjoy the journey together.

Ann Hargis OSU First Cowgirl

Ann and Burns Hargis pause on the Orange Carpet at the Gala Opening of The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts.

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PHOTO PHIL SHOCKLEY

NATION’S FIRST TRIBALLY AFFILIATED MEDICAL SCHOOL

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS A healthier rural Oklahoma starts now.

Opens Fall 2020 Learn more at health.okstate.edu/hastings

MEDICINE

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 11

Taking care of our own every step of the way With Oklahoma State University alumni insurance benefits

As a graduate or friend of Oklahoma State University, you have access to valuable insurance benefits— designed to help protect you and your family at every stage of your life.

You and your family have access to these benefits through OSU Alumni Association:

Alumni insurance benefits include these advantages:

• Auto and Home Insurance • Group 10-Year Level Term Life Insurance • Major Medical Insurance • Short-Term Medical Insurance • Long-Term Care Insurance • Travel Protection

Competitive rates that have been negotiated using alumni buying power.

Flexible benefits tailored to your needs throughout your life and often help complement employer-provided coverage.

Top-rated insurance providers you can trust to be there for you.

Portable coverage you can keep with you if you change employers, move or are self-employed.

Check them out today:

www.alumniplans.com/osu or call 888-560-ALUM (2586)

Easy to get started — call the Alumni Benefits Hotline or visit us online.* * For features, costs, eligibility, renewability, limitations, exclusions and carriers.

Program Administered by Mercer Health & Benefits Administration LLC In CA d/b/a Mercer Health & Benefits Insurance Services LLC AR Insurance License #100102691 • CA Insurance License #0G39709 86166 I22307 (1/19) Copyright 2019 Mercer LLC. All rights reserved.

ONCE A COWBOY, ALWAYS A COWBOY

Continue your Cowboy legacy with an online graduate degree at OSU. An OSU graduate degree is now even more affordable with our special tuition rate for nonresident online graduate students.

Learn more at osuonline.okstate.edu

Expanding the Classroom

OSU pushes to grow broad menu of online courses

A

s more of today’s life becomes digital — including college educations — Oklahoma State University is keeping pace.

OSU now offers more than 1,100 online courses on its Stillwater and Tulsa campuses, as well as in its OSU Medicine graduate programs, generating over 108,000 enrolled credit hours in 2018 alone.

Christine Ormsbee, associate provost, Outreach, Online Education & Institute for Teaching and Learning Excellence and the A.J. and Susan Jacques Endowed Professor in Special Education, said every OSU college offers online courses except the College of Veterinary Medicine.

“We definitely want people to realize that we have a broad menu of courses available,” she said, noting that 90 percent of students log into Canvas, a

learning management software in prevalent use at OSU, for the first time on a smart device.

“They’re so used to using mobile technologies, and we have to adjust to that,” Ormsbee said.

No longer a niche offering or afterthought, online courses are increasingly commonplace nationwide.

“Students are changing,” she said. “Our students are much more comfortable with technology. Most of them had technology in their hands when they were quite young and so they’re used to learning online and in technology-rich environments. They’re really used to the digital world.”

Ormsbee said students expect learning to be convenient, whether they’re incoming Gen Z freshmen or non-traditional students juggling a career and family.

STORY MACK BURKE | PHOTOS GARY LAWSON AND PHIL SHOCKLEY

Online courses are part of a broader effort to continue to adapt the collegiate experience to 21st century students, she said.

“What we see as we’re growing is that we do have more and more traditional campus students taking online classes, and the national statistics will tell you that around 30 to 40 percent of undergraduate students who are living on a campus are taking at least one class online and might be taking two.”

Ormsbee said she expects the trend of increasing online enrollment, and the proliferation of online offerings to meet that demand, to continue.

That has certainly been the case for the Spears School of Business, which now offers more than a dozen online degree options. From what began in the early 1990s with five classes, including the option of mailing VHS tapes to

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 15

“Online courses can be particularly helpful to students with excessive work hours, student athletes, students with children or other dependents, students with medical issues or disabilities or students who need to resolve schedule conflicts.”

CAROL JOHNSON, SPEARS ASSOCIATE DEAN OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND MEASUREMENT

FOR MORE INFORMATION about online courses at OSU, visit okla.st/learningonline.

students, Spears now offers more than 140 online courses. The importance and growth of online learning led to the opening of the Michael and Anne Greenwood Center for Online Excellence in 2018 with upgraded facilities to improve content and production quality.

“Online courses can be particularly helpful to students with excessive work hours, student athletes, students with children or other dependents, students with medical issues or disabilities or students who need to resolve schedule conflicts,” said Carol Johnson, Spears associate dean of strategic management and measurement. “Online options enable them to graduate more quickly and with less debt while dealing more effectively with child care issues and disabilities.”

In the spring 2019 semester, Spears Business enrolled more than 3,500 students in courses taught by 69 faculty members. Its online MBA program tied for 38th out of more than 300 schools in U.S. News and World Report’s rankings in 2019.

The College of Arts and Sciences has four online degree programs. Two generalist programs offer a bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies and a bachelor’s in university studies.

The Department of Computer Science will offer an undergraduate degree beginning this spring. And the fourth, the Department of Statistics’ master’s in applied statistics, has been in

16 W I N T E R 2 0 1 9

existence for several years. In 2018, the statistics program was ranked second on Affordable Colleges Online’s list of Best Online Master’s Degrees in Statistics and fifth on Best College Reviews’ list of Best Master’s in Applied Statistics online programs.

The College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology’s (CEAT) Online Learning program has been among the top online learning programs in the country. According to the U.S. News and World Report rankings, CEAT’s Online Graduate Engineering Programs ranked No. 16 in the country in both 2019 and 2020.

Nathan Cragun, director of CEAT online learning, points to such factors as college reputation, nationally and globally recognized faculty, flexibility and convenience as key contributors to the program’s success.

“We are fortunate to have exceptional faculty and staff who consistently strive to exceed the expectations of students,” Cragun said. “They desire to help them achieve their academic goals and view them as an individual, not as a number moving through a process or system.”

To reshape their efforts to the digital world, instructors who teach online courses enroll in a six-week course.

Naturally, it’s an online course.

“We do it that way so that our faculty understand what it’s like to be an online student, and they learn how to teach effectively online,” Ormsbee said. “I think that’s really important, and the training [OSU] provides allows them to be much more successful as instructors.”

There’s also an approval process for curriculum to ensure that students are receiving the highest quality instruction, whether they’re going to class or class is coming to them.

Of course, there are things that the traditional classroom environment offers that online courses cannot replicate, but Ormsbee said the option allows students more flexibility. If online courses open the door a little wider for on-campus students, online courses are often the key to unlocking the door for non-traditional students.

“Our goal now is to broaden our reach to new populations, building on what we’ve already seen with on-campus student enrollment,” Ormsbee said. “We want to identify those degree programs that best serve non-traditional students.

They have jobs, they have families and they may not be able to come to the campus to pursue a degree, but they can online. That fits right in with our landgrant mission, and that’s what we’re trying to focus on right now.”

2020

JOIN US FOR DINNER AND A NIGHT OF MYSTERY BENEFITING THE OSU MUSEUM OF ART!

For sponsorship opportunities and ticket information, visit:

OSUgiving.com/MasterpieceMoments

COWBOYS

are passionate about America’s Brightest Orange, and they share their passion for OSU and the knowledge they learned here wherever they go. It is that spirit of college pride that was on full display at Homecoming 2019: ‘As the World Turns Orange.’

Tens of thousands of alumni and friends from across the country and beyond flocked to Stillwater for 10 days of events celebrating OSU’s greatest tradition. The week began with the opening of The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts, with Ross and Billie McKnight returning as Homecoming grand marshals.

Along with our sponsor, Phillips 66, the Alumni Association invites you to relive the orange-filled memories made during America’s Greatest Homecoming in the following pages and online at okla.st/hc19.

PHOTO GARY LAWSON

Homecoming executives Jacob Wycoff (from left), Clarissa Ratzlaff, Zachary Guy, Ryli Powell, Tori Trimble, Kade Killough, Mady Hendryx and Caleb Eyster dye the Edmon Low Library fountain America’s Brightest Orange. Not pictured: Madi Jones.

A future Cowboy tries his luck at a guessing game during the Harvest Carnival.

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A future Cowgirl enjoys a sample during the Chili Cook-Off.

PHOTOS PHIL SHOCKLEY

A group of Cowgirls plays tic-tac-toe at Hester Street Painting.

TOP/BOTTOM RIGHT PHOTOS GARY LAWSON

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 21

Members of the OSU International Student Organization participate in the Sea of Orange Parade.

Grand Marshals Billie and Ross McKnight greet a street full of Cowboys during the Sea of Orange Parade.

22 W I N T E R 2 0 1 9

PHOTOS GARY LAWSON

Stillwater High School’s band took home the prize for Best Large Band in the Sea of Orange Parade.

Henry Cannon and Adrienne Blakey were crowned 2019 Homecoming King and Queen at this year’s new ceremony during fountain dyeing.

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 23

These Cowgirls were all smiles at the Homecoming Tailgate.

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TOP RIGHT/BOTTOM LEFT PHOTOS PHIL SHOCKLEY | TOP MIDDLE/BOTTOM RIGHT PHOTOS GARY LAWSON

Phi Mu & Sigma Chi claimed the top spot in the house decoration competition.

University Commons took first place in the Residential Life category of the Sign Competition by honoring Pistol Pete, Burns Hargis, Mike Gundy and T. Boone Pickens.

BOTTOM MIDDLE PHOTO MARY MCGOWEN | TOP LEFT PHOTO AVERY FULTON

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 25

Cameron McGriff takes flight during the dunk contest at Homecoming & Hoops.

Jada Haken competes in barrel racing in this year’s Cowboy Stampede Rodeo.

LD Brown sprints to the endzone for a Cowboys touchdown against Baylor University.

26 W I N T E R 2 0 1 9

TOP LEFT PHOTO COURTNEY BAY | TOP MIDDLE PHOTO GARY LAWSON

HOMECOMING AWARDS GREEK BRACKET

BASKETBALL BONANZA Greek Bracket 1st | Kappa Kappa Gamma/Sigma Phi Epsilon 2nd | Kappa Delta/Alpha Gamma Rho 3rd | Kappa Alpha Theta/FarmHouse MVP | Dylan Youngblood, Sigma Phi Epsilon Open Bracket 1st | Beta Upsilon Chi/Sigma Phi Lambda 2nd | African American Student Association 3rd | CEAT Student Council MVP | Holly Tompkins, Sigma Phi Lambda

SIGN COMPETITION Student Organizations 1st | American Society of Landscape Architects 2nd | Geology Society 3rd | ASL Club Phillips 66 Fan Favorite | Business Student Council

OPEN BRACKET

Residential Life 1st | University Commons 2nd | Wentz/Parker Halls 3rd | Stout Hall Phillips 66 Fan Favorite | University Commons Greek Life 1st | Chi Omega/Alpha Tau Omega 2nd | Alpha Xi Delta/Phi Delta Theta 3rd | Kappa Kappa Gamma/Sigma Phi Epsilon Phillips 66 Fan Favorite | Alpha Xi Delta/Phi Delta Theta

HARVEST CARNIVAL Student Organizations 1st | Sigma Alpha 2nd | Wildlife Society 3rd | Alpha Omega Epsilon Phillips 66 Fan Favorite | Spears School of Business Student Council Greek Life 1st | Kappa Delta/Alpha Gamma Rho 2nd | Chi Omega/Alpha Tau Omega 3rd | Kappa Alpha Theta/FarmHouse Phillips 66 Fan Favorite | Kappa Kappa Gamma/Sigma Phi Epsilon This year’s Basketball Bonanza winners included Beta Upsilon Chi/ Sigma Phi Lambda in the open bracket and Kappa Kappa Gamma/ Sigma Phi Epsilon in the Greek bracket.

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 27

HOMECOMING AWARDS CHILI COOK-OFF Student Organizations 1st | Oklahoma Collegiate Cattlemen and Cattlewomen’s Association 2nd | CASNR Ambassadors 3rd | Food Science Club Residential Life 1st | Iba Hall 2nd | Bennett Hall 3rd | University Commons Phillips 66 Fan Favorite | University Commons

ORANGE REFLECTION 1st | Stout Hall 2nd | Wentz/Parker Halls 3rd | University Commons Phillips 66 Fan Favorite | Bennett Hall

HOUSE DECORATIONS Alumni Association Chairman's Cup 1st | Phi Mu/Sigma Chi 2nd | Kappa Delta/Alpha Gamma Rho 3rd | Alpha Chi Omega/Sigma Nu 4th | Pi Beta Phi/Beta Theta Pi 5th | Kappa Alpha Theta/FarmHouse Phillips 66 Fan Favorite | Pi Beta Phi/Beta Theta Pi Engineering Excellence Award Pi Beta Phi/Beta Theta Pi Safety Award Kappa Delta/Alpha Gamma Rho

Residential Life 1st | University Commons 2nd | Stout Hall 3rd | Wentz/Parker Halls Grand Marshal's Cup University Commons

HOMECOMING KING & QUEEN Henry Cannon and Adrienne Blakey

SWEEPSTAKES Student Organizations 1st | Oklahoma Collegiate Cattlemen and Cattlewomen’s Association 2nd | Dairy Science Club 3rd | Omega Phi Alpha/Phi Kappa Sigma Residential Life 1st | University Commons 2nd | Stout Hall 3rd | Wentz/Parker Halls Greek Life 1st | Kappa Delta/Alpha Gamma Rho 2nd | Kappa Kappa Gamma/Sigma Phi Epsilon 3rd | Kappa Alpha Theta/FarmHouse

JERRY GILL SPIRIT AWARD Pi Beta Phi/Beta Theta Pi

MOST SPIRITED COLLEGE School of Global Studies and Partnerships

SEA OF ORANGE PARADE Large Band Competition Stillwater High School Small Band Competition Henryetta High School

THANK YOU

Community Parade Entry 1st | Oklahoma Miniature Horse Association 2nd | College of Veterinary Medicine 3rd | Canyon’s Alaskan Malamutes Student Organizations 1st | Dairy Science Club 2nd | Oklahoma Collegiate Cattlemen and Cattlewomen’s Association 3rd | Omega Phi Alpha/Phi Kappa Sigma

28 W I N T E R 2 0 1 9

FOR SPONSORING AMERICA'S GREATEST HOMECOMING!

Make plans to join the Cowboy family for the centennial celebration of America’s Greatest Homecoming on Oct. 31, 2020!

Visit okla.st/hc100 for details.

A Tradition to Treasure

America’s Greatest Homecoming continues through endowment

A

t Oklahoma State University, America’s Greatest Homecoming takes over every facet of campus.

What started as a simple dance and dinner in 1920 has grown into one of the largest homecoming celebrations in the nation, with more than 80,000 OSU alumni and friends returning to campus for the weekend.

“I don’t think anyone could imagine what Homecoming has turned into since it started in 1920,” said Blaire Atkinson, OSU Alumni Association president. “To see our alumni, students and friends all coming together to celebrate their love for OSU is truly special.”

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The OSU Alumni Association hopes Homecoming will continue growing with the help of the entire Cowboy family through the Homecoming and Student Programs Endowment.

The fund, originally established as part of the Branding Success campaign, helps offset the overall cost of this major event.

“This endowment will ensure Cowboys are able to experience the excitement and enthusiasm of America’s Greatest Homecoming for generations to come,” Atkinson said.

In 2014, the endowment surpassed the $1 million mark, which allowed the Alumni Association to begin distributing funds to living

STORY ALEXIS SHANES AND KAROLYN MOBERLY | PHOTOS GARY LAWSON AND PHIL SHOCKLEY

groups for Homecoming. As additional funds are raised, the support will increase.

“The support of the endowment will ensure rising costs do not diminish our annual events and guarantee future generations of OSU students and families will benefit from the same experiences as those who have gone before them,” Atkinson said.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT While Homecoming is well-known as a studentled, student-run event, it is also a communitysupported event. The encouragement and help from all sides make this event a success.

“Through Homecoming events like Walkaround, Harvest Carnival, Hester Street Painting, the Sea of Orange Parade and several others, we see the students and the community working together,” Atkinson said. “Between city streets needing to be shut down or students entertaining children with games, these groups really work together to make these events successful.”

Homecoming is an important fixture in Stillwater, helping create a unique quality of life for residents. City manager Norman McKnickle said

Stillwater sees the event as an opportunity to build upon the relationships between the university and the community.

“It is a great tradition,” he said. “It shows off both the town and the students. It brings us together as a community to celebrate something that has been going on for 99 years now.”

Harvest Carnival, which is part of Stillwater Junior Service League’s Harvest II food drive, is just one of the many kid-friendly events throughout Homecoming week.

“To me, Homecoming means family,” said Lynn Youngblood, Harvest Carnival attendee and OSU alumna. “It is a time for everyone to come together to celebrate their love of Oklahoma State.”

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING Homecoming also provides opportunities for students to grow and learn.

“Homecoming is so much more than chicken wire and tissue paper,” Atkinson said. “This event provides hands-on learning experiences to our students and allows them to take ownership of a university and citywide event.”

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Brooks McKinney, executive director on the 2018 Homecoming Executive Team and a communication sciences and disorders graduate, is one student who gained valuable experience through Homecoming activities.

“Of the many lessons I have learned [through Homecoming], the most important would be how to be a part of a successful team,” McKinney said. “With a team of nine people comes nine personalities — some similar to mine and some very different. By working with those personalities, I learned the importance of different communication styles and how to adapt myself to best fit how each executive member communicated.

“This is a lesson that I am already applying in graduate school while working on many different teams, and it is also one that I will be able to apply to my future life,” she said.

Increasing the endowment ensures these unique learning opportunities will continue to be available.

“For example, you learn how to manage a budget, follow timelines, work with others, communicate to the public, make difficult decisions and so much more,” McKinney said. “The lessons that I have learned through being a part of Homecoming will play a significant role in my future career.”

Julia Benbrook, a 2017 OSU alumna and OStateTV host, emceed several of the events live, bringing viewers from around the country back home through a digital connection.

Benbrook, who served on the Homecoming Court her senior year, remembered the hard work and dedication required to make Homecoming week a success.

“I knew our Homecoming was special, but getting to see what went into every event gave me a

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whole new perspective,” she said. “The students at OSU go above and beyond. I think all of the events combined are what make our Homecoming unique.”

TAKING ACTION Students on campus are already stepping up to help increase the endowment. The OSU Greek life community has taken action to ease the event’s financial burdens.

In 2014, members of the OSU Interfraternity Council had the idea for university-level support for Homecoming after they received feedback related to its expenses, said Tim Krenz, former IFC president.

After weeks of development and discussion, IFC leaders drafted a resolution to institute a required $5 IFC membership fee increase, which would go toward the Homecoming Endowment, Krenz said.

The resolution passed by an overwhelming majority vote. Members of the Panhellenic Council followed suit — making a contribution to the fund just seemed like the right thing to do, Krenz added.

“We wanted to send that message [of doing the right thing],” Krenz said. “That’s really the theme of why we decided to increase membership dues.”

Emily Ramseyer, former Panhellenic vice president of public relations, said the Greek officers understood the need to be careful with dues changes, but they felt the increase would not significantly burden students.

“The officers of both IFC and Panhellenic embraced the vision and understood the critical importance of being part of something so important,” Ramseyer said. “Nothing like this had been done before that would directly impact both the Greek community and the university. It was also a way for members to participate that didn’t involve getting glue on their hands.”

HOW TO HELP There are several ways to support the Homecoming and Student Programs Endowment. Those who give $5,000 or more earn a spot on the permanent display in Legacy Hall in the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center.

All who donate at least $100 will be recognized on the Alumni Association’s website, ORANGECONNECTION. org.

IFC adviser Ival Gregory said IFC and Panhellenic will contribute an estimated $250,000 to the endowment during the 10-year commitment.

“To collectively contribute such a large amount that will impact student life, alumni and the broader university for years to come is very fulfilling,” Ramseyer said. “I hope students recognize the benefits of their hard work and will continue donating to the Alumni Association and Foundation after their time in Stillwater is complete.”

To help secure the future of OSU’s Homecoming with a contribution, visit ORANGECONNECTION. org/endowhomecoming.

FUTURE INNOVATION Besides keeping Homecoming going, the endowment also ensures future growth and innovation. With new technology, sustainability and safety measures, Atkinson hopes the Homecoming of the future will look a little bit different — but only behind the scenes.

“Technology is always evolving, and it would be great to be able to provide updated and current resources to our students,” she said. “It would be amazing to see what these talented students could do with improved technology and sustainability measures. We want to preserve the tradition of Homecoming while being able to innovate in the future.”

But even with such advancements, one aspect of OSU’s Homecoming will forever remain unchanged.

“This event brings every member of the Cowboy family together to celebrate their love for OSU,” Atkinson said. “That part of Homecoming is what makes this event so special.”

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RURAL HEALTH CHAMPION OSU Medicine President Dr. Kayse Shrum is leading the fight to improve rural health care — and winning

DR. KAYSE SHRUM COUNTS HERSELF LUCKY. Lucky that she received a friendly nudge into the medical field.

Lucky that she had family support to get her through medical school.

Lucky that she has the opportunity to pursue her passion: bringing quality health care to rural Oklahomans.

Her relentless focus, whether as a pediatrician in her hometown of Coweta, Oklahoma, as the state secretary of science and innovation, or as dean of the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine and OSU Medicine president, has garnered her many honors over the years. Recently, that list grew a little longer when The Journal Record named her “Woman of the Year.”

Again, she counts herself lucky — this time to be among so many powerful women, including First Cowgirl Ann Hargis, who received the honor in 2014.

While she may indeed be lucky, those who know her best would tell you that she has made her own

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way, that Oklahoma is lucky to claim her and to have her at the helm of one of its premier medical institutions.

“Everyone is really proud of her. I don’t know of anyone else [from Coweta] that’s accomplished so much,” said her sister, Patti Plunk. “She’s so deserving. She really has a servant heart, and she really wants to help people. That’s at the root of everything.”

METEORIC RISE Shrum’s rise through the health care ranks started with a simple suggestion from her physiology professor, who told her that she had the highest grade in a class full of medical schoolbound students and suggested that she consider going herself.

She followed her professor’s advice and visited her hometown doctor, OSU Medicine alumnus Ronnie Carr, D.O., who encouraged her to visit the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine.

STORY MACK BURKE | PHOTO PHIL SHOCKLEY

“I grew up thinking that all I wanted to do in life was to play fast pitch softball." she said. "As soon as I visited OSU Medicine, I knew that medicine was my calling. I really had always wanted to have a career where I felt like I was making a difference and helping people but one that was challenging.”

Though she was focused on being a student athlete at the time, pitching for the Coweta Lady Tigers from 1987 to 1990, she always knew she wanted to make a difference — and all of a sudden, the path became clear. Shrum always had an inner strength and drive, Plunk said, but that small burst of encouragement was revelatory. She said it changed her life.

“His suggestion sparked something within her and made her realize, ‘Oh, yes. I can do that,’” Plunk said. “For her, it was someone reaching down, that professor reaching to her and saying ‘Yes, you can do this.’”

STARTING IN COWETA Growing up in Coweta — a Tulsa suburb of less than 10,000 people — Shrum never imagined she would become the first female dean (and youngest) of a medical school in Oklahoma. Some days, she didn’t think she would ever become a physician.

But that’s not what others saw.

Dr. Rhonda Casey, a friend of Shrum’s who is now associate dean for global health at OSU Medicine, was a resident when Shrum was a medical student at OSU in the late ’90s.

“When she was a fourth-year medical student, I recognized something in her,” Casey said.

She saw a kindred spirit, another motivated, aspiring doctor from a small town.

She saw a leader with relentless determination, an observation made fairly indisputable by the fact that she gave birth to three children while in medical school and during her residency. As though that were not enough, Shrum later adopted three adolescent boys from Ethiopia.

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“I LOVE OSU’S LAND-GRANT MISSION, AND THE MISSION OF THE MEDICAL SCHOOL IS TO SERVE RURAL AND UNDERSERVED OKLAHOMA. THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I'M VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT.” DR. KAYSE SHRUM After earning her osteopathic medicine degree from the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Shrum joined OSU’s medical school faculty in 2002 and served as chair of its Department of Pediatrics from 2004 to 2011.

Before she became provost of OSU Medicine and dean of the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2011, Shrum found herself torn. On the one hand, she loved caring for patients, but on the other, she knew the kind of impact she could have in a new and challenging role.

Now, as OSU Medicine president, she is blazing new trails in rural health and illuminating the path for the next generation of Oklahoma health care leaders.

Carr said there’s no one better to lead that charge.

“She’s so intelligent, it’s unbelievable,” he said. “She’s highly educated, highly motivated and whatever she puts her head to, it’s going to be done … and she’s just getting started.”

“I love OSU’s land-grant mission, and the mission of the medical school is to serve rural and underserved Oklahoma,” Shrum said. “That’s something that I’m very passionate about. Having grown up in Oklahoma, I think it’s important to give back, and I’ve really had the honor of being entrusted by President (Burns) Hargis and the regents with carrying out OSU’s land-grant mission in a way that improves the health and lives of Oklahomans.”

RURAL MISSION Carrying out OSU’s rural health mission means more than training the next generation of doctors.

For Shrum, it includes a proactive approach to solving the big problems and opting to treat the whole person and not just the disease or the symptoms of Oklahoma’s rural health care crisis.

She knows rural Oklahoma and her pragmatic assertion that rural doctors come from rural communities is at the foundation of her strategic leadership to create a sustainable pipeline of primary care physicians. She has spearheaded award-winning programs, like Operation Orange and Blue Coat to White Coat, the establishment of a Rural Medical Track (a rural-focused medical curriculum) and expanded residency training programs in Oklahoma.

Dr. Kayse Shrum speaks at Oklahoma Mentor Day.

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AVERAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY IN STILWELL, OKLAHOMA

56.3 YEARS Dr. Kayse Shrum poses with tribal chiefs in announcing multiple scholarship funds for the nation’s first tribally affiliated medical school. From left are Chickasaw Gov. Bill Anoatubby, Cherokee Chief Bill John Baker, Shrum and Choctaw Chief Gary Batton.

The timing couldn’t be more crucial. Shrum said 27 percent of rural primary care physicians are over the age of 65 in Oklahoma. As those doctors retire, just as baby boomers are seeking more care, access to health care stands to deteriorate in those communities. Stilwell, Oklahoma, for example, has the lowest average life expectancy in the United States at 56.3 years — lower than the life expectancy in the Congo.

“You look today and some counties in the state have no primary care physicians, none,” Shrum said. “And the thing that has been shown time and time again to improve health outcomes is having access to primary care. And that is our mission.

We really have embraced that and put programs in place to recruit the right students.

“We are wanting kids from Oklahoma, from rural parts of our state, who are going to want to fulfill our mission. We are training them in a way that keeps them connected to rural communities and puts them with rural communities.

“This last year, about 18 percent of our class were former FFAstudents,” she said. “ We have the same initiative for recruiting tribal students because if we’re not partnering with our tribes, there’s no way we’re fulfilling our rural mission.

“Those two key groups are students we’re recruiting. Across the United States in medical schools 0.4 percent of medical students are Native American. We have, in the last few years, ranged from 14 to 17 percent of our medical school class being Native American students. So the recruitment efforts work. We can’t do the same thing over and over again and expect a different outcome. I believe if medical schools don’t recruit from rural areas and do everything right there in an urban setting, they’re going to get the same outcome, which is doctors not choosing to practice in rural Oklahoma or rural communities across the United States.”

PHOTOS GARY LAWSON

THE LOWEST AVERAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY IN THE UNITED STATES

FULL PLATE In addition to the rural and tribal partnership initiatives she is leading, Shrum also spearheaded the establishment of the new OSU Medicine Center for Wellness and Recovery, which she hopes will be the incubator for revolutionary new addiction research and treatment.

It’s a full plate, but Shrum’s appetite for the challenge remains strong.

“All of those things are a reflection of the land-grant mission being put into action,” she said. “The Woman of the Year Award is really an acknowledgement of OSU’s success in fulfilling its mission in a meaningful way for the state. I just happen to be leading that.”

Hearing her downplay her own influence probably doesn’t surprise those who know her best.

They would tell you that she’s quick to embrace criticism and deflect credit. But they would also say that no one deserves that credit more.

“There is so much advancement that has taken place strictly because of her,” Casey said. “She pours her heart and soul into everything she does.”

Carr said he can’t wait to see what she’ll do next.

For her part, Shrum said it just comes back to work ethic and passion.

“I get up and do the best I can every day to do the right thing and look at how we can better the state through OSU Medicine, whether that’s graduating professionals or through our programs or through our clinics and hospitals. It really is an honor to receive that prestigious award for just doing what I love. I’m very proud of it because I feel like it’s really a reflection of what Oklahoma State University stands for.”

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CAMPUS NEWS

Theta Pond gets new bridge and improved Greek Walk A seven-month project has transformed the Greek Walk at Theta Pond.

The five-foot-wide wooden bridge on Greek Walk has been replaced with an eight-foot-wide concrete bridge that has architectural designs reminiscent of other buildings on campus. It is named the “Greek Centennial Bridge” in honor of the Greek Centennial Committee that contributed to the project.

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Nick Ouellette, landscape design coordinator, said the work included more than the bridge and connecting sidewalk. Work on the upper pond minimized the possibility for leaks, the earthen spillway between ponds was outfitted with stones, stairways were replaced, drainage was improved in nearby grassy areas, and the stone walls of the lower pond near the bridge were improved.

“Theta Pond has so much history.

It’s a meaningful and cherished location for the Cowboy family,” Ouellette said.

“The project began after the sidewalk and bridge had degraded, creating a potential safety hazard. The finished product took care of those issues, fits with the look and feel of the campus and will continue to be one of the iconic places at Oklahoma State.”

OSU Diversity Hall of Fame honors seven The Oklahoma State University Diversity Hall of Fame inducted four new honorees, recognized two rising stars and gave one special recognition during its annual gala.

The OSU Diversity Hall of Fame recognizes alumni and university supporters who have significantly contributed to the advancement of diversity and inclusion at OSU and who have distinguished themselves in their particular field or profession and the betterment of their community. The hall of fame was established by OSU’s Division of Institutional Diversity in 2015.

“These are all individuals who have made a significant impact on the legacy of diversity and inclusion here at OSU,” said Dr. Jason F. Kirksey, vice president and chief diversity officer for the OSU Division of Institutional Diversity.

A closer look at the honorees: Dr. John M. Chaney, a citizen of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma, is a Regents Professor of Psychology who has taught at OSU since 1991 after earning a clinical psychology doctorate from the University of MissouriColumbia. He directs the American Indians Into Psychology program, one of only three Indian Health Servicefunded programs in the country that promote Native students pursing advanced degrees in psychology.

Ann M. Oglesby has more than 30 years of experience in the energy and petrochemicals industries as the vice president for technology and lead

Oklahoma executive for Phillips 66, a diversified energy manufacturing and logistics company. Oglesby, who earned a bachelor’s in chemical engineering at OSU in 1987, serves on the Phillips 66 Executive Inclusion and Diversity Council. She is the Phillips 66 executive liaison for OSU and a member of the OSU Diversity Development Council.

She is also a board member of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering.

Dr. Katye Perry Bonner is an emeritus faculty member from OSU’s School of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Aviation. Bonner joined OSU in 1979 as a minority lecturer in the College of Education in the research and evaluation program, earned an educational psychology doctorate at OSU in 1983, and later became the first African American to serve as interim head of the School of Education Studies.

Catherine E. Vijayakumar was OSU’s Office of Multicultural Affairs’ first coordinator of Asian American affairs. Now retired, she co-founded the Asian American Faculty and Staff Association in 2006.

Vijayakumar also co-founded the OSU Asian Alumni Association in 2010. She has a master’s in education from OSU and a master’s in literature from the University of Madras, in her homeland of India.

Kirk A. Jewell, an OSU alumnus who has served as president of the OSU

Foundation for 15 of the past 16 years, is retiring in 2020. Jewell has been at the helm of many transformational efforts, including the $1.2 billion Branding Success campaign. Its impact will be felt for generations.

Cherdena Daniel earned a bachelor’s degree in interior design and master’s in environmental design from OSU. An interior designer by profession and entrepreneur at heart, Daniel owns and operates a design company. She is director of the Miss Black Oklahoma City Pageant and makes a concerted effort to expose underrepresented youth to design through mentoring, speaking engagements, hands-on activities and workshops.

Dr. Edward J. Daniel Sr. earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering from OSU. He is a senior technical lead engineer working on Airborne Surveillance Command and Control Systems for the Boeing Co. He previously worked as the chief engineer for the defensive management system on the B-2 bomber for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems at Tinker Air Force Base. He serves on the Industrial Advisory Board for the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at OSU. In 2007, he was named the Most Promising in Industry in the 2007 Black Engineer of the Year Awards, and in 2002, he was recognized as an OSU Leadership Legacy.

OSU’s Chilocco History Project wins national honor The Oral History Association awarded its 2019 Elizabeth B. Mason Large Project Award to the OSU Library’s Oklahoma Oral History Research Program for its Chilocco History Project. This is the third Mason Award for OSU, the only institution to win the national honor more than once.

The Chilocco Indian Boarding School was one of the largest federally funded intertribal boarding schools for Native youth in the U.S. The Chilocco History Project includes over 40 oral history interviews

with alumni, more than 1,000 digitized historic photographs, a documentary produced in conjunction with Fire Thief Productions and a K-12 curriculum developed by Drs. Samantha BennDuke and Lisa Lynn.

The three-year collaborative effort between the Chilocco National Alumni Association and the OOHRP was spearheaded by visiting assistant professor Julie Pearson-Little Thunder, OOHRP Head and Hyle Family Endowed Professor Sarah Milligan and CNAA Veterans Project Committee members

Charmain Baker, Jim Baker, Betty Pino and Bill Pino.

“OHA is the organization that sets the national standard for our discipline,” Milligan said. “We are grateful for this award. Being recognized by them is the highest level of honor and acknowledges the quality and depth of this project.”

The OOHRP won the award in 2013 for The “Big Top” Show Goes On project and in 2017 for the Oklahoma 100 Year Life Oral History project.

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CAMPUS NEWS

New badge celebrates 50 years for OSUPD Officers with the Oklahoma State University Police Department are sporting a commemorative badge to celebrate the department’s 50th anniversary. The department began as a safety and security department until Oklahoma statutes made it possible for it to become a campus police department. Since then, OSUPD has grown to 34 sworn officers, 12 support staff and 21 student employees.

Chief Leon Jones, the first African American to lead the department, started in 1994. He’s watched the department grow and change, from being the first department in the state to earn accreditation to the acquisition of a mobile command bus to add to the fleet.

“It’s great to be part of this historical moment,” Jones said. “I think it’s outstanding, knowing we have crossed a milestone of 50 years.”

OSUPD would like to share this achievement with former and retired officers who would like to order a commemorative badge. Those interested should contact Capt. Colt Chandler at colt. chandler@okstate.edu or 405-744-6523.

OSU partnership produces Pete’s Treats for pups

TO LEARN MORE about the Pete’s Pet Posse, visit pettherapy. okstate.edu.

Watch a Pete’s Treats video at okla.st/treats.

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Dog owners have a new tasty treat option to offer “man’s best friend” now that Oklahoma State University has announced Pete’s Treats.

OSU First Cowgirl Ann Hargis, co-founder of Pete’s Pet Posse, always wanted the university to have its own dog treat — and thanks to a partnership with alumnus Travis Brorsen, now it does.

Sales of the orange-colored treats benefit Pete’s Pet Posse, OSU’s university-based pet therapy program that was established in 2013 to enhance physical and emotional health among students, faculty, staff and campus guests.

The partnership also provides jobs for adults with developmental disabilities who bake and package the product at 4RPUPS in Enid, Oklahoma.

“It’s been a great partnership so far,” said Brorsen, host of Animal Planet’s My Big Fat Pet Makeover.

Registered dietitian nutritionist Elizabeth Lohrman, who is also a Pete’s Pet Posse owner/ handler, created the recipe.

“Dogs love peanut butter, so that was a natural choice,” she said. “The ingredients are just wonderful and healthy for the dogs.” The ingredients are unbleached flour, unsalted peanut butter, coconut oil, flaxseed, sweet potato and organic annatto seed powder.

OSU’s Endeavor lab was used to create the treat cutters and President Burns Hargis’ mother, Rosalie Hargis, who passed away in 2011, helped the program with seed money.

Pete’s Treats are available at the OSU University Store, the Boren Veterinary Medical Hospital and online at TravisBrorsen.com.

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Cultural Crown Jewel

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PHOTO PHIL SHOCKLEY

WHEN THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC GRACED THE STAGE AT THE MCKNIGHT

CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS’ INAUGURAL CONCERT, IT WAS THE SECOND

ENSEMBLE TO MAKE ITS MARK THERE. Long before the Gala Opening, a different kind of orchestra wove a delicate symphony of architectural planning and artful acoustic

engineering to create the world-class performance hall at Oklahoma State University.

The lead conductor on the ambitious effort was President Burns Hargis, who shortly after becoming OSU’s 18th president in 2008 began to pursue his vision to create a facility that would transform the performing arts at Oklahoma State and across the region.

Thanks to that vision, and the generous support of Billie and Ross McKnight and many other donors, the university is now home to a cultural crown jewel that Hargis calls “a dream come true.”

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M U S I C .

M A G I C .

McKnight.

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PHOTO ROBIN HERROD

OSU celebrates the opening of its world-class performance hall More than music filled the air at the Opening Gala at The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts. There was magic in the atmosphere, a blend of elegance and art to rival the finest halls in the largest cities, bestowing a brightness on the venue and its guests.

The sold-out black-tie concert drew 1,000plus people who were entranced by the New York Philharmonic, one of the world’s most iconic ensembles, and Oklahoma-born Broadway star Kelli O’Hara.

But before a single note could carry the audience away, guests arrived to the pageantry of walking the orange carpet on their way into the Marilynn and Carl Thoma Grand Atrium. The welcome reception was broadcast live, sharing the spotlight shining so brightly on Stillwater with the world.

“We’re totally overwhelmed by the building, the talent and the people supporting it,” said First Cowgirl Ann Hargis, the buzz of the atrium full of people conjuring a wall of sound behind her. The hand-painted notes of the alma mater sparkled across her formal black gown, a visual reminder of what was bringing all together here: music.

Both she and President Burns Hargis, who have made elevating the arts a priority throughout their nearly 12-year tenure at OSU, reveled in the success of the evening and The McKnight Center.

“I think this will transform how we think of ourselves and the education our students, faculty and community are going to have,” President Hargis said. “To be around the greatest musicians on the planet is an amazing opportunity for any college student, but for a center like this to be at your own home — it’s just incredible.”

Billie and Ross McKnight, who have endowed the center’s programming with a $25 million gift and who have lent their name to the facility itself, were the stars of the evening. As they tried to quickly move through the atrium, they stopped often to visit with friends, family and fellow Patron donors and to receive thanks for their leadership and vision.

“This is fantastic. There are so many people here, it’s hard to fathom,” Ross McKnight said. “I’ve always said the nation is run by business, finance, technology and mathematics. But the humanities and the arts are what make life worth living.”

Left: The New York Philharmonic is joined on stage by Tony Award winner Kelli O’Hara during the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts Opening Gala.

STORY AMANDA O’TOOLE MASON | PHOTOS PHIL SHOCKLEY AND GARY LAWSON

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Inspiring the dream Ross and Billie McKnight began dreaming about bringing the New York Philharmonic to Stillwater about five years ago. They were inspired while guests of fellow alumna Helen Hodges at Bravo! Vail, a summer concert series in Colorado.

“I had never seen the New York Philharmonic, but we had been to some symphonic orchestras in the past. I knew the New York Philharmonic was something really different, and to be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to it,” Ross McKnight said with a laugh. “But the first song they played was ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ and I had chills running up my spine.”

They began thinking. What would it cost to bring the orchestra to Stillwater? Would it even be possible? President Hargis had asked them previously to support a new performing arts facility at OSU — but what would happen if they created a programming endowment to bring these lifealtering experiences to Stillwater and the Cowboy family?

“Music can change the world because music changes people,” Billie McKnight said.

They forged strong relationships with Bravo!

Vail artistic director Anne-Marie McDermott and founder John Giovando, who were well-connected in the music world and helped advance the dream.

Ross and Billie announced their $25 million gift to establish The McKnight Center’s programming endowment in 2016. Alongside President Hargis, they invited others to dream big and help OSU reach a $50 million fundraising goal.

Six months later, the residency partnership with the New York Philharmonic was announced at the center’s groundbreaking, and more people had stepped forward to commit $1 million-plus gifts to ensure the center’s success.

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The Cowboy family got its first taste of McKnight Center programming in 2018 with the Chamber Music Festival. McDermott, now a close friend of the McKnights’, has served as artistic director for each of the annual event’s three installments. Ross McKnight was recently appointed to the New York Philharmonic’s board of directors, and last year The McKnight Center met its initial $50 million fundraising goal.

Their dream came full circle when the New York Philharmonic kicked off The McKnight Center’s Inaugural Season that Friday evening with “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Nearly two hours later, the orchestra brought down the house with a surprise rendition of OSU’s alma mater to close the enchanted evening.

The opening chords of the beloved OSU piece drew gasps, cheers and even tears. Sophomore Calvin Householder, like other students in the Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music, had eagerly taken part-time jobs at The McKnight Center.

That night, he and roommate Doug Bell were working in the west lobby, near the outdoor plaza where the concert was being simulcast to the LED wall. Outside, those watching the broadcast ditched their blankets and lawn chairs to connect with their neighbors and sway together in a 30-degree wind chill, warmed with pride and admiration.

Householder and other young ushers didn’t hide their efforts to wipe their eyes or stop themselves from triumphantly raising their arms.

“Everyone in that building felt the same sense of pride for their university and shared the same sense of excitement watching the New York Philharmonic,” said Householder, who plays the trombone. “This is one of the reasons I decided to

PHOTOS PHIL SHOCKLEY AND GARY LAWSON

“Music can change t he world because music changes people.”

BILLIE MCKNIGHT come to Oklahoma State — to be a part of something bigger than me. At that moment, when they played our alma mater, it all kind of became real to me.”

Music education freshman Kaitlyn Kennedy was giddy, manning the north door of the atrium.

“This is such a huge opportunity, and I’m thrilled to even be a part of it,” she said. She plays the French horn and wants to become a high school band teacher like her parents. “My dad actually graduated from school here in the department of music about 25 years ago, and he sat in the same classrooms I currently sit in at the Seretean Center.

He’s back home in Texas teaching middle school band right now, and I’m listening to the New York Philharmonic, going to school. He didn’t have opportunities like this when he was going to school here, and he’s really excited for me.”

Chills had become shouts of triumph and tears of happiness.

Roger (’85 geology) and Katrina Head (’87 early childhood education) were among the first people to stream out of the performance hall at the concert’s conclusion.

The couple returned to Tulsa in 2017 after living abroad for 15 years while Roger Head worked for ExxonMobil.

“We’ve been exposed to a lot of art while living abroad. We’ve been to places in Vienna, seen where Mozart played and other unbelievable things, but this place is incredible,” Katrina said.

“This is fantastic,” Roger said. “I would’ve never thought as an Oklahoma State graduate that we’d have something world-class in Stillwater.”

Two of the couple’s five children attended OSU, and they’re hopeful the youngest will choose to as well. Regardless, they plan to make many more trips to Stillwater for future performances.

After the gala concert, Patron donors, sponsors and their guests gathered in the Student Union Ballroom to celebrate.

President Hargis told the room he experienced a range of emotions during the concert.

“I got through the whole thing pretty well … and then they played the alma mater, and that’s when I lost it. I lost it good,” he said. “It was the most glorious concert I’ve ever heard. It was just the most exciting night of our lives.”

Ross and Billie McKnight gave credit to everyone who “told the story of The McKnight Center,” from friends they met along the way to those they’ve cherished for decades.

“This was an idea, a dream that was planted years ago. Looking around tonight, I can see it in bloom. As a farmer from Texas, I can see that this was a good idea,” Ross McKnight told the cheering crowd. “Nearly all the people in this room had something to do with this tonight. … I hope we didn’t disappoint anybody.”

SEE MORE Relive the Opening Gala with our coverage: okla.st/gala.

Hear from Tony Award-winning Oklahoman Kelli O’Hara: okla.st/ ohara.

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 47

From left: Mark Blakeman addresses the audience during the Opening Gala alongside Ross McKnight and OSU President Burns Hargis.

SEE WHAT’S AHEAD To learn more about upcoming shows or how to get involved with The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts, visit mcknightcenter.org.

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“I t ’s just state-of-t he-art. I t ’s gorgeous.”

KELLI O’HAR A

Musical ambassadors Days after the New York Philharmonic’s Stillwater residency ended, the energy from The McKnight Center’s opening festivities still hung in the air.

That’s no surprise to Mark Blakeman, the Marilynn and Carl Thoma Executive Director of The McKnight Center.

He saw exceptional chemistry between audience members and New York Philharmonic musicians throughout the residency.

“That was part of what people were experiencing. The audience was happy and energetic, and the same was true of the orchestra,” Blakeman said. “It was a personal experience not only for those watching and listening to the concerts but for the musicians, too. They could look out at the audience and see faces — some of whom they had met and visited with extensively. They can’t do that back home when they play for 3,000 people at a time.

“A real sense of connectedness translated into these powerful artistic moments.”

In all, the four-day residency included 16 master classes, a lecture and four performances, including the Opening Gala and a daytime concert for firstand second-graders from Stillwater Public Schools.

“So many people were moved by whatever part of the residency they participated in, and that’s something they’ll carry with them for the rest of their lives, no matter if they were a musician or an audience member,” Blakeman said. “That’s transformational.”

Deborah Borda, New York Philharmonic president and CEO, and Oscar Tang, co-chair of its board of directors, called Stillwater’s warm welcome memorable and said it added to the excitement of helping OSU open its new facility.

“It’s such an honor to be a part of this. We’ve been so impressed by how well this organization has prepared for the grand opening of this magnificent hall,” Borda said.

Tang echoed her sentiment, adding that he would like to see the New York Philharmonic return to The McKnight Center.

“We would hope that this would become a recurring situation for us to be able to work with talented people in Oklahoma, in master classes and so forth, on a regular basis,” he said.

PHOTOS PHIL SHOCKLEY AND ROBIN HERROD

Renowned Broadway star and Tony Awardwinning singer Kelli O’Hara grew up in Elk City, Oklahoma.

While her siblings and father attended OSU, she pursued a fine arts degree at Oklahoma City University.

O’Hara beamed as she talked about how valuable The McKnight Center is to the entire state, noting that she sometimes felt alone in her passion for the arts growing up in Oklahoma.

“Today, I’m not alone. I feel the entire state’s support,” she said. “It’s an incredible moment.”

Hours before the Opening Gala, she joked that she wanted to sneak into The McKnight Center’s recital hall just to enjoy how her voice sounded in the venue.

“It’s just state-of-the-art. It’s gorgeous,” she said. “I hope that everyone, regardless if they went to OSU, comes to hear these concerts and see these artists perform on stage. This rivals what’s around the country and around the world. What a lucky thing for the state.”

Blakeman has no doubt that experiences like O’Hara’s will ensure The McKnight Center becomes a destination for musicians around the country. Messages from New York Philharmonic musicians and colleagues nationwide have flooded his email inbox since the gala.

“They had a great time in Stillwater, and they really liked our hall,” he said. “We want people who attend our performances to have a great experience, but on the other side of that coin is making sure our artists have a good experience. They take that with them. We now have 140 ambassadors from the New York Philharmonic that are out in the global world of music talking about their experiences.”

Blakeman is eager to see the momentum and excitement continue for the remainder of The McKnight Center’s Inaugural Season and as the performing arts continue to weave their way into OSU and Stillwater’s identity.

“The Opening Gala and the emotion people felt is a great touchpoint for our community,” he said.

“It showed a lot of people how great art can touch peoples’ lives. It becomes a part of them.”

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 49

Billie and Ross McKnight pose together with family at the Opening Gala for The McKnight Center.

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STORY AMANDA O’TOOLE MASON | PHOTO OSU FOUNDATION

“Art is made to share, to improve a high level of communication among people, to give pause in a busy world for self-reflection.”

CARL THOMA

Composing a Legacy

Philanthropy builds McKnight Center’s framework

T

he names of 22 families and organizations glow subtly from wooden tiles inlaid in the wall of the Patron Lounge on the second floor of The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts.

They represent the early adopters of the project who boldly invested $1 million or more to see the vision of The McKnight Center and its programming endowment come to fruition.

“Everyone really stepped forward big,” Patron donor Marilynn Thoma said.

She and her husband, Carl Thoma, donated $5 million to endow the executive director position in 2017. The position, currently held by Mark Blakeman, and the building’s grand atrium bear the family’s name, and Carl Thoma is a vice chair on The McKnight Center’s board of trustees.

The couple operates the Chicago-based Thoma Foundation and is no stranger to funding arts initiatives. In many ways, they feel it’s a responsibility.

“We should all work to keep the arts alive because they’re the reflection of a civilized and enlightened society,” Carl Thoma said. “We have seen scholars’ lives changed and improved through the fellowships, awards and grants we give through our foundation.

“Art is made to share, to improve a high level of communication among people, to give pause in a busy world for self-reflection. And no matter the viewer's background, art has an ability to speak across barriers. The arts are meant to be stimulating, not a point of stress, and it’s our duty to make that possible,” he said.

Maria Di Mento is a staff writer at the Chronicle of Philanthropy and reports regularly on the impact private giving has on the arts. She said philanthropy has played a critical role in the creation and sustainability of arts organizations for centuries.

“You could go back to the beginning of organized philanthropy in this country in the 1800s and see arts and cultural groups were being privately funded, even then,” she said. “It’s really important philanthropists are able to support the arts all over the country because there is never enough money for the local government or the federal government to keep programs funded. And the little bits of money earmarked for arts — it’s tiny, and not really enough to help [organizations] operate, let alone expand.”

Hours before The McKnight Center’s Opening Gala, media outlets had the opportunity to visit with Deborah Borda, New York Philharmonic CEO and president; Oscar Tang, board co-chairman; and Jaap van Zweden, New York Philharmonic music director, who were all seated before the glowing names in the Patron Lounge.

Discussing the role philanthropists play in funding the arts excited the famed conductor, who said artists have a moral obligation to share their craft with the world — and donors often allow that to happen.

“To feed everyone with art is to feed their souls,” Zweden said.

“It’s touching, really,” Borda said, praising the members of the Cowboy family who contributed to The McKnight Center.

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 51

From left: Burns and Ann Hargis with Billie and Ross McKnight

BEYOND EXPECTATIONS Tracie Chapman is one of 15 governorappointed members of the Oklahoma Arts Council.

She’s also a 1987 OSU alumna and a McKnight Center season ticket holder.

She seemed almost dazed after the New York Philharmonic concluded its Opening Gala concert with a surprise rendition of OSU’s alma mater.

“We’re so lucky to have this here. It was far and beyond my expectations,” she said. “I’m very proud.

It’s the most amazing thing. Everyone in Oklahoma — no matter whether you graduated from OSU or any other college — should be proud this is in Oklahoma.”

While The McKnight Center and its worldclass programming are sure to enhance retention and school pride, she said it is also reaffirming Oklahoma State’s deep roots in terms of philanthropy.

“I think the next generation needs to know philanthropy is the biggest part of Oklahoma State,” she said. “The Hargises have been a part of bringing this up, and we need to continue keeping that tradition going.”

John and Cheryl Clerico said they were proud of the collective legacy Patron donors were making by facilitating the $50 million programming endowment and the impressive opening of The McKnight Center.

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“I’ve always tried to take what resources I’ve had and make the maximum impact with it,” John Clerico said. “I can’t think of anything that would contribute more than a transforming facility like The McKnight Center.”

Husband and wife Pat and Patricia “Pat” Cobb found students’ initial reactions to The McKnight Center moving.

“They are going to be the first to take advantage of it, and who knows where their influence will go when they leave here,” Mrs. Cobb said. “It makes you want to tell them to just go after your dream.”

Jonathan Drummond believed it was important that his family participate in benefiting The McKnight Center as well as the adjoining Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music.

“This is a project we believe in,” he said.

“We gave this gift as a family because I want my children to have this as their legacy as well.”

Many Patron donors said the leadership from the Hargises and the McKnights inspired their decision to get involved.

“Ross and Billie have shown us the finest things in life, and I think now they’ve brought the finest things in life to Oklahoma State and to the state of Oklahoma,” said Vickie Hall, standing next to her husband, A&M Board of Regents member Joe D. Hall. “What more can you ask?”

To Ross and Billie McKnight, the overall project was simply “collaborating among friends.”

“It was a lot of fun,” Billie McKnight said.

The goal was to do something as transformative for the university as T. Boone Pickens’ gift was to athletics, Ross McKnight said.

“It’s our desire that this will outlast all of us.

Not just in physical buildings, because they wear out. But in the spirit of what we’ve done,” he said. “I hope people see what we are able to do with the arts, and it will grow to include a visual arts program or a museum program. We hope people see OSU differently because of it.”

President Burns Hargis said he was impressed by how the entire Cowboy family “caught the vision” for The McKnight Center and supporting the arts at OSU. “There is no way we can express how grateful we are to everyone who has done so much to make this happen, especially Billie and Ross and all of the Patron donors,” he said. “Dreams do come true.”

PHOTOS OSU FOUNDATION

MCKNIGHT CENTER PATRON DONORS Edward E. and Helen T. Bartlett Foundation

Lee M. and Harriet M. Brown Estate

Nickie and Doug Burns Chickasaw Nation Cheryl and John Clerico Patricia and Patrick Cobb Lerri and Rick Cooper Jonathan Drummond Family Foundation

Monica and Joe Eastin Anne and Mike Greenwood Vickie and Joe Hall Ann and Burns Hargis Helen Hodges Cathey and Don Humphreys Inasmuch Foundation Billie and Ross McKnight Carol and Frank Morsani Ludmilla and Frank Robson Sherman E. Smith Family Foundation

LaRue and Bill Stoller Julie and Russ Teubner Marilynn and Carl Thoma

BOTTOM PHOTO GARY LAWSON

From left: Carl Thoma, Ross McKnight and Marilynn Thoma during Saturday’s intermission in the Patrons Lounge at The McKnight Center.

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 53

Growing in Harmony

McKnight Center and Greenwood School of Music strike a chord of excitement together

W YOUR SUPPORT Contact Laura Ketchum at 405-385-0701 or lketchum@ osugiving.com for more information about supporting the Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music.

ith the opening of The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts, and a new home for the Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music, music performance and education at Oklahoma State University will reach a level few universities can match. The performance hall and programming endowment will bring in some of the world’s most renowned artists to teach master classes and enable students to rehearse on the same stage as world-class orchestras.

The McKnight Center will supplement the existing Seretean Center for the Performing Arts as a more exclusive and modern facility and spearhead the revival of the performing arts at OSU. In particular, the Greenwood School of Music will have access to incredible resources for students and faculty.

“At present, the Greenwood School of Music has really outstanding faculty and we have really outstanding students, but we’ve felt a degree of constraint based on the size of facilities,” said Jeffrey Loeffert, director of the Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music. “With the opening of The McKnight Center and the impending opening of the new Greenwood building, that really changes everything for us.”

The new building for the Greenwood School is expected to open in the spring of 2021. It will house music laboratories, classrooms and teaching studios equipped with the latest technology for high-level studio production. Collaboration between The McKnight Center and the Greenwood School of Music will be fluid, and the two will be connected through a shared corridor.

“Our working with The McKnight Center is really a critical piece to the expansion, both qualitatively and quantitatively for our program,” Loeffert said. “We expect to grow in terms of numbers, and we also expect to grow in terms of quality.”

The building is designed to encourage collaboration, with unique suites created for specific areas of study and rehearsal spaces built to accommodate a variety of instruments and ensembles. “[The new building] shows our university’s investment in the arts here at Oklahoma State University,” Loeffert said. “I view it as our opportunity to ascend to become a top-tier program.”

It will also open opportunities for unique majors such as music industry, a major that focuses on technical aspects such as running and maintaining performing arts centers.

“The program is so young, and there aren’t a lot of opportunities around Stillwater for those students to go out and see what they want to do,” said Ali Lewis, a music industry student. “So this will definitely bring a lot of internships for them and different opportunities within performing arts centers.”

The McKnight Center opening, paired with the advent of the Greenwood School of Music building, shows there are many reasons to be excited for music programs on campus.

“It’s amazing that so many music students will get to work with such esteemed artists on improving their instrumental skills.”

CARLY NASH, MUSIC INDUSTRY STUDENT

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STORY ZACH KLUVER | PHOTO GARY LAWSON

New York Philharmonic principal clarinetist Anthony McGill works with OSU student Madison Hughes in a master class.

“The new Greenwood School of Music building significantly elevates the stature of our program,” Loeffert said. “It will positively impact every facet of teaching, learning and performing. Our students and faculty are exceptional, and with the addition of a world-class facility, we are now poised to be competitive with the very best music programs in the nation.”

Master classes included with nearly every McKnight Center performance will also improve that competitive edge. These once-in-a-lifetime learning experiences began in 2018 with the musicians from The McKnight Center’s Chamber Music Festival and will continue to be offered to students and the public for free.

The McKnight Center offered 16 master classes during the New York Philharmonic’s residency.

Students had to audition to participate in Kelli O’Hara’s session because demand was so high.

“I think the master classes will have a big impact on the music students in many ways,” said Carly Nash, a music industry student. “It’s amazing that so many music students will get to work with such esteemed artists on improving their instrumental skills and maybe even remind them of their passion for why they became an instrumentalist in the first place.”

While everyone is excited about the glistening new performance hall, for some, one of the most exciting aspects of The McKnight Center is the revival of music and arts it promises to bring.

Calvin Householder, who grew up in a suburb of Austin, Texas, said he chose to attend OSU because of the momentum surrounding music education through The McKnight Center and the Greenwood School of Music.

“My graduating class in high school had 720 students. I was one of 720 to go to Oklahoma State.

My friends back home thought I was crazy to go here, but I told them about all the great things happening here,” he said.

Householder, who plays the trombone, attended two master classes with the Philharmonic, worked as an usher for the Opening Gala and attended the Saturday night concert.

He’s excited to see how music continues to flourish at OSU. “I know I’ll only have a taste of what is to come by the time I graduate, but I’m so thankful to be here during the start of this thing,” he said. “I think arts in general will be much more prominent on campus. It already has been from when I got here a year ago.”

SEE MORE Students share their thoughts on the impact of The McKnight Center and the Greenwood School of Music: okla.st/greenwood.

Experience a master class with the New York Philharmonic: okla.st/mastclass.

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 55

Anatomy of a Concert Hall The performance hall at The McKnight Center is packed with perfectly honed sonic features.

The Variable Acoustic System relies on a series of vertical banners hidden in the ceiling and various mechanically deployed soft materials to dial in the ideal sound for any kind of performance.

In designing the hall for sound optimization, acousticians examined every detail, from reverb time to the fabric on seat backs — it’s mohair, by the way — to any potential sound interference from light fixtures.

Here, a glance at some of the science that makes The McKnight sound so good.

ACOUSTIC REFLECTORS

CATWALKS

DISPLACEMENT VENTILATION SYSTEM Delivers low-velocity conditioned air below the floors into the space resulting in an acoustically quiet and energy efficient means to heat and cool the hall.

FLEXIBLE SEATING PLATFORMS Allows for various box seat configurations.

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IMAGE CAPTURE AND DISPLAYS Cameras within the space and large LED screens allow for more intimate views of the performances.

“Buildings like The McKnight Center are really intricately designed with lots of engineering.”

MARK BLAKEMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

FLYLOFT AND GRIDIRON Configured to accommodate a variety of performances and production capabilities

SCENERY FLY AREA

SEE MORE Learn why the design of The McKnight Center can compete with any music hall: okla.st/sound.

TRAP ROOM

ORCHESTRA PIT AND LIFT Creates flexibility for the stage to have a thrust, orchestra pit or an additional seating area at the audience level.

ORCHESTRA SHELL Provides an acoustic enclosure for projecting sound from the stage into the audience.

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 57

Behind t he Curtain

Director Blakeman offers a glimpse into The McKnight Center’s design and bright future

THERE’S MORE TO A PERFORMANCE THAN MEETS THE EYE … OR EAR. AND WHEN IT COMES TO CONCERT VENUE PREMIERES, THERE’S MORE STILL. 58 W I N T E R 2 0 1 9

Mark Blakeman, Marilynn and Carl Thoma Executive Director of The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University, spent more than two years preparing to open the state-of-the-art concert hall, working to ensure that every detail was in order and the product on stage matches the magnificence of the space, not just this season but for countless seasons to come.

Just weeks before the premiere, Blakeman sat down with STATE magazine to talk about The McKnight Center’s design, function and impact.

STORY MACK BURKE | PHOTOS GARY LAWSON

“ We’ve got all of the right ingredients for a really amazing recipe to come together and shine a really bright light on OSU and on Stillwater.”

MARK BLAKEMAN, MARILYNN AND CARL THOMA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE MCKNIGHT CENTER You have described The McKnight Center as a purpose-built facility. What do you think the ultimate purpose of The McKnight Center is and how does the design play into that?

Purpose-built in this case means that there was a very specific reason the building was being built and that drove the decisionmaking for the design process. Our mission is about transforming people's lives through the presentation of amazing art, essentially, if you distill it down. So creating the best possible environment to have those experiences becomes very important to that. Often the setting for an art experience becomes a central component to the overall experience. You can have great art presented in a substandard environment, and it will affect the experience people have. Likewise, you can have a state-of-the-art facility and weak programming and you won’t have the same kind of impact. So that’s what I mean by purposebuilt. We’re trying to create this optimum environment for listening to music.

(With) most construction projects that would be of this scale, the architect would be this kind of supreme authority on design. That’s not the case with a building like this. The acoustician has veto power on practically every element of the building, whether it’s inside of a performance space or outside of a performance space. That’s something that architects usually hate — they’re so used to being in complete control — but it’s truly a well-designed building.

What kinds of details does an acoustician look at?

Things like the selection of fabric that goes on the seat backs; the lighting fixtures are tested to determine if they emit any sound — and if they do, what’s the frequency range of the sound — things like that. Buildings like The McKnight Center are really intricately designed with lots of engineering, and they typically have a really long construction lead time. This was 2½ years of construction. I tell people all the time it’s more like building a hospital or a research facility than it is like building a classroom or office building. There are a lot of custom materials and proprietary technologies that go into a space like this.

How many performance spaces are there?

There are two inside, and then I count the outdoor plaza as a third. We’re going to use that in two different ways. We’re securing permission from our guest artists to broadcast their on-stage performances to the 32-foot LED wall in the plaza. Certainly for sold-out shows, ... people will be able to congregate in that green space and share that experience. It’s a different kind of experience out there than it is indoors, obviously, but I think it’s a great way to introduce people to what we’re doing without any financial barrier at all. I see the plaza as a great bridge to the community because any passerby can stop and see exactly what’s happening. It’s about community building and doing those closed-circuit broadcasts to the outdoor space is one way we’ll use the outdoor plaza. We also will develop programs specifically for the outdoor plaza.

How will The McKnight Center set OSU apart and what kind of impact do you anticipate this world-class performance hall will have on OSU’s Greenwood School of Music?

It should be a sea change for the school of music. ... I think The McKnight Center, along with the OSU Museum and the Greenwood School of Music — when it’s finished — really strengthens the arts and culture component of the OSU brand.

How does the New York Philharmonic’s involvement speak to the success of The McKnight Center vision?

They play across the U.S. and globally. They tour every year … (but) they don’t do residencies in communities that have 50,000 people. They just don’t do it. There’s not another venue in the United States where you will be able to see the New York Philharmonic with only 1,000 other people. You can’t go anywhere else and have that experience. So we’re just very fortunate that we have this great state-of-the-art facility.

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 59

Of course, having a world-class performance hall is just part of the equation. How has the McKnights’ visionary commitment to programming made an impact?

SEE MORE Go on a tour of The McKnight Center with director Mark Blakeman: okla.st/tour.

Billie and Ross McKnight’s leadership gift was to start an endowment from which the proceeds go specifically toward programming.

The OSU Foundation has been working to raise funds as well, and [we now] have a $50 million endowment earmarked for programming. It’s the only way that we would be able to bring these amazing artists to Stillwater, because the typical business model for a performing arts center is butts in seats … To be able to offer the New York Phil in one season, along with one of the best European orchestras — the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell, who is arguably the top violinist in the world — we just wouldn’t be able to do things like that if it weren’t for the vision of the McKnights and the gift they gave. It was a very smart and generous thing to do.

If we had a fancy building with a lot of technology in it and we couldn’t afford to bring in great artists, what would we have accomplished? We’ve got all of the right ingredients for a really amazing recipe to come together and shine a really bright light on OSU and on Stillwater.

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What are the broader implications for the Stillwater community?

The leadership within city government sees The McKnight Center as a catalyst for some real economic change and development. Using the formula from Americans for the Arts (a Washington-based arts and arts education advocacy group), I estimate that our economic impact for our first season will be about $11 million to the local economy. It’s not insignificant.

With construction finally complete and the center a reality, what happens next? Is there more work to be done?

We’re very fortunate to have the endowment, but it doesn’t fully fund our operation. If you think about the kind of organization and structure that has to be in place to present the New York Philharmonic, it’s substantial. If we are not successful in annual fundraising year after year or ticket sales, it means that the endowment dollars won’t go as far. To continue to bring in the quality, variety and depth of talent, we still have to be successful in stewarding annual support on a regular basis to maximize what we can do. We need all of those pieces to help the puzzle come together, and I think people will continue to support and get excited about our programming mission. It’s more than worth it, for both the cultural and economic impact the world-class programming has on OSU and Stillwater and the state of Oklahoma.

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From left: Reps.

Trish Ranson and John Talley and Sen. Tom Dugger speak during the DNA IV dedication ceremony.

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Amplifying Art

‘DNA IV’ sculpture adds another ‘wow factor’ to The McKnight Center

A

12-foot twisted ribbon-like bronze sculpture anchors the outdoor plaza at The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts, where surround sound and a giant screen offer new ways for the community to interact with art at Oklahoma State University.

The Bill Barrett masterpiece DNA IV, one of six original sculptures included in the award-winning artist’s DNA series, is the latest addition to the university’s permanent art collection.

The sculpture’s installation was the result of a partnership between OSU and the Oklahoma Arts Council as part of the state’s Art in Public Places program. The program, signed into law in 2004, requires eligible state capital improvement projects include 1.5 percent of their overall budget for public art that represents the history and values of Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Arts Council co-hosted the dedication for the sculpture on Sept. 27, two weeks before The McKnight Center opened with fanfare.

“It’s like a really demonstrative conductor, but also lyrical in the way it soars and dives,” President Burns Hargis told the crowd at the dedication.

He added that OSU’s campus wide Neo-Georgian architecture created a wonderful backdrop to DNA IV and other pieces of art that have been installed over the past few years.

“We wanted a wow factor, and I think we can say that about The McKnight Center, and we can say it about this piece by Bill Barrett,” he said.

Victoria Berry, director of the Oklahoma State University Museum of Art and chair of the Public Art Committee, welcomed state Sen. Tom Dugger and Reps. Trish Ranson and John Talley to the dedication. She said their presence demonstrated that state leaders understand how public art resonates with people and enlivens communities.

“It’s said that where words fail, art speaks,” Ranson said. “I believe DNA IV is aptly named as DNA is the basis of all life. This is a guardian to our new McKnight Center, and I’m thrilled we have this new sculpture.”

STORY KYLE STRINGER | PHOTO GARY LAWSON

Ranson, Talley and Dugger read a legislative proclamation that sent best wishes to OSU and the Oklahoma Arts Council and highlighted the significance of providing public art to Oklahomans.

“DNA IV will serve as an iconic symbol for years to come, reflecting and advancing ideals embodied at Oklahoma State University as a center of intellectual and cultural life,” Ranson read from the proclamation.

The dedication also featured a special performance by Oklahoma City-based Perpetual Motion Dance. The group used a giant piece of white silk to emulate through their choreography the lyrical rhythm of the sculpture as performers danced on the outdoor plaza.

Mark Blakeman, the Marilynn and Carl Thoma Executive Director for The McKnight Center, said he was excited to have the work of a well-known sculptor displayed outside the new facility.

“DNA IV is a thought-provoking piece and a physical representation of the commitment to the arts we hope to showcase every day at The McKnight Center,” Blakeman said.

Oklahoma Arts Council Executive Director Amber Sharples said the public art process deepens the connection between universities and the communities they serve.

“DNA IV will meaningfully contribute to the student experience by engendering pride and provoking dialogue from diverse perspectives,” she said. “It will be an effective bridge to the Stillwater community, advancing quality of life for thousands of local residents and visitors from outside the area as they engage with the work when attending world-class programming at The McKnight Center.”

DNA IV is an extension of the OSU Museum of Art’s permanent art collection and will be highlighted during campus tours and various educational programs throughout the year.

SEE MORE Watch the dedication of DNA IV: okla.st/dnaiv.

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Grace Notes

OSU junior credits his teachers with showing him opportunities in music

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STORY DAVID BITTON | PHOTO PHIL SHOCKLEY

FOCUSED. PERSISTENT. GRATEFUL.

T

hose describe Oklahoma State University junior music education major Abraham

Nuñez.

The talented saxophonist with dark hair and a bright smile — who plays soprano, alto, tenor and baritone sax — plans to earn a master’s degree in music theory and become a band director.

“I feel it is my duty to give back to others because I was given so much growing up,” said the 21-year-old from Cypress, Texas. “I was fortunate to have really good teachers who saw lots of drive in me and understood I couldn’t afford private lessons and decided to support me beyond band class.”

Nuñez began learning the alto saxophone in sixth grade with help from Hopper Middle School band director Todd Hearn.

“He was very impactful in my life because he gave up a lot of his own personal time to help me grow musically,” Nuñez said.

Hearn remembers Nuñez as an intelligent and driven student.

“He was musically adept and really eager to learn,” Hearn said. “Any piece of music that I put in front of him he would take to right away. He was always willing to be challenged on the next level. In fact, I think he is the only saxophone player that I’ve had do as difficult a solo as he did in the eighth grade. I know that wherever he ends up he’s going to do great things, and I’m excited to see what the future holds.”

Nuñez describes his playing using the analogy of a duck smoothly gliding atop the water while its webbed feet kick like crazy below.

“Everything is going at once,” he said. “I’m thinking about my breathing, the notes, the phrase that is coming next and how I’m feeling.”

Nuñez plays in the OSU wind ensemble, jazz orchestra and the Cowboy Marching Band. He has also performed at the World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb, Croatia, and the Cortona Saxophone Sessions in Cortona, Italy. Earlier this semester, he

played in a saxophone quartet at The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University.

“I’m very appreciative for the opportunities music students have to perform in the brand new McKnight Center,” he said. “It is a great venue to present the hard work that we put in throughout the school year.

“I also really enjoy chamber music because I feel like I contribute to something greater than just myself. I’m collaborating with other musicians, and it feels great to be making music with others.”

Adjacent to The McKnight Center is the Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music, which is scheduled to open the fall semester of 2021. It will include 38 faculty teaching studios, three ensemble rehearsal spaces, two classrooms, a music industry suite and a keyboard lab. It will be a substantial upgrade from the Seretean Center for the Performing Arts, where a shortage of practice rooms sometimes forced students to practice in hallways, stairwells and even outside.

“The quality of the music making and the art … in the Seretean Center has always been much, much higher than the facilities,” said Kaylee Christensen, who earned bachelor’s (2012) and master’s (2016) music degrees at OSU before becoming band director at Cypress Springs High School, where she worked with Nuñez his senior year. “The new space is going to open so many doors for students, and I think it will be a big draw for future students,” she said.

She encouraged Nuñez to apply to OSU. “There are a lot of places Abraham could have gone, but he chose Oklahoma State because of the people there,” Christensen said.

Nuñez agreed, saying that Dr. Jeffrey Loeffert, professor and director of the Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music, was the primary reason he chose Oklahoma State.

“I chose OSU solely because I wanted to be a better human. Not musician,

human,” Nuñez said. “I knew that OSU’s music program was full of great mentors and educators, but Dr. Loeffert was the one person that I wanted to surround myself with. I knew he would help me grow to unbelievable levels of musicianship but I also knew the wonderful values that he has. He is a great educator and advocate for his students, and I have always believed that I want to extend that to my future students.”

Loeffert thinks Nuñez will make a great band director.

“Abraham is one of the hardestworking students that I have ever met,” he said. “He is inquisitive, driven and he consistently inspires the very best from his peers.”

Nuñez is grateful to Christensen for all she did for him in high school and for encouraging him to work with Loeffert at OSU. “She saw a lot of potential in me so she invested her time in me as well,” Nuñez said.

The long nights of practicing were how Nuñez dealt with difficulties at home that included extreme fighting between his parents and a father who initially didn’t support music as a career option.

Music was his outlet.

“Having a rough home life does not make Abraham unique at our school,” Christensen said. “That’s the status quo. What separates Abraham is that he understood there was a way out. We have a lot of struggles at our school (a suburb in northwest Houston), and one of the things that Abraham helped us with was turning the tide in the way students see themselves. We have a saying here, ‘Why not us?’ and Abraham was one of the first kids who really embodied that. He was the first person who grabbed onto that mentality and showcased that for our band. Slowly and surely … we are starting to push that positive message throughout the school. I will forever credit Abraham with that.”

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Youthful Appeal

McKnight working with Stillwater Public Schools to bring in ‘every child, every grade, every year’

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t The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts, Marilynn and Carl Thoma Executive Director Mark Blakeman is passionate about providing a rich experience for all visitors — an experience that resonates deeply in the unspoken, shared parts of humanity.

This determination led to a 2017 meeting with Dr. Marc Moore, superintendent of Stillwater Public Schools, to discuss a partnership between the schools and The McKnight Center.

“In that conversation, I said my goal — my dream — would be that eventually we build programs so that every student in every grade of the Stillwater Public School system would come to The McKnight Center every year and have a meaningful performing arts experience in some way,” Blakeman said.

The K-12 partnership was born; the phrase, “every child, every grade, every year,” represents the goal of the program.

“We have a high-quality program at The McKnight Center for every first- through eighthgrader at Stillwater Public Schools,” Moore said. “We ultimately hope students will have an appreciation for the arts and incorporate them into their lives as they go beyond Stillwater.”

POSITIVE IMPACT Darin Williams, the new education and community engagement manager at The McKnight Center, also believes firmly in the power of music to inspire and enrich people’s lives, especially those of adolescents.

“Music has definitely shaped me as far as an inspirational point of view as well as a work ethic,” Williams said. “I know that if you speak to anybody who’s been in a band program before, they’ll talk to you about developing the rudimentary skills of how to be a successful adult.”

In October with roughly 900 first- and secondgraders watched a lively performance by the New York Philharmonic Brass Quintet.

Westwood Elementary second graders had front-row seats and offered rave reviews.

“The performance was great,” said Lyla Wingate, who wants to learn to play the saxophone when she is older.

Fellow 8-year-old Avah Fortenberry was excited to see the new concert hall, which seats more than 1,000 but still feels intimate.

“I liked everything,” said Fortenberry, who wants to learn to play the piano. “The music was fun but I liked the tuba the best. I’m excited that I get to come here every year.”

Rebecca Young, principal viola for the New York Philharmonic, rides a bike around Brass Quintet members Ethan Bensdorf, Richard Deane, Alan Baer, Colin Williams and Christopher Martin.

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STORY KYLEE SUTHERLAND AND DAVID BITTON | PHOTOS GARY LAWSON

Westwood Elementary second grader Lyla Wingate enjoys a performance by the New York Philharmonic Brass Quintet at The McKnight Center.

A handful of students got the chance to play the marimba or djembe drum with help from Greenwood School of Music students.

Jennifer McCoy, music teacher at Will Rogers Elementary School, loved seeing the smiles on students' faces.

“This was an incredible opportunity for our students,” McCoy said. “They experienced a live concert with some of the best musicians in the world.”

Another McKnight Center/K-12 program is Carnegie Hall’s Link Up Program, which features interactive performances.

“We’ve done professional development with the Stillwater Elementary music teachers to introduce them to a curriculum that incorporates classic and new material that students of third, fourth and fifth grades will learn to sing, dance and play for the Carnegie Link Up Program,” Williams said.

During the training, elementary music teachers practiced each piece and discussed the potential challenges and aspects to emphasize in the curriculum.

“We’re basically putting all of their musical knowledge into practice just as professional musicians do,” McCoy said. “Students will learn vocal and recorder parts in their music class for specific repertoire that they’ll perform during an interactive concert at The McKnight Center.”

Their concert will take place alongside the Enid Symphony Orchestra on Feb. 5.

“It’s a deep, integrated piece that will take a long time for them to perfect, but we’re integrating

it into the classroom, so they will have a unique hands-on experience all year long,” Williams said.

More programs include seventh- and eighthgrade students attending a Cirque Mechanics performance with classroom activities to supplement the experience, as well as sixthgraders getting involved with the Chamber Music Festival.

“This is a tremendous outreach to allow students of all ages to experience music beyond the classroom and radio,” McCoy said. “Students will actually see and hear a symphonic orchestra, watch a conductor, and experience beautiful music right here in Stillwater.”

This extensive programming is possible thanks to a $25 million endowment donation by OSU alumni Ross and Billie McKnight and an accompanying $25 million in donations. With this funding, The McKnight Center can spend roughly $2.5 million annually on programming.

“Through music, we experience humanism, feeling, emotion, love, compassion, gentleness,” McCoy said. “Many kids like to tap to the beat, dance and sing along. Music can help students relax, be more emotionally developed and aid in coping with anxiety. The list of benefits truly goes on and on. We hope for our students to become so deeply interested and engaged that they’ll be lifelong learners and lovers of music.”

SEE MORE Stillwater educators explain how they’re incorporating art into their classes: okla.st/k12arts.

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A Centennial Celebration

National band fraternity Kappa Kappa Psi celebrates 100 years on the campus where it began

I

n July, more than 1,000 students and alumni from across the United States flocked to Stillwater to celebrate a national band fraternity that has been 100 years in the making. Kappa Kappa Psi got its start on November 27, 1919, on the campus of Oklahoma A&M, now Oklahoma State University, and has become a nationwide organization.

The brainchild of A&M student William A. Scroggs and head of the A&M music department Bohumil Makovsky, the fraternity was developed

to form closer ties among bandsmen across the country through service, leadership and musical excellence.

“The inspiration really was Boh Makovsky,” said Steve Nelson, current Kappa Kappa Psi national executive director. “They wanted to create an organization that would serve college bands through the director. Even to this day, Bohumil Makovsky is seen as the guiding spirit of Kappa Kappa Psi.” The Alpha Chapter was formed by nine additional students and the

top band members at Oklahoma A&M selected by Makovsky to assist Scroggs — A. Frank Martin, Raymond D. Shannon, Clyde Haston, Clayton Soule, Carl Stevens, William Coppedge, Dick Hurst, Asher Hendrickson and Iron H. Nelson.

After the founding, the members formally invited 10 additional universities to join Kappa Kappa Psi. Montana State University and the University of Washington became the Beta and Gamma chapters in 1920.

Kappa Kappa Psi charter members Asher Hendrickson, Iron H. Nelson, A. Frank Martin, Carl Stevens and William A. Scroggs gather around a bust of Bohumil Makovsky during a Founders Reunion in 1969.

The bust is currently on display in the concert hall lobby in the Seretean Center for the Performing Arts.

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STORY WILL CARR | PHOTOS AARON MOORE, TIM GREENWELL, KAPPA KAPPA PSI AND MATTIE AWTREY

The Kappa Kappa Psi shrine, dedicated March 26, 1960, resides at the west end of the Classroom Building at OSU. Pictured during the 1960 dedication: Clyde Haston, Iron Nelson, Carl Stevens, Dick Hurst, Dr. Robert MacVicar, Clayton Soule and A. Frank Martin.

Alpha Chapter members pose with the Kappa Kappa Psi shrine on the OSU campus during the centennial celebration.

“This is where our founders went to school, and I like to think of it as a humble beginning... They had the desire to serve bands and to make a difference.”

BRIANNA MCKINZIE, SOUTHEAST DISTRICT PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

“It is a really interesting story,” Nelson said. “The only reason they are Beta and Gamma is because the guys got on the train here and went up there to install them as chapters. They got to Montana first, so they were the Beta Chapter. They got to Washington second so that is the Gamma Chapter.”

Kappa Kappa Psi was originally founded as an all-male fraternity because many college bands across the country were exclusively male until World War II. During the war, female participation in bands increased. On March 26, 1946, Tau Beta Sigma was founded at Texas Tech University as a band sorority. The organization was officially recognized as a sister organization to Kappa Kappa Psi in 1947.

Kappa Kappa Psi now has chapters on 217 campuses with Tau Beta Sigma on 174. Both became coed organizations after Title IX became law in 1972. The

first women to join the fraternity were the sisters of the Sigma Chapter at Arizona State University.

Mattie Awtrey, current Kappa Kappa Psi Alpha Chapter president and member of the Cowboy Marching Band, is proud to be able to lead the organization as a woman.

“It is really special to see how far we have come,” Awtrey said. “Seeing how that mindset not only in our organization but society has changed — truly being able to understand that everyone is welcome and equal.”

Each chapter is unique thanks to the vision of the band director at each university. Some focus more on the service and leadership aspects, while others focus more on the social opportunities for band members.

“Pick a school, and you will get a different flavor,” Nelson said. “It is all based on that band’s culture and needs.”

“[This campus] is a hub,” Awtrey said.

“Brothers from around the nation come to visit, to see the headquarters and to see where the chapter was started with our founding fathers … It’s a really special time in our history to be home at Oklahoma State.”

The campus is home to a shrine that was dedicated to the co-ed band fraternity — and co-ed sorority Tau Beta Sigma — in 1960. The joint organization’s national office resides in Stillwater, Oklahoma, but with thousands of members nationwide, its reach and impact stretches far and wide.

“Stillwater is the epicenter of the universe for Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma,” said Dr. Joseph Missal, director of bands at Oklahoma State University. “It was founded here. There are about 1,000 college kids who came here to celebrate the 100th anniversary and it’s a special time. Kappa Kappa Psi

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 69

“[This campus] is a hub. It’s a really special time in our history to be home at Oklahoma State.”

MATTIE AWTREY, KAPPA KAPPA PSI ALPHA CHAPTER PRESIDENT and Tau Beta Sigma are the lifeblood for bands across the country. … They exist to support university bands and they do a great job of it nationally, and perhaps nowhere better than Oklahoma State.

We’ve got one of the largest chapters in the country.”

Some members continue to have an impact on Kappa Kappa Psi even after graduating. Andy Melvin, an alumnus of the University of Oklahoma, currently serves as a governor for the southwest district.

“I always wanted to give back to college bands and help the students grow,” Melvin said. “I feel like I have been able to do both of those things in my current role. In the past five or six years, there have been a lot more opportunities created for people to give back and serve in leadership roles.”

The history of the Alpha Chapter and the ability to see the history of the organization is something Kappa Kappa Psi members at OSU get to appreciate throughout the year, but others were able to share in the experience at this year’s centennial celebration.

Brothers and sisters from many chapters outside Oklahoma spent time

Bohumil “Boh” Makovsky served as director of bands and head of the music department at Oklahoma A&M from 1915 to 1943.

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exploring the national headquarters at Stillwater’s Santa Fe Depot, visiting the cemetery where multiple founding members were laid to rest, taking pictures with the organization’s national monument located on the OSU campus near the Classroom Building and enjoying the centennial alumni band concert under the direction of Missal.

“I think it was a very eye-opening experience,” said Brianna McKinzie, president of the southeast district and current student at the University of Florida. “This is where our founders went to school, and I like to think of it as a humble beginning. The people who started it didn’t live in some big city.

They had the desire to serve bands and to make a difference.”

Hosting the centennial celebration in Stillwater meant a lot to Nelson and Aaron Moore, the national alumni historical and development coordinator.

Both men became members as students and helped plan the celebration to honor the organization that means so much to them.

“When I first became involved with the upper levels of the fraternity, I never

thought I would be doing my job during the centennial,” Nelson said. “Like with anybody with OSU, there is a lot of pride and I was really proud to bring it here.

It was really important to me to be able to do that.”

Moore had similar feelings when planning for the centennial began nearly two years ago.

“I just couldn’t think of anywhere else that it could be,” Moore said. “For the 100th celebration, it had to be at OSU. As somebody who was in the band here and an OSU alumnus, it meant a lot to see it here and to see all of the people who made their first trip to Stillwater.”

The centennial celebration also gave members the opportunity to reflect on Kappa Kappa Psi’s impact across the nation.

“I don’t think any of the founders of Kappa Kappa Psi in 1919 expected it to become what it is today,” said Andrew Kinsey, a Kappa Kappa Psi member and recent Boise State University graduate.

“They founded something that college bands could really utilize. I think they just hit the nail on the head with what college bands needed.”

Kappa Kappa Psi charter members William A. Scroggs, A. Frank Martin, Carl Stevens, Clayton Soule and Iron H. Nelson pose during the 1969 Founders reunion.

Stillwater native William A. Scroggs proposed the idea of a band fraternity to director Bohumil Makovsky in the fall of 1919.

Delegates and members of Kappa Kappa Psi gather in the Seretean Concert Hall during the final business session of the 2019 National Convention.

Kappa Kappa Psi National Executive Director Steve Nelson addresses the crowd at the close of the centennial celebration program.

Members of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma tour the organizations’ national headquarters at Stillwater Station during the centennial celebration.

Official photo of the 2019 Kappa Kappa Psi & Tau Beta Sigma National Convention. Some 1,500 student and alumni members of the organization attended the convention in July at OSU.

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 71

Still Lighting the Way National Science Foundation awards $3.9 million grant to OK-LSAMP program

G

rowing up on a small ranch in the rural Mexican town of Atolinga, Casandra Salinas had plenty of time to daydream about her future on the 30-minute bus ride to and from school.

“I didn’t really dream big,” she said. “I didn’t think I would have the opportunity to.”

Her father died in 2010, and the California-born Salinas ended up in Oklahoma City with her aunt.

Despite attending three different high schools and a slew of other challenges, Salinas maintained a 4.0 GPA. Still struggling with English and lacking the guidance and connections that some take for granted, she was burdened with doubt. She had long dreamed of becoming a doctor but thought the path might be beyond her reach.

Casandra Salinas

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“I thought maybe it wasn’t for me because of my background or my financial situation,” she said. “I thought that’s just not going to happen.”

An OSU admissions counselor came to visit during her senior year in high school, and everything changed.

“She was talking to students about OSU, and she told me I could make it at OSU,” Salinas said. “She encouraged me to apply.”

OPENING THE DOOR Salinas was accepted and came to OSU in the fall of 2016, quickly falling in love with the campus and the people.

Still, juggling her class load in a new collegiate environment and working at a restaurant, the first-generation college student felt overwhelmed and unprepared.

“I felt imposter syndrome, like I shouldn’t be here, I shouldn’t be doing research,” she said. But help arrived in the form of the Oklahoma Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program (OK-LSAMP). Through her involvement in the Hispanic Student Association, Salinas met OK-LSAMP director Brenda Morales, who is the co-adviser of the association.

“Brenda Morales mentored me and pushed me to apply for the OK-LSAMP program. I got accepted, and then I applied for the McNair Scholars program as well.”

Through OK-LSAMP, Salinas started her research project on cystic fibrosis in the summer of 2018 in the department of microbiology and molecular genetics under Dr. Marianna Patrauchan. Now a senior, the biochemistry and molecular biology major is working in the same lab today and has presented her findings

at various conferences. At the recent Oklahoma Women Impacting Science and Entrepreneurship conference in Tulsa, she earned the top award for outstanding undergraduate poster presentation.

INSPIRING SCHOLARS Named after the late Ohio congressman and civil rights pioneer Louis Stokes, the OK-LSAMP program opens students’ eyes to possibilities and opportunities available at OSU and all Oklahoma Alliance institutions. The National Science Foundation recently awarded a $3.9 million grant to the program, ensuring that the Oklahoma alliance will be able to continue its mission of preparing underrepresented scholars to enter STEM fields and engage in research around the world.

“We’re helping OK-LSAMP Scholars understand that there are different ways that research happens, and it’s not always what you imagined or what you were told,” said Dr. Jason F. Kirksey, vice president for institutional diversity and chief diversity officer at OSU, who serves as principal investigator for OK-LSAMP. “So when our scholars get to see and hear industry professionals talk about where they started, the students recognize that their backgrounds, including the struggles of their parents, are exactly the same.

“At that point, our students become motivated and inspired that they are able to accomplish the achievements of the career professionals talking to them.”

Kirksey said the program does more than open the door — it keeps the door open, instilling confidence in its scholars.

STORY MACK BURKE | PHOTOS PHIL SHOCKLEY AND GARY LAWSON

“This program creates an opportunity to really fuel those passions and lets the students experience things that few programs offer,” he said.

BY THE NUMBERS The National Science Foundation implemented the LSAMP program nationally in 1991. The Oklahoma Alliance was established in 1994 to develop programs aimed at increasing the number of students from underrepresented populations earning degrees in STEM disciplines. With Oklahoma State University as the lead institution, OK-LSAMP now includes 12 universities across the state that have awarded a total of more than 13,000 bachelor’s degrees.

OK-LSAMP was required to demonstrate continued growth and forward momentum to secure this round of funding from the NSF, Morales said, and the program continues to boast strong numbers.

The enrollment of underrepresented students in OK-LSAMP institutions increased 370 percent since 1994. From 2015-18, 62 scholars participated in 69 research experiences in 25 countries and over 40 locations, demonstrating the program’s focus on international research. In addition, scholars participated in study-abroad seminars, panel discussions and workshops for these scientific and cultural experiences.

“At OK-LSAMP, we are proud to provide opportunities that will impact the scholars, research and the global scientific community,” Morales said. “Thanks to the National Science Foundation LSAMP grant we are able to continue to inspire young, underrepresented STEM students to

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pursue their dreams as researchers through academic integration, professionalization and scientific community integration.”

Salinas said she never could have imagined the opportunities that OK-LSAMP has shown her.

“Now I can see myself pursuing a career as a biomedical scientist.

Looking back, that wasn’t even on my radar. Back when I was in middle school and high school, it seemed impossible.

But I’ve had amazing mentors and professors, and I’m very happy and very proud that Oklahoma State University has these programs for students who really need them.”

The program has also opened opportunities for her little brothers, including a 17-year-old who is considering going to college himself.

Salinas said she now has the tools to help them navigate the college journey.

“OK-LSAMP didn’t just open doors for me — it opened doors for them, too. And it’s going to allow me to do something impactful for my family, my community and myself,” she said. “I would love to be a liaison to my hometown and help bring resources there, but I also love Oklahoma. This is home, too.”

Rainee DeRoin

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BRIDGE TO DOCTORATE Fellow OK-LSAMP scholar Rainee DeRoin has a different success story that also started with the program.

While researching programs at OSU, the first-generation college student learned about OK-LSAMP through the Retention Initiative for Student Excellence (RISE) program. DeRoin always aspired to do water quality research and the OK-LSAMP program gave her that opportunity. And, because OK-LSAMP researchers get hands-on research opportunities as undergrads, she didn’t have to wait until grad school to delve into her passion.

Former OK-LSAMP scholar Adrian Saenz was getting his master’s degree and doing a research project on Eastern red cedar management.

DeRoin saw her opportunity.

“I just knew we were getting water samples and I was like, if it’s got something to do with water, I’m doing it,” she said.

DeRoin, a Tulsa native, had never left Oklahoma until her freshman year at OSU. Three years later, she has been to Washington, D.C., Georgia, New Mexico, Alabama, and, most recently, Germany for the World Congress for Undergraduate Research. She was also

Adrian Saenz

selected to go to Hawaii to showcase her work and to network with researchers from around the globe.

In October, the environmental science senior attended the National Diversity in STEM Conference (SACNAS) in Honolulu to present the latest findings of the water research initiative. Now, she's looking forward to a bright future — one that she said would not have been possible without the OK-LSAMP program.

“I never dreamed about going to grad school, but OK-LSAMP has opened that door,” she said. “They have this funding program called Bridge to Doctorate and hopefully I will get it, and I will be on track to get my Ph.D. Because I’ve already done so much research through OK-LSAMP, I will have a chance to go straight to a Ph.D. “It’s crazy from where I came from.

At Nathan Hale [High School], I think only four of the people I knew in my class went to college. I have OK-LSAMP to thank for that.”

LEARN MORE For more information, visit okla.st/OK-LSAMP.

HELPING STUDENTS AT OSU COULD BE AS SIMPLE AS LOOKING IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD! Donors support OSU in many ways, including outright cash gifts, donations of property and estate-planning tools such as wills and trusts.

An opportunity that isn’t as well known is the gift of mineral rights. If you donate oil and gas royalties to the OSU Foundation, we can manage those assets in-house and help you achieve your charitable goals. Whether the gift is an entire or undivided fractional interest, it can significantly impact many areas, including scholarships, faculty, facilities and programs.

For more information, please contact:

OSU FOUNDATION OFFICE OF GIFT PLANNING 800.622.4678 | giftplanning@OSUgiving.com | OSUgiving.com/EstatePlanning

A Time for

TULSA NEW OSU-TULSA PRESIDENT SHARES BOLD VISION FOR THE FUTURE

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STORY JAMIE EDFORD AND GRETCHEN WAGNER | PHOTO PHIL SHOCKLEY

OSU Graduate College who chaired the presidential search committee. “Her history of leadership, growth, increasing responsibility and promotion fully equipped her for the OSU-Tulsa presidency.”

Fry bleeds orange. She became a Cowboy decades ago, earning a master’s degree in applied behavioral studies and a doctorate in curriculum and supervision while being recognized as her class’s outstanding graduate student. Her background also includes 12 years at the University of Oklahoma as a tenured faculty member and administrator at the department head and associate dean levels.

“I have been fortunate to hold administrative positions at 10 different levels at two different research universities, from helping students solve their academic problems, to managing promotion and tenure processes, and to overseeing academic policy,” Fry said. “Each role had its own unique challenges, and they have built upon one another like a staircase. There is no training program for a university presidency, but 30 years in higher education leadership is a good start.”

VISION FOR TULSA

P

amela Martin Fry began her role as OSUTulsa’s third president on July 1. However, she began making a significant impact on academics at the Stillwater and Tulsa campuses long before that. Fry joined OSU’s administration in 2001 as the head of teaching and curriculum leadership, later serving six years as dean of the College of Education. She was also interim provost from 2013 to 2014.

Most recently, she served as vice provost at OSU Stillwater and as OSU-Tulsa’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. In those roles, Fry led the creation of OSU’s University College, which focuses on student academic success and includes such support areas as the University College Advising Office, Veteran Student Academic Success Center, improved transfer student services and expansion of LASSO tutoring services.

“Pam journeyed from faculty to department head to dean to her provost positions,” said Sheryl Tucker, vice provost for OSU-Tulsa and dean of the

In collaboration with faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members, Fry has bold plans to continue to identify signature programs and services relevant to the Tulsa area.

She often talks about how academic programs are crucial to the brand and identity of an institution and critical to its success.

“There is a connection between a school’s academic mission and its connections to the community,” Fry said. “The key word is relevance.

In higher education, we need to ask ourselves, ‘How are our mission, programs and research relevant to the broader community?’” At OSU-Tulsa, Fry and her leadership team work closely with community partners to increase access to degrees, promote diversity and equity on campus and in the community, and serve as an innovation leader.

Fry details how OSU-Tulsa contributes to the larger Tulsa community: The institution is dedicated to building access to degrees and certificates that are relevant to the local community and embraces its mandate to serve as a driver of innovation as a research university and contribute to a higher overall quality of life in the area.

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“My vision over the next few years is for OSU-Tulsa to become a premier, nationally recognized metropolitan and urban-serving research university.”

DR. PAMELA FRY, PRESIDENT, OSU-TULSA

Dr. Pamela Fry chats with OSU-Tulsa students (from left) Alec Puckett, Malaykumar Bhakta and Taylor Sturtevant.

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“OSU-Tulsa will be an anchor institution in Tulsa and play a key role in building diverse and prosperous communities,” she said.

What’s more, Fry staunchly believes OSU-Tulsa is in a strategic position to contribute to the overall OSU system.

“OSU-Tulsa is OSU’s only actual branch campus — that is, our programs and faculty flow between the Stillwater and Tulsa campuses. This arrangement provides great efficiency in costs for program delivery and other types of services. In addition, students take courses at both campuses in a variety of formats including face-to-face, hybrid and online.” Fry also believes the OSU-Tulsa campus presents a tremendous opportunity for the university to fulfill its land-grant mission in a metropolitan, urban-serving setting.

A big-picture thinker, Fry is no stranger to leveraging her influence to improve the education system. Over her career, she has provided educational leadership at local, state and national levels, including as editor of one of the top national journals in teacher education and as one of four nationally elected representatives to the board of directors for the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education. At the community level, she

served two terms as a Stillwater Public Education Foundation trustee and was honored with the 2010 SPEF Pioneer Service Award.

A FIRST FOR WOMEN As the first female president of OSU-Tulsa, Fry will leave a legacy for future women in academic leadership. Research on women and leadership shows that even as women continue to manage more roles in their personal lives and their professional assignments, they often hesitate to speak up or assert themselves in the workplace.

“To address those challenges, especially early in my career, I found personal and professional networks to be especially important, along with carefully chosen role models and mentors,” she said.

She also found it important to be “overprepared” for meetings with key points in mind.

This approach gave her confidence to speak up and express her thoughts and opinions.

“Now, I find it incredibly meaningful to assist others in their development as leaders, especially those individuals who are struggling with difficult circumstances,” she said.

The desire to help others succeed is a theme throughout Fry’s research, which has focused on

PHOTOS OSU-TULSA

analysis of teaching, learning and curriculum at both the P-12 and collegiate levels. She has taught courses in educational philosophy, leadership, management and advocacy, curriculum development, teaching and assessment of learning and evaluation and improvement of educational institutions.

CONTEXT OF ACCOMPLISHMENT When strategizing or discussing new initiatives, Fry frequently refers to Simon Sinek’s book, Start with Why. “The premise is that people like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs and the Wright Brothers had little in common, but they all started with ‘why.’ They realized that people won’t truly buy into a product, service, movement or idea until they understand the ‘why’ behind it,” Fry said.

“My ‘why’ is helping others build a better life through education, at any age and at any level.

From my earliest memories, this has served as a motivation for my life choices and career path.”

Fry’s proudest achievements center on putting her research into action to help students succeed.

“Our Veteran Student Academic Success Center in Stillwater and Veteran Success Center in Tulsa

were much-needed resources for a traditionally underserved population,” she said. OSU now offers support for military-affiliated students and their families on both campuses. As of 2018, OSU went from unranked to 57th in the nation for its efforts as a veteran-serving institution, according to Military Times.

Fry also led efforts to provide enhanced services for transfer students, particularly in Tulsa.

“The greatest predictor of transfer student success at a four-year institution is the number of credits that transfer,” Fry said. “By working closely with two-year institutions to provide early advising and coordinated student services, we can guide students to take classes that apply to their desired OSU bachelor’s degree program. By working together, we will continue to improve outcomes for our transfer students.”

When reflecting on her journey at OSU, Fry points to one — more personal — accomplishment that illustrates her passion for the university.

“All three of my children earned their bachelor’s degrees from OSU. I clearly believe in the value of an OSU degree!”

SEE MORE Meet Dr. Pamela Fry, the first woman to lead OSU-Tulsa: okla.st/pamfry.

Dr. Pamela Fry poses with the OSU-Tulsa President Search and Screening Committee after her selection as president.

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Cowboys on Court

New futsal court brings health benefits and visitors to OSU-OKC campus

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sk Nestor Bravo, and he’ll tell you the new futsal court at Oklahoma State UniversityOklahoma City is about more than a game.

"It will help with recruiting incoming students, provide a gathering point for a diverse student body, and help students pursue an active and healthy lifestyle," Bravo said.

And, he added, it will breathe life into the school’s Athletics and Sports Association. The student-led group is tasked with promoting fitness on campus, including through team sports.

But the group has struggled in recent years owing to the limited sports facilities on the OSU-OKC campus.

School leaders made an effort to address that issue this summer with the construction of a new on-campus futsal court. Now Bravo, the school’s Student Government Association president and a member of the Athletics and Sports Association, says the sporting landscape at OSU-OKC is looking up.

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“The futsal court is a great addition to the school,” he said. “It will bring in people from all over the city.”

Futsal is a form of soccer played within a walled or fenced area, often seen in high-density areas where participants may not have access to a full-size soccer field. The futsal ball is typically smaller than a standard soccer ball.

With a smaller playing area, the game emphasizes ball control and quick, short passes. Players can excel through creativity and imagination — skills that can sometimes be marginalized on a full-size soccer field.

The OSU-OKC court features a hard surface — similar to a tennis court — and is located just south of the Administration Building and Student Center. It’s at the heart of the campus, and an easy walk from several of the school’s classroom buildings.

School President Brad Williams said he hopes the court will be a draw for students and members of the community at large.

“We believe this is a great way to engage the community,” Williams said.

“In fact, we are planning a citywide futsal tournament to emphasize the values of teamwork and sportsmanship, while introducing participants to college and career opportunities.”

The court was constructed through a partnership with the Oklahoma City Energy and the Energy Assist Foundation. The foundation is building courts all around the Oklahoma City metro area. Energy Assist Executive Director Mickey Dollens said it made

sense to his group to place a court on a college campus.

“The Energy Assist Foundation determines where to build futsal courts based on the community’s needs,” Dollens said. “Since OSU-OKC's campus is a hub for the community, it just made sense to build a court there.

We're very pleased with the amount of activity taking place on the OSU-OKC futsal court. It's a beautiful addition to an already stellar campus.”

Bravo said one big plus of the new court is that it will allow the Athletics and Sports Association (ASA) to keep its focus on campus.

In the past, the association spearheaded the formation of a co-ed indoor soccer team, but the games were played in a public league at an offcampus facility.

“Now the ASA can host futsal competitions right here on campus,” Bravo said. “And it should help the club draw in new members, too.”

As a soccer enthusiast and player, Bravo said he feels the futsal court will provide benefits beyond the ASA, as well.

“It’s a great recruiting point for incoming freshman,” he said. “It will be a great diversity area as well, because soccer will bring everyone together.”

Following a recent pick-up game, Bravo and his fellow players had rave reviews for the court, which features shaded bleachers and lights for night play.

“The court looks great and feels great,” he said. “The canopy is good for shade and coverage from the rain.

I wouldn’t mind playing in the day or night.”

STORY NICK TROUGAKOS | PHOTOS NED WILSON

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Creating a LivingLearning Community First in-residence position boosts engagement in Parker Hall

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klahoma State University’s College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology often finds itself on the cutting edge. That remains the case with its new in-residence position.

The position places a CEAT-affiliated staffer in its Living-Learning Program in Parker Hall, which houses more than 200 of the college’s freshmen.

The person fulfilling the job aims to foster and enhance an environment that encourages learning and growth outside the classroom.

CEAT teamed up with the Office of Housing and Residential Life to create this first-of-its-kind position at OSU. The idea came from Housing and Residential Life Director Dr. Leon McClinton Jr., who approached Associate Dean Randy Seitsinger, and Student Academic Services Director Lance Millis.

“Considering CEAT has helped us transform Parker Hall into a highly active Living-Learning Program, we thought adding a faculty member (or someone affiliated with CEAT) would add another level of involvement that would be well received

by CEAT’s first-year students living in the hall,” McClinton said.

Parker Hall is home to CEAT’s Living Learning Program, which offers access to resources for CEAT students in their residential building, facilitates networking among students, and supports students through the transition to their rigorous majors. These resources include an extension of the CEAT Student Excellence Center in the basement, equipped with all the necessary tools (3D printer, whiteboards, etc.) for students to work on projects, free on-site tutoring, mentoring from CEAT upperclassmen — Parker Engineering, Architecture and Technology Experts (PEATEs for short), career coaching and much more. The CEAT in-residence position is yet another tool for CEAT students.

Through a lengthy selection process, Rodney Eksteen, a staff member with Engineering Extension, and his wife Kavina have been chosen as the first to fill the newly formed position. In conjunction with CEAT’s Living-Learning Program, they plan and host programs for residents and host small group events in their specially designed private apartment.

CEAT students gather for dinner in Parker Hall with Kavina Eksteen (center, holding sign).

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STORY JEFF HOPPER | PHOTOS PHIL SHOCKLEY AND RODNEY EKSTEEN

Rodney and Kavina Eksteen, both graduate students, came to OSU from South Africa and are serving as in-residence advisers.

Millis believes that the position is extremely beneficial to the students in Parker Hall, their parents and CEAT as a whole.

“Students benefit from getting to know two dynamic, interesting, fun people, who have great personalities and a wealth of experiences and perspective to share with students,” Millis said.

“Parents see it as a plus, having adults living in the building with their student, and it shows that CEAT is willing to try new ideas to serve student needs and provide them with the best experience possible.”

Rodney and Kavina bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the position. While working with Engineering Extension, Rodney is also pursuing his Ph.D. in fire and emergency management. He has also served in several public safety roles such as fire and rescue and served in the South African Naval Marine Corps.

Kavina, who holds bachelor’s degrees in physiology and zoology, is pursuing a master’s degree in environmental science and is working as a graduate research assistant on a watershed

sustainability project. She, too, has served in public safety roles such as first aid and firefighting, as well as teaching English as a foreign language.

The Eksteens strive to provide students with a safe space to share their frustrations and challenges as well as a calm place to receive encouragement, support and guidance. Although the beginning of the semester has been hectic for everyone, the couple is now beginning to schedule small dinners in their apartment and have organized a video gaming night for students.

The Eksteens came to OSU from South Africa, so this experience has provided them with an intensive cultural immersion in both American culture and young adult culture.

“We view the CEAT in-residence program as a unique opportunity for us to help, serve and develop the future engineering generation, which will have long-term positive impacts on society,” Rodney said. “It is a privilege to be involved in the development of young adults and foster the many friendships that will benefit the students, the university and ourselves for years to come.”

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Changing Young Lives

OSU grad helps girls use entrepreneurship to shape their future

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ngela Reddix said she had no idea what she was in for when she arrived on Oklahoma State University’s Stillwater campus in 2015 to pursue a doctorate at the Spears School of Business. Accepted into Spears’ Ph.D. in Business for Executives Program, the Virginia native found herself immersed in the program’s research-heavy curricula while searching for a dissertation topic. The only thing she knew was she wanted her dissertation to make a difference.

“I just kept thinking that I wanted to study something about the urban culture because that’s my life,” she said.

“In reading the (research) literature, it resonated with me that I wasn’t reading about someone like me and how I was able to transform my world through entrepreneurship.”

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The Ph.D. in Business for Executives Program at Spears Business is an accredited program for working professionals that focuses on developing leadership and innovation guided by advanced business research.

Participants are challenged to select dissertations that solve problems.

Reddix decided to study using entrepreneurship to transform the lives of young girls.

With her own story as a template, Reddix launched a study to see if girls facing poverty can use entrepreneurship training to take control of their lives.

Her Spears dissertation led her to start the Envision Lead Grow program, which teaches girls in the sixth grade through high school how to start their own businesses.

Reddix began by studying the experiences of more than 400 girls.

Since completing her doctorate in 2017, she has continued her study and expanded the program to include summer camps, including one this year at OSU that brought 80 girls from 10 states to Stillwater to learn business fundamentals. The OSU camp was sponsored by the School of Entrepreneurship and Riata Center for Entrepreneurship at Spears Business.

Envision Lead Grow now includes more than 600 girls from 30 states, with Reddix hoping to expand it to 1,000 “girl bosses,” as she calls her participants, by 2020.

Reddix grew up in Virginia, witnessing the difficult lives of young girls trapped in poor communities

STORY JEFF JOINER | PHOTOS JEFF JOINER AND ENVISION LEAD GROW

“We’re working to help young girls change their circumstances.”

ANGELA REDDIX, DIRECTOR OF ENVISION LEAD GROW with few opportunities. She was able to dictate her own path through education and ultimately starting her own business.

A business graduate of James Madison University with a master’s degree in organizational development from Bowie State University, Reddix worked for several years in corporate positions in Washington, D.C., before returning home to Virginia Beach in 2006. There, she launched ARDX, a health care management and IT consulting firm that contracts with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and employs more than 100 people.

She said she sees the impact of entrepreneur training nearly every day in the lives of girls who are empowered to think about themselves and their potential differently. Entrepreneurs have power to change lives and

communities — even if they’re barely teenagers, Reddix said.

“We’re working to help young girls change their circumstances,” she said.

“Unfortunately, their childhoods have been stolen from them in many cases, but if you can tap into their hearts and minds and allow them to dream and see possibilities then the value of reprograming the narrative in their head is just tremendous.”

At the end of their week at OSU this summer, camp participants pitched their business ideas to judges who awarded winners $500 in seed money to start businesses. In the second phase of the program, the girls are paired with mentors back home, where they continue their training through regular webinars and assignments.

The girls who continue in the program can earn trips to the annual Envision Lead Grow Entrepreneurship Institute

in Washington, D.C., where they work with Fortune 500 female executives and entrepreneurs.

To date, girls in the program have started businesses ranging from designing and making jewelry and creating a fashion line to one girl boss who wants to start summer camps exclusively for young girls interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers.

Reddix said she came full circle when she returned to the OSU campus this summer with girls who participated in the program that started as the subject of her dissertation here.

“I had no idea that being a part of the Spears Ph.D. program for executives would lead me to where I am right now working with all these girls,” Reddix said. “This is more rewarding than any company I could own.”

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MAR K YOU R C ALE N DARS FO R TH E

2020 SY MPOSIUM! featuring keynote speaker

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INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED VOICE FOR QUALITY EDUCATION & WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT

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OSUgiving.com/Women

Advancing Cancer Care for Animals Ranjan’s ultrasound research wins almost $2.5 million in new funding from NCI and foundations

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n Oklahoma State University program to advance animal cancer treatment has received almost $2.5 million in new research funds.

Ashish Ranjan, BVSc, Ph.D., Kerr Foundation Endowed Chair and associate professor in the Department of Physiological Sciences, leads the Nanomedicine and Targeted Therapy Laboratory at Oklahoma State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

“Currently, surgical resection is the standard of care or first-line treatment of early-stage melanoma,” Dr. Ranjan said. “However, if the cancer spreads (metastasizes) to other organs (liver, kidney, lymph node, etc.), surgical resection is ineffective. For such patients, a combination of radiotherapy and anticancer drugs are often employed, but they cause toxic side effects in normal tissues and inefficient clearance of cancerous cells, resulting in high recurrence and fatality rates in patients. Our research aims to develop noninvasive focused soundwave approaches and immuneactivating nanoparticles that induce the immune system to target the cancer.”

STORY DERINDA BLAKENEY | PHOTOS PHIL SHOCKLEY

A five-year RO1 grant from the National Cancer Institute worth nearly $1.7 million will help Ranjan’s team develop a novel nanoparticle that detects cancer cells by the immune system in combination with focused ultrasound. Additional support from Petco Foundation ($500,000) and Focused Ultrasound Foundations ($200,000) will help Ranjan’s team translate these findings in veterinary patients with spontaneous cancers.

“The role of the immune system in cancer therapy is known, but how to tailor these for optimal therapeutic outcomes requires further investigation. Dr. Ranjan’s research strives to address these in a meaningful and clinical way, which explains the excitement of these funding agencies to support this program,” said Dr. Carlos Risco, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine.

The Focused Ultrasound Foundation recently appointed Ranjan to its Veterinary Program Scientific Advisory Board. The RO1 grant was also recommended for the NCI MERIT Award, which is given to select researchers nationally. The MERIT award would allow Dr. Ranjan’s laboratory to receive extended funding for up to seven years of support.

Ashish Ranjan

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STUDENT JOURNEY

Smokey Solis Smokey Solis and his family had to make several sacrifices over the years so he could attend Oklahoma State University. From selling a family guitar to an unexpected car accident, the journey to get a degree hasn’t always been easy.

But thanks to support from the Cowboy family, Smokey will earn a bachelor’s degree in May 2020 in sports media and strategic communications.

As an out-of-state student from Westcliffe, Colorado, Smokey made a 14-hour overnight drive to visit OSU. Smokey’s mother sold her orange Gretsch guitar so they could afford the trip to Stillwater.

“As we were driving down University Avenue, we looked to our right and saw Edmon Low Library and Library Lawn. All I said was, "Wow." My mom had the same reaction. At that moment, we both knew OSU was where I was supposed to be.”

As Smokey began his journey at Oklahoma State, he discovered his passion for photography and videography. And he has no plans to stop pursuing education after he leaves campus.

“I grew up in a business-oriented family, so I plan to build my future media business and grow to be one of the top small businesses in Oklahoma. I am constantly learning new techniques and expanding my skill set. All in all, I am very passionate about my work.”

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Smokey broke his back, and his mother was left paralyzed in a car accident in 2016. That cast doubt on whether he would be able to finish his education, but receiving the Roger Bolton Memorial Scholarship took some of the stress off him and his mother.

“After that [accident] I wondered if I would be able to finish my education. Making it to my senior year has been a true blessing and having this scholarship will help me pursue my goals.”

With the encouragement from the Cowboy family, Smokey is on the right path for an even brighter future.

He hopes to continue the tradition of support by helping other students.

“My mom and I have come a long way, and there have been many roadblocks. With your help, I am confident that I can turn my dreams into reality. Thank you so much for your generosity. One day I hope to do the same for future students.”

No matter where you decide to make an impact, your gift ensures that students like Smokey feel the power — and the hope — of having the Cowboy family behind them.

Visit brighter-orange.com to learn how you can make a difference.

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Another Side of Winston Churchill Granddaughter Celia Sandys brings legendary British prime minister’s personal side to life at OSU event

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STORY DAVID BITTON | PHOTO GARY LAWSON

Churchill didn’t think of himself as a politician but rather as a writer.

CELIA SANDYS, WINSTON CHURCHILL'S GRANDDAUGHTER

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ir Winston Churchill is best known as the man who helped lead Britain to victory during World War II. But Celia Sandys, who spoke to more than 1,000 people at The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University this fall, came to share a more personal side of her grandfather.

“I like to try and tell people what it was like to grow up with the most famous man in the world,” said Sandys, a speaker and author who has written five books on Churchill’s life. “I want to … bring him alive for people.”

Sandys spent her late teens and early 20s traveling with Churchill, who died in 1965 at the age of 90. Her experiences and the stories she learned eventually became the book Chasing Churchill: The Travels of Winston Churchill, which also became a PBS documentary.

Their first journey was a nearly four-week trip on Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis’ yacht from Monte Carlo to Istanbul and back.

“He loved traveling … and looked at everything with a painter’s eye because … his favorite thing was painting,” Sandys said.

She cherished spending time with her grandfather, whether it was on simple picnics or multiple trips to the South of France.

Sandys — the daughter of Churchill’s eldest child, Diana and Cabinet Minister Duncan Sandys — said Churchill didn’t think of himself as a politician but rather as a writer.

“His children used to say that they didn’t live from hand-to-mouth but from pen-to-mouth,” Sandys said. “As soon as he needed some money, he would write a book or write an article.”

In 1953, he was awarded the Noble Prize in Literature.

Sandys said Churchill was driven from an early age to succeed and that he always believed in his destiny. She recalled a letter Churchill wrote his mother while he was a soldier in South Africa during the Boer War. “Bullets mean nothing to me. I have faith in my star that I’m intended to do something in the world,” he wrote.

Churchill told a fellow soldier in India that he would be prime minister one day. Roughly 40 years later in May 1940, he achieved that goal. He was

the British prime minister and minister of defense until 1945, working with the United States and Soviet Union to defeat Nazi Germany. He served as prime minister again from 1951-1955.

Churchill has been portrayed in several movies, and Sandys called Gary Oldman as Churchill in 2017’s Darkest Hour “brilliant.”

“It was wonderful, but it wasn’t the grandfather I knew because I didn’t know him as the British Bulldog and fighting for our lives,” Sandys said. “I knew him as a grandfather who I used to go feed the fish with.”

Her first book, From Winston with Love and Kisses: The Young Churchill — published nearly 30 years after Churchill’s passing and detailing the first 20 years of his life — was written entirely from family letters and diaries.

The next book, Churchill: Wanted Dead or Alive, details a thrilling nine-month period in South Africa when he was a war correspondent and soldier.

“He had a price of £25 on his head and was imprisoned by the Boers,” Sandys said. “He escaped … and was on the international stage the rest of his life.”

One of Sandys’ favorite Churchill quotes is “Never, never, never give in.”

“He had to battle through his childhood … and battle in politics,” she said.

Sandys loves sharing stories of her grandfather and was grateful for the chance to speak at OSU. When asked what advice Sandys thinks Churchill would offer college students, she simply said, “You must believe in yourself. If you don’t … no one else will.”

President Burns Hargis and First Cowgirl Ann Hargis invited Sandys to speak at OSU after meeting her through a mutual friend this past summer in London.

“We really appreciate you being here,” President Hargis said during a question and answer session following her speech. “It has been a complete delight.”

Sandys enjoyed her time on the OSU-Stillwater campus, as well.

“I’m enchanted by this campus,” she said. “If I had a child of the right age, I’d definitely send them to this university. I think it is a wonderful environment, and the students I’ve met are great.”

SEE MORE OSU President Burns Hargis and Celia Sandys discuss Winston Churchill: okla.st/ pmstories.

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Taking Flight

Unmanned Systems Research Institute’s new lab provides more space and mobility for projects

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klahoma State University’s Unmanned Systems Research Institute has a new research lab.

The development center, called Excelsior, on Willis Street provides a dedicated space for the research organization’s projects. The previous location was in the Richmond Hills Research Complex on the north side of Stillwater. Excelsior aims to provide a higher level of educational opportunities to students studying unmanned systems.

And the new, purpose-built facility is a better fit for them.

“The integration, testing and maker spaces allow teams to use unmanned systems for research related to the environment, ecology, weather, climate change and national security,” said Dr. Jamey Jacob, USRI director.

At the Richmond Hills Research Complex, research engineers were working with graduate and undergraduate students on important

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projects for commercial and military use, as well as an array of outreach projects. However, according to Taylor Mitchell, a research engineer, they had been trying to do the best they could in a building not well laid out for their needs.

“We had been operating under a ‘best fit as we could’ scenario,” agreed Victoria Natalie, a fellow research engineer.

The USRI does weather measurement flight campaigns with drones to record weather data, which requires storm chasing.

A choke point at the Richmond Hills complex would keep researchers from quickly loading things, such as storm chasing equipment into the stormchasing vehicle, which needs to be done fast in order to catch a storm, Natalie said. The new facility cuts out choke points and offers more space.

“The ease of mobility in the new building is probably the biggest difference,” Natalie said.

Mitchell added that Excelsior has a dedicated space to park the stormchasing vehicle, as well as a rolling shelf for their equipment that can be rolled to the car and quickly loaded if a storm is predicted.

Excelsior also contains an electrical manufacturing room, 3D printing room, integration rooms including a secure integration room, composite room, light manufacturing room and enginetesting chamber. Bringing these tools together under on roof enables the USRI to utilize a single facility instead of going to multiple engineering facilities to work on each portion of a project.

Another benefit of Excelsior is its location. It is significantly closer to campus than the Richmond Hills Research Complex.

“The new facility acts as a central hub and contains all of the resources needed for all campus and industrial collaborators,” Jacob said.

STORY DAKOTA KEITH | PHOTOS PHIL SHOCKLEY

“The new facility acts as a central hub and contains all of the resources needed for all campus and industrial collaborators.”

DR. JAMEY JACOB, USRI DIRECTOR

“It is a lot easier for us to get to a “Excelsior is a dedicated, purpose-built meeting on campus to collaborate and space that allows us to better serve our coordinate with people at the university,” customers.”

Natalie said. “It is no longer a 15-minute Excelsior not only offers a better drive to get to a meeting.” working space for both students and Since the USRI team coordinates on USRI customers, it also reminds us projects with many units on campus, it is to encourage our students to push the no wonder the team feels relieved about boundaries of what is possible, said Paul the drive. Currently, teams are working Tikalsky, CEAT dean. with the Boone Pickens School of Muwanika Jdiobe is an Geology, the Department of Geography, undergraduate researcher and the College of Agricultural Sciences and mechanical and aerospace engineering Natural Resources, the environmental senior who works in the new lab on the science program and the School of development of unmanned systems Electrical and Computer Engineering. for environmental observations. He is In addition, USRI teams are excited about the new opportunities providing services to, or working on, gained from being able to work in the projects with the Federal Aviation Unmanned Research Lab. Administration, Oklahoma Emergency “The new lab gives me the opportunity Management, the National Weather to work in a world-class facility with Service, the U.S. Armed Forces and cutting-edge tools and technology,” General Electric.

Jdiobe said. “This means our research “The USRI has made a good name and development of unmanned systems for itself, and people will come to us just moved to a whole new level than we with research projects,” Mitchell said. had before. I am really excited about the future for USRI.”

SEE MORE Visit Excelsior, home to OSU’s new Unmanned Systems Research Institute: okla.st/excelsior.

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Charming China

Hargises lead OSU delegation to explore overseas opportunities

OSU President Burns Hargis and Ocean University of China President Zhigang Yu sign an agreement to work together in Qingdao.

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resident Burns Hargis and Ann Hargis recently led an OSU delegation to China to meet with students and institutional leaders of key university partners in China.

OSU has several joint degree programs in China, including a program in agribusiness with China Agricultural University in Beijing as well as a joint degree in fire protection and safety engineering and campuswide dual degree program options with Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu. Students in these programs study for the first part of their degree at their home institution in China, then come to the Stillwater campus to complete their degrees.

“These joint degrees allow students to learn in two different academic environments, picking up the strengths of both institutions,” President Hargis said. “This gives them a real advantage when they go out and find jobs, because they can bring all of this experience to their professional career.”

Yudong Liu, who graduated from the Southwest Jiaotong/OSU program in industrial engineering and management in 2017, is one of the project leaders on the speed skating stadium for the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The stadium, called the Ice Ribbon for its unique architectural design, will be prominent in the games.

“Our goal at OSU is to train our students to be leaders not just in Oklahoma but around the world, and student exchange is one of the best mechanisms for doing so.”

BURNS HARGIS, PRESIDENT

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STORY AND PHOTOS VIVIAN WANG

The OSU delegation met with freshmen in the Fire Protection and Safety Engineering dual degree program at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, China.

Liu credits his experience in the SWJTU/OSU program with his ability contribute to the project.

“At Southwest Jiaotong, I learned the fundamentals of engineering, and at OSU, I learned about advanced project management,” he said.

“Plus, I learned how to interact with people from many different countries, which is absolutely necessary in this job.”

In addition to meeting with students at these institutions, the OSU delegation also visited other key Chinese universities to explore opportunities for Chinese students to study at OSU and for OSU students to study in China.

“Although we have some real challenges in our relationship with China at the political and even the economic level, it is absolutely vital that our students understand these challenges and learn to meet them,” President Hargis said.

“Our goal at OSU is to train our students to be leaders not just in Oklahoma but around the world, and student exchange is one of the best mechanisms for doing so.”

The delegation visited a number of Chinese institutions, including Ocean University of China in Qingdao, the Sichuan Conservatory of Music in Chengdu, and Fudan University in Shanghai. Each institution offers opportunities for OSU students.

In the summer of 2019, for example, five students from the School of Media and Strategic Communication visited Fudan University to understand China’s rapid changes and the challenges facing the nation and students in China.

The program, led by SMSC faculty members Skye and Asya Cooley, allowed the OSU students to attend classes with Chinese students and develop collaborative video projects with them to explore different dimensions of life in China today.

Besides the Hargises, the delegation members included College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology Dean Paul Tikalsky, Spears School of Business lecturer Julie Tikalsky, School of Global Studies and Partnerships Dean Randy Kluver and Vivian Wang, manager of China programs for the university.

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#RememberingBoone Throughout his life, Oklahoma State’s Ultimate Cowboy, Boone Pickens, remained loyal and true to his alma mater.

Big dreams, big inspiration, big gifts — he offered them all to us. Check out our special edition of STATE magazine remembering and honoring our giant of generosity: okla.st/BooneLegacy.

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Sound Connection

A partnership that started at OSU reverberates in today’s country music

T

he Edmon Low Library at the center of OSU’s campus is known for its beauty and the wealth of knowledge stored within its walls. It has had a huge influence on all who have studied within it. But its impact may be even greater than most people are aware: The country music we know today has been strongly influenced by two Cowboys in that library nearly 50 years ago.

Tim DuBois and Scott Hendricks met in Stillwater, and their shared interest in music and making records has led to a historical impact on country music.

DuBois grew up on his family’s farm in Grove, Oklahoma, and graduated from OSU with a degree in accounting in 1971. After graduation, he moved to Dallas to become a staff auditor and eventually a senior financial analyst. But when he wasn’t concentrating on numbers, he was focused on words — lyrics, to be exact.

“I was always interested in the lyric side of things,” DuBois said. “My entire career as a writer, I have been more of a lyricist than a melody person.

I love words and the fact that words can make you paint a picture in your mind.”

DuBois would eventually move back to Oklahoma to work on his doctorate at OSU. During this time, he was an accounting instructor at the University of Tulsa and later OSU. Through his friend Floyd Loftus, DuBois would meet undergraduate student Scott Hendricks.

“Floyd gave me a job working in the recording studio in the library’s audio-visual center,” Hendricks said. “It was a two-track studio at the time, which was two more than I’d ever had. Tim, many years earlier, had worked in the same audiovisual center. When Floyd found out I wrote songs, he introduced me to Tim, and we started writing together.”

From left: DuBois's 1971 OSU yearbook photo; Scott Hendricks at the audio-visual studio inside Edmon Low Library.

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STORY WILL CARR | PHOTOS PROVIDED BY SCOTT HENDRICKS | ABOVE PHOTO OSU ARCHIVES

From top: Scott Hendricks and Tim DuBois with Alan Jackson in 1989. Hendricks joins Blake Shelton as a mentor on NBC's The Voice.

Hendricks was born in Clinton, Oklahoma, and brought his passion for music to OSU. At the time, OSU did not have a degree path encompassing the skills Hendricks hoped to learn, so the university worked with him to craft one. He received a custom university degree specializing in architectural acoustics in 1978.

“The advisers said we have a doctor of architectural acoustics teaching here, and we have a doctor of electro acoustics teaching here,” Hendricks said. “I got with them and said, ‘All right, we are going to build a custom degree in architectural acoustics, so maybe I could get a job designing studios or at least understand them.’”

DuBois and Hendricks would begin recording songs with Scott Hendricks’ brother, Mark, and Greg Jennings, a founding member of the band Restless Heart, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year.

“The first demos we did at Oklahoma State were in the library,” DuBois said. “The songs we brought to Nashville were recorded right there in what used to be the audio and visual department on the second floor.”

During school breaks, DuBois, Hendricks and Jennings would take their recordings to Nashville to pitch their songs to the record labels.

“Our first trip, we had some success,” DuBois said. “That just planted the seed and filled us with more excitement.”

In 1977, DuBois landed a job as an accounting instructor at the University of TennesseeNashville. He taught his students during evening classes, and pitched his songs and attempted to get co-writing sessions with fellow artists around town during the days.

A year later after earning his degree, Hendricks moved to Nashville with Jennings, living in DuBois’ basement briefly. Hendricks became a recording studio acoustician and a recording equipment salesman. During this time, he spent his nights assisting at Glaser Sound Studio and watching legendary producer Jimmy Bowen work.

Bowen eventually moved to another studio, and Hendricks was selected to replace him.

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“If you just keep on producing hits, they will keep hiring you.

They eventually asked me to be the president of Capitol Records.

I signed guys like Keith Urban and Trace Adkins.”

SCOTT HENDRICKS

“They said, ‘Hire that kid who has been here for nine months,’” Hendricks said. “I started working on records right from the get-go.”

DuBois and Hendricks remained friends, working together on recordings that would eventually become the first Restless Heart record in 1984. DuBois went on to co-found Arista Nashville in 1989 with music icon Clive Davis, signing Alan Jackson as its first artist.

“When I signed Alan, he came in with a producer I had never worked with,” DuBois said.

“I used Scott because I trusted him so much, so I asked him to co-produce that first album. The first two Alan Jackson albums, Scott was the co-producer on both. I knew if he was involved then it was going to be great.”

DuBois and Hendricks also helped kickstart the career of Brooks & Dunn. Hendricks knew Ronnie Dunn and suggested DuBois take a look at signing him for Arista Nashville. DuBois thought of joining him with Kix Brooks to form the duo that would go on to have 20 No. 1 hits and win multiple County Music Association, Academy of Country Music and Grammy awards.

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From top: Tim DuBois speaks at a 2016 OSU commencement. Country music duo Dan + Shay, musician Jim Horn and Scott Hendricks.

TOP PHOTO PHIL SHOCKLEY | BOTTOM PHOTO PROVIDED BY SCOTT HENDRICKS

DuBois and Hendricks speak at their Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2015.

DuBois eventually became the president of Arista Nashville in 1993 and stayed with the company until 2000. He signed numerous artists, including Brad Paisley, Diamond Rio and Pam Tillis. But songwriting was still his first passion.

“I consider myself a songwriter,” DuBois said.

“If I had set out to do what I ended up doing, I could not have really prepared myself better. I was just born with a love of songwriting and great songs.

That was what I carried into my job as a label head.”

Throughout his career, DuBois co-wrote five No. 1 hits including “Love in the First Degree” by Alabama. He also received a Grammy Award in 1991 for “When I Call Your Name” by Vince Gill and a Grammy nomination for “She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)” by Jerry Reed.

Hendricks is one of country music’s most successful record producers and label executives, currently serving as the executive vice president of A&R for Warner Music Nashvillle.

As of October 2019, he has produced 118 Top 10 hits, including 75 No. 1s. His songs have spent a

PHOTO KAYLEA M. HUTSON-MILLER

total of 122 weeks at No. 1 — more than two years.

He has produced hits for such artists as Blake Shelton, Trace Adkins, Faith Hill and John Michael Montgomery.

“If you just keep on producing hits, they will keep hiring you,” Hendricks said. “They eventually asked me to be the president of Capitol Records. I signed guys like Keith Urban and Trace Adkins.”

In addition to success on the charts, Hendricks has received multiple awards including six from the Academy of Country Music, two from the Country Music Association and an Emmy for his work with Hank Williams Jr. on the theme song for Monday Night Football. In 2019, he celebrated a Grammy Award win for Dan + Shay’s “Tequila.”

Both DuBois and Hendricks have seen the music industry change throughout their careers and can offer advice to students at OSU looking to succeed in the music industry.

“I would develop as many skills as I possibly could in preparing myself for having to be creative and maybe create my own job,” DuBois said. “Have an entrepreneurial spirit when they come into it.”

OSU recently created the music industry degree program to help students looking to expand their knowledge on music production, publishing and live entertainment. Hendricks believes getting an education is important, but equally important is gaining the real-life experience it takes to make an impact in the industry.

“It is really about what experience you have internship-wise, as well,” Hendricks said. “The ones who get the jobs are the ones who work harder than everybody else and the ones who want it more than the others. That is the best secret I can tell.”

Country music has been forever changed by a partnership that started on the OSU campus in Stillwater over 40 years ago. Still, the creative success between DuBois and Hendricks does not outshine the respect and friendship that the two have for each other.

“We have had each other’s back and relied on each other for a long, long time as we have stayed in this business,” DuBois said. “We are still friends to this day. I am really proud of him and what he has accomplished.”

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Join First Cowgirl Ann Hargis in her support of the OSU Museum of Art by becoming an Art Advocate!

When you donate $165 to the Art Advocate Fund, you join the Art Advocates and will receive a scarf created by one of the nation’s leading American Indian artists, Ben Harjo Jr. The design for the scarf is inspired by an original piece of art Harjo drew on the back of a coaster during one of the first OSU Art Advisory Board meetings in 2013. The Art Advocates support the museum and its community outreach efforts through their advocacy, volunteer work and/or financial contributions.

For more information, contact Deb Engle at 405.564.4881 or dengle@OSUgiving.com Value of Benefits: $65 Tax-deductible Gift: $100

Give your legacy the gift that keeps on giving.

The OSU Alumni Association’s Legacy Program educates future Cowboys and Cowgirls about Oklahoma State by providing age-specific gifts throughout their childhood. Benefits are free to all members.

Register your legacy online today at

ORANGECONNECTION.org/legacy

COWBOY CHRONICLES

Center Stage in OSU’s Entertainment District

Southeast corner has been home to campus performances for decades

O

klahoma State University’s performing arts centers have almost always found a home nestled in the southeast corner of campus near Knoblock and University avenues. The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts is the newest and most exquisite facility in the university’s traditional entertainment district. Let’s take a look at the history of stages here.

ASSEMBLY HALL (1894) The Assembly Building was the first name used for the facility now known as Old Central. It was designed for the entire college to assemble and served as the home for the administrative offices, classrooms and laboratories. The largest room was the Assembly Hall on the second floor. The Assembly Hall was 40 by 55 feet, considered “an auditorium of mammoth proportions,” and had the tallest ceilings — 16’4” — in the building.

A small platform along the center of the east wall served as the stage.

Architectural floor plans for the Chapel/Auditorium.

WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) trained on the Oklahoma A&M campus during WWII, meeting in the Chapel/Auditorium.

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STORY DAVID C. PETERS | PHOTOS OSU ARCHIVES

Some 225 chairs were arranged for the daily chapel sessions that all students were required to attend and where all official announcements were made. The room was also used for large classes and was a home for the pre-college preparatory students.

The building had a battery-operated buzzer system for class changes, but no electrical lines, lights, outlets or bathrooms. Gas lighting provided illumination.

The Assembly Hall was a preferred location for meetings and presentations.

Oratorical contests were as popular as athletic competitions, and musicians shared their talents at many of these gatherings.

PRAIRIE PLAYHOUSE (1903) By 1897, the demand for auditorium space had outgrown the Assembly Hall, which could no longer comfortably seat the enrolled students. College enrollment reached 366 in 1899, and President Angelo C. Scott recommended an auditorium addition to the new library in 1901.

Money was allocated for an addition to the Library Building, later known as Williams Hall, which included a new auditorium. The new chapel, later known as the Prairie Playhouse, was designed for a capacity of 1,000, and up to 1,200 for chapels, assemblies and plays. Completed in 1903, the chapel again allowed the college community to gather in one room. The campus construction in 1901 also led to the first power plant and central heating system connected to all buildings. A water supply system had been installed the year before and when a septic tank sanitary sewer system was completed in 1901, the first indoor toilets were placed in permanent buildings including the library and chapel.

Until the Stock Judging Pavilion was built on the west side of campus in 1911, the rostrum in the chapel was occasionally used for showing and judging livestock in addition to the events and activities that had been held in the Assembly Hall. With the construction of a new chapel in 1912,

the old chapel was renovated for use as a library reading room. In 1938, this space was reconverted into a theater named the Prairie Playhouse. It was torn down in 1969 as part of the Williams Hall demolition.

CHAPEL/AUDITORIUM (1912) Less than a decade later, enrollment increases prompted a new request for a larger auditorium where all members

of the campus community could meet.

Construction on the 100- by 150-foot facility began in the late fall of 1911.

This was the first auditorium on campus with a stage and orchestra pit. The stage had curtains, wings and entrances to the performance area.

Balconies went up on three walls, with total seating reaching 2,200.

Chapel/Auditorium under construction.

Students gather for a photo in front of the completed Chapel/Auditorium.

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COWBOY CHRONICLES

4-H CLUB CENTER (GALLAGHER HALL, 1939) While not a traditional auditorium, the 4-H Club and Student Activity Building provided the largest venue for entertainment and presentations on campus. The 4-H Club Center was the name used to attract funding from the legislature, but since its dedication, it has been known as Gallagher Hall, the “Madison Square Garden of the West.”

Constructed to accommodate the annual gathering of 4-H students from around Oklahoma, the facility had total seating of 6,700. The main auditorium area was divided into three sections with the help of two extremely large curtains that would hang from floor to ceiling so that each 4-H district would have its own meeting area.

The arena also provided a home for annual band and orchestra contests and concerts. Beginning in the 1940s, big bands came to Stillwater to perform from the floor of Gallagher Hall. In later years, a wide variety of performers would take the “stage” of the largest “auditorium” in Stillwater.

In an interesting coincidence, the 4-H Club building just happened to have a maple wood floor that was suitable for basketball.

STUDENT UNION LITTLE THEATRE (1962) Part of the first Student Union expansion in 1962 included a small theater that could accommodate an audience of 540. This intimate theater was designed with a thrust stage, which formed a peninsula out into the audience and was surrounded on three sides.

The seating extended up two floors and formed a horseshoe of spectators around the performers. The Student Union Little Theatre was a popular location, utilized to feature visiting dignitaries and celebrities or present panel discussions.

Seretean Center under construction.

The entrance to the Vivia Locke Theatre in the Seretean Center.

Boh Makovsky conducts orchestra practice on the chapel/auditorium stage.

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SERETEAN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS WITH THE VIVIA LOCKE THEATRE (1971) A new performing arts center had been the dream of several generations of drama and music patrons. The chapel had undergone several makeovers since first opening, but it lacked the auxiliary spaces need for practice rooms, workshops, dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms, offices and storage spaces. Momentum began to build in late 1967 when a dramatic expansion and renovation of the chapel auditorium was proposed. This addition would add 75,000 square feet to accommodate these needed facilities. In addition, a 600-seat auditorium with staging would also be constructed. It was designed with continental seating, no aisles, and would house theater productions. Years later, it would be named for Vivia Locke, a longtime drama faculty member.

Federal grants provided much of the financing, but these required the renovation of existing facilities as part of the new construction. The old chapel was stripped down to the bare walls, and the new structure grew up around it with a new façade. Williams Hall and the Prairie Playhouse were demolished. A large donation from OSU

alumnus M.B. “Bud” Seretean inspired the renaming of the facility, and the Seretean Center for the Performing Arts was dedicated in April 1971.

Seating in the new concert hall, located in the former auditorium, was reduced to 974. The old balcony was eliminated, and the chairs on the floor went from the orchestra pit to the height of the old balcony placed on one long incline. The stage size increased slightly. Practice rooms were added to meet rehearsal needs. The new facility had “green” rooms to house waiting artists and workshops to create props and scenes. Music and drama departments had offices in the center with enough space to house faculty in humanities and religion. There was even room for a music library.

For over a century, audiences at Oklahoma State University have experienced an eclectic diversity of performances on these stages. The stories of humanity, the joy found in our common bonds, the rhythm and rhyme of music and dance in all its many forms and syncopations have been found here.

The sharing of world culture, wisdom, inspiration and entertainment have all been applauded on these stages.

SOME WHO HAVE TAKEN AN OAMC/OSU STAGE DANCE

American Ballet Dallas Ballet Goya and Matteo Dancers Alvin Ailey Dancers MUSICIANS

Loggins and Messina Arthur Fielder U.S. Navy Band Ramsey Lewis Trio Peter, Paul, and Mary Peter Nero Isaac Stern Al Hirt The New Christy Minstrels Ravi Shankar Van Cliburn Dave Brubeck Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Kingston Trio Benny Goodman The Ink Spots Victor Borge The Carpenters The Fifth Dimension Blood, Sweat and Tears Elton John Kansas Preservation Hall Jazz Band Leo Kottke Duke Ellington Orchestra ENTERTAINERS

Bob Hope The Smothers Brothers Edgar Bergen & Charley McCarthy

SPEAKERS

William Howard Taft Harry S. Truman Gerald R. Ford Pearl S. Buck Basil Rathbone William Shatner Stokely Carmichael Abbie Hoffman G. Gordon Liddy Duke Ellington Orchestra performs in Gallagher Hall.

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STUDENT NEWS

IMPACT Spotlight

Attorney at Bonham & Howard; 1957 Animal Husbandry graduate; Benefactor of the Ted Bonham General University Endowed Scholarship

Investing in the Future Through Education Sixty-five years ago, Ted Bonham came to Oklahoma State University with two pairs of Levi's, a pair of boots and a job. He grew up poor and knew that an education was the way for him to achieve a better life.

Now he is creating opportunities for OSU students to obtain an education with the Ted Bonham General University Endowed Scholarship.

This fall, Bonham met the first award recipients. Bonham established his endowed scholarship with an initial gift of $100,000 and plans to contribute annually to OSU to continue helping students.

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Ted

Bonham

What was your motivation for establishing an endowed scholarship fund?

My motivation is to help young kids — I want to see them prosper, I want to see them get a degree. I’m a strong believer in education, and I believe in giving back. This university has been really good to me, it prepared me to make a living. It was rewarding to meet the students I am helping.

What was most impressive about meeting your scholarship recipients?

The kids believe in giving back. They want to be involved in the community and the college. Mohamed wants to become a dentist and go to Egypt and help the impoverished. And he knows that now as a young 20-year-old and that’s impressive to me. I thought their attitude was absolutely phenomenal. They’re both very bright, very polite, very industrious and motivated.

What would you say to others considering giving to or setting up a scholarship fund?

I would encourage anyone to, if they can, help young kids. These youth are going to be our leaders tomorrow. If we can help youngsters and help them get an education — if any of us have the means to do it, then we should be doing that. I'm motivated to do more.

Hometown: Stillwater, Oklahoma Major: Chemistry

Mohamed Abo-Basha Class of '21

How has this scholarship impacted your time at OSU? Over the summer, I was anticipating the need to have to start working a second job in order to cover my educational expenses. However, receiving Mr. Bonham’s scholarship was very literally the deciding factor that allowed me to stick to only working one job. This, in turn, has allowed for much more studying time as well as time for extracurricular activities.

How would you describe the impact scholarships can have on students at OSU? Without scholarships, I would not be enrolled at OSU right now. Scholarships are literally a necessity for some students to be able to complete their education. I think that one of the best things a person can do is to provide the opportunity for less fortunate people to get educated.

What does it mean to you that there are individuals actively investing in student success at OSU? Individuals like Ted Bonham are the type of people that are really making a difference in the world. Sponsoring a scholarship might not directly end world hunger or cure cancer, but the door is unlocked. When a person gets educated, it could very well lead to that happening down the line. I just feel extremely lucky that those doors were opened for me and that I can now do my part by holding the doors open for generations to come.

Daniel

Hometown: Sparks, Oklahoma

Albrecht

Major: Computer Engineering

Class of '22

In what ways has this scholarship and meeting the donor behind it impacted your time at OSU? This scholarship has allowed me to work less than I did last year. This is a great opportunity because this enables me to be a larger part of the student life here at OSU. The opportunity to meet Mr. Bonham changed the way I viewed receiving my scholarship. Adding a face to the scholarship made receiving the scholarship even more worthwhile.

How would you put into words the importance of scholarships for students at OSU? Scholarships are by far one of the most important aspects to a student’s career here at OSU. These not only alleviate financial burdens on the students but also the families of the students, allowing for the student to participate in the opportunities offered at OSU. What does it mean to you that there are individuals actively investing in student success at OSU? Without donors like Mr. Bonham, my life at OSU wouldn’t exist. It is because of individuals like him that many students at OSU, including myself, are given the ability to pursue our goals to the best of our own abilities.

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DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS NEW CLASS OF HONOREES RECOGNIZED The Oklahoma State University Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes former students who attain distinctive success in their chosen field or professions and perform outstanding service for their community. The new class of honorees were celebrated at a reception Sept. 6 at the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center and on the field during halftime of the McNeese State and OSU football game on Sept. 7. Learn more about the 2019 honorees on the following pages.

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STORY WILL CARR | PHOTOS OSU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

J ONATHAN E.

DRUMMOND “It’s humbling to be singled out for an award because it’s never the individual that deserves the award. We are the face of the countless others that we have co-labored with while trying to make a difference along the way.”

Jonathan E. Drummond, M.D., graduated from OSU in 1988 with a degree in biological sciences.

He went on to receive his medical degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and completed his residency in ophthalmology at the University of Missouri at Kansas City.

At OSU, Drummond was an active member of many different clubs and organizations. He was a drum major in the Cowboy Marching Band, president of the College of Arts and Sciences Student Council and a Top Ten Senior.

He owns Drummond Eye Clinic in Stillwater and has served the community for more than 20 years. He has served on the Stillwater Medical Center Board of Trustees, Stillwater Area United Way Board of Directors, and has been a chief of staff at Stillwater Medical Center.

Drummond has served as the president of the Oklahoma Academy of Ophthalmology and currently represents Oklahoma on the National Council of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

In addition to his professional interests, Drummond is an avid supporter of OSU, including The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts and the Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music. He serves on the OSU Foundation’s Board of Governors, the OSU Friends of Music Board and is a member of the OSU POSSE. Drummond resides in Stillwater. He has two daughters, Allison and Christine. He is a life member of the OSU Alumni Association.

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DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI

GARY AN D CL AU DIA

HUMPHREYS “Our passion behind everything that we have done is because we love this university very much.”

Many people may recognize the names Gary and Claudia Humphreys from the video board inside Boone Pickens Stadium, but their support for OSU and the Stillwater community runs much deeper.

The Humphreyses each graduated from OSU with degrees in agricultural economics — Gary in 1983 and Claudia in 1985. Together, the couple has enjoyed great success in their business ventures.

Gary is the owner and operator of multiple businesses in diverse industries, including logistics, real estate, tire recycling, ranching and hospitality. He currently serves as the co-founder, executive chairman and CEO of Vista Proppants and Logistics LLC. Claudia is the driving force behind the recently renovated Stillwater staple, Coney Island.

In addition, the couple continues to support their alma mater and other passions. Claudia has her private pilot’s license and serves on multiple boards supporting women and students in Stillwater, including Women for OSU, focusing on leadership and philanthropy. She also serves as a board member for the Friends of the Ocean Academy in Caye Caulker, Belize.

Gary and Claudia also serve on the OSU Foundation’s Board of Governors. They have also been donors to the OSU Welcome Plaza, Women for OSU Endowed Student Scholarship Fund and Eugene Embry Scholarship for students with dyslexia.

They are life members of the OSU Alumni Association and reside in Grandview, Texas. They have two sons, Eric and Jake.

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MIK E AN D J U DY

JOHNSON

“If you look around at OSU fans and supporters, we really are a family.”

Mike and Judy Johnson met at OSU, and their love for each other and their alma mater has continued to grow ever since.

The Johnsons each earned degrees in accounting — Mike in 1966 and Judy in 1967. Each was involved on campus beyond their degrees. Mike served as the president of the Men’s Residence Hall Association, president of Stout Hall and was a member of Blue Key. Judy served as the queen of the Men’s Residence Hall Association and was named a Redskin Beauty her junior year.

Mike and Judy are part owners of Johnsons of Kingfisher, one of Oklahoma’s most successful Chrysler dealerships.

In addition, the Johnsons give their time and resources to the community they call home. Mike represented District 22 in the Oklahoma Senate for 12 years, served as president of the Kingfisher School Board and treasurer of the city of Edmond.

Judy served as the president of the Kingfisher County Republican Women and on the Oklahoma Red Cross Board of Directors and the Youth and Family Services Board of Canadian, Kingfisher and Blaine counties.

The couple have made a major impact on OSU by establishing three scholarship endowments that fund numerous scholarships. Mike and Judy were inducted into the Spears School of Business Hall of Fame in 2018.

The Johnsons currently reside in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Their three children, Lori, David and Rob, each graduated from OSU. Mike and Judy also have 14 grandchildren. The Johnsons are life members of the OSU Alumni Association.

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DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI

NATALIE

SHIRLEY “I saw what OSU was doing in the community, the state, and what they were doing for children and students everywhere. I realized the impact that it had on my life.”

Natalie Shirley graduated from OSU in 1979 with degrees in psychology and political science.

She then went on to receive her law degree from the University of Oklahoma.

In January 2018, Shirley was selected as the first female president and CEO of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

Before beginning her current role, Shirley concurrently served as president of OSU-OKC and as the Oklahoma secretary of education and workforce development under Gov. Mary Fallin.

She worked with Fallin to implement the Oklahoma Works program, which was designed to increase education attainment for Oklahomans to produce a more educated workforce and cultivate the state’s economy. She also served in Gov. Brad Henry’s

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cabinet as the Oklahoma secretary of commerce and tourism and as president of ICI Mutual in Washington, D.C., after serving in various leadership offices in the company.

In addition to her professional career, Shirley serves on the boards of the Oklahoma City Chamber, United Way, BancFirst, St. Anthony Hospital and the OU Board of Regents.

As a proud Oklahoma native, Shirley continues to support OSU by serving on the OSU Foundation’s Board of Governors.

Shirley resides in Oklahoma City and has six children — Zi, Katie, Charlotte, Ross, Chase and Kendall. She is a life member of the OSU Alumni Association.

B E VERLY

WALKER-GRIFFEA “What I learned at Oklahoma State University has been the cornerstone of my life lessons.”

Dr. Beverly Walker-Griffea graduated from OSU in 1983 with a degree in radio, television and film: news and public affairs. She went on to receive a master’s degree in education from Virginia State University in 1987 and a doctorate of philosophy in child development from Texas Woman’s University in 2004.

During her time at OSU, Dr. Walker-Griffea was a member of the Cowboy Coeds for the OSU football team and served as president of Theta Beta Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Dr. Walker-Griffea is the first female and African-American president of Mott Community College in Flint, Michigan. Prior to her current position, she served as senior vice president for student services at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland, and vice president of student affairs at Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton, Virginia.

She has been honored many times, including with the Genesee County Bar Association Golden Apple Award, the Genesee District Library Award of Excellence and being named the American Association for Women in Community Colleges Mildred Bulpitt Woman of the Year — all in 2019 alone.

In addition to her professional success, Dr. Walker-Griffea donates her time to many different organizations and causes. She serves on the board of directors for the Greater Flint Health Coalition, McLaren-Flint Hospital, Carriage Town Ministries, Metro Community Development, Michigan Community College Association and is chair of the Ivy House.

Dr. Walker-Griffea resides in Flint, Michigan.

She has one son, Walker. Dr. Walker-Griffea is a life member of the OSU Alumni Association.

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THE COWBOY WAY

David Peters, head of the Archives Department and longtime contributor to STATE magazine, manages Oklahoma State University’s past and prepares for its future.

TRADITION KEEPER One of the most distinctive features of OSU is its sense of tradition, which Peters knows is impossible to embody without an abundant and accurate history. In charge of maintaining over 1,400 collections of archives with new material coming in every day, Peters’ role is organized chaos. Appraising and compiling material that if set in a line would stretch about six miles is overwhelming, but Peters works with joy, calling every day a new adventure.

Desiring to tell the most complete story with as many different perspectives as possible, Peters said his greatest challenge isn’t deciding what stays or what goes, but determining what will be needed in the future.

STUDENT AND VOLUNTEER A semester away from graduating from OSU with a bachelor’s in social sciences, he joined the Peace Corps and spent two years in Mabonto, Sierra Leone, in West Africa. He fell in love with the sense of collaboration so prevalent in the village, so much so that he intentionally sought out that feeling of partnership when he returned to Stillwater. He found it in the OSU community.

EMPLOYEE AND WRITER After returning to the States, Peters earned his undergraduate degree and started in the graduate program in history at OSU. He began working as a researcher and co-wrote one of 26 volumes in the Centennial Histories Series.

During his research, he spent a lot of time in the archives. He was offered and accepted a position at the library, planning to try it out for a year — and now, it’s 34 years later. He would go on to earn a master’s degree in library science with an archives emphasis. In 2001, he started writing articles for STATE magazine on behalf of the library. “There were all these wonderful individuals and stories I was discovering working in the archives,” Peters said. “This gave me a chance to highlight them.” He has worked under five different presidents of the university.

THE MEMENTO One of his favorite mementos from Mabonto is a walking stick crafted by his friend, the village blacksmith. It symbolizes the community he found in Africa, the relationships he built and the lessons he learned in life.

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STORY KYLEE SUTHERLAND | PHOTO PHIL SHOCKLEY

CHAPTER LEADER PROFILE

Austin Ambrose (center seated) and other members of the Band Alumni Chapter celebrate Alumni Band Day at the Cowboy football game against McNeese State.

Austin Ambrose, Band Alumni Chapter Austin Ambrose did not move very far when he left home for college. The Tulsa native knew OSU was the place for him after attending a Cowboy football game against Texas Tech.

Ambrose studied general business and management at OSU. “I knew that I really liked numbers, but I didn’t know exactly what path I wanted to take with it at the time,” he said. “So I went the general route and charted my career path after I graduated.”

Ambrose continues to be involved with the Cowboy Marching Band as an alumnus and member of the board of directors for the OSU Band Alumni Chapter.

“Each alumnus has a passion for the Cowboy Marching Band, and I look forward to seeing them all back on campus each year,” he said.

The OSU Band Alumni Chapter does three main events every year. The chapter hosts a reception after the OSU Symphonic Band/Concert Band final semester concert that normally occurs in late April. Each August, the chapter sponsors

STORY LUCY HODGES | PHOTO COURTESY OF AUSTIN AMBROSE

a picnic for the Cowboy Marching Band and their families at the end of Band Camp. And the biggest event is the Alumni Band Day that takes place at a football game each fall and brings band alumni back to campus.

“The OSU Alumni Band also plays at OSU basketball games during Christmas break when students are not on campus,” Ambrose said.

After graduating, Ambrose began serving on the OSU Alumni Band board of directors. When the OSU Alumni Band transitioned to a chapter of the OSU Alumni Association in 2011, he helped make the transition as smooth as possible.

Ambrose hopes all band alumni will save the date for the next Alumni Band Day — Sept. 19, 2020.

“It is the people that make our chapter succeed,” Ambrose said.

Those interested in joining the OSU Band Alumni Chapter can check out the Facebook page for information about upcoming events and the opportunity to play in the Spirit Band during Christmas break.

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CHAPTER NEWS/OKLAHOMA

OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahoma State University, OSU Athletics and the OSU Alumni Association hosted A Night with OSU at the Jones Assembly in August. Attendees received updates on Cowboy Football, Cowboy Basketball, The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts and more.

TULSA OSU football head coach Mike Gundy and associate athletics director Larry Reece took the stage at the Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel for A Night with OSU in Tulsa. Each event featured conversations with coaches and university leadership.

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IDABEL Cowgirls were all smiles as they took a picture with Pistol Pete at A Night with OSU in Idabel.

IDABEL Pistol Pete took time to pose with Oklahoma's state dinosaur, Acrocanthosaurus atokensis, at Museum of the Red River in Idabel at A Night with OSU.

ELK CITY Cowboy basketball head coach Mike Boynton taught a future Cowgirl how to do “pistols firing” at A Night with OSU in Elk City.

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CHAPTER NEWS/NATIONWIDE

HOUSTON The Houston OSU Alumni Chapter had a full house for its watch party to cheer on the Cowboys against McNeese State in September.

ST. LOUIS This group of Cowboys and Cowgirls had a lot of fun at a watch party in St. Louis for the game against the Texas Longhorns.

AUSTIN Cowboys and Cowgirls in Austin enjoyed a beautiful dinner cruise at Fridays with the Family before the Cowboy football team took on the Longhorns.

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OREGON A group of OSU alumni and friends toured the Van Duzer Vineyards in Oregon while traveling to see the Cowboys kick off the football season against Oregon State. The vineyards are owned by OSU alumni Marilynn and Carl Thoma.

NORTH TEXAS Cowboy football watch parties offer different experiences across the country. Attendees at the North Texas watch party for the McNeese State game were treated to free rides on a Ferris wheel.

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ALUMNI UPDATE

’50s Kay Anthony, ’58 childcare program management, has a granddaughter, Lily Anthony, currently attending OSU who just completed an internship with Exxon in Houston this past summer. Lily joins a big family of Cowboys, including three older siblings, Caleb, Grace and Hannah.

Joe M. Bohannon, ’58 industrial engineering and management, and wife Sara (Suggs) Bohannon, ’59 economics, celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary with a trip to Las Vegas for the Big Blues Bender Festival. The pair are taking a break from their busy lives of owning a retail liquor store in Tulsa, an industry which they have been in for over 40 years. Joe continues to practice law with over 30 years of experience and has been recently selected as the Outstanding Senior Lawyer of the Year by the Tulsa County Bar Association. Sara and Joe are looking forward to the upcoming Cowboy wrestling season.

’60s Joy (Chase) Haight, ’61 child care program management, and husband Allen, ’62 management, both celebrated their 80th birthdays and their 58th wedding anniversary this year. They continue to divide their time between homes in Texas and Colorado.

Winton Hohl, ’62 biological sciences, and wife Marie Hohl flew around the world and visited 12 countries to celebrate his 80th birthday. He is retired from the U.S. Air Force after being commissioned through OSU’s Air Force ROTC program.

Donald G. Norris, ’63 secondary education, is enjoying an active life with wife Nadean in the San Antonio region. They love to host visitors and travel throughout the United States to visit family and friends.

The pair has also traveled overseas including to Germany, Switzerland and Israel, where Don gets to explore his ancestry.

Mike Clock, ’67 educational administration, is a Cowboy fan at heart despite graduating from Oregon State with his master’s, and might have been influenced by both

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of his parents, who graduated from Tulsa Central High School.

Don Hubbard, ’67 chemical engineering, and wife Rita (Hodur) Hubbard are pleased to announce that their grandson, Nathan Talley, will be attending OSU in the fall, majoring in music and computer science.

William “Bill” McClure, ’68 music education, has been fully retired for nearly four years and has enjoyed traveling to places including Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic.

Cheryl H. Hesser, ’69 elementary education, is excited to live the 1950s life in small-town Jenks, Oklahoma, with two daughters and four grandkids within two blocks of her.

’70s Hasan Kazi, ’73 industrial engineering and management, has been running his own 3PL freight business in Schaumburg, Illinois, after retiring from his corporate career in 2004. Being self-employed provides him the opportunity to travel and spend more time with family.

Roger E. Walker, ’73 mechanical engineering, ’74 master’s mechanical engineering, retired in 2016 after 42 years as a mechanical engineer.

Roger still lives in California with his wife of 39 years, Susan. Their two children are both doing well, and they have one grandchild. He plays guitar at church and rides his motorcycle.

He has very fond memories from his time at OSU and wouldn’t trade those days for anything. He advises: “Stay orange, folks. It’s a great life!”

Ray E. Smith, ’74 general business, is still working at Ray Smith Wealth Management. He also helps Kay enjoy her retirement and spoil their grandkids. The pair hopes friends will see them when they are in Stillwater.

Patricia Jean (Fisher) Dixon, ’75 recreation, rejoined the Sand Springs (Oklahoma) Council in 2016 and won her campaign for another term of 201922, after serving as a city

councilor from 1990 to 96. Dixon was also elected by her fellow councilors as the vice mayor. In 2014, she was recognized as a “Hometown Hero” at Sand Spring’s Annual Herbal Affair.

Dixon is proud to represent her hometown of Sand Springs in civic and municipal arenas.

James Harwick, ’75 electrical engineering, ’79 master in management, completed an epic two-volume fiction novel, Tares Among the Wheat, that was available by Thanksgiving 2019.

George “Tom” Rains, ’76 agriculture engineering, ’84 master’s in civil engineering, retired Sept. 30, 2019.

Larry J. McLaughlin, ’77 agricultural education, retired in June after 37 years in banking.

Dr. Ronald G. Area, ’78 doctorate in education administration, has celebrated 74 years of good health.

Area still serves as the president and CEO of the Marshall University Foundation.

Michael Atkinson, ’79 construction management technology, is entering his second year as a project manager on a brewery addition and renovation in Obregon, Mexico.

’80s Ernie Minton, ’80 master’s in animal science, ’84 doctorate in animal breeding, has been named dean of Kansas State’s College of Agriculture and director of Kansas State Research and Extension. Dr. Minton had been interim dean and research and extension director since July 2018. During that time, the college reached its $120 million capital campaign goals, and he led the planning for major infrastructure improvements for key college facilities. In this new role, he is charged with further identifying and advancing college goals and will play a key role in helping achieve Kansas State’s 2025 plan. Minton currently serves as a fellow of the Food Systems Leadership Institute and chairs the Strategic Realignment Committee for APLU’s Board on Agricultural Assembly.

Jack A. Carson, ’81 agricultural communications, retired from the Oklahoma Department of

Agriculture, Food and Forestry after 38 years. He is excited to spend some quality time watching the Cowboys play, playing with his grandkids, golfing and traveling.

Dennis (Ryan) Carstens, ’82 German, ’84 master’s in curriculum and instruction, has had a successful career in higher education.

Carstens was president of Spokane Community College and now is president of Eastern New Mexico University-Ruidoso Branch Community College.

Joy Murphy, ’83 executive secretarial administration, changed careers after working as a legal assistant in Fort Worth, Texas, for five years. She is now using her nursing degree from UT Arlington and works with her husband, Dr. Phillip Lindsey, in their private medical practice in Oklahoma City. They live with their 15-year-old son in Edmond.

Mark Chezem, ’84 organization administration, is proud of his oldest son, Troy, who is a secondgeneration Cowboy and graduated from OSU in May 2018, and his youngest, who is now a junior at OSU. Kelly Morgan Greenough, ’85 prelaw, was elected as a district judge for the 14th Judicial District in Tulsa County in November 2018. Judge Greenough was initially appointed by the governor in January 2016 to a three-year term following a vacancy on the district court. She presides over a felony docket, including Tulsa’s felony domestic violence dockets, and also serves as chief of the Family Court Division. She has fond memories of her days on campus, particularly her membership in Kappa Delta Sorority, Mortar Board and the Student Government Association. Both her education at OSU and membership in student organizations paved the way for her legal career. She and her husband, Charles Greenough, have two adult children and reside in Tulsa.

Marilyn E. Johnson Morita, ’85 associate in science, ’88 computer programing technology, is a retired speech pathologist who moved

to Hawaii 50 years ago. She loves waking up to see the sunrise over the ocean and the sunset over the mountains. Morita vacations to Oklahoma annually and loves the scenic sunrises here, too. Aloha all! Due to a gift of Ancestry DNA, Morita has been united with her half-brother, Jerry Crocket, a retired professor who taught botany at OSU. Toby Joplin, ’86 accounting, ’00 master’s in business administration, ’14 doctorate in business administration, has been named chief operating officer at CCK Strategies in Tulsa. CCK Strategies has offices in Oklahoma and Texas.

Leslie (Haygood) Osborn, ’86 organizational administration, was elected as Oklahoma labor commissioner after serving 10 years in the state House of Representatives.

Periann L. Pulliam, ’88 journalism, is the chief executive officer of Upward Transitions, Inc. Pulliam brings over 30 years of business operations experience to Upward Transitions and has served as chief operations officer for the past four years during one of the most significant periods of growth for the agency. Pulliam first joined Upward Transitions in 2009 as the director of volunteers for the organization’s Travelers Aid Program at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City.

Cheryl Newberry, ’89 home economics education and consumer science, has been selected as the program and personnel development specialist with OSU Extension. She moved back to Stillwater and into an office in Agricultural Hall. It has been 30 years since Newberry was on campus as a student and she looks forward to getting involved in the Stillwater community.

Tammy (Pevehouse) Townley, ’89 management, was elected as an Oklahoma representative in November 2018.

Frankie Wood-Black, ’89 doctorate in physics, is the recipient for the 2019 Helen M. Free Award for Public Outreach from the American Chemical Society. This award is presented annually to an ACS member whose outstanding achievements have improved public recognition and appreciation for the field of chemistry. WoodBlack is the owner and principal at Sophic Pursuits, a consulting firm that specializes in environmental regulatory compliance and science education, as well as the chair of the engineering, physical sciences and process technology faculty at Northern Oklahoma College.

She is also the author of a weekly science column in The Ponca City News, which is syndicated in the Woodward News.

’90s Rose Brock, ’94 English, is a library science professor in the College of Education at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, and just published Young Adult Literature in Action: A Librarian’s Guide (Libraries Unlimited).

Most recently, Dr. Brock edited and published Hope Nation: YA Authors Share Personal Moments of Inspiration (Penguin Random House). The anthology was selected for the 2019 Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List, as well as receiving the following nods: New York Times New & Noteworthy, 2018 Best YA Audiobook of the Year (Audiofile magazine), the Earphones Award, Audio Publishers Association, Junior Library Guild Selection, and starred reviews from Booklist magazine and VOYA magazine. Brock also co-founded the North Texas Teen Book Festival, recently described

by The Dallas Morning News as “the region’s largest book-related event,” and she is the recipient of the Siddie Joe Johnson Award, an award given to a librarian who demonstrates outstanding library service to children by the Texas Library Association.

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 123

ALUMNI UPDATE

J.J. (Hawkins) Grilliette, ’94 statistics, has a daughter, Jayden, attending OSU starting fall 2019 and is a fourthgeneration Cowboy.

Grilliette is really proud of her family members who have attended OSU including her dad, great-aunt, brother and numerous cousins.

Leigh Ann (Turvey) Schultz, ’94 accounting, moved her oldest daughter to OSU this summer, making her a fourth-generation Cowboy. Back home in Virginia, Schultz is the CFO of Streetsense Consulting, and in her spare time is working on running a marathon in all 50 states, with 38 done so far.

Dustin Evans, ’95 agricultural education, earned his doctorate in educational administration from Texas A&M-Commerce.

Shalena (Rounds) Stelzig, ’98 accounting, has been promoted to associate director of advancement services at Texas State University in San Marcos.

Sherry Hunt, ’99 biosystems engineering, ’00 masters in biosystems engineering, was the 2019 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers G.B. Gunlogson Countryside Engineering Award recipient, inducted into the 2019 Class of Fellows of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, and received the 2019 Terry Hampton Medal for contributions in hydrology and hydraulics in the Association of State Dam Safety Officials.

Robyn Taylor, ’99 management information systems, was promoted to director of information technology and CIO for Fort Bend County,

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Texas, in June 2019. She also welcomed her third child in March 2019.

’00s Trevor D. Riddle, ’01 philosophy, has been listed in the 2020 edition of Best Lawyers in America. This was his third consecutive listing in Best Lawyers in criminal defense: general practice. Riddle is a shareholder at Monnat & Spurrier in Wichita, Kansas, and has practiced for nearly 15 years. He has earned a statewide reputation for handling scientific witnesses such as forensic laboratory technicians, doctors, biomechanical engineers and other experts. Riddle was the first attorney in Kansas to argue the admissibility of polygraph evidence under the state’s amended rules of evidence.

His practice focuses on the defense of those accused of white-collar crimes, violent crimes, drug offenses and sex offenses. Inclusion on the Best Lawyers list is based on a confidential nationwide peer survey that rates attorneys on professional competency, legal scholarship, pro bono service and achievement.

Scott Storey, ’02 agricultural education, ’03 master’s in agriculture, took a position teaching agricultural education at Rattan (Oklahoma) High School after teaching agricultural education for 10 years in Bennington.

Yuko (Hasegawa) Thomas, ’05 natural and applied sciences, was awarded the 2019 Wilmington Award for Community Service for continuing to make her Delaware city a friendlier, nicer and cleaner place to call home by picking up litter from her neighborhood streets daily.

Mary Elizabeth (Womack) Mach, ’06 biosystems engineering, has been appointed to Oklahoma’s Water Quality Management Advisory Council by Gov. Kevin Stitt. Mach is a water team leader for Garver LLC and has contributed to improving the state’s water supply for more than a decade.

Zachary Myers, ’08 political science, lost his 20-month-old son, Boston

James Myers, this year. Boston loved music, his big brother and sister, and everything outside. He will be missed by the many who love him.

Matt Allen, ’09 fire protection and safety technology, has been promoted to associate principal of MPW Engineering, a Tulsabased engineering firm. Allen joined MPW Engineering in 2012 and has worked on hundreds of projects across the United States. As a licensed professional engineer and the first licensed fire protection engineer at MPW, Allen has opened the door to new possibilities for the firm.

Jillian R. Prather, ’09 biochemistry and molecular biology, opened her own dental practice, Jillian Prather Family Dentistry, after practicing as an associate dentist for two years in Owasso, Oklahoma.

’10s Corey W. Mahan, ’10 management information systems, has been promoted to director of IT security at Vimeo headquarters in New York City.

Mary DeGuzman, ’15 university studies, is now an English as second language (ESL) high school teacher in Enid, Oklahoma. She has been teaching for three years and started coaching middle school soccer in the spring of 2018.

Charlie Gibson, ’16 finance and economics, plans to marry Conner Carroll, ’16 agribuisness, on Nov. 9, 2019, in Stillwater.

Jonny P. Nieto, ’16 management, has accomplished a goal in his life since his education at OSU. Nieto is serving as a council member of the Tule River Indian tribe of California. He is also the president of the Tule River Economic Development Corporation Board and CEO of the Tule River Economic Development Corp. Nieto is the owner of Our Indigenous Tradition, a clothing company.

J. Nathan Higdon, ’17 doctorate in business administration, was brought on as the interim CEO of Glitch Media, which is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, and has offices in Europe, in order to lead the further digital expansion into political campaigns for the upcoming 2020 cycle. Higdon consulted and ran for state senate in Tennessee in 2018.

Victoria Flowers, ’19 elementary education, is very thankful for the preparation she gained from OSU for her teaching career she started in August 2019.

Teaching is amazingly fulfilling for her, and she is thankful for the support she has received to start her first year teaching off on the right foot.

Weddings Melissa Ann (Lewsi) Myers, ’96 special education, married Kurt Myers on July 6, 2019.

Chase Carter, ’07 broadcast journalism, ’09 mass communications, and Coleman Hickman, ’08 agricultural education, were married on Aug. 10, 2019, in Old Central’s Assembly Hall. A reception followed at the OSU Alumni Center with the couple’s bright orange circle of family and friends.

Chase just started his 12th year in marketing and communications at the OSU Alumni Association, and Coleman is an academic adviser in the Spears School of Business as well as a doctoral student in educational

leadership. Their beloved dogs, Henry and Bennett, joined them on the Old Central lawn for a photo after the ceremony.

Johnna Lynn (Rushin) Menefee, ’11 agricultural economics and accounting, ’13 master’s in agricultural economics, married Seth Menefee, ’11 agricultural economics, ’13 master’s in agricultural economics, on Feb. 23, 2019, in Oklahoma City.

Merritt D. (Ogle) Ellett, ’18 human development and family science, married Littleton Tazwell “Taz” Ellett IV, ’18 international business, on July 13, 2019, in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Menefee

Hickman, Carter

Submit your update at ORANGECONNECTION.org/share Ellett

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 125

Births Bill Manera, ’66 finance, and wife Deborah Anderson welcomed grandchild Dylan Lewis Manera on Aug. 8, 2018.

Ellison Beasley, ’69 secondary education, welcomed grandson Carter Ellis Hicks on July 22, 2019. He was born into a family of Cowboys as parents Kristen Beasley, ’04 journalism and broadcasting, and Glen Hicks, ’07 mechanical engineering technology, both graduated from OSU. Carter weighed a healthy 7 lbs. 7 oz. and was born at 1:54 p.m., kicking with a smile on his face. He already wants to be an OSU Cowboy!

Amber Beimer, ’05 management, and husband Ryan Beimer welcomed daughter Bailey Blair Beimer on June 7, 2019. Bailey joins older sibling Reece Caden, who is 3.

Trip Armour, ’06 political science, and wife Kacey (Denton) Armour, ’03 management, welcomed their first child, Margaret Ann Armour, on May 18, 2019. She is her parents’ answered prayer and little OSU Cowgirl!

Kristi (Bishop) Sproul, ’07 animal science, ’09 master’s in agriculture, and husband Ryan Sproul welcomed their first child, Annie Kay Sproul, on April 1, 2019.

Robyn (Rolenec) Hildestad, ’08 psychology, and Casey Hildestad welcomed daughter Adelynn Reese Hildestad on July 18, 2019.

Adelynn is excited to be an OSU legacy and even showed pistols firing in her ultrasound.

Hayley (Zimmerman) Creecy, ’10 international business and Spanish, and husband Chris Creecy welcomed daughter Harper Jane Creecy on Feb. 22, 2019.

Harper loved getting to wear her orange and matching her mommy to root for the Cowboys for their first game of the 2019 football season!

Jonathan Thomas, ’12 university studies, welcomed a new addition to the Cowboy family, Zefferin Thomas, who was born Feb. 5, 2019. Zefferin was welcomed by older brother Quinn Thomas, age 5.

Lerin (Thomas) Lynch, ’17 strategic communications, and Tyler Lynch, ’17 animal science, ’19 master’s plant and soil science, welcomed daughter Rorie Morgan Lynch on Aug. 2, 2019. Rorie loves all things OSU, especially hanging out with her uncle, who is Pistol Pete No. 90!

Lynch

Manera

Armour

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Hildestad

Sproul

Thomas

In Memory

’70s

’50s

William Isaac Rowand, ’74 animal science and industry, died March 3, 2019, at his home in Rock Island, Illinois. He was born Nov. 7, 1949, to Ike and Billie Naylor Rowand in Aurora, Illinois. He married Wendy Greenwood in 1974 in Geneseo, Illinois. Mr. Rowand served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Vietnam. He raised champion Simmental cattle before becoming a contractor specializing in restoring older homes. Mr. Rowand was immensely proud of his work, including his residence, the Beardsley House in Rock Island. He was a loving husband, proud and devoted father and involved grandpa who loved vacations in Alabama.

He served as president of the Illinois Simmental Association, NARI, Rock Island’s Broadway Historic District and Preservation Commission member and Geneseo soccer coach.

Cole Reginal King, ’54 history, died Sept. 13, 2019, after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, on April 15, 1933 and grew up in Stillwater.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in history in 1954 from Oklahoma State University, where he also met the love of his life, Marian M. Smith.

The two married on Dec. 12, 1953.

He continued with his education in Texas, earning a master’s in divinity and a doctorate in Christian ministry from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary as well as a master’s degree in history from Baylor University. He was the pastor for several churches in Texas over 40 years and worked for the Texas Baptists for 17 more as a coordinator of student work in the Dallas area.

He is survived by his wife, Marian; sons Cliff and Lance; daughter Janelle King Luce; sister Janie Hackler; nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

’60s

Hicks

Francis Gordon Fransen, ’61 management, died June 15, 2019. Mr. Fransen was a native of Woodward, Oklahoma, who had retired from the insurance business.

Richard Kerns Powell, ’63 zoology, died May 13, 2019, after a threeyear battle with ALS. He was born Feb. 28, 1940, to Wayne and Nadine Kerns Powell in Stillwater. Mr. Powell was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity at OSU. After serving in the U.S. Navy for two years, he practiced dentistry in Stillwater for 30 years before retiring in 1998. He is survived by his wife, Carol Ann (Greiner) Powell, ’61 business education; daughters Malinda Boswell and Shelly Powell, both OSU graduates; and five grandchildren, two of whom have graduated from OSU.

Submit your update at ORANGECONNECTION.org/share

Creecy

S TAT E M AG A Z I N E .O K S TAT E . E D U 127

A Varsity Letter Long Sleeve Tee S-3XL | $24.95 B Grey Quilted Mangnum S-XXL | $56 C Rustic Cuff Fairy Tale OSU-Silver | $48 D Nadine Long Sleeve Stripe Tee S-XL | $34 E Natural Picture Frame | $22.95 F Orange Relaxed Twill Hat | $24 G ‘47 Black Haze Pullover S-XL | $75 H Columbia Women’s Chillin Fleece Full Zip Jacket S-XXL | $136

I Reverse Weave Pistol Pete Crew S-XXL $56.95 J Columbia Flash Forward Windbreaker S-XXL | $68 K Go Pokes Granite Mug $14.95 L ‘47 Vintage Pete Landmark Club Tee S-XXL | $25 M ‘47 Grantview Contender Cap $28 N ‘47 Letter Long Sleeve Tee S-XL | $45 O Victory Falls Ok St Cowboys Long Sleeve Tee S-XXL | $32.95 P OSU Leather Band for Apple Watch 38mm & 42 mm | $59.95

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