alumni and friends who are members of its known by the staff, has become the the Alumni Association. primary logo of the organization, appearIt’s more than just a sticker. It’s the ing on almost every electronic and print embodiment of everything for which the product in the last four years. Alumni Association stands, promoting “The best representative of the Alumni connections for life between alumni and Association has been traveling with Oklahoma State through programming members for the past 50 years,” says Chase Carter, Alumni Association director and membership. “The decal is widely used,” Sharp says. of communications. “It only made sense “Every time the university does something for us to use the design of the orange car good, people want a way to identify themdecal as the primary logo for our organiselves as being involved in OSU.” zation because it’s what most alumni and Shell agrees: friends associate with us.” “Our car decal is a thing of pride After 50 years, the orange car decal continues to grace the windows of vehicles for the Alumni Association not only in Oklahoma but also outside the state. It across the country and distinguish OSU always amazes me to go to places like
1980s
1990s
I glued bright-orange OSU decals on both sides of the case, making it easily visible when I might set it down. Relatively new at international travel to developing countries, I frequently got attracted to what was going on around me, and I often neglected to keep my briefcase in hand and in sight. In El Salvador when my friends and I entered a McDonald’s to get some lunch, we parked our hand luggage in a booth and headed for the counter to order our food. Unfamiliar with Spanish, I was intently studying the menu board in front and above us, trying to figure out what to order, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw an orange ball moving toward the door — a man was carrying it. MY BAG. “Hey! Someone stop the guy!” I shouted. Fortunately, one of my colleagues had also spied the orange ball heading for the door and raced to catch him. Before the man left out the door, my colleague grabbed the bag. The would-be thief continued running. What a relief. My heart was pounding. A close call. My passport, money and everything else had almost disappeared.
Dallas and see all the orange car decals you go by. People honk and wave when they see you have a decal — they know you support OSU.” K r i sten M c C onnaughe y
W here does i t go ? It’s a debate bigger than when we turned the car decal white. Where do you place the decal on your car? In a corner? In the middle? Vote now in our car decal placement poll at orangeconnection.org/cardecal.
Current
Thereafter, believe me, my bag did not ever get far from me, and I decided that it would be wiser and safer to store my valuables in a hotel safe. I subsequently traveled and worked in many countries around the world with my orange-ball bag, never letting it get very far from my hand and sight. It had been about 20 years since I last used the bag. I had retired it to my closet, I thought. Then, I spied it sitting forlornly peeking out from under a table in the garage sale my daughter had organized. The orange balls were faded and marred some, but still quite visible. My old friend. What a sight — followed by a flood of memories.
T el l Us Your S t ory Do you have a story related to our famous car decal? Tell us online at orangeconnection.org/cardecal. It could appear in the next STATE magazine.
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