Oklahoma City University Alumni Magazine, FOCUS Spring 2023

Greetings Alumni & Friends,

As we approach the end of the academic year, I am proud of our students, faculty, staff and alumni and their many accomplishments throughout this time. Some of these undertakings directly affect our communities and showcase the OCU servant-leader mentality that are featured in this issue. Our College of Health Professions’ partnerships with diverse nonprofits and health facilities in the Oklahoma City area make a difference to those they serve and, equally, impact our students. Circle K International’s OCU chapter is a very active student organization on campus that is built upon the notion of collegiate service to others, our student-athletes and other campus groups volunteer often, and business student Connor Burton already owns a company that gives back with every purchase made. Additionally, we welcome anyone in our campus community to the university’s Pantry of Hope which helps those in need with food, clothing and other necessities.

OCU Alumni often choose career fields where they can not only utilize their talents

in an area they enjoy but where they can make a difference. This is true for Rayshon Payton, featured, who serves as the senior confirmations counsel at the White House, where his commitment to servant-leadership is on full display for the entire nation to witness. Tana Fitzpatrick’s work at the University of Oklahoma as the associate vice president of tribal relations helps facilitate the connection of the university to the tribal community. Alumnus David Wilson is the first Native American United Methodist Church bishop, while Margaret Freede’s background in health and law, along with a family legacy of giving, provides her a unique perspective on philanthropy.

Within the Oklahoma City community, the university has partnered with entities to provide support and assistance. El Sistema, supported by alums Phil and Casey Busey, is a music education program that teaches city youth how to play musical instruments and provides OCU students the opportunity to teach and help others through their volunteering. Positive Tomorrows’ president

is alumna Margaret Creighton and for almost two decades, OCU dance students have created Halloween costumes for the children at this elementary school and social services agency for families experiencing homelessness. We also highlight the work OCU does with the local homeless population in Oklahoma City.

You may notice a few changes with this issue of Focus. As you might recall, a great deal of my passion lies in marketing as I taught in this field for decades. I see exciting potential to enhance our branding and strengthen our university’s recognition and reputation across the country. We are taking this opportunity to update a few things with the magazine, and I hope you enjoy the many stories it tells.

SINCERELY,

President Evans congratulates the National Champion Esports team members, from left, Edward Bennett, Cooper Patrick, Karl Huber, Ryan McLaughlin and Kaleb Cosgrave.

Table of Contents

Alumni Spotlights

4 Margaret Freede’s giving nature

14 Creating relationships: OCU alum Tana Fitzpatrick begins new role

24 David Wilson: A spiritual journey

34 Positive Tomorrows’ Margaret Creighton

Student Highlights

6 Students help to create Positive Tomorrows

26 The Home of Champions extends into the community

27 Athletics

28 Connor Burton: More than a dreamer

30 Student group celebrates through community service

Features

8 A symbiotic situation: Health professions students learn by helping

16 OCU & El Sistema Oklahoma : A partnership in perfect harmony

20 Chipping in: The many ways OCU homeless initiatives teach service, aid community

Schools

7 Ann Lacy School of American Dance & Entertainment

13 Wanda L. Bass School of Music

15 Oklahoma City University School of Law

18 College of Health Professions

29 Meinders School of Business

32 Arts & Sciences

40 School of Theatre

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Oklahoma City University acknowledges that we gather on land indigenous to the Osage, Caddo, Kiowa, Comanche and Wichita tribal nations, and that lands extending throughout the state were originally inhabited by many tribes, including those that were forcibly relocated to Indian Territory under harmful federal policies.

We acknowledge that the 39 sovereign tribal nations inhabiting what is now Oklahoma originate from all four corners of the North American continent, and that indigenousness is hemispheric in scope. We honor the land and the people who have stewarded it since time immemorial, and we commit to continuing to learn how to be better stewards of the land we inhabit for future generations.

Focus Magazine

2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., Oklahoma City, OK 73106 405-208-7000 • okcu.edu/focus

Kate Downing, kdowning@okcu.edu

Board of Trustees

Louis L. Bass ’79

Phil G. Busey, Sr. ’74, ’77

Dr. Emmanuel E. Edem ’82

Jacque Fiegel ’76

Debbie Fleming ’77

Gerald L. Gamble ’68

Jane Jayroe Gamble ’69

Nicholas Harroz, III ’09

Joe Holt

Gary B. Homsey ’74

Joe R. Homsey ’73

Michael S. Homsey ’76

Ann Johnstone ’81

Bill Junk

Lou C. Kerr ’86

Donald H. Kim

Ann Lacy ’01

Cathy Leichter ’06, ’13

Jenee Naifeh Lister

Robert Long ’94

Judy Love ’15

Paula Marshall ’83

Lance McDaniel ’07

Paul E. McLaughlin ’75, ’80

William Mee ’87

James Nunn

Richard Parry ’83

Tammy Powell

Clinton Purtell ’97

George Randall ’65

Patrick T. Rooney

Teresa Rose '88, ’93

Shane Sanders ’84

William Shdeed ’62, ’65

Jerry B. Vannatta ’70

John Veal '96, ’18

Kathy L. Williams ’11

Administration

Kenneth Evans, President

Michelle Kiec, Provost

Amy Ayres, Vice President for Student Affairs

Corey Bray, Director of Athletics

Kevan Buck, Chief Financial Officer

Talia Carroll, Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Joey Croslin, Vice President for Human Resources and Chief HR Officer

Gerry Hunt (BS ’89, MBA ’05), Chief Information Officer

Casey Ross (BSB ’00, JD and MBA ’03), General Counsel

Adam Ryburn, Interim Assistant Provost

Lynann Sterk-Brooks, Vice President of University Advancement

Kevin Windholz, Vice President for Enrollment Management

Alumni

Megan Hornbeek Allen ’03, Executive Director of Alumni Engagement alumni@okcu.edu

Writers

Lilly Ball, Brooke Barnett, Matt Burkholder, Brian Daffron, Megan Hornbeek Allen, Rod Jones, April Marciszewski and Chris Maxon

Photographers

Lizette Casas, Michaela Childs and Ian Weston

Designer

Lechelle Calderwood

BY MATT BURKHOLDER

Margaret Freede believes in the power of education and that belief is underscored by her achievements in both health care and law. She has been dedicated to lifelong learning, obtaining multiple degrees and always seeking to expand her knowledge and experience. Growing up in Oklahoma City, she started with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Oklahoma College of Nursing, where she worked as a labor and delivery nurse for several years. She then returned to college and earned both her MBA in health care administration and Juris Doctor from Oklahoma City University. After practicing law for several years, Freede returned to the University of Oklahoma College of Nursing, where she earned her Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing.

Freede’s passion for health care led her to start and manage several clinical trial sites in Oklahoma City, partnering with major pharmaceutical companies to offer gastroenterology patients with autoimmune disease access to new medications available through clinical trials. Her contributions in advancing treatments for patients with chronic illnesses have been invaluable.

But Freede’s contributions go beyond health care. Her belief in the power of education and philanthropy led her to establish two professorships, one in the Wanda L. Bass School of Music and the other in the Kramer School of Nursing. These gifts honor and build upon the legacy of philanthropy of her beloved family, and reflect Freede’s own commitment to supporting faculty and providing students an exceptional education. The Wanda L. Bass School of Music and the Kramer School of Nursing are both vital components of the university, and these professorships will help attract and retain top talent in these fields. As Ken Evans, president of Oklahoma City University, noted, “Dr. Margaret Freede’s unwavering commitment to philanthropy has not only helped shape the culture at OCU, but will also play a crucial role in attracting and retaining the best faculty from around the country.”

giving nature

HONORING A LEGACY OF EDUCATION AND CARE AT OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY

Named to honor both her mother and recently departed sister, the Josephine Wyndham, Margaret Wyndham and Catherine Annette Freede Professorship in Gerontology was established to celebrate the legacy of the Freede family’s work to advance health care in Oklahoma. The professorship celebrates all three Freede women; Margaret, her mother Josephine (Josie), and sister Catherine, and their work in health professions. Josie received her Charter Society in Physiotherapy degree before training at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopedic Hospital in England. It was at the hospital where she met her husband, Henry, an orthopedic surgeon. Catherine Annette Freede was a registered nurse and physician assistant who worked as an orthopedic surgical nurse alongside her father, Dr. Henry Freede, for almost 50 years. She earned her BSN from the University of Oklahoma College of Nursing and later received her physician assistant degree from the College of Allied Health at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center. Catherine Freede’s sudden passing in the fall of 2022, makes this gift all the more poignant, and her memory will be forever honored with the establishment of this professorship.

The gift to the Wanda L. Bass School of Music is equally significant, specifically honoring Josie’s love for and generous support of the arts, including music. The Josephine Freede Endowed Professorship in Instrumental Music will support the training and education of future music educators, allowing them to share their talents with the students at OCU.

“This gift furthers the passions of one of our most beloved benefactors in OCU’s history,” said Mark Parker, dean of the Bass School of Music. “Josie was born and raised in England, where classical music was an important element of her culture,” said Margaret Freede. Upon Josie’s arrival in Oklahoma City, she began her civic work on the boards of many organizations including the Oklahoma City

Charity Horse Show, Allied Arts, Oklahoma City Republican Women’s Club, and served as president of the University of Oklahoma Mothers’ Association. Josie Freede also was a member of the Downtown Oklahoma City YWCA and the Western Heritage Awards Committee and soon became known as “the million-dollar volunteer.” Her work as a fundraiser made possible the Henry J. Freede Wellness and Activity Center at OCU and the Freede Theatre at the Civic Center Music Hall. Josie Freede received numerous awards and recognitions, including two honorary doctoral degrees. Margaret Freede continues, “She was also a classically trained pianist. She understood the inspirational and artistic value of classical music as well as its ability to enrich the lives of everyone who heard it.” Josephine Freede passed away at the age of 93 on September 3, 2020, after a short illness.

“As we look to the future, we can take inspiration from the Freede family’s example and recognize the importance of philanthropy and giving back,” said President Evans. “Margaret Freede’s gifts to support professorships at Oklahoma City University are a demonstration to her commitment to healthcare. Her gifts will make a lasting impact and will help shape the future of Oklahoma City University for generations to come.”

Evans added, “Her generosity is a testament to the power of giving, and her legacy will continue to inspire generations of students, educators and researchers to come.” The contributions of Margaret Freede and the Freede family remind all of the power of giving and the importance of supporting the institutions and causes that make a positive difference in our world.

Margaret Freede (’84, ’98) speaks to nursing students about careers during a recent lunch and learn.

Students Help to Create Positive Tomorrows

BY LILLIAN BALL

Each year at Halloween, students in OCU’s Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment provide a unique service to children at Positive Tomorrows, a forward-thinking elementary school and social services agency in Oklahoma City for families and their children who are experiencing homelessness. As part of the first-year costume lab, OCU students meet with every student at the school to find out what they want to be for Halloween and create a costume they can wear to Positive Tomorrows’ Halloween festivities. This provides service-learning opportunities to students and gives them a chance to improve their sewing skills while learning to design new costumes.

Since 2006, Executive Director Melanie Shelley has spearheaded the program within the school when she learned that Positive Tomorrows only had one bag of hand-me-down costumes being reused each year by the students. “I saw this need as an opportunity for OCU students to apply the skills they are learning in a service project that benefits the community,” said Shelley.

Originally, the costumes were made in the weeks before Halloween. However, OCU professor and costumer Jessica Telfer redesigned the process so that the costumes are sewn on apron-like “blanks” throughout the year, and then altered to fit the Positive Tomorrows students onsite in October, which led to an increase in the efficiency of the project and allowed each OCU student to focus their skills on fewer costumes while fulfilling a child’s request. “The impact on students at Positive Tomorrows is very visible,” said Telfer. “Children who do not even have a home to call their own are now in possession of a one-of-a-kind Halloween costume that they get to keep. This has physical and emotional benefits for the students as well as getting to see members of the community working to help make things better.”

As one of these OCU students who had the opportunity to participate, Wyatt Fritts adds, “Working with Positive Tomorrows has been the most impactful experience I have had at OCU so far. I always loved Halloween as a kid, so being able to help bring the spooky Halloween spirit to these kids was a task I was extremely excited about. This project is more than just making a costume and completing an assignment — it’s about helping to bring hope when life gets a little cloudy.”

Jordan Reynolds and Megan Nee, both dance majors, enjoy making the Positive Tomorrows students’ costumes and accessories.

Ann Lacy School of American Dance & Entertainment

WELCOME TO THE NEW FACULTY OF THE ANN LACY SCHOOL

Last fall, the Ann Lacy School welcomed four new dance faculty members: Jeremy Duvall, Mary Ann Mayer, Michael McCarthy and Kalie Scanlan

MELANIE SHELLEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE ANN LACY SCHOOL OF AMERICAN DANCE & ENTERTAINMENT

JEREMY DUVALL, TEACHER FOR THE INTERNATIONAL JAZZ CONGRESS

Ann Lacy School faculty member Jeremy Duvall was invited for a second time in April 2022, to be a master teacher at Congresso Jazz Dance Internacional, an annual event that hosts participants from all over Brazil and Latin America, seeking to “narrow the boundaries between people.”

BROADWAY WORLD AWARD RECIPIENT

Last summer, Artist-in-Residence Vincent Sandoval won a Broadway World Regional Award for Best Choreography of a Play or Musical for his choreography for Carousel at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma.

JO ROWAN & JOHN BEDFORD LEGACY CELEBRATION

In fall 2022, the Ann Lacy School celebrated the legacy of Jo Rowan and John Bedford. Alumni from all over the country returned to OCU to pay tribute. OCU President Ken Evans announced their emeritus status and the Ann Lacy Foundation donated bronze plaques commemorating them, which are now housed in the Gaylord Center.

Interim Dean Melanie Shelley, a member of the Ann Lacy School family since 1987, was recently named permanent executive director after a national search. In a statement to the OCU community, President Ken Evans said, “Melanie has worked tirelessly to advance the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment forward into the next generation. During her interim leadership tenure, she has orchestrated a number of initiatives, notably a national sponsorship agreement with tap board producer Stagestep, a partnership with the OCU Doctor of Physical Therapy program and numerous advertising arrangements with dance conferences and workshops around the country intended to raise the profile of the school. I am excited to see how she continues to position the school as the nation’s preeminent destination for dance students.”

STAR DANCE COMPANY

OCU’s Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment and the American Spirit Dance Company were founded by recently retired Department of Dance Chair Jo Rowan and Dean John Bedford. The name American Spirit Dance Company is being retired in honor of Rowan, but the Star Dance Company will continue OCU’s tradition of exciting dance productions. In addition to their beloved winter and spring mainstage productions, Star Dance Company is expanding post-pandemic performance and event management opportunities for students.

Jeremy Duvall Mary Ann Mayer Michael McCarthy Dr. Kalie Scanlan

Melanie Shelley, alumna Katie Frieden and Susan Cosby, recently named associate executive director

Doctor of Physical Therapy students volunteer at Chance to Dance, a program for children with disabilities, held at the Oklahoma City Ballet studios.

A SYMBIOTIC SITUATION

HEALTH PROFESSIONS STUDENTS LEARN BY HELPING

BY ROD JONES

Programs within the College of Health Professions have woven service learning into the very fabric of their curricula. These partnerships have been established to make a meaningful impact in the community for years to come, while also providing a real-world learning experience for the students.

The College of Health Professions was established in 2021 to encompass the Kramer School of Nursing and the university’s Physician Assistant and Physical Therapy programs.

Here are some of the ways students have been improving public health while learning along the way.

Physician assistant students join the flock at Good Shepherd Clinic

Access to health care can be tough. Access to health care without insurance can seem nearly impossible. Thankfully, there are clinics out there like the Good Shepherd Clinic in Midtown Oklahoma City, where Physician Assistant students have been volunteering their skills since the program began seven years ago.

The Good Shepherd Clinic, which recently merged with Crossings Medical Clinic, provides medical and dental care to medically underserved populations of Oklahoma.

The PA curriculum is split into two phases, didactic and clinical. OCU’s program is unique in that students gain real-world clinical experience through Good Shepherd during their didactic phase. That means they’re better prepared for when they begin their clinical rotations.

Physician assistant professor Becky Carlozzi has volunteered at the primary care clinic since 2014. In fact, OCU’s involvement helped lead to her accepting a faculty position here.

“There are a lot of barriers to health care for the uninsured, a problem made worse when preventive health care is not available,” Carlozzi said. “Good Shepherd helps to end delays in getting treatment. Sometimes a patient will come seeking treatment for one issue, but we’ll discover another problem while they’re there and can hopefully catch it early on.”

Students in each cohort take turns going to the clinic on Wednesday mornings for a shift. They start off in pairs, then as they progress in experience they transition to solo appointments, all while under faculty supervision. Each student will take a clinic experience five

to six times in a calendar year, visiting one or two patients each trip. They are usually assigned to a patient on the Monday before their Wednesday appointments. Overall, PA program students are at the clinic about 20 times a year.

“The advanced students help train mentees in the cohort coming behind them,” said Carlozzi, noting that the student-helping-student scenario becomes yet another beneficial learning experience for both parties. Around the start date for incoming cohorts, a list of mentees goes to the mentors to start the pairing-up process.

Second-year PA student Kaegan Cullison had made a handful of visits as of February. Conditions she often sees are diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol, among others.

“It feels great to see how we’re making a difference,” Cullison said. “The population we’re working with are often dealing with conditions that are difficult to control.”

The clinic visits also give students a chance to work with peripheral services like pharmacists, X-ray technicians and language translators.

Blanca Garrett is the charge nurse at the clinic. Garrett has experienced the clinic from three different perspectives — first as a patient, then volunteer and now as a staff member. She says working with the OCU students has “been a blessing,” and she enjoys helping them learn to interact with patients.

“We cannot teach the people skills, so this is a great place to learn that on their own,” Garrett said.

She started volunteering at the clinic in 2013, using her bilingual abilities to help bridge the communications gap between patient and caregiver. It’s a skill that becomes better with practice, as Garrett and Carlozzi both pointed out.

“There’s a lot of room for miscommunication, so it’s important for students to learn how to work through that while under experienced supervision. Not only with the patients themselves, but also with other professionals,” Carlozzi said.

DPT students take service-learning throughout the lifespan

Community service projects are baked into the curriculum for the Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at OCU. All students participate in projects reflecting three age groups — pediatrics, adults and geriatrics. The service-learning courses occur in each student’s first,

third and fifth semesters. Before they enter their full-time clinical experiences, they complete service-learning projects with each age group.

“Our service-learning components are designed to promote health throughout the entire lifespan,” said Maria Jones, director of the DPT program. “Students get a chance to see the unique needs of populations of various ages. They’re trained as generalists – to ensure they can work with a person of any age who comes through the door.”

Cohorts are divided equally for their community service-learning projects. Students document their reflections through written assignments as they complete the service-learning project.

Pediatrics

The DPT program collaborates with two organizations to complete pediatric community service projects. One is Make Promises Happen, a weekend youth camp for children with disabilities at the Central Oklahoma Camp and Conference Center near Guthrie. The other is Chance to Dance, a community program for children with various physical and developmental abilities held at the Oklahoma City Ballet studios in north Oklahoma City.

For Make Promises Happen, DPT students volunteer at weekend camps in the spring and fall. The students serve as counselors and arrive at camp on Fridays to receive some background information of the child they’ll be supporting , including the child’s medications, behavioral tendencies and medical diagnoses.

“On Saturday morning, our buddies arrive,” said DPT student Allison Shannon. “We say goodbye to the parents and get our buddies situated in their sleeping quarters. After that, it’s a full schedule until they leave on Sunday. There’s a lot of freedom for the kids to do what they want to do.”

Activities abound, and the campers can participate in as many (or as few) of them as they can fit into their day. There’s waterfront fun like fishing and paddle boats, an archery range and an ax throwing range. A custom-made ropes course has a specially designed incline on one side that allows those with mobility issues to navigate the obstacles.

All activities are intentionally designed to allow any camper — regardless of physical ability — to participate.

“We don’t say ‘no.’ We find a way to make it work for the individual,” said Cody Lawson, director of marketing for the camp and the Make Promises Happen program, where he has been on staff for four years and had volunteered for 15 years before that.

Each of the 30+ campers has an assigned, dedicated counselor. Besides having a reliable multitude of volunteer counselors from the OCU DPT program, Lawson says their physical therapy background provides an additional and important bonus.

“With the population we work with, it’s great to have volunteers who have that kind of knowledge. It gives our campers an educational experience that also helps prepare them for living on their own later in life,” he said.

Shannon, who first attended a camp session in 2021 and returned of her own volition in 2022, said her experience was likewise beneficial.

“Before the camp, I didn’t have as deep an understanding about some disorders. Having a real-life experience helped me solidify and

understand more deeply what we were learning in class,” she said. “I also had so much fun I decided to go again.”

Amanda Porter, director of clinical education and the faculty coordinator for pediatric service-learning projects, said the experience helps students learn how to work with other health care professionals.

“Our students get the chance to work alongside other counselors, the camp nurse and camp directors who have backgrounds in special education and speech pathology. The activities at camp become educational opportunities that can’t be covered the same way in a classroom,” Porter said.

Chance to Dance is designed to be inclusive for children ages 7 and up of varying abilities. The goal is to provide an opportunity for community interaction, artistic expression and learning for all children. DPT students attend six weeks of classes and assist the children to participate in dance exercises and routines.

Teachers and assistants make prep work and routines fun for the children. Even the stretching exercises are turned into a little game.

“Sometimes the kids just want a buddy,” said Chloe Lamarque, a first-year DPT student. On her first visit, Lamarque expected more of a free-for-all, loosely scheduled workshop session. However, “It had an organized, structured feel while still being fun. It was interesting how they incorporated motor skills, lots of running and jumping, all set to music.”

Lamarque entered the DPT program in hopes of working in pediatrics after graduation, so she was glad to start her coursework with Chance to Dance.

“It was a great opportunity, something I might continue doing even after I graduate,” she said.

Adults

Adult DPT service learning is largely done on campus. Cohorts have worked with the OCU Esports team, employees, and students from the Department of Exercise and Sports Science.

Currently, the students assist with the ongoing collaboration between the DPT program and the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment. Dr. Kimberly Veirs, the faculty coordinator, says due to the physical demands of dance it is important to catch injuries early so they don’t become chronic problems.

“Dancers are often hesitant to report pain and injuries because they fear they will be told to stop dancing,” she said. “It is vital to the dancer's longevity to get help from health care providers specializing in dance medicine when they start to feel discomfort greater than their everyday soreness, so it does not result in injury requiring them to modify or stop dancing. We seek to shift the dancers’ mindset that dancing with pain is an expected part of the profession and aim to diminish the stigma of seeking help from health care providers who understand the unique culture of dance.”

In September 2022, incoming dance majors can participate in dance-specific pre-participation screens. Various measurements were taken to provide baseline information, such as strength, flexibility and dance technique, to uncover potential risk factors for injury. Screenings are held in the DPT lab in the Dawson-Loeffler building,

and dancers work with DPT students and program faculty to learn exercises that may help prevent future or further injury. They can also schedule sessions for ongoing help throughout their time as a dance major.

Geriatrics

For the geriatrics section, DPT students visit Healthy Living Center –OKC, a fitness and activity facility geared toward promoting wellness in adults 55 and over.

OCU students attend classes once a week with center members to work on intergenerational socialization. The students are tasked with creating a wellness project for the members and to get to know their specific wellness needs through candid discussions.

Working in groups, they come up with a project to improve wellness in at least one dimension such as physical, mental or social aspects. Previous projects have included building an underwater walker out of PVC material, allowing members with limited mobility

to safely enter a swimming pool via a ramp; an information session on the benefits of Tai Chi; a balance and falls risk safety screening; an exercise ball and drum class for aerobic and social benefits; and a short seminar on the benefits of stretching and nutrition for aging adults. The students present their projects and gather feedback to improve their presentations.

“This experience gives our students a chance to practice their community wellness projects before they graduate, in the hope they will continue giving back this way once they are licensed and practicing clinicians,” said Dr. Christina Wright, the faculty coordinator for the Healthy Living Center projects.

The OCU Physician Assistant class of 2024 raised $8,000 for the Good Shepherd Clinic from a charity golf tournament in October that included side games at certain holes along the course. The fundraiser was organized by the cohort’s vice president, Kaegan Cullison, who has transitioned to mentor in organizing the next annual fundraiser.

Pantry of Hope

BY KATE DOWNING

Oklahoma City University students sometimes need not only help with their studies but also in their everyday lives. This is where the Pantry of Hope comes in with food, toiletries, clothing and more. One student explains, “The pantry has been a life saver for me. As an international student, my budget is pretty limited, and the pantry allows me to save some money with grocery shopping and with unexpected expenses, like when I needed a blanket.”

The Pantry of Hope opened to the OCU campus community after a staff member suggested the idea to Staff Council when Janelle Warlick, director of academic operations at Petree College of Arts and Sciences, served as vice president of the council. A committee was formed and in September 2021, with assistance from Talia Carroll, vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion, this innovative new program opened its doors.

Along with students being invited to utilize the pantry, staff and faculty also are welcome to benefit from and donate to it. The OCU Police Department donated a microwave that a student received the same day and recently a student needed a wrist wrap for an injury, but the clinic didn’t have any in stock, so the pantry was able to supply one. Additionally, the Pantry of Hope partnered with Kramer School of Nursing to provide 10 families Thanksgiving meals at the holiday.

Warlick, who serves as the main director of the pantry, states, “We’ve helped over 200 students and some staff since opening on September 10, 2021. Keep in mind that is with only being open one hour a week!” She also wants to thank all of those who have been involved in volunteering their time over the past year and a half, including Abbykate Waugh, Emily Bradley, Devin Murphy, Chris Bentley, Kel Pinkston, Hannah Grundy, Joy Warlick, Ashton Seratte and Nick Sayegh.

The Pantry of Hope is located on the fourth floor of the Administration Building in room 438. They are open every Friday during the academic year from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and you can email to set up an alternative time to access the pantry if needed. Anyone is welcome to donate to the pantry by dropping off items at the mailroom in the University Center or go to okcu.edu/pantry to give and for additional information on this unique and impactful way to support our university community.

(top) Clothing is a donation greatly needed by OCU’s Pantry of Hope. (above) Janelle Warlick (’05, ’07), director of the campus’ Pantry of Hope, works in the food area that serves hundreds each year.

Wanda L. Bass School of Music

OCU AND OKLAHOMA CITY PHILHARMONIC HOSTED 2022 OCU GUITAR FESTIVAL

In November, OCU collaborated with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic to host the 2022 OCU Guitar Festival, featuring performances by Oklahoma City Public Schools musicians; faculty Courtney Crouse and Brian Belanus; alumni including Kyle Dillingham (’02), Assistant Professor Peter Markes (’01) and Carey Morrow (’16); and a master class by the famed Pepe Romero.

The OCUNYC – Oklahoma City NYC Alumni Chapter hosted Spring Break professional workshops in March.

Applications are open for the 2023 Celedonio Romero Guitar Institute, to be hosted June 12-18 by Professor Matthew Denman and the OCU Guitar Studio.

THE OCU FLUTE CHOIR NAMED TOP U.S. COLLEGIATE FLUTE CHOIR

The OCU Flute Choir, under the direction of Parthena Owens, associate professor of flute, was honored as the top U.S. collegiate flute choir at the National Flute Association’s Convention in Chicago on August 13. The ensemble was winner of the 2022 Mary H. Anderson Collegiate Award, presented to the nation’s highestranked university flute choir.

OPERAREZZO 2022

The Bass School’s first-ever summer opera program in Italy, offered in collaboration with the Accademia dell’Arte, was fully sold out. OperArezzo 2022 featured music instruction, cultural immersion and language study in Tuscany from May 22 – June 18. This year, the second season will be held May 21 – June 19, 2023.

FACULTY HONORS

4 The American Prize awarded two silver medals to OCU faculty for their creative work. Matthew Mailman and the OCU Wind Ensemble were recognized in the university division of band/wind ensemble performance for their interpretation of Shostakovich and Shuman. In the professional division, Edward Knight’s 45-minute oratorio, “Of Perpetual Solace,” commissioned by Canterbury Voices, conducted by Randi Ellefson and workshopped at Oklahoma City University, was honored in the choral composition, major works category. The world premiere at the Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma City, featuring alumna Lisa Reagan Love (’80) as cantor, was presented in partnership with the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.

4 Jake Johnson was appointed associate editor of the Journal of the American Musicological Society with his term having begun on March 1. His role as editor-in-chief of the journal will start on Jan. 1, 2025.

4 Sergio Monteiro’s recorded works have surpassed 200,000 hours of listening on 4.4 million streams by 1.3 million Spotify listeners in 179 nations.

4 Lisa Kachouee performed solo works by Corrina Bonshek and alumnus composer Jamie Wind Whitmarsh at the ICA Low Clarinet Festival 2023 in Arizona.

CREATING RELATIONSHIPS

BY BRIAN DAFFRON

Tana Fitzpatrick found herself in a difficult position during the COVID-19 pandemic. She and her young family lived in Washington, D.C., a long way from the Norman area in which she grew up. Working for the Congressional Research Service in the Library of Congress as a natural resources policy specialist, Fitzpatrick knew that she needed to return to family.

“We didn’t have any family support out there,” Fitzpatrick said about living in D.C. during that time. “It really highlighted to us how desperately we needed to be closer to our culture and our family.”

Fitzpatrick, an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe of Montana, is also descended from the Lakota, Ponca and Chickasaw Nations. She grew up traveling miles from Norman to attend ceremonials such as the Lakota Sun Dance, Ponca Powwow and the Kiowa Tia Piah Society dances. With Washington, D.C, being miles away from these tribes’ ceremonial and social events, it made it difficult for she and her significant other, also an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe of Montana, to visit family. After making the decision to move, the University of Oklahoma hired Fitzpatrick to become the inaugural associate vice president of tribal relations. Her office covers not only the University of Oklahoma’s Norman campus, but also the OU Health Sciences Center and the OU-Tulsa campus.

In addition to her experiences with the Library of Congress, Fitzpatrick also has served as an attorney for the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, a senior counselor to the assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, a program examiner for the Office of Management and Budget, and a staff attorney for the National Indian Gaming Association.

One of the major steps to her journey as an academic vice president includes her bachelor’s degrees in political science and Spanish at Oklahoma City University in 2004, as well as her juris doctor from

Arizona State University in 2008. Fitzpatrick said that although she was a second-generation college student, she didn’t have her majors all figured out at the beginning. It was a close friend, the late Leo Blades, who got her involved with the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature.

“That altered the trajectory,” she said. “It gave me a sense of purpose of what I wanted to do. As I was learning more about political science, I started really pulling on my own traditions. My dad’s a big influence. I love environmental law and how it intersects with Indian law. He was always a big influence on me in honoring Mother Earth, of course, honoring our traditions—my mom too. Once I graduated from OCU, I knew at that point I wanted to go to law school, and I only really wanted to go to programs that offered an Indian law certificate.”

Yet what made Fitzpatrick’s ultimate decision to attend OCU was the university’s direct family connection to her grandfather, Rev. Thomas Roughface, a United Methodist minister of the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference. Fitzpatrick was present when OCU awarded him his doctoral degree.

Professionally, whether it is on a university campus or in the courtroom, Fitzpatrick sees her current public service role as a facilitator between university representatives and tribal governments.

“Let’s say it’s a faculty member who wants to make contact with a tribe on a program or a grant or a speaking engagement,” Fitzpatrick said. “Whatever it might be, they want assistance in outreach to tribal nations or vice-versa. If a tribe wants to have some sort of engagement with the university that doesn’t know who to go to, then I want them to know that they can come to me, and I will help facilitate that connection.”

Tana Fitzpatrick (BA ’04) serves as associate vice president of tribal relations for the University of Oklahoma.

OCU ALUM TANA FITZPATRICK BEGINS NEW ROLE ON ALL THREE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA CAMPUSES

BRENNAN LECTURE

OCU Law hosted its annual Brennan Lecture on October 20, 2022, with speaker professor Joseph Postell from Hillsdale College. The lecture, titled “State Legislatures and the Prospects for Self-Government,” addressed “the importance of state legislative capacity for ensuring that state legislatures are capable of fulfilling their role in self-government,” according to Postell. He is a leading scholar of American political theory and institutions and the author of “Bureaucracy in America: The Administrative State’s Challenge to Constitutional Government.”

OKLAHOMA INNOCENCE PROJECT GALA

The Oklahoma Innocence Project at OCU Law hosted its Wrongful Conviction Day Gala on September 30, 2022, at the Skirvin Hotel. The gala featured retired NFL linebacker, advocate and exoneree Brian Banks as its keynote speaker.

NEW FACULTY: TIA EBARB MATT

Tia Ebarb Matt joined OCU Law last summer as a clinical professor of law and the director of experiential learning. She received her bachelor’s in Criminal Justice in 1995 and attended the University of Washington School of Law, in which she received a Doctorate of Jurisprudence, in 1999. Since graduating with her J.D., she started her own legal practice in Arizona and Washington, focusing on estate and business planning with an emphasis on asset protection. Prior to her arrival at OCU, Ebarb Matt spent eight years at the University of Exeter Law School in England where she was an associate professor of law and the director of clinical legal education. She is admitted to practice before the United States 9th District Court and the United States Tax Court. She is also a solicitor in England and Wales and an enrolled member of the Choctaw-Apache Tribe of Ebarb.

NATURALIZATION CEREMONY

OCU Law had the opportunity to host a Naturalization Ceremony in October, with people from more than 10 different countries becoming United States citizens. With handheld American flags waving across the room, immigrants who completed the naturalization process stood and took the Oath of Allegiance and officially become citizens of the United States of America in front of their families and friends. OCU Law was honored to be a small part of such a big moment in these new citizens’ lives.

SWEARING-IN CEREMONY

Attorneys who passed the bar in July 2022 were sworn in by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in OCU’s Freede Wellness Center. Many OCU Law alumni were sworn in during the ceremony with President Ken Evans, Dean Jim Roth and Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Yvonne Kauger present.

President Evans, Dean Roth and Justice Kauger

BY BROOKE BARNETT

For Cathy Busey, music has always been a saving grace. Growing up, Busey recalls how music served as a refuge during a difficult childhood and played a defining role in her life into adulthood. As a music major at OCU, she has a firsthand understanding of the importance of music and music education. Years later, Busey, and her husband Phil, found themselves concerned with how music and the arts were frequently being taken out of public schools. The couple felt compelled to find a way to make an impact in the community using music education.

“The company we own had grown significantly, and we felt very blessed,” Busey explains. “We decided that we were doing well enough that it was time to give back and make a difference. We believe that to those who much is given, much is required.”

It was Mark Parker, dean of the Bass School of Music, who first brought an organization called El Sistema to the Buseys’ attention. He knew Busey was hoping to find an afterschool program to invest in, and felt that El Sistema was a great match.

“Dean Parker shared information about El Sistema in Los Angeles, so I decided to go there and see it for myself,” she recalls. “I was

&

OCU EL SISTEMA

blown away. El Sistema Los Angeles was in a neighborhood that was full of gangs, and yet the program was producing beautiful music. They had created an orchestra where the students truly felt like they were a part of something important.”

El Sistema is a community-based music education program originally founded in Venezuela in 1975. The program was widely renowned for its role in recruiting young people in impoverished circumstances and using music to transform their lives.

El Sistema USA supports a nationwide movement of programs inspired by the original El Sistema, with a focus on effecting social change by providing life changing music opportunities for children. Currently, El Sistema USA has 140 member organizations spanning 35 states and serving more than 20,000 students. Each program is as unique as the community that it serves.

Busey was impressed by how the El Sistema program in Los Angeles had instilled big concepts in their students simply by giving them an instrument, guidance and lots of support.

“I felt like we needed El Sistema in Oklahoma City,” she says. “We spent two years

designing what this would look like. We decided who we wanted to serve, how kids would be selected, all the nuts and bolts. We knew we wanted to offer services five days per week and serve students in Oklahoma City Public Schools. We then focused on mutually beneficial ways that OCU faculty and students could be involved in our vision.”

Founded by the Buseys, El Sistema Oklahoma is a creative partnership involving St. Luke’s United Methodist Church and OCU’s Wanda L. Bass School of Music. The teaching artists at El Sistema Oklahoma are professional musicians, selected for their experience and expertise. ESO started with five participating schools, and has quickly grown to nearly four times that size. In addition to musical experiences, the program includes additional support such as meals and homework assistance. ESO also collaborates with participating schools to help with any academic, attendance and behavioral challenges in their students.

“We want to serve the kids that might be in trouble, that are facing issues, that need mentors,” Busey adds. “This program is a game changer. These students need someone to believe in them, and we are now graduating

An OCU music student leads a class of elementary school students practicing at El Sistema.

SISTEMA OKLAHOMA

A partnership in perfect harmony

kids that might not have ever graduated from high school otherwise.”

Phil feels the impact that ESO has on students cannot be understated, and many former ESO students come back to volunteer with the organization after they graduate.

“That is such a powerful statement to the effectiveness of this program,” he explains. “We give them an instrument as a show of trust and faith, and we see that kids who we never thought would have a chance can do just as well as kids who have had more opportunities. They often choose to come back to be part of the organization that had such an impact on their lives.”

Kim Wilson, ESO’s executive director, says this impact has never been more apparent than today, with ESO approaching its 10th year of service to the community.

“One of the most significant things about our program is watching the students grow up and experience adulthood,” Wilson reflects. “Though each student has a different path, it has been particularly special to see graduates of our program turn around and come to work at ESO as site help, teaching assistants or classroom teachers. It has been amazing to see that ESO can still provide a place for community and belonging, even after their high school years.”

Wilson credits the partnership between ESO and OCU with providing students with a sound education and a true community experience. Many OCU music students who volunteer with ESO go on to become teaching artists, allowing them to develop ongoing relationships and have a consistent presence in the lives of ESO’s students.

According to Michelle Kiec, OCU’s provost and vice president for academic affairs, the partnership between OCU and ESO is continuing to expand and explore new ways to serve students.

“While music is an essential foundation of El Sistema, I have been delighted to

partner with colleagues across the university, not only in music, but also in nursing, psychology, exercise and sport science, athletics, and student services to build programming that benefits all learners,” Kiec says. “The partnership with El Sistema Oklahoma provides a practical opportunity

education,” explains Dean Gina Crawford of the Kramer School of Nursing. “We hope to expand opportunities to support the students at El Sistema. I hope to see the partnership continue to meet a need for their organization and provide meaningful experiences for students at OCU.”

Kim Wilson hopes that expanding these partnerships will provide access to new and diverse resources, people, materials and events that all come together to support the overarching vision of ESO - to help their students succeed throughout their lives.

“We would love students to continue to use OCU’s partnership to explore post-secondary options, to pair up with mentors exploring various career fields or even just to navigate current life,” she adds. “The impact of one positive adult in a child’s life can easily change its trajectory, but the impact of a strong community of multiple people in a child’s life can be astronomical.”

for OCU students to apply the knowledge they learn in their classes. The ESO students provide real-time feedback, and working with ESO helps prepare OCU students with real-world experiences that propel them into careers and graduate study.”

This past fall, OCU and ESO began exploring ways to expand the partnership to include healthcare for students. In conjunction with OCU’s Kramer School of Nursing, ESO hosted a health fair in March. The health fair included health screenings provided by students in OCU’s Community Health Nursing course and mental health screenings provided by students in the Doctor of Nursing Practice and Doctor of Psychology programs.

“The partnership is beneficial for OCU nursing students to gain more knowledge about individuals from diverse backgrounds, and to gain experience in providing health promotion and risk reduction

Looking back on the past decade of service, Cathy and Phil Busey see the many ways ESO has already significantly impacted its students. Organizational highlights include having the Oklahoma City Philharmonic play the world premiere of an entire symphony written by an ESO student, playing in the halftime show with the Pride of Oklahoma marching band during a University of Oklahoma football game and being named as a Carnegie Hall PlayUSA community partner organization for four straight years.

“It's not just about playing music,” Cathy Busey concludes. “It's about helping them to understand their opportunities. It’s showing them that if they stick with school, how many things can be possible. We are trying to show them that, if they follow their dreams and work hard, anything is possible.”

For more information about El Sistema Oklahoma or to find out how you can volunteer, please visit www.elsistemaok.org, contact elsistemaok@gmail.com or call 405-505-1494.

Two El Sistema students perfect a musical piece during a recent practice.

College of Health Professions

FIFTH PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT CLASS GRADUATES

Last May, the fifth physician assistant class graduated, making a total of 174 graduates practicing medicine across the country. If all of these graduates practiced only in Oklahoma, they would account for more than 10% of the current physician assistants practicing in the state. The OCU PA Class of 2022 received a 100% first-time pass rate on the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination.

PHYSICAL THERAPY PROGRAM GRADUATES INAUGURAL COHORT OF 28 STUDENTS

In December, OCU’s Physical Therapy program graduated its inaugural cohort of 28 students. The program was granted candidacy status from the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education in 2019, allowing matriculation of its first cohort of students into the program the following year. Additionally, the Doctor of Physical Therapy program recently received accreditation from CAPTE which is the only agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation to accredit entry-level physical therapist and physical therapist assistant education programs. OCU’s eight-semester professional curriculum combines full-time didactic and clinical education coursework with the clinical portion including service-learning, integrated clinical experiences and full-time clinical experiences.

FACULTY HONORS

4 Dean Gina Crawford was awarded the 2023 State Award for Excellence from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. The award is given to nurse practitioners who work to increase patient access to high-quality care and will be presented at the 2023 AANP National Conference in New Orleans in June.

4 Toni Frioux, associate professor of nursing, who developed and leads the Doctor of Nursing Practice Community-Based Public Health track, received an award as a top-25 trailblazer in public and community health from the Oklahoma Turning Point Council.

SAINTS & STARS PROGRAM ANNOUNCED

OCU’s Kramer School of Nursing and SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital have started a nursing partnership aimed at helping stem the critical shortage of nursing professionals in the state. This five-year agreement allows OCU students to work part-time with SSM Health while completing their nursing degree and receiving a $3,500 annual scholarship from SSM Health and a $5,000 annual discount from OCU. The partnership also allows students the opportunity to engage in paid leadership clinical hours, take part in clinical rotations, participate in a summer nurse extern program, complete service learning hours and be assigned a nurse mentor. The first cohort of the program began with junior nursing students in January with 20 additional juniors being selected to participate in the program each year for the next four years.

Additionally, up to two SSM Health employees may enroll in OCU’s Master of Science in Nursing Education program. OCU will reciprocate by emphasizing the hiring of the program’s SSM Health graduates to serve as clinical adjuncts to supervise Saints & Stars students completing their rotations at SSM Health. These nurses will be essential in supporting the ongoing clinical education of students participating in the Saints & Stars program.

Students participate in the inaugural Physical Therapy graduation ceremony.

INTERDISCIPLINARY EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING SIMULATION

In February 2023, the OCU physician assistant class of 2024 Acute Care course utilized an interdisciplinary experiential learning simulation partnering with members of the Midwest City Fire Department, OCU PA students, and OCU PA faculty. This experiential simulation provided a student learning opportunity for communication between first responders and the tertiary care provider handoff and transition of patient care. In addition, this experience replicated the fast-paced medical decision making of an emergency room for the training providers. This safe training space through simulation allowed students to make “safe mistakes” in the management of common emergency medical conditions which hold a high risk of patient mortality. The expertise of the first responders assisted the acquisition of quality communication transitions between care providers and a realistic expectation for upcoming clinical rotations.

NEW HIRES

4 Laura Dunn, BSN program specialist

4 Bella Kok, communications and outreach coordinator

4 Erin Marburger, MSN, APRN-CNP, AGACNP

4 Justine Miller, administrative assistant

4 Stacey Vladovich, MEd, PA-C

4 Kasey Weir, didactic support coordinator

GINA CRAWFORD NAMED DEAN

In October, Gina Crawford was appointed as dean of the university’s Kramer School of Nursing following a nationwide search. Her career includes more than 30 years as a registered nurse, 17 years as a family nurse practitioner and 10 years at OCU as a full-time faculty member, with seven of those years in leadership positions. In addition to her responsibilities at the nursing school, she is a peer evaluator for the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing and an appointed member of the Oklahoma Board of Nursing Advanced Practice Advisory Committee. She is also a member of multiple nursing and nurse practitioner organizations.

RESEARCH

KRAMER SCHOOL OF NURSING

4 Elizabeth Diener, professor of nursing, and three doctoral students, Connie Hollen, Ashley McCallum and Suratsawdee Panomkaen completed an ethnographic study titled “Troubling Qualitative Research in Doctoral Education: New Methodologies with Old Rules.” They have been selected to present at the International Congress of Qualitative Research in Illinois in May.

4 Brandi Stanley, prenursing facilitator and assistant professor, completed a video simulation as part of a design team with the Canadian Alliance of Nurse Educators using simulation. She is currently working on an evaluation study to determine the effectiveness of the simulation in meeting learning goals and a video-branching scenario to provide instruction to university employees on how to identify signs of an opioid overdose and intervene appropriately.

4 Pam Melson, clinical assistant professor, is presenting her paper titled “You are Fire! An Integrative Nurse Coach Journey to Reignite your Personal and Professional Passion” at the 2023 American Holistic Nursing Conference in June.

PHYSICAN ASSISTANT PROGRAM

4 Rebecca Carlozzi, clinical assistant professor, and Jose Medina, director of program evaluation and assessment, are implementing research involving curriculum for physican assistant student provider empathy. This multi-cohort study will evaluate the impact of training empathy in the students while utilizing curriculum involving empathy for training medical providers, but designed for practicing providers in the workplace to be utilized in the PA curriculum.

CHIPPING IN

The many ways OCU homeless initiatives teach service, aid community

BY APRIL MARCISZEWSKI

OCU’s Kappa Sigma fraternity partnered with Professor Leslie Long’s Bible and Culture class to clean up and renovate Lazarus Community, which provides transitional housing for those who experienced homelessness. Students Anthony Giordano, Jeremy Creek and Kat Davis clear yard debris to make way for vegetable and flower gardens.

When Ken Evans returned to Oklahoma to become Oklahoma City University president, he was struck by the visibility of homelessness in the city compared to a decade earlier.

Oklahoma City has an estimated 1,500 people experiencing homelessness on any given night, served by nonprofit and faith-based organizations—and now also, OCU, in small and large ways across the university.

OCU has incorporated service-learning into classes for many years, but Dean of Students Levi Harrel-Hallmark sees the university as beginning a new chapter of partnering with the greater Oklahoma City community for service. “As Stars, we understand that our community, and our responsibility, expands beyond our campus borders,” Harrel-Hallmark said. “We have a unique opportunity to build relationships and cultivate partnerships that meet the needs of our neighbors while simultaneously educating our students.”

Emma Winters-Difani, adjunct art instructor, created a servicelearning class in fall 2021, partnering with the Homeless Alliance’s Fresh StART artists to create designs that students then turned into prints and T-shirts.

“The academic environment can be insulated, but the truth is, it’s temporary, so it’s really important to understand where we are and the people who are surrounding that little island,” Winters-Difani said. “Using the resources that the university has to assist in the community is important. Hopefully students reflect on how community involvement and service are important going forward. Students may not be living in Oklahoma City forever, but whether it’s arts education or people experiencing homelessness, those organizations are going to be anywhere they go.”

Barker, a history education junior from Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and last fall’s director of OKConnect.

“I think when you make service engaging and when you are able to serve with your peers, it makes the experience fun and fulfilling,” he said.

He also sees community service taking hold in his fraternity. In fall 2021, Kappa Sigma was looking for a distinguishing factor, and Barker saw an opening for a student organization to lead with service. The 38-member fraternity now has the most community service hours of any student group on campus, clocking more than 800 hours last fall.

They have focused on helping the Lazarus Community in Oklahoma City, a church that evolved to provide transitional housing for those who experienced homelessness, said Barker and Grantz, also a member of Kappa Sigma.

Students have helped renovate and clean the facility inside and out. While volunteering, Barker crossed paths with a resident and experienced service coming full circle with their work having helped Lazarus Community serve people and turn a vision into reality.

“ The eviction clinic is one of those types of clinics that every law school should have. This is an issue that every community has. Preventing an eviction is preventing someone from ending up on the streets, quite often. When you bring students into a clinic, you’re making them more aware of the issues that are going on in the community. Hopefully those students go on to work in Legal Aid or volunteer on the weekends because they now know what those issues are. ”

Tia Ebarb Matt, J.D., SFHEA

OCU School of Law Director of Experiential Learning

“Once you get a taste for being able to help people, it’s such a great feeling, it makes you want to keep doing it,” Barker said. He grew up with a single mom and a twin brother, and they had to rely on social services growing up. “To be able to be in the position to help now, it’s one of the greatest feelings in the world.”

Modeling Service

Garrett Grantz, a political science and philosophy freshman from Stillwater, Oklahoma, remembers reluctantly giving up video game time as a sixth-grader to spend an hour volunteering. Now, he volunteers weekly by choice and realizes if he gives four hours, he still has 20 for himself.

“We are trying to cultivate a culture of service,” Grantz said. “I think we can definitely make an impact on this corridor. We have 3,000-plus students. An hour a week? That’s 3,000 hours. It’s definitely something that’s doable.”

Last fall, OCU started an ongoing series of service projects led by students called OKConnect. The day of service spent helping five local nonprofits during homecoming week turned out to be students’ favorite—and most attended—homecoming activity, said Andrew

OCU’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing includes a Community Health Nursing course, in which professors take students to nonprofits such as Skyline and Homeless Alliance, which serve people experiencing poverty and homelessness, respectively. Each semester this year, they have donated food to people living at an intersection less than two miles from campus. Dan Straughan, executive director of the Homeless Alliance, wrote in The Oklahoman in January that “development has pushed people into more visible locations, and a lack of low-barrier shelter beds means we see people sleeping outside, making the issue more visible.”

Professors across the university also make volunteering a regular part of their personal lives, which inevitably filters down to their students.

Pam Melson, clinical assistant professor of nursing, helps with a mobile food pantry in the stockyards and cooked for Sisu Youth Services over the holidays because the emergency youth shelter

doesn’t have a kitchen. Beth Pitman, clinical assistant professor of nursing, volunteers with the Homeless Alliance, restocking clothing and toiletry donations.

“It’s our brothers; it’s our sisters,” Melson said. “It’s not ‘those’ people.”

Those experiencing homelessness don’t fit into stereotypes, Pitman and others said, especially with rents skyrocketing in Oklahoma City.

“It can happen to any of us. I honestly think people would be surprised who we meet on the street,” Pitman said. “I feel like we’re all just one step away from our worst moment. Being able to relate to people on a human level is important no matter what you do.”

Pitman advises the Black Student Nurses Association and sees the students’ soft spots for vulnerable populations. This year, BSNA President Mikel Kendrick, a nursing senior from Thomson, Georgia, led outreach to Sisu Youth Services, an identity-affirming emergency overnight shelter and resource hub. At Thanksgiving, the group collected two boxes full of winter clothes for youth, and they presented a safe sex education session in March. Pitman said the group plans to have an ongoing partnership with Sisu.

“As an organization, we love doing community outreach and service work and being a vessel for change for the community,” Kendrick said.

Raising Awareness

In fall 2022, OCU partnered with donor Herman Meinders and NorthCare, a local behavioral health provider, to bring former NFL offensive tackle Michael Oher to campus to speak to students and community members about mental illness. He was couch homeless, and his story inspired the 2009 movie "The Blind Side."

The crowd maxed out the auditorium in the Meinders School of Business. Tonya Ratcliff, NorthCare philanthropy principal, saw the partnership as a natural: bringing together a social services agency with the future workforce. Ratcliff was thrilled that Oher’s talk spread the message that resources abound to help people through adversity and trauma.

“They saw this unstoppable force who was in the NFL who was on the ground in tears, not knowing where to turn,” she said. “Mental diagnoses and addiction do not discriminate. We’re all vulnerable, and we all need to know how to ask for help and recognize the signs. Michael Oher gave a very clear message that there is hope.”

This fall, at 7 p.m. on Sept. 12, the Martha Jean Lemon Distinguished Speaker Series will feature Princeton University sociology professor Matthew Desmond, author of the bestseller “Evicted” and the recently released book “Poverty, by America.”

Amy Cataldi, dean of the Petree College of Arts and Sciences, said OCU’s annual speaker series invites a lecturer who brings a diverse perspective and experience to engage with both the on-campus and local community.

“Covering topics that range from prison reform to environmental protection, world religions to the Osage murders, we hope to provide a meaningful dialogue with world-class experts,” she said. “Matthew Desmond’s research and storytelling will give us not only insight into housing insecurity, inequality, homelessness and poverty but may also drive us to consider new solutions, work to develop data-based strategies and forge partnerships in our mission to serve.”

Addressing Issues

Issues surrounding homelessness present educational opportunities, as well as research and service possibilities. Both OCU’s business and law schools are tackling evictions, which have skyrocketed to record numbers with the end of Covid-era tenant protections.

Jacob Dearmon, professor of economics and director of OCU’s Ronnie K. Irani Center for Data Analytics, is working with Associate Dean Robert Greve and an undergraduate student to put Oklahoma court records into a dashboard. This will allow users to see where evictions take place, which landlords file for evictions, which attorneys are used and how successful they are, how effective tenants are with and without attorneys, and more. Dearmon also sees the database as having the potential to drive policy discussions.

The goal is to provide a public service and also “help us better understand the eviction process and the related trauma,” Dearmon said. “Scholarly research has shown that (having a home) is an effective way of keeping people employed. If you don’t have a home, it’s very, very hard to keep a job. Evictions create a cascading effect. It’s on your record, and other places don’t want to rent to you. You start not being able to show up to work, and you get fired. Then you have no money and no place to live.”

Richard Klinge, director of OCU law school’s pro bono Housing Eviction Legal Assistance program, advocates for tenants in Oklahoma County District Court day in and day out. He sees housing as a fundamental right, especially in a state with a landlord-tenant act dating back to 1978 and lacking tenant protections. Oklahoma County’s eviction “rocket docket” means that tenants can be out of their homes in a matter of days. He points out that “rents are going up horribly, and landlords are getting more aggressive with eviction filings. If people lose their housing, that’s one step closer to homelessness. If you have people in safe and habitable, dependable housing, it’s going to help the community.”

The eviction assistance program started in April 2018 and has helped almost 1,800 families through the support of grants from the Oklahoma Bar Foundation and Inasmuch Foundation. Klinge educates tenants, caseworkers and other lawyers about tenant rights and obligations under the law; provides legal representation and advice to tenants to resolve disputes and avoid eviction; and advocates and educates state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services caseworkers and others statewide.

Besides Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, Klinge is usually tenants’ one hope of legal representation in Oklahoma County. Most can’t afford a lawyer if they can’t afford rent.

“The payback to the public is tremendous,” Klinge said. “It’s not that you win the case every time, but sometimes you get a settlement agreement that may keep the eviction off the record.”

“There’s a lot of good people working on these issues,” he said. “I’m excited about the momentum I feel.”

The program’s capacity will increase this fall with the creation of a legal clinic. Six to eight students will work under Klinge’s supervision. Tia Ebarb Matt, clinical professor of law and the law school’s director of experiential learning, said the students will staff drop-in sessions, work with clients and host educational workshops for various groups, including landlords, who “don’t always know what they’re doing wrong.”

“When you bring students into a clinic, you’re making them more aware of the issues that are going on in the community,” Ebarb Matt said. “We should be educating our students but also helping to educate the public so they know their rights and the processes. The law school is part of the community.”

Service Identity

“OCU’s motto of servant-leadership really is present,” said Ben Ball, finance and economics freshman from Choctaw and new OKConnect service project director. “People are really caring. When they say, ‘If you need anything, I’m here for you,’ they really do mean it. It certainly makes me proud to be a student here and someday be an alumnus.”

Melanie Shelley, executive director of the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment, forged a partnership with Positive Tomorrows, a transitional school for students experiencing homelessness, in 2006. “That was when service-learning was really starting to blossom at OCU.” Shelley and her dance costume lab students sewed Halloween costumes for the young students, according to their wishes, and the tradition has continued ever since, delighting young people and showing them people care for them. (See story, page 6.)

“The majority of students probably have never connected with the homeless population,” she said. “This is our longest running community outreach.”

The dance school also offers scholarships in its Community Dance Academy, allowing lower-income children to participate, and they’ve volunteered in other ways over the years, once helping teach multiplication tables through dance at a local elementary school.

“Giving back to the community is part of who OCU is,” Shelley said. “We’re, of course, prepping people for the industry, but also respecting others. All of these service projects teach students that.”

President Evans wrote to the OCU community in spring 2022, announcing a focus on homelessness. With city upgrades in the works, “the neighborhoods around 23rd Street will begin to transition and urbanize in ways that will permanently change the affordability of housing in the area. OCU has a tradition of meaningful connections in the community and advocating for the disadvantaged. I am betting we can be the catalyst that changes this causal progression.”

Students organized for the largest OCU homecoming service project on record in fall 2022 and participated in an icebreaker before traveling to their volunteer sites. Project co-chair Andrew Barker is pictured at center.

David Wilson: A Spiritual Journey

AN OCU ALUM’S PATH FROM THE CLASSROOM TO BEING THE FIRST NATIVE AMERICAN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH BISHOP

BY BRIAN DAFFRON

Native American dance and ceremonial regalia is a blending of worlds. In many instances, raw materials such as feathers, wood and buckskin from the natural world combine with glass beads, cloth and metal from human-produced factories to create items as varied as feather fans adorned with beadwork, rattles made from silver cannisters and carved staffs of hardwood.

In a similar way, Oklahoma City University alumnus and Choctaw tribal member David Wilson’s life finds itself as a syncretic blend of Methodist Christianity and an Indigenous spiritual worldview. His journey to this pathway began in Muskogee, Oklahoma, where as a child Wilson attended a Methodist church, whose membership was predominantly Native. It is also, according to Wilson, the roots of his calling to ministry.

“I grew up as a child in a small Methodist church in Muskogee, probably since the age of six,” Wilson said. “I come from a big family. Many of us went, but I was probably the most faithful in attending. There, I was nurtured by my mother and church mothers, pastors who nurtured me, looked after me and encouraged me.”

When Wilson attended school, he found writing to be one of his favorite subjects, where he wrote for school newspapers, including Muskogee High School. After graduation, Wilson’s pastors steered him into the classrooms of Oklahoma City University, where he worked as a copy editor for the newspaper and earned a bachelor’s in mass communication in 1990.

“I had a great experience there at OCU,” Wilson said. “The classes were so small. The professors knew you. You could talk to them and visit with them. They gave you more individual attention than other schools can do.”

Shortly after graduation, Wilson received a call to ministry while working with Native college students at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah and was licensed as a minister by 1991. In 1994, Wilson earned his Master of Divinity from the Phillips Theological Seminary. After pastoral roles in churches within the UMC Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, Wilson served as the OIMC conference superintendent from 2002-2018 and assistant to the bishop from 20182022. “Basically the same role just different titles,” Wilson explained.

Two key areas stand out during Wilson’s OIMC tenure. One is an equal acceptance of the roles that traditional Indigenous spirituality and Christianity play in the lives of Native families. Another is a Christian social justice role, with causes that include the promotion of Native education, voter registration through Rock the Native Vote, Murdered and Missing Indigenous People awareness, and a commitment to the Standing Rock Reservation on the border of North and South Dakota that began during the Dakota Access Pipeline, or NoDAPL, protests of 2016.

“Even after [the NoDAPL protests] ended, we made a commitment to the leaders that we still know and said, ‘We didn’t just come for photo ops.’ We were there in the dead of winter with them,” Wilson said. “One of our churches went down to feed in a huge blizzard when we were there. We barely made it home.”

On January 1, 2023, Wilson’s role in the United Methodist Church changed when he was appointed bishop of the Great Plains Conference—the first-ever Native American bishop within the UMC. With its office in Topeka, Kansas, Wilson’s congregants include 180,000 Methodists who live within the borders of Kansas and Nebraska. At press time, Wilson’s time as bishop includes learning about the varied lives of his congregants, including those from farming, ranching, large metropolitan and small-town backgrounds. He also has worked on building relationships with the tribes in these two states, visited the Kansas State Capitol at least three times and worked on issues such as predatory lending.

February 11, 2023, was a key moment for Wilson when he was officially installed as bishop. The celebration included performances by a Cherokee Youth Choir, the Lord’s Prayer in Plains Sign Language, and visits from adopted Ponca relatives, for whom Nebraska is their original homeland. At the service, a retired Oklahoma bishop passed on a beaded staff with feathers made by the late Rev. Thomas Roughface, a Ponca tribal member who served as Wilson’s mentor in the OIMC ministry and also an adopted family member.

An elder from Wilson’s home church in Muskogee told him before moving to Kansas, “‘David, when you leave, don’t forget you are Choctaw. Don’t forget who you are.’ That’s a big piece of me, too, to remember that in all that I do and think about folks from my past and present who have nurtured me, taught me, educated me, helped me to understand not only my own cultural ways but many cultural ways—the Poncas, the Kiowas, the Comanches and others. I have relatives from all of these tribes who teach me. They still do.”

After Wilson’s graduation from OCU with his bachelor’s degree, he continued to serve the university as an adjunct instructor from 2007-2015, as well as maintain an adjunct position with the Southern Methodist University Perkins School of Theology. Wilson also served as a Board of Trustees member and was recognized with an honorary doctorate from Bacone College in 2009.

For Wilson, the key educational tool OCU offers is its studentinstructor ratio and access to instructors.

“Students need to take advantage of the OCU experience, understanding that all of the faculty are there to help students in any way they can,” he said. “They want them to grow, and they want them to learn. They’re there to mentor you. They want you to succeed.”

David Wilson (’90) is presented with a Pendleton blanket by Erika Washee Stanley from the Lawrence, Kansas Indian United Methodist Church during his installation as the Great Plains Conference bishop. (Photo courtesy of the Great Plains UMC Conference)

The Home of Champions Extends into the Community

BY CHRIS MAXON

Several years ago, while OCU’s athletics department was somewhere on the path to 72 national championships, the term “Home of Champions” was born. If someone were to plant a flag for such a moniker, you’d be hard-pressed to put it anywhere else but 2501 North Blackwelder.

The name’s origin is from hoisting trophies on the fields, courts, tracks and courses of competition, but the championship mindset goes even deeper. In the classroom, OCU student-athletes continually raise the bar for academic excellence, and they’re also making a big difference off campus in the Oklahoma City community and beyond.

Since 2007, the Athletics Department has partnered with Skyline, an Oklahoma City-based ministry concentrating on the poor and needy through a variety of assistance programs. The focus of OCU’s

partnership is the program’s food resource center through an annual holiday food drive that runs in November and December.

It’s estimated Athletics’ food drive has provided over 130,000 nonperishable food items over the years. Each varsity team participates, securing donations at home events and from their own network of friends and family.

Softball coach Phil McSpadden, now in his 35th year, has been a part of every food drive with Skyline and recognizes its impact goes deeper than collecting canned food. “I enjoy watching our team come together and help the community. They learn so much about making a difference in the lives of others, and that will stay with them well beyond their short time on this campus.”

Apart from the collective efforts with something like the food drive, student-athlete leaders like Anthony Carranza are individually motivated to give back and make that difference. Last summer, Carranza was selected to the prestigious Red Cross Collegiate Leadership Program as a representative of OCU in Washington, D.C.

One of the required components of the program is that participants setup blood drives on their local campus and start an American Red Cross organization or club. Beyond those tangible benefits, the leadership program also educated and motivated Carranza in his constant pursuit to lead and assist.

“One of the main themes was having a servant’s heart and why being a servant-leader is important,” said Carranza, a junior human performance/business entrepreneurship major. “It all goes back to treating others the way we’d like to be treated. There are many people who don’t see that we have hope here in the U.S., and I know I would want those around me to help me get back on my feet if I ever experience a setback in my life.”

OCU student-athletes pack boxes of canned food items before loading a truck for Skyline during the annual holiday food drive.

Anthony Carranza, third from right, and participants of the 2022 Red Cross Collegiate Leadership Program pose with Gail J. McGovern, president and CEO of the American Red Cross last summer in Washington, D.C.

LOSING LEGENDS

While the sports of baseball and soccer lost two legends of the game in the past year, OCU lost two of its most beloved coaches and co-workers. Head baseball coach Denney Crabaugh passed away July 13, six months before longtime men’s and women’s soccer coach Brian Harvey’s death on January 13. Both men shaped their programs, not only on the OCU campus, but also in the state and region. Beyond their success in competition, the outpouring of condolences from alumni, faculty and staff were proof of their impact on thousands who played or worked for and with them.

OCU RUNNERS FINISH 1-2 IN NAIA CROSS COUNTRY

Oklahoma City University boasts both the individual national championship and the individual runner-up for the third consecutive year in the NAIA men's cross country championships in November.

Abraham Chelangam crossed the finish line in first place, while Shimales Abebe took the second spot in the national meet. Chelangam gave OCU the individual champion for the fourth year running and fifth time in six years.

TODOROVIC RUNS TO NAIA CHAMPIONSHIP

Senior Milan Todorovic highlighted Oklahoma City University's effort in the NAIA men's indoor track & field championships by taking the 800-meter national title. Todorovic posted the winning time of 1 minute, 52.03 seconds to nab his second all-American honor of the meet and sixth allAmerican accolade of his career. Todorovic, from Belgrade, Serbia, majoring in computer science, reached the finals with a preliminary mark of 1:54.08.

NEW FACES IN HEAD COACHING ROLES

4 With the passing of Crabaugh, longtime assistant coach Keith Lytle was named head coach of the baseball program in August. Crabaugh and Lytle worked side-by-side for 34 years, producing collegiate baseball’s winningest program since 1991. During his tenure, Lytle has contributed to OCU accumulating 14 50-win seasons, 14 NAIA World Series appearances, three national runnerup finishes (2002, 2003, 2004) and the 2005 national championship. The Stars have the single-season NAIA record for wins with 73 in 2004.

4 Josh Gorzney was named head women’s golf coach in November. Gorzney came to OCU from Central Arkansas University, where he was an assistant to former Stars coach M.J. Desbiens Shaw, who led the OCU program to two national championships.

4 After a national search, Kris Seigenthaler was tabbed as head women’s basketball coach in June. Seigenthaler was previously an assistant at Loyola where her teams swept the Southern States Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships for two consecutive years. Loyola advanced to the NAIA Championship Tournament and posted 20-win seasons all four years. The Wolf Pack went 91-22 (.805 winning percentage) with her contributions.

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S GOLF SET PACE IN FALL SEASONS

The women’s team remained ranked number one in the NAIA throughout the fall season, and are coming off an NAIA national runner-up finish in 2022. The squad won three tournaments in the fall season, including the Missouri State/Payne Stewart Memorial, which was an NCAA division one field. Individually, sophomore Paige Wood won the Grace Shin Invitational, sophomore Maddi Kamas finished atop the leaderboard at the Missouri State/Payne Stewart, and OCU golfers occupied spots 1-4 at the Southwestern Christian Invitational.

The men won the U.C. Ferguson Classic in record-setting fashion, then won the Southwestern Christian Invitational to kick off their fall season. In the U.C. Ferguson tournament, their second-round total scores of 261 and 23-under-par are the best ever produced by an OCU team. Senior Will Fore was the individual winner at the event, while sophomore Tres Hill and freshman Leandro Milhach tied for second in the Southwestern Christian tournament.

Kris Seigenthaler, new head women’s basketball coach

CONNOR BURTON

More than a dreamer

BY MEGAN HORNBEEK ALLEN

Connor Burton is not your average college student. He entered Oklahoma City University in 2020, having already achieved success with the launch of a successful nonprofit business. A Meinders School of Business Leadership Fellow, Burton’s entrepreneurial path did not have a traditional beginning. Encouraged by his mentor and basketball coach to start a business, it wasn’t until a vivid dream that he gained a clear sense of purpose and inspiration. This dream led to the birth of Love4All, a nonprofit organization that aims to create a culture of loving all people.

Love4All’s mission is to make giving easy and to eliminate the gap between wanting to help and actually helping. Through the purchase of Love4All products, individuals contribute to initiatives that include community outreach, disaster response, food shortage and saving children from trafficking.

Burton is committed to partnering with organizations, like Convoy of Hope and Rapha International, that end the sexual exploitation of children. These nonprofits share the values of love, giving hope to those who need it most while preserving and protecting those same individuals. Through these business relationships, Love4All strives to create a culture of love and compassion that will leave a lasting impact on communities around the world. Through the purchase of Love4All products, individuals contribute to other nonprofits that share Love4All’s passion for changing lives through acts of kindness and generosity.

For Burton, Love4All is a gateway to “help you help others.” He believes that if there was more emphasis on love, most problems would be solved. His organization aims to contribute to the development of a culture of loving all people, and he invites others to help him send this message to the world.

Burton’s passion for serving others is evident in everything he does. He is a quintessential OCU student: a creative thinker, a thoughtful leader and service-minded. Love4All is not just a nonprofit organization; it’s an opportunity to publicly show support for one's community while also knowing that the proceeds of the purchase are returning to the community. Through Love4All, Burton demonstrates the qualities of a servant-leader, focusing on the needs of his customers and his community. Love4All was created with the goal of making a positive impact on the world, and it's clear Burton is achieving that goal.

Burton enjoys learning more about business and is making lifelong connections at the Meinders School of Business. He is excited for opportunities to connect to the business world on and off campus. He credits OCU for helping him identify and address some of his biggest threats and challenges with his first start-up, and he believes that his Meinders Fellowship allows him to attend a top-tier university and grow both as a student and an individual. Burton is more than a dreamer; he’s a doer, actively putting love into action. His entrepreneurial spirit and Love4All is an inspiration, and his passion for serving others is evident. He invites others to join him in creating a culture of loving all people at love4allpeople.com.

MARK BEFFORT, CATHY KEATING AND BARRY SWITZER HONORED AT HALL OF HONOR

The 36th annual induction ceremony of the 2022 Oklahoma Commerce & Industry Hall of Honor welcomed three new honorees. Mark Beffort, CEO of Newmark Robinson Park, received the Chairman’s Award; Cathy Keating, former First Lady of Oklahoma, received the Lifetime Achievement Award; and Barry Switzer, member of the College Football Hall of Fame and legendary coach of the Oklahoma Sooners and Dallas Cowboys, received the Outstanding Achievement Award.

Oklahoma City University established the Oklahoma Commerce & Industry Hall of Honor to recognize business and community leaders who have made significant contributions to the growth and development of Oklahoma, while raising funds for vital scholarships for OCU business students.

MEINDERS SCHOOL LAUNCHING FOUR NEW ONLINE MBA CONCENTRATIONS

The Meinders School of Business will launch four new online MBA concentrations in time for the summer 2023 semester. Joining the school’s existing MBA tracks in leadership and health care administration are MBA concentrations in corporate accounting, data analytics, financial analytics and energy. All six tracks include an emphasis on understanding and development of leadership skills.

The university also will reduce the price of its online MBA programs nearly in half to a total cost of $15,000, which works out to $417 per credit hour.

MEINDERS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND THE OKC THUNDER NBA TEAM PARTNERSHIP

OCU’s Meinders School of Business and the OKC Thunder launched a partnership in fall 2022 to provide students with real-world experience and exposure to leaders of a global organization. Meinders undergraduate and graduate students participated in high-level experiential learning through job shadowing with Thunder executives during a recent home game – enriching their understanding of business operations. Students met with executives to learn about their roles with the Thunder organization and job shadowed through halftime, seeing first-hand what it takes to bring a Thunder game to life.

Thunder Leadership MBA groups from Professor Justin Wareham’s MBA Business Strategy class presented their project research to support the Oklahoma City Thunder in developing “go-to-market” strategies to build international partnerships.

Additionally, Jose Nava entered to win a special sweepstakes held by the Meinders School of Business and the OKC Thunder where he won a $23,500 scholarship towards the Thunder Leadership MBA. His entry won and he earned free throws on court during a game against the Houston Rockets in Jan. He made nine baskets, totaling $13,500 in additional scholarship money and will start his studies this fall.

TEXAS REGIONAL ETHICS BOWL AT TEXAS A&M – SAN ANTONIO

Meinders School of Business students competed in the 2022 Texas Regional Ethics Bowl at Texas A&M - San Antonio on November 12, 2022. The ethics debate team is coached by Justin Wareham, associate professor of management with students participating, including Sofie Smith, Mackenzie Moon, Grant Baber, Kayla Nguyen, Ashley Nguyen and Katelynn Murphy.

MEINDERS SCHOOL BOOSTS STEM STATUS

Oklahoma City University has added four graduate programs with STEM designation in the Meinders School of Business. These are thanks in part to Herman Meinders, the namesake of OCU’s business school, who pledged a $3 million gift to the university to develop and launch the series of STEM-related degree programs, among several other initiatives. The new programs include a Master of Science in Data Analytics, Master of Science in Financial Analytics, MBA in Data Analytics and MBA in Financial Analytics.

Mark Beffort, Cathy Keating, and Barry Switzer

© Shevaun Williams

Jose Nava with OKC Thunder's mascot Rumble after winning scholarship money towards the Thunder MBA at OCU.

STUDENT GROUP CELEBRATES THROUGH COMMUNITY SERVICE

BY ROD JONES

OCU’S CIRCLE K INTERNATIONAL LIKES TO KEEP THINGS INTERESTING WITH A LARGE VARIETY OF COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS AND DONATION DRIVES. HERE’S A FEW OF THEIR PAST ENDEAVORS:

• CAT AND DOG TOYS FOR THE ANIMAL SHELTER

• HYGIENE BAGS FOR HOUSING INSECURE

• CRAFT BAGS FOR A CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

• FOOD DONATION BOXES FOR A FOOD BANK

• WINTER SCARVES FOR HOUSING INSECURE

• VALENTINES FOR CAMPUS

• MEAL SERVICE FOR SISU

• PUMPKIN DONATIONS TO A CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

The Circle K International chapter at OCU has added energy to the university’s tradition of service-learning. With community service projects coming every other week during the fall and spring semesters, chapter members have no trouble reaching their service-learning credits.

“We like a nice, consistent schedule with our projects,” said Morgan Roby, chapter president and biology major. “It helps us stay productive.”

Those projects can run the gamut from making Valentines cards to building hygiene kits for those experiencing homelessness. Food preparation is a recurring project, although the menus and organizations served this way will vary from session to session.

The chapter also organizes fundraisers throughout the year for different causes, including for the purchase of materials they use in their projects.

“We try to help as many different charities as we can,” Roby added.

Circle K International bills itself as “the world’s largest student-led collegiate service organization,” with more than 7,600 members in 17 countries coming together to make a positive impact in the world.

CKI is the collegiate branch of the Kiwanis International family. Besides the volunteer endeavors, the organization also seeks to instill leadership qualities amongst its members while emphasizing team building skills.

“CKI members leave college with real-life networking and advocating skills AND service leadership,” its website states.

OCU’s chapter made immediate impacts right from its outset. It was restarted about a year ago and was named Outstanding New Chapter at the international conference and Chapter of the Year during the CKI Texas-Oklahoma district conference last July. The honor is based on factors including engagement, fundraising efforts and overall student involvement. OCU’s chapter has nearly 30 members.

One of Roby’s duties as chapter president is seeking out organizations to assist. The group usually identifies a recipient and then comes up with some kind of project about a week prior. They get together every other Wednesday evening, appoint members to specific tasks, then get to work on the project at hand.

Most group projects are done on campus so that all students can participate regardless of access to transportation.

In February, the group prepared a baked potato bar for clients of Sisu Youth Services, an overnight shelter and drop-in resource hub for unhoused and at-risk youth in Oklahoma City. Sisu is located a few blocks away from the OCU campus.

Group members were cheerful and humorous as they gathered in the chapel’s Watson Lounge, divvied up duties and set about their tasks. Their good spirits indicated they not only participate in service to others, but also enjoy each other’s company while doing the work.

The members aren’t after recognition — they have a genuine interest in helping others. They relish the fellowship with their classmates who are interested in benevolence.

“I like to be involved in things that benefit the community,” said club treasurer Emma Sloan.

CKI students make birdfeeders for the community with the student group members deciding where to put their creations.

Arts and Sciences

DEAN AMY CATALDI PARTICIPATES IN TINKER AIR FORCE BASE HONORARY COMMANDER PROGRAM

Petree College of Arts & Sciences

Dean Amy Cataldi was one of 17 leaders from across the Oklahoma City metropolitan area chosen to participate in the Tinker Air Force Base Honorary Commander program in 2022. The program develops integral interpersonal relationships to better learn and understand how each partner's activities impact the community and Tinker Air Force Base. In October, Cataldi had the opportunity to participate in an aerial refueling flight with the 507th Air Refueling Wing.

OCU VALORANT TEAM NAMED NATIONAL WINNER

The OCU Valorant team claimed the National Association of Collegiate Esports Varsity Plus National Grand Finals title. The competition was a best-ofthree event with the athletes competing for more than two hours. This is the first national championship title for the OCU Esports program. Team members included Edward Bennett, Ryan McLaughlin, Kaleb Cosgrave, Karl Huber and Cooper Patrick.

FIRST BREAKFAST WITH SANTA COMMUNITY EVENT AT OKC’S OVERHOLSER MANSION

Students from the fall 2022 Mass Communication Media Relations and Event Management course helped plan and execute the first Breakfast with Santa community event at Overholser Mansion. Course instructor and Preservation Oklahoma Executive Director Chantry Banks oversaw the collaboration to provide hands-on experience for OCU students.

DAVID GRANN GIVES PRESENTATION ON “KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON” FOR THE MARTHA JEAN LEMON DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES

OCU hosted David Grann, bestselling author of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” for the Martha Jean Lemon Distinguished Speaker Series in September 2022. Grann gave a talk titled “Killers of the Flower Moon: the Arc of Justice” with Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear of the Osage Nation participating in the event.

“Killers of the Flower Moon” swept the literary world upon its publication in 2017 as a shocking, dramatic true story of murder and injustice against a Native American tribe in Northeastern Oklahoma. In the 1920s, Osage Nation citizens became some of the wealthiest people in the world after oil reserves were discovered in the territory on which they were forcefully relocated years before. Subsequent brutal killings followed, which became known as the “Reign of Terror,” as Osage citizens were murdered to obtain control of their wealth.

During his talk, Grann illuminated how the struggle for Native American rights extends from the first contact with whites to the present day with Standing Rock. Grann highlighted the saga of the Osage and documented how one of the most sinister crimes in American history connects to Native Americans’ current fight to control their land and resources.

“Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI” spent more than 30 weeks on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list, was a finalist for the National Book Award, and ranked first on Amazon’s Single Best Books of the Year. The highly anticipated film adaptation with Martin Scorcese as director and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Brendan Fraser is scheduled for release later this year.

ART SHOW REALM CREATED WITH STUDENT ASSISTANCE

Students from the OCU Special Topics course taught by Norick Art Center Nona Jean Hulsey Gallery Director Heather K. Lunsford with acclaimed artistin-residence Jason Hackenwerth created a sculpture from balloons for their on-campus show, Realm. Students worked alongside Hackenwerth, whose work can be seen at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, to create the ephemeral work.

Rayshon Payton (BA ’10) set an upward trajectory for his future from an early age with his skill, talent and perseverance earning him a spot on the OCU men’s golf team. After four years at OCU as an engaged leader and student athlete, he went on to earn his law degree, intern at the White House and eventually move to Washington, D.C., in 2013, where he kicked off his career. Payton currently serves in the Office of Legislative Affairs as senior confirmations counsel at the White House. He explains how his experience at OCU helped to prepare for his future. “The conversations with colleagues and professors along with the small class sizes and individual attention was key for me,” he said. “The course I took in Constitutional Law as a political science major really stands out as it articulated what law was and was not and harnessed my analytical skills in the process.” Payton also took a course from Mohamed Daadaoui that gave him a more holistic view of political science.

Payton was fascinated by the practical application of law and how he saw it portrayed in society but especially how law could help communities in need. The role of a lawyer as an advocate was something that appealed to Payton and encouraged him to continue onto law school. This notion that he could assist others while following his passion began his servant-leadership journey. Payton says, “Servant-leadership is the heart of all great teams, serving others prepares you to lead.”

After interning his first summer with the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s office, he applied for, and was awarded, a competitive White House internship during his second summer of law school. Payton described it, saying, “The impact of everything I experienced while there, I knew this was what I wanted to do.” In his position now, he works with nominees in advancing appointment confirmations and other interests within Congress.

Payton encourages others who want a career in politics and servant leadership to work hard and value the relationships and friendships

THE PATH OF A SERVANT LEADER

BY KATE DOWNING

that come along the way. He says, “In conversations, empathize with the other person, work to find common ground and truly try to solve any issues you can.” Payton also is a firm believer in enjoying a wellrounded life. A high stakes political career in Washington, D.C., can take its toll. He finds it essential to incorporate other interests into his busy schedule, such as returning to his golfing roots or watching a Monday night football game. Creating this work-life balance is important.

When asked what is next for him, Payton had a simple servanthearted response all could try to embody. “I am content continuing to positively impact the world and the spaces around me.”

OCU students visit the U.S. Capitol in 2009, from left to right, Justin Demetz (’10), Payton, Camal Pennington (’10 and OCU Student Body President), Jonathan Brewer (’10) and Michael Roselle (’11).

POSITIVE TOMORROWS' MARGARET CREIGHTON BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS, CREATING CHANGE

BY BROOKE BARNETT

Margaret Creighton (BS Dance Management ’02, MBA Marketing ’06) was drawn to her position at Positive Tomorrows because it combined her two biggest loves – providing educational opportunities and making a difference in the world. She had reached a point in her life where she was starting to think about the impact she was making, and knew it was time for a change.

“I’ve always been involved in the arts, and it has shaped who I am today. I had previously worked for a non-profit organization that was an arts-integrated dance school, and it was incredible,” Creighton explains. “Positive Tomorrows gave me the same feeling. We expose our kids to art, music and dance as a way to help them find the thing that they really love. Everything we do here centers around our kids and what they need.”

As Oklahoma's only school and social services agency specifically for children and families experiencing homelessness, Positive Tomorrows focuses on providing stability, a quality education and social support to

students affected by poverty. Founded in 1989, Positive Tomorrows has spent the last three decades helping to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty by removing barriers, providing family support and helping students to flourish in a supportive and understanding environment.

Creighton has worked for the organization for the past 10 years, serving as director of development and executive vice president before being named president in 2022. Even as her responsibilities within the organization have changed, her focus on the importance of their mission has not wavered.

“Sometimes it is hard, and sometimes it is messy. But all of our students understand the joy that they feel when they accomplish certain things,” she says. “I love watching our families be proud of themselves and proud of each other. We don’t just focus on our students, but rather the entire family as a whole. They both need attention to grow, and that growth is so powerful.”

As an Oklahoma City University alumna, Creighton credits her time as a student with helping to expose her to a diverse population. She

believes that her OCU education has helped open doors allowing her to make a difference in her world.

“My time at OCU really opened my eyes and helped me learn from so many different people,” she adds. “It propelled me into my career, and helped me understand that I want to move forward only by working with helping others. What I want to do with my life is lift up other voices.”

Lifting up others has given Creighton many memorable experiences at Positive Tomorrows. She recalls watching families move into a home after living in their car for more than a year, the pride of seeing students grow multiple grade levels academically in a single year and celebrating birthdays and other major milestones along the way. Creighton is excited that OCU continues to partner with Positive Tomorrows to help make dreams come true for their students. One of her favorite connections is having OCU students in the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Arts Entertainment’s Costume Lab class make Halloween costumes for the students at Positive Tomorrows, complete from creating an original design to alterations to final fittings.

“Those are the magic moments,” she recalls. “Something as simple as giving kids the costume of their dreams or watching them blow out candles on a birthday cake for the first time. It’s all about giving them a chance to wish and hope for something, and then to have someone help make that dream come true. It fosters a strong sense of community, even if they are giving back in the smallest ways.”

For Creighton, one of the most memorable experiences of her time at Positive Tomorrows was completing a capital campaign that built a new location for the school. The new building, which opened in 2019, tripled the school’s capacity and allowed them to expand to include additional grade levels. The expansion is continuing, with the school planning to add both a 3-year-old program and a seventh grade class in the coming year. Even with all of these successes, Creighton stays focused on ways to approach the challenges ahead.

“The biggest challenge that we are facing right now is a housing shortage,” she explains. “We are serving families that have been evicted or are buried under debt or have a former incarceration, and those can be really big barriers. Climbing out of poverty can be difficult and hard. If I could wave a magic wand, I would build housing specifically for our families, with safe places for our kids to play.”

While Creighton continues to seek ways to expand the impact Positive Tomorrows makes in the community, she encourages others to join them in their efforts to create positive change for their students and families.

“Come see us and be part of our school,” she concludes. “Our students love when people volunteer, even if it is only one hour each week of mentoring. Our students have so much promise inside of them. Come invest your time, your talents and your treasure with our kids. It is one of the most important things you could do.”

For more information about Positive Tomorrows, visit positivetomorrows.org.

Margaret Creighton (’02, ’06) visits with one of the many children attending Positive Tomorrows.

Obituaries Brian Harvey

OCU SOCCER COACH 1947-2023

When OCU introduced men's soccer in 1986 and women's soccer in 1994, Brian Harvey became the university’s first coach. He built his hall of fame career making a huge impact on soccer throughout the community, region, and country. He guided the men's program to a 435-211-43 mark and the women to a 378-130-27 record with win totals standing second all-time among NAIA women's soccer coaches and sixth on the men's list. Brian notched his 800th career victory against the Houston-Victoria women 3-0 on Aug. 31, 2019 in Victoria, Texas, and gained hall of fame recognition from OCU Athletics, the Oklahoma Soccer Association and the NAIA.

Prior to OCU, he was head coach of the Oklahoma City Slickers, an American Professional Soccer League team that he took to the 1982 Soccer Bowl played before 42,000 at the Silverdome in Detroit. He led the Oklahoma City Spirit to the 1990 Lone Star Soccer Alliance championship and coached Oklahoma City and Tulsa in the United Soccer League and the Oklahoma City teams of the U.S. Interregional Soccer League.

Brian took every opportunity to introduce youth to soccer, coaching in the U.S. Youth Soccer Region III Olympic development program for more than 15 years as well as coaching club programs and conducting his American Youth Soccer Camps with more than 6,000 children gaining his instruction for nearly 30 years. He was named Region III boys competitive coach of the year in 2007 and Oklahoma girls competitive coach of the year in 2002. He also guided the Dallas Club America to the 1979 Notis Cup title.

At OCU, Brian produced 77 all-Americans, 124 NAIA scholar-athlete award winners and 15 CoSIDA academic all-Americans. A native of Liverpool, England, he graduated from St. Bonaventure University in 1966 with a degree in physical education and played soccer professionally in Australia, China, England and the United States. Brian first came to the U.S. to play for the Dallas Tornadoes in the North American Soccer League and toured with the Tornadoes around the world, competing against the legendary Pele in Hong Kong in 1972. He is survived by his wife, Judy, and their daughter, Nicole, who played for OCU from 2001 to 2004 and served as his student assistant the following year.

In Memoriam

1950s

Tom V. Wigington ’52

Jan McRee (Janice Bryant) ’53

Paula Jean Huckaby Brashear ’56

Donald Gilbert Lee, Sr. ’56

Theodore Willard Oney, Jr. ‘56

Robert (Bob) Leonard Potter ’59

1960s

Sarah Olson Brown ’60

Johnny Vinson Pritchard ’62

Charles Lewis Hunnicutt ’64

Jeanne Hoffman Smith

(BA ’74, HDHL ’98) 1929-2022

Jeanne Hoffman Smith was an OCU alumna, trustee and longtime benefactress who endowed the Center for Interpersonal Studies through Film & Literature. From Oklahoma City, Jeanne graduated from the university in 1974 and earned her graduate degree in social work from the University of Louisville, continuing her work as a clinical social worker for 50 years of her life, maintaining her practice and seeing clients into her last years.

She was a great supporter of poetry, the liberal arts, social services and her church. She loved books and language and began numerous programs in the areas of film and video studies, as well as an annual poetry week at OCU where poets laureate come to educate and illuminate.

According to Harbour Winn, OCU professor emeritus and former director of the Center for Interpersonal Studies through Film & Literature, “Jeanne has a story that those who know her will recognize: her father taught her to always leave more logs on the woodpile than you found when you came to it. She left that woodpile full. She also attended workshops across the country to wisely educate herself on philanthropy, deciding that any group she gave money to must practice reciprocity with her gift. She thus drew up contracts with OCU, OU, Oklahoma Arts Institute, the Oklahoma Museum of Art, a museum in Chandler, Oklahoma, where she came from, and more. She expected OCU to provide the salary and office space for the center's director as part of its reciprocity. She wanted an institution to commit with her to the values of what the donation represented.”

Jeanne was married to Boston Smith and they had three children, Harrison, Roy and Victoria, four grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren. Her legacy will live on through her family and her gracious spirit of gratitude and giving at the university and beyond.

Jerry Sharpe Duncan ’65

Floyd Earl Ellison Jr. ’69

1970s

Flora Hodge-Hamlin ‘71

Howard Alan Schuminsky ’72

Elizabeth “Betty” Jones

Struby ’73, ’77

Vincent Art Bova ’75

Michael James Culwell ’75

Anthony Lynn "Tony" Graham ’75

Richard C. Bowers ’77

Carolyn Roma McCaull Fletcher Demaree ’77

1980s

James Bradley “Brad” Morelli ’80

John Richard Benson ’81, ’85

Paul Willson Austin ’85

1990s

William Lloyd Estes ’90

Rodney L. Kay ’90

John Patrick “Packy” Evans, Jr. ’91

Donna Dee Chambers ’93

Tecla Kern Webber ’95

Peter Fredrick Bjorlie ’96

2000s

Michaele Camille Thomas (Lewis) ’01

Shawn Adkison ’04

William Jarboe “Bill” Ross ’05

Betty Joanne Gorrell

Mary Nolan

John A. Reed

Bert Dail Seabourn

(NON-DEGREE ’62, HDHL ’97)

1931-2022

Bert Seabourn brought his artistic vision across the world with paintings and sculptures throughout his life. He attended OCU from 1955 to 1962, enrolling as a part-time student at night while working full-time as OG&E’s art director. Bert earned a certificate of arts from the university but began painting when he was much younger, knowing he wanted to be an artist from the age of five. His art is displayed at the Vatican, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, the American Embassy in London and China’s National Palace Museum in Taipei among many others.

He moved from Southwest Texas to Purcell, Oklahoma, in middle school and as he grew up, he would often hitchhike or ride a freight train to Oklahoma City to go visit the Oklahoma Museum of Art. He graduated in 1950 and the same month married Bonnie Jo Tompkins. Bert joined the Navy the following year, working as a journalist and artist promoting the Navy while stationed in San Diego and Honolulu.

After his service, he worked with Semco Color Press in Oklahoma City as a paste-up artist. Then he became a draftsman and later art director for Oklahoma Gas & Electric. After 23 years with the company, Bert retired and pursued his art full-time having already had his “Legend of Kicking Bear” watercolor added to the Vatican’s collection in the Museum of Modern Religious Art and painting “Night Hawk” given to President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford. He was designated a master artist in 1976, and in 1988, he was invited to paint a wooden egg for the White House’s Annual Easter Egg Roll where his was added to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

In Oklahoma, he was presented with the Governor’s Art Award by Gov. George Nigh in 1981 and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Paseo Arts Association in 2009. Additionally, in 2021, Bert was honored with Oklahoma Contemporary’s first Focus Award. He is survived by his wife of 72 years, Bonnie, their three daughters, Connie Seabourn, Angela Webb and Jimmie Seabourn along with four grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, three step-great-grandchildren and two step-great greatgrandchildren.

Jerry Ward Perryman

(BA ’58, HD ’90) 1936-2022

Jerry graduated from OCU in 1958, having come to Oklahoma City from Duke, Oklahoma, where he was a member of Duke Methodist Church, attaining his local preacher’s license at the age of 16. As a pre-ministerial student at OCU, Jerry worked part-time as a custodian at Wesley Methodist Church, belonged to the Sky Pilots organization, and was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. During his college years, he served the Methodist churches in Ninnekah and Cement, Oklahoma.

After his graduation, Jerry attended Perkins Seminary at Southern Methodist University and Phillips Theological Seminary, earning a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees. A lifelong learner, he studied at Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma, and the American Institute of Church Growth in Pasadena, California. He also received an honorary Doctor of Divinity from OCU and was presented with the Phillips Theological Seminary Distinguished Alumni Award. Jerry contributed to younger generations of ministers as a professor and speaker at Oral Roberts University, Phillips Seminary and Oklahoma City University.

Jerry's pastoral service included United Methodist Churches across Oklahoma and to the conference as a district superintendent and chairman of numerous groups in the organization as well as continued work as executive secretary, treasurer, director of administrative services, assistant to the bishop and many board positions, including 30 years on the Circle of Care board. He also worked closely with the chamber of commerce and Broken Arrow Rotary International chapter where he served as president. Jerry’s leadership roles included Frances Willard Home-Tulsa, Boy's Ranch-Gore, Oklahoma Methodist ManorTulsa, Dunaway Manor Nursing Home-Guymon, Methodist Home-Enid, United Methodist Retirement and Health Care Center-Clinton, Epworth Villa-Oklahoma City, prison ministry and as a trustee of Oklahoma City University for 18 years. As the Oklahoma United Methodist Conference treasurer, he was elected president of the National Association of Annual Conference Treasurers of the United Methodist Church from 1999-2001.

Jerry retired from full-time ministry in 2003 and continued to teach Sunday school at Nichols Hills United Methodist Church until 2017. He and his wife of 60 years, Charlette, have two children, Angela and Tad, four grandchildren and a great-grandson.

School of Theatre

W. JEROME STEVENSON APPOINTED ASSOCIATE DEAN

W. Jerome Stevenson joins the School of Theatre leadership team as associate dean after more than 25 years as an actor, director, singer, coach and administrator in professional theatre. A longtime member of Actor’s Equity and former producing artistic director of the Pollard Theatre Company in Guthrie, Oklahoma, he has worked tirelessly to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in American theater and to advocate for the fundamental importance of the art of storytelling to the human experience. Stevenson has directed more than 50 professional and collegiate productions with his career and contributions having been recognized with the Oklahoma Governor’s Arts Award.

THEATRE OCU CELEBRATES 100 YEARS

OCU’s School of Theatre marks its centennial with a series of special events and a salute to “100 Days of Plays and Players,” including the induction of six OCU Stars into the Theatre Hall of Honor.

“To celebrate this milestone, we will be celebrating all of our extensive production work with at least 100 separate performances while also trumpeting the successes of our talented alumni,” said D. Lance Marsh, the School of Theatre’s head of performance.

The Department of Dramatics and Speech was established in 1922 when the university, then called Oklahoma City College, was headquartered at NE 12th Street and Walnut Avenue. In the years since, the department has expanded into a school that has produced generations of award-winning performers, designers, directors, dramaturgs, educators and visionary leaders in the field.

FARM THEATER

OCU’s School of Theatre is one of three U.S. universities involved in Farm Theater’s innovative College Collaboration Project. The Brooklynbased nonprofit supports emerging artists by commissioning a playwright to develop a new work in collaboration with students. The playwright works with student-performers to incorporate script revisions between performances on the three campuses. OCU presented the premiere of Deneen Reynolds-Knott’s “Put Yourself Out There” in November. Subsequent showings were planned for Centre College in Kentucky in February and South Carolina’s Furman University in April.

FACULTY HONORS

4 Professor D. Lance Marsh has been awarded one of the inaugural fellowships for creative artists from the American Antiquarian Society. The grant will help fund research in Worcester, Mass., on a new work on the Astor Place Riots of 1848, entitled “Forest/Macready/Macbeth.”

GUEST ARTISTS

Fall 2022 guest artists inspiring students with performances, workshops and/or master classes include:

4 Broadway Dramaturg Ken Cerniglia (“Hadestown,” “Peter and the Starcatcher,” Disney Theatricals);

4 Classical dancers of India from the Sainrythia Dance Academy, a Bharatnatyam school;

4 Mike Pasetopah, an Osage, Creek and Cherokee storyteller.

4 Dr. Amy S. Osatinski published a book chapter titled “Musical Theatre Training in the 21st Century: A Primer” in the Routledge Companion to Musical Theatre, co-authored with Dr. Bud Coleman. Her monograph: 20 Seasons: Broadway Musicals of the 21st Century will be released by Routledge later this year. This spring, she will present her findings on 21st century Broadway musicals at the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Annual Conference in San Antonio and at the Mid America Theatre Conference in Minneapolis, where she also will present “Doing the Impossible: Cultivating a Pedagogy of Care in the PostCovid Classroom.”

1950s

Army Air Corps veteran Harold Harvell (BS ’57) designed and built a Veterans Memorial at Veterans Park in Goldsby, Oklahoma. He worked on the approvals with his hometown pitching in on the effort to recognize local veterans in the area.

SHARE YOUR NEWS

Send personal and professional developments, along with high resolution photos, to alumni@okcu.edu.

1960s

Author B.J. Hobbs (BA ’61) published the third book in her Dakota Davison Mystery Series titled “Dakota Three: Shootout” and is working on her fourth, “Dakota Four: Arkansas.”

Russ Richardson (BSB ’67) was named chair of the SPCA Albrecht Center for Animal Welfare board of directors after a career of management positions and financial consulting across the country. He and his wife, Jennifer, have settled in Aiken, S.C. and opened Papa Russ’s Barbecue and Catering by Jennifer.

Class Notes

Rock and Roll Globe recognized the 50th anniversary of Little Feat’s album, “Dixie Chicken,” which includes band member Fred Tackett (BM ’67). He wrote “Fool Yourself” that Bonnie Raitt sang on her album, “Home Plate,” in 1975, and he still tours with the band to this day.

Carol Ann Gravley (BM ’69) and her husband, alumnus Larry Floyd Fugit , met as students at OCU and recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in Palm Valley, Texas, where they have lived since their retirement 20 years ago in Omaha, Nebraska.

1970s

Colin Robertson (BA ’70) released his book titled “Sydney to Oklahoma: Tennis, Stories, Travels and More” that highlights his time as the first tennis director when the Oklahoma City Tennis Center opened as well as his 15 years coaching tennis at OCU from 1987-2002.

David McElroy (BA ’72) celebrated the 25th anniversary season of “One Man: A Christmas Carol” where he adapted the play and performs all 37 characters each year over the holidays at various venues across the country. He also is a member of the OCU USO tour group that recently returned to campus for their 52nd reunion.

Andrew Benton (JD ’79), president emeritus of Pepperdine University, was named interim president of the University of Central Oklahoma. He has served as chairperson of the American Council on Education and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities as well as on the board of the Council on Higher Education.

Harpsichordist Peggy Payne (BM ’76, MM ’86, MM ’94) performed in the “Go for Baroque” concert at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. She is a pianist with the New American Ragtime Ensemble and the principal keyboard with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic.

1980s

Violinist Kyle Dillingham (BM ’02) was named 2022 Oklahoman of the Year by Oklahoma Magazine. He also was awarded Oklahoma’s Native Son Award by the South Oklahoma City Chamber this year. He is a Grand Ole Opry guest artist as well as a member of the Country Music Association, the Recording Academy, the Gospel Music Association and the Americana Music Association.

Former Miss America Susan Powell (BM ’81) returned to Oklahoma to perform in "Coming Home for Christmas" at the Civic Center Music Hall in December with Grammy and Emmy-nominated entertainer Michael Feinstein.

Class Notes

Former trustee the Rev. Dr. Kevin Tully (BS ’82) received the Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Award from the Ellis County African American Hall of Fame Museum and Library in Waxahachie, Texas, for his work in bringing members of the city and community together.

Shane Sanders (BSB ’84) served as Verizon’s senior vice president of business excellence and has been appointed to the board of directors and audit committee for Commvault, a data management company.

Jeff Messer (MAT ’85), former OCU baseball assistant coach, has been head coach at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania for 37 years and was recently inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Kayce Gisinger (JD ’88), director at the Phillips Murrah law firm, was named a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in North America. She was inducted last fall at the annual meeting in Italy.

Joel Kinnamon (MBA ’88) was recently sworn in as a member of the College of the Desert board of trustees in California. Previous to his election win, he served as the college’s superintendent and president for nine years.

1990s

Jill Campbell (MBA ’90), president and chief people and operations officer for Cox Enterprises, was honored in the fall with the company’s inaugural Fearless Leader Award and was named to Atlanta Magazine’s 2023 Atlanta 500 list.

Tim Long (BM ’90), music director of Eastman Opera, conducted the world premiere of Anthony Davis’ How Bright the Sunlight, a work for symphony orchestra and narrator, with libretto curated by fellow Oklahoman and Muscogee Nation citizen Joy Harjo, 23rd Poet Laureate of the U.S. He also recently released “Alburnum” by Bright Shiny Things, featuring world premiere recordings of works for voice and piano by Mason Bates, Missy Mazzoli and Greg Spears.

Artist-in-Residence Kristin Chenoweth (BM ’91, MM ’93, HDHL ’13) led a two-hour intensive master class for all OCU performing arts students in October and came out with her new book “I’m No Philosopher, But I Got Thoughts: Mini-Meditations for Saints,

Sinners, and the Rest of Us” in January.

Stanley Gitari (BS ’91) works for Maua Methodist Hospital building homes for AIDS orphans in Kenya. Since 2004, he and his team have built 360 homes.

Laura L. McCullough (MBA ’91) began her role as president and CEO of Kentucky Community and Technical College last June. She most recently served as vice president of workforce, community and corporate education at BridgeValley Community and Technical College in South Charleston, West Virginia.

Paige Keedy (BS ’94) joined Lifeline Theatre in Chicago as a production manager. Previously she served as production, stage and event manager for the Chicago Improv Festival, Light Opera Works, Theo Ubique, Means of Production, Inc. and Innovation and Arts Entertainment, Inc.

Lana Ross (BS ’95) is the head softball coach at Kansas City Kansas Community College where she was elected National Junior College Athletic Association’s coaches’ association president and as a member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association board of directors. This past year she earned her 700th win vs. rival Johnson County Community College at the district tournament.

Burt Browning (MBA ’98) was awarded the James B. Duke Award, Duke Energy’s highest award that recognized the innovation and teamwork of a yearlong project in response to the Fukushima, Japan, earthquake of which Browning served as lead engineer.

Sam John (MBA ’98), president of Innovative Products Inc., served on the judging panel for the 2022 Leadership in Engineering Achievement Program Awards which is an annual competition recognizing excellence in 14 categories of engineering and sponsored by Design World.

Tara Lynne Khaler (BM ’98) is performing in “Broadway Tonite Live!” in Oelwein, Iowa. Previously, she has performed at Carnegie Hall, City Center and Madison Square Garden and released an album titled “Since I Fell for You.”

Kelli O’Hara (BM ’98, HDHL ’15), set to star in season two of HBO’s "The Gilded Age," was recently broadcast in cinemas worldwide for the Metropolitan Opera's live broadcast of the world premiere of Kevin Puts’ “The Hours.”

Jennifer Grigsby (MBA ’99) was appointed to the board of directors for SilverBow Resources, a Houston-based energy company. She previously served as the secretary of economic administration for the State of Oklahoma and executive vice president and chief financial officer of Ascent Resources.

Christian Morren (MM ’99) led the cast of Duncan Little Theatre’s production of "Amahl and the Night Visitors." She currently serves as director of voice and associate professor at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma.

2000s

Tabatha Carr ’s (BS ’00, MBA ’03) Good Girl Chocolates were featured as part of the 2023 Grammy Awards. The healthy candied walnut brownies that are glutenfree, dairy-free and naturally sweetened with organic low glycemic sweeteners were included in this year’s attendee gift bags.

Kathryn Savage (JD ’00) has been elected Oklahoma County district judge after previously serving as assistant district attorney in the office of the attorney general.

Graham Primeaux (ME ’01), Shawnee Public Schools director of Indian education and 15-year veteran of the district, was named 2022 Educator of the Year by the Oklahoma Council for Indian Education.

Jesse Langston (MBA ’02), the first Black vice president of Oklahoma Gas & Electric, was inducted into the 2022 Oklahoma State University Diversity Hall of Fame. Since retiring from OG&E in 2015, he has guest lectured at numerous seminars and universities.

Class Notes

Ariel Lazarus (BM ’03, MM ’05),founder and artistic director of הישראלית †- תזמורת † הלאדינו † הישראלית †, the Israeli Ladino Orchestra, was honored for his musical contributions by Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

U.S. House Republicans named Missouri Rep. Jason Smith (JD ’04) as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Morgan Vlassopoulos (BA ’04) a teacher with the Merrillville Community School Corporation, was recognized as one of the 2022 top 20 under 40 professionals in Northwest Indiana for her accomplishments.

Heather Kay (JD ’05) was promoted to partner of the Scheef & Stone law firm in North Texas. Her area’s of practice include banking, corporate and business, real estate, and securities and finance with a focus on matters involving transactional banking and real estate law.

Jessie Rosson (BA ’05) joined the Cortes Law Firm staff, an estate planning firm. Previously, she worked at the Oklahoma County Clerk’s office followed by a 17-year career in civil litigation.

Marita Stryker (BM ’05, MM ’15) recently began serving as a voice and movement specialist at the Shenandoah Conservatory at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia. Before this appointment, she was an associate professor of music at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music in Japan and adjunct voice faculty at OCU.

Jay Wadley (Composition ’05) is co-founder of New York City-based Found Objects Music Productions and created the score for the new Hulu series “Tell Me Lies” and Netflix’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” among others, including the movie “Old” from M. Night Shyamalan, and the Apple original film “Swan Song.”

Aaron Fryklund (BM ’06) currently teaches high school orchestra in Richardson, Texas, and recently composed and published six levels of orchestra sight reading music for the Texas UIL concert and sight-reading evaluation for Texas middle and high school orchestras that are also used in Oklahoma, Michigan, Louisiana and Maryland.

Tim Hausmann (BM ’06) has been appointed executive director of New York City-based Heartbeat Opera. In September, the group presented the digital premiere of Beethoven's “Fidelio” in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The adaptation, praised as “urgent, powerful, and poignant” by The New York Times, features the voices of more than 100 incarcerated singers from across the United States.

Willie Mann (BM ’06), previously featured as Hermes, a Fate and in the Workers' Chorus, made his August debut as Hades in the North American tour of “Hadestown.”

Jennifer Christian (JD ’07) has been named director at Phillips Murrah Law Firm in Oklahoma City. Her practice is in all aspects of commercial law, assisting clients in the areas of business law, contractual disputes, real estate, banking, health care, construction, trusts, insurance and employment.

Eun-Hee Park (BM ’07), founding pianist of the quartet enhakē and assistant professor of music and head of the keyboard area at the University of Montevallo, won silver at the 2022 Global Music Awards with ensemble mates’ MSR Classics album “Child’s Play” featuring Professor Edward Knight's five-movement “Seventh Day of the Seventh Moon.”

Rachel Risner (BS ’07, DNP ’13, DP ’16), associate dean of academic affairs at Frontier Nursing University in Versailles, Kentucky, was selected to participate in the National League for Nursing and Walden University College of Nursing Institute for Social Determinants of Health and Social Change. She was chosen because of her work impacting structural racism, socioeconomic status, environment, education, adequate housing and food insecurity on health and wellbeing.

Adam Panter (JD ’08) was appointed to serve as district attorney for Oklahoma’s 23rd Judicial District, encompassing Pottawatomie and Lincoln counties. Previously, he served as an assistant district attorney in Oklahoma’s 7th District.

Anna Starzec-Makandasis (MM ’08) recently played piano in a music and literature club’s chamber music concert in Wrocław, Poland, where she is adjunct faculty in the chamber music department at the I.J. Paderewski Academy of Music.

Marat Gabdullin (BM ’09), associate concertmaster of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, earned a U.S. patent for his Volta Violinatron, a new type of hybrid electric violin.

Collin Walke (JD ’08) joined Hall Estill as special counsel in the Oklahoma City office where he leads the firm’s cybersecurity and data privacy practice. Previously, he served in the Oklahoma House of

Representatives from 2016 through 2022 as a state representative.

Glen Johnson (HDHL ’09) joined Crowe & Dunlevy as a director in the firm’s administrative and regulatory practice group with his practice focusing on administrative and education law. He previously served as chancellor of the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education from 2007 to 2021 and president of Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Oklahoma, prior to this appointment.

Ewa Płonka (Piano Performance ’09) recently performed as Abigaille in the Teatro Massimo Palermo production of Verdi's “Nabucco,” streaming live throughout Europe, and in February sang the role of Venus in Wagner’s “Tannhäuser” at London’s Royal Opera House.

Sarah Stewart (JD ’09) released her book “The Monster in My Home: Surviving Evil” in October. The book chronicles her experience with domestic violence and teaches others how to avoid or safely leave a domestic violence situation.

2010s

Donald Ashwood (BA ’11) was appointed as Aon’s accounting executive of business development for their captive and insurance management team. He previously served at the Oklahoma Insurance Department as a captive coordinator and loan editor at BankFirst.

Brandon Haynes (BM ’11), professor of voice at Northern Oklahoma College in Ponca City, Oklahoma, is currently preparing the Chorale Arts Society of Northern Oklahoma for its Cinematic Choral Highlights Concert in May while serving as the society’s artistic director.

Emmy Potter (BM '11) played the mother in the premiere of the play “A House in the Suburbs” and the nurse in Seneca's “Phaedra” at American Theatre of Actors in New York City. A monologue she wrote also was recently published in Vol. 4 of the Playground Experiment's Faces of America Anthology and performed live at the Marjorie S. Dean Theater.

Greg Steward (JD ’11) was appointed as chief deputy county and prosecuting attorney of Campbell County in Wyoming. He previously served as an

Class Notes

assistant district attorney for the 6th Prosecutorial District of Oklahoma.

Colin Waddell (BME ’11), director of the Putnam City High School Orchestra, was honored as one of this year’s five Oklahoma Arts Institute of Quartz Mountain Transformative Teachers and also selected as Putnam City High School's 2022-23 Teacher of the Year.

Kirk Walker (BS ’11) was inducted into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in January at the American Baseball Coaches Association’s Nashville convention following his

nomination from the late OCU baseball coach, Denney Crabaugh. Walker was the NAIA Player of the Year in 2011 and a first-team All-American. He also set school records at the time in at bats, runs scored, hits, doubles, total bases and RBI.

Robert Watson (BM ’11) made his debut as Florestan in Beethoven's “Fidelio” at Deutsche Oper Berlin, and hosted mentor William Nield Christensen for his Berlin performance as Siegmund in Staatsoper Unter den Linden's “Die Walküre.”

Three finalists for 2022-2023 Oklahoma City Public Schools Teacher of the Year were OCU alumni,

including Judith Huerta (BA ’12) of Taft Middle School, Carsen Moon (BBA ’15) of Classen SAS High School at Northeast and Lisa Ummel-Ingram (ME ‘94) of Wheeler Middle School.

Rebekah Bruce Parker (BM ’12) is the pianist for Tom Stoppard’s most recent Broadway play, “Leopoldstadt,” that opened last October. Previously, she was the pianist in “The Lehman Trilogy” on Broadway and the music director of the first national tour of “Mean Girls the Musical.”

A composition by Or Kribos (BM ’13, MM ’15) was performed at a gala honoring the 30th anniversary

In 1970, a group of Oklahoma City University students called the OCU Players traveled to Korea, Okinawa Island, Japan and Hawaii as part of a USO tour. During the trip, they put on approximately 30 performances of “Bye Bye Birdie” for members of the United States Armed Forces and their families. In Korea alone, they performed in front of over 6,000 service people. They also visited hospitals caring for service members wounded in the Vietnam War.

Since their 50th anniversary plans were delayed due to Covid, these alumni recently gathered for their tour’s 52nd anniversary with many having not been back on campus since the early 1970s. They loved seeing the new facilities and taking a walk down memory lane with Dean Mark Parker giving them a tour of the Wanda L. Bass School of Music.

Back row (R to L) – David McElroy ’72; Sara Miller Clary ’77; Robert “Tupper” Patnode ’71; Chris Van Zant ’72; Bob Cross ’71 Middle (far right) – Janice Coffman Bear ’73 Front (seated) – D. Elaine Evans Walters ’73 (accompanist)

of the Oklahoma Israel Exchange. He is an Israeli composer who originally attended OCU through a university exchange program sponsored by the organization.

Ben Lanham (BPA ’13) was cast in the ensemble of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new Broadway musical “Bad Cinderella” that opened in March. Previously, he performed on the Broadway tour of “An American in Paris.”

Lindsey Miles (MS ’13) was promoted to vice president - Land & Regulatory at Devon Energy. She previously served as land manager and supervisor for the company where she has been for the past 15 years.

Mary Kate Moore (BM ’13) is understudying the role of the Baker’s Wife in the revival of Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.” She appeared on the national tour of the production as well as the dance captain and understudy for the Witch, Baker’s Wife and Cinderella. Previously, she played the role of Fantine on the touring cast for “Les Miserables.”

Megan Campbell (BPA ’14) returned to her hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska, to perform in the touring Broadway musical "Chicago” as Liz. Prior to the tour, she was in the Cuban musical, “Havana,” and played the role of Amour in “Speakeasy – Times Square.”

Eryn LeCroy (BM ’14) is featured as Martha Jefferson/Dr. Lyman Hall in “1776” currently playing on Broadway at the American Airlines Theatre. She previously starred as Christine in Broadway’s “Phantom of the Opera.”

Mary Beth Nelson (BM ’14) performed in the annual New Year’s Eve Concert for Peace in Harlem’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine in December, and is set to be a 2023 Filene Artist at the Wolf Trap Opera, a summer residency program of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts.

Addison Witzel (BBA ’14) started a new position as assistant director of student conduct at the University of Oklahoma. Previous to this appointment, she served as OU’s coordinator for educational outreach and restorative practices and at OCU as an undergraduate business advisor.

Darius Wright (BM ’14) was recently the understudy for the title role of the Broadway production of “MJ: The Musical” and performed at the 75th Annual Tony Awards last summer. He has now joined the original Broadway cast of “New York, New York.”

Logan Herod (BM ’15, BME ’15) was appointed as interim director of the Cherub Choir at Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Dallas. She previously served as associate director of St. Monica Catholic Church in Dallas and teaches piano and voice at her studio, Music So Simple.

Benjamin Hilfiger (MSEL ’15) currently serves a three-year term on the Oklahoma Bar Association's Board of Governors. He is an attorney at Cook and Hilfiger where he practices primarily in the areas of criminal and family law.

Juan Alfonso Ramos (JD ’15) recently started his own company Fort Worth Meat Packers near the Fort Worth Stockyards after serving as a corporate attorney for Vela Wood and vice president at Ramos Land & Cattle Co.

Kaley Were (BM ’15) and Carly Ann Moore (BM ’19) are performing on the national tour of “Annie,” set to play 50+ cities during the 2022-23 season.

Cooper Baldwin (BM ’17) was selected for the Society of Composers and Lyricists' 2022-23 New York Mentor Program and placed first in the 2022 Press Start Composers Orchestra Competition.

Aline Boyd (MM ’17) was recently appointed vice president of the Brazilian chapter of the World Piano Teachers Association and served last year as an adjudicator for the East Valley Music Teachers Association Piano Competition in Arizona.

Emily Eubanks (BM ’17) is currently a doctoral candidate in musicology at Florida State University and selected as a 2022 Fulbright Scholar. Her dissertation examines the Biedermeier music salon of Karoline Pichler and social characteristics of these gatherings.

Thomas Grossnicklaus (BA ’17, JD ’20) was named chief of staff/general counsel of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. He previously served as an assistant attorney general for the state, a law clerk for the Oklahoma Supreme Court, in the executive office of the Oklahoma governor and in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Sarah Kuhlmann (BM ’17, MA ’18, MM ’21) of the Holst and Keller Studios and Brennan Martinez (BM ’17) of the Christensen Studio were both selected as 2023 Young Artists with the Cedar Rapids Opera.

Kali Pugh (BA Liberal Studies ’17) was named head softball coach for Yavapai College in Arizona. She came to the school from San Diego City College

Class Notes

where she served as head coach and Palomar College as assistant coach.

Tanner Pflueger (BPA ’17) performed in the most recent Radio City Rockette “Christmas Spectacular” ensemble and at the New York City Center in their production of “The Tap Dance Kid.”

Caroline Baniewicz (BM ’18) is playing Giselle in the Angel Orensanz Foundation’s production of “Lost in the Disco” in New York City. Past roles she held include Heather Chandler in “Heathers” and Tammy in “Hairspray.”

Sophie Braud (BPA ’18) returned to her hometown of Orange, Texas, to the Lutcher Theatre performing in the touring production of “My Fair Lady.” Previously, she was in the ensemble of the national tour of “Escape to Margaritaville.”

Erin Epperly-Reiswig (MM ’18) was named the 2023 Oklahoma Music Educators Association Outstanding Young Music Educator. She serves as assistant director of the Edmond North High School Band and Cheyenne Middle School Band and teaches symphonic band at the schools.

Molly Smith ’s (BS ’18) choreography was featured in the “Chicago Tap Theatre at 20: Tempo, Rhythm and Time” show this year. She serves as rehearsal director and company member of the organization while also teaching at Incite Dance Center.

Ashley Arnold (BM ’19) was a special guest performer in “Someday Soon: The Songs of Judy Collins” in Philadelphia in November. Previously, she could be seen in the off-Broadway production of “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Alyssa Gillette (JD ’19) joined the Oklahoma City office of Hall Estill as an associate, practicing in the areas of energy, environmental and litigation. She previously completed an externship with the Oklahoma County Public Defender’s Office and interned for the U.S. Army JAG Corps.

Former OCU baseball player Joe Lytle (BA ’19) earned a roster spot on the Savannah Bananas professional and entertainment-focused baseball team. The team will play in Oklahoma City and Tulsa in May.

Allen Zomonway (MA ’19), administrator of the Ganta Hospital in Liberia, was selected by the West Africa Media Network as its 2022 Outstanding Health Service Administrator.

Class Notes

2020s

Adam LaPorte (BM ’20) made his New York City playwriting debut Sept. 28-Oct. 1 with “Courtship” at the Tank Theatre. He is currently working on his graduate degree in musical theatre writing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Chris Prather (BM ’20) spearheaded the creative team and served as composer and producer of “No Justice, No Peace,” a full-length contemporary opera performed in Oklahoma City at the Yale Theater that opened last June.

Rachel Watters (BBA ’20) was named part of the 2023 induction class into the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa. She is a five-time age-group World Team member and was a four-time AllAmerican while at OCU.

Austin Caldwell (JD ’21) was appointed assistant district attorney for Cooke County, Texas. Previously, he worked for Strange Law Firm in Oklahoma City.

Cooper Clack (BM ’22) is in the ensemble for the 45-city North American tour of “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

Katie Frieden (BPA ’21) is currently starring as Roxy Hart in the 25th anniversary national tour of “Chicago the Musical.” Previously, she performed

in “Sweet Charity,” “Fame,” “Ebenezer: A Musical Christmas Carol” and Netflix’s “A Bridgerton Experience.”

Vance Klassen (BM ’21) is part of the ensemble and an understudy for the lead role of Elder Price in the new national tour of the musical comedy "The Book of Mormon" that came to Oklahoma City in the fall.

Katie McCollum (BM ’21) was cast in the role of Young Gloria in the national tour of “On Your Feet!” The 70-city tour, which included a stop in Stillwater, Oklahoma, kicked off in November and was led by 2022 OCU guest director Luis Salgado.

Joanne Holdeman (BS ’22) has been named assistant company manager and COVID safety manager for the national tour of “My Fair Lady.”

Landon Honolka (BM ’22) earned a position at the Oklahoma City Philharmonic last year before graduation from OCU and then awarded a fulltuition scholarship for graduate study at the Juilliard School.

Kate Raquel Morton (BM ’22) performed in the opera “Shell Shaker, a Chickasaw Opera,” the first opera performed entirely in a Native American Language, in February at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. After this, she will be a featured artist in Intermountain Opera Bozeman’s “Wheels of

Harmony” and an emerging artist with the Seagle Festival.

Chris Richie (BM ’22) won the American Pops' 2023 NextGen National Competition’s highest honor, the Chip Hand Prize for Vocal Excellence on Feb. 19 at the Lincoln Center.

Hunter Semrau (BM ’22) made his national tour debut as Jerry Lee Lewis in “Million Dollar Quartet Christmas” in Florida, the first of 26 stops on the tour.

Romario Spence (BS ’22) has signed with the Plymouth City Patriots, a British professional basketball team, after averaging 14.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game last season at OCU as a student-athlete.

Clay Steiner (MM '22) has joined the pit orchestra of the 46-city national tour of “Chicago the Musical.” He previously played with the national tour of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” along with numerous regional productions.

Jack Supan (BM ’22) made his London West End debut at the Apollo Theatre in August with the children’s show “Blippi the Musical.”

Sarah Neely (BME ’06, MM ’09), Victor Djonorh (BME ’14) and Dane Romano (BM ’11, BME ’11, MM ’13) led their Edmond Santa Fe High School orchestra and band musicians to perform in concert and march in the 2023 London New Year’s Day Parade.

Create, Lead, Serve

Students and staff gathered last fall during OKConnect, an ongoing series of service projects led by students, to volunteer across the city and make community service a focus of homecoming week.