Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Bedlam Champs Bedlam makes GIA feel like normal By Grant Ramirez Even in a pandemic, Bedlam still felt like Bedlam. When the buzzer sounded on Oklahoma State’s 79-75 victory against Oklahoma on Monday night, it was all energy. After players whipped out dance moves on the court, Chris Harris waved around a broom for the series sweep and Cade Cunningham hoisted the Bedlam trophy at midcourt, Mike Boynton sought out the microphone to address Gallagher-Iba Arena. “How ‘bout them Cowboys!” Boynton boomed. “My first year, when we lost to Wichita State, I told you guys if you keep doing what you’re doing, we’ll build a program you can be proud of. I sure as hell hope you can be proud of us.” Boynton vaulted over the scores table and back onto the court after his postgame speech. When the team went back into the
locker room, Boynton stood alone at midcourt with his daughter, leading the remaining fans in one final O-S-U chant for the year. Limited capacity aside, the energy felt normal. Back to normal, actually. The pregame O’Colly confetti throws during starting lineup announcements were back. The consistent hum of “ohhhhh” chants from a standing student section while the Cowboys were on defense were back. The trash talk and pettiness were back, too. OSU’s fans have done a great job of generating energy, even without full stands all year, but Monday’s game against No. 16 Oklahoma was electric. The hype around this year’s Cowboys was an alltime high, being the last game in GallagherIba Arena this season and Bedlam, of course, was a perfect storm. Even when OSU fell into a slump, the crowd never did. It was See Bedlam on pg. 4
PLC hosts conference aimed at leadership experience By Amelia Jauregui This past weekend the President’s Leadership Council (PLC) hosted a conference for high school juniors and seniors bringing fun, friendship, and most importantly, leadership. Allowing roughly 200 high school students to attend, PLC was able to safely provide an opportunity for these high schoolers to catch a glimpse of what being a student and leader on OSU’s campus is all about. “TLX is an acronym for The Leadership eXperience; It is a reinvented version of the President’s Leadership Council, Conclave, and we have recreated it with new ideas and just made it an overall great experience,” former TLX attendee and now current member of PLC, Grace Bledsoe said. “It’s a camp for juniors and seniors in high school to see what the President’s Leadership Council is all about, as well as be mentored and learn new topics that can be brought back to their high schools.” Bringing her past experience and enthusiasm, Bledsoe, had the opportunity to be a mentor for the high school students in attendance this weekend. “My role for this weekend was being a small group leader, so I had a family of 10 to 12 students and I absolutely loved it; they were the
sweetest,” Bledsoe said. For Moore High School senior and Oklahoma State class of ‘25, Briley Middleton, her weekend was a great opportunity to meet new OSU attendees and expand her leadership skills. “My favorite thing about this weekend was meeting people that shared the same values as me and being able to learn from other people as well,” Middleton said. “I would say the best leadership skill I learned this weekend was inclusive leadership.” Middleton made the most of her experience and hopes to bring back the new information she learned to her own campus. “I am very passionate about leadership because to me, leadership means to make a positive change or make a positive impression. Andrew McGee was a staff worker at TLX and during one of his speeches McGee said ‘Leadership is about fighting for change, love and others’ I 100% agree with that statement!” High school junior, Cayden Brickman, didn’t travel far to attend TLX, but that didn’t take away from her want for growth. “I loved hearing so many new ideas and perspectives from all of the other college and high school students there and just the opportunity to learn how to be a better leader just from watching them!” Brickman said. “I learned how many different
Amelia Jauregui At last weekends TLX event, students got a chance to see what it would be like to be a leader at OSU.
kinds of leadership there is. To be a leader you don’t have to be in the front of the room and in charge of everything, you can be a leader from the middle or even the back.” This Stillwater native hopes to bring back what she learned to her fellow pioneers, emphasizing the importance of positivity. “To me leadership is making everyone feel important and spreading joy in everything I do while helping guide my peers to be the best
they can be!” Brickman said. After the long weekend, there was one thing that small group leaders wanted for their kids more than anything. “If anything, I want them to learn from me to be unapologetically themselves and confident in their leadership styles and how you don’t always have to be the loudest voice in the room to be heard,” Bledsoe said. news.ed@ocolly.com