Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023
Volume 121, Issue 2
VISTA The
Sports previews Page 6
Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022
“OUR WORDS, YOUR VOICE.”
Volume 119, Issue 19
PragerU is coming to Oklahoma classrooms UCO professors weigh in on major developments in the state’s public school education
“Unfortunately for these girls, who do not have typical gender dysphoria, gender transition rarely offers relief. And it’s a catastrophic mistake for psychologists, educators, and the medical establishment to rush these teens towards “a solution” that will almost certainly harm rather than heal. Because here’s what’s not in dispute: unnecessary medical gender transition causes irreversible damage—high risk of infertility, sexual dysfunction, and the creation of a permanent medical patient.” -- Why Girls Become Boys, Abigail Shrier, PragerU
“At McDonald’s there was no ‘trigger warning’ for when a customer was about to start yelling, no safe spaces to go to when the restaurant would get so busy that I barely had time to breathe between orders. When a group of men in the drive-thru would whistle and catcall me as they pulled away, there was no university administrator for me to run to for soothing and reassurance.” -- Olivia Legaspi, I Learned More at McDonald’s Than at College, PragerU Secretary of Public Instruction Ryan Walters recently entered into an agreement with PragerU to use its materials in public classrooms in Oklahoma. (SCREENSHOTS/TESS PETERS/THE VISTA)
Jake Ramsey Managing Editor
Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced last week that the Oklahoma Board of Education was going to be partnering with online conservative non-profit PragerU to establish a new form of education for students in Oklahoma, this announcement comes shortly after a Senate Bill in Texas will now allow chaplains to act as school counselors. “As a general point, education is a profession and people who are professionals are trained,” said UCO professor of history Marc Goulding when discussing the
recent announcement by Walters. “PragerU is not a university.” Oklahoma is now the second state to have instituted PragerU, following Florida’s decision in August. The decision to include a PragerU curriculum in grades K-12 came after Senate Bill 763 in Texas, which allows church chaplains to operate as school counselors. A decision that has come with heavy dispute, with the argument from opposition being that the chaplains don’t have proper training to be a school counselor. “Not everyone has the right training,” said UCO professor of sociology Leeda Copley. “Religious training does not include mental
health training.” “The only people who should be okay with this bill should be okay with any religious chaplain,” Copley goes on to say. This raises another argument presented by detractors of the recent Senate Bill, the fact that all religions would have to be accepted underneath this bill, not just ones decided on by the schools. “If you’re Protestant are you okay with a Catholic priest?” asked Copley. “It’s a culture war issue,” said UCO professor of political science Loren Gatch. “It eliminates the role that is played by an expert,” he says. Gatch goes on to discuss an
“unavoidable tension” that will come from this bill, and how this is “chipping away at church state separation.” “Let’s say they (the chaplain) belong to a denomination that’s anti-BGLT,” says Copley in regards to the bill. “We are in a political situation where there are groups in our country where you can gain clout to be cruel to BGLT folks.” “It’s concerning,” she says. “Kids are going to die,” Copley states. “We need real counselors.” “I could see it (referring to Texas Senate Bill 763) happening here,” said Gatch.
Getting a degree, getting a job: Lamb talks UCO hireability Sam Royka Editor-In-Chief
“Presently, and in the future, UCO will own workforce,” Lamb said in an interview with The Vista. He explained that this means that potential employers will think of Central graduates ahead of other universities. He thinks, for this university, “the best days are ahead of us.” Lamb reminded listeners of what he calls the “B.R.O.N.C.H.O. Way.” He has told UCO in previous interviews that it stands for “Being Reflective of Our Neighborhood, Community, History and Oklahoma.” Lamb encourages reflection on both immediate and wide-
range communities, starting close to the UCO campus. “Edmond’s a community that’s always been an example of striving for excellence, stewardship, service, that’s Edmond and that’s where we are. That’s where we pick up our mail. We want to be reflective of that,” he said. Beyond the zip code, he said, UCO should be reflective “of the RUSO community.” RUSO is the Regional University System of Oklahoma, with the board of regents that put Lamb into the presidency. He called UCO a “flagship institution” of RUSO. Continued on Page 4
Todd Lamb believes things are getting better for UCO (Provided/UCO Official).