If you’ve spent any time around the University of Oklahoma, there’s a good chance Linda Lake Young has already crossed your path—and probably convinced you to come to a game, attend an event or support a student.

Young’s story with OU starts in 1968, when she arrived from Shawnee, Okla., for what would become a defining four years. It was the era of Vietnam and Woodstock, protests and change, but campus felt like its own world. She lived in the then-brand-new Walker Tower—“Wowie,” she remembers reacting—and joined the Pi Beta Phi social sorority, where she built friendships that are still going strong. 

After graduating in 1972, Young left Norman briefly, but by 1977 she was back, and this time, she stayed. For her, living in a university town is pure joy: lectures, arts, music, theater and sports all within reach. “There’s really something for everybody,” she says. “But you have to go out and find it. The university doesn’t know you’ve shown up unless you raise your hand.”

Young has spent decades raising her hand.

In the early 1980s, she dove into the OU Alumni Association, getting more and more involved until she eventually served as president for about 10 years. Before social media and intensive recruiting efforts, alumni clubs were the heartbeat of OU outreach—hosting “hamburger feeds” in rural areas, connecting prospective students and rallying support. Young helped make those clubs welcoming, energetic hubs that propelled OU’s spirit far beyond campus.

Her influence didn’t stop there. Young also served multiple terms on the Athletics Council, sitting at the table with athletics staff, faculty, students and university leaders. One of her favorite claims to fame? She was on the committee that hired Vice President and Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione in 1998. Newly retired, “Joe C.” is a legend in OU athletics, but Young remembers when he was the promising candidate from Missouri. He still calls her “kid,” which tells you something about her long tenure in OU life.

Young’s story shows a pattern: she gets involved where relationships lead her. A Regents’ Alumni Award pulled her into deeper engagement with the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Her journalism degree also connected her to the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences, where she co-funds the Azimi and Young Families Scholarship. She attends scholarship events, meets recipients, hosts lunches and has even attended scholarship recipients’ weddings. For Young, it’s about faces and stories, not just names on paper.

Sports, of course, are another big chapter. Young and her late husband, Robert, were all-in on OU athletics for decades—football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and especially softball. Early on, they spotted the potential in Coach Patty Gasso and got behind the program in a major way, helping support improvements like locker room facilities and upgrades around the field, even adding 50 parking spaces to accommodate the growing fan base. Young is also a regular on joint Sooner Club–OU Alumni Association charter trips, flying out with fellow fans to games in Alabama, Tennessee and Ohio.

In recent years, one cause has especially captured her heart: the OU Food Pantry. When Young learned that some students—and even faculty and staff—were struggling with living expenses and feeding their families, it devastated her. “It really made me appreciate what I had in school, and what I have now,” she says. 

Since then, Young has built a close partnership with the pantry’s director, Matt Marks, and watched a small team of volunteers grow into more than 100 passionate student volunteers. She supports the pantry steadily and champions it wherever she can because she believes no one in the OU community should go hungry.

Ask Young why she stays so involved and she’ll tell you it’s how she was raised. “If you can help, you should,” she says. But the result is bigger than any one gift or role. Through leadership, mentorship, cheering from the stands and simply showing up, Young has woven herself into the OU fabric. Her example proves that graduation doesn’t need to be an ending, it can become part of a lifelong relationship with the university you love.

“You can sit on the sidelines and wait for something to happen, or you can decide what you want to be involved in and how you can make a difference,” Young says. “The opportunities are endless.”

Sara Morrell Cowan is assistant editor of Sooner Magazine.

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