We are (still) the champions!

For the second year in a row, OU men’s and women’s gymnastics teams each brought home the NCAA National Championship title. Both teams also finished their seasons undefeated. Under Coach Mark Williams, OU men became only the fourth team since 1938 to win three consecutive national titles. 

Coach K.J. Kindler led the Sooner women to their third national title in four years, as well as 12 All-America honors and two individual crowns. Freshman sensation Maggie Nichols had the highlight of the competition when she scored a perfect 10 on the beam for the third time this season.

OU students set records                   at "Rokerthon 3"

Al Roker stormed onto Owen Field aboard the Sooner Schooner and then rocked an otherwise stormy morning with Boomer and Sooner and the OU spirit squads. Roker’s March 28 appearance was part of “Rokerthon 3: Storming Into the Madness” and the “Today Show.” 

One of the objectives was to see if OU could set the Guinness World Record for number of people making weather shapes. Students, faculty and staff broke the record for most people to form the shape of a cloud, with 490 to the previous record 468. Sooners also proved they could form a lightning bolt like no other with 280 people. While he was on campus, weatherman Roker also toured the National Weather Center and the National Severe Storms Laboratory.

Boren named to academy

OU President David L. Boren has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the country’s oldest and most distinguished honorary societies. Founded in 1780, the Academy counts such individuals as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Alexander Graham Bell among its membership.

“It is a humbling and exceptional honor to become a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,” Boren said. “I am mindful of the many distinguished members of the Academy who have preceded me, including many of my personal heroes.” 

Among the current members of the Academy are more than 250 Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners. Boren’s class, the Academy’s 237th, consists of 228 new members who will be inducted in October. 

Riding in style

Riding in style

Students have taken advantage of a new zero-emissions transportation program on the Norman campus that allows them to reserve and ride one of 75 sharable bikes provided by OU’s Student Government Association and Parking and Transportation Services. The fleet of red and white Crimson Cruisers is available to students, faculty and staff for up to 90 minutes a day at no cost. Crimson Cruisers also are available to local community members at a rate of $5 per hour.

Find out more by logging onto 

https: www.gotchabike.com/crimsoncruisers.

Practice makes perfect

Dr. George Henderson gets some help with his doctoral collar from his wife, Barbara Henderson, and Jabar Shumate, vice president of University Community, before Commencement 2017. Since joining the OU faculty in 1967, Henderson has offered a steady hand and voice to promoting ethnic diversity and interracial understanding. The Henderson Scholars Programs bears tribute to his many contributions. This spring Henderson received the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oklahoma Center for the Book and the Glenn Snider Human Relations Award from the Oklahoma Education Association.