Sooner Travels

When Payten Lazalier, a fourth-generation Sooner and Tulsa junior in OU’s Price College of Business, traveled to Switzerland and Italy this summer, he and his family practiced “guerilla marketing” to spread the OU story near and far by leaving issues of Sooner Magazine behind at hotel rooms and cafes and even placing one directly into the hands of a prospective OU student they met in a Rome airport. Here, Payten reps Sooner in front of the Duomo di Milano.

OU Celebrates a Record Year of Giving During Fiscal Year 2026

• $427 million in gifts

• Exceeded 2025 record of $352 million

• 31,000+ Alumni & Friends Supported

• 47,588 Gifts Under $100

• 76 Gifts of $1 Million+

Let’s Talk

The lawn between OU’s Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture and Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication is now home to a “Better Conversations Booth,” featuring a table with conversation-starting questions printed on its surface. “Better Conversations” is an initiative of The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum to bring individuals together and discuss sensitive or controversial topics in a civil manner. 

We Haven’t Changed a Bit

… Well, maybe a little.  Phillip Pasteris, right, OU ’75 MS meteorology, sent us a 1974 photo taken during a study break with his wife, Rosemary, in front of the Engineering Lab. Do you have photos that illustrate how OU’s campus and programs have changed since your days at school? We’d love to see them! Please email soonermagazine@oufoundation.org and we might share them.

Straight to the Source

During the 10-day Spatial Data Acquisition field course, students live at the University of Oklahoma Biological Station on Lake Texoma. There, they measure stress in native plants; map red cedar encroachment; and monitor turbidity, phosphate and nitrate levels in Lake Texoma coves using GPS receivers, water-quality sondes, photogrammetry and sonar. Their fresh data is entered into maps and databases via apps to share with fellow scientists in real time. 

All in One Spot 

Learners, scholars and members of the community can now find OU Special Research Collections at one access point on the fifth floor of Bizzell Memorial Library. Long the home of OU’s History of Science Collections, the space currently hosts eight different collections, including the OU Western History Collections, University Archives, William Bennett Bizzell Bible Collection and American School of Architecture Archive. The new,
 unified access point will improve usability and storage, as well as capacity for instruction and public programs.

South Hall Already Feels Like Home

South Residence Hall, OU's newest living option, opened its doors to nearly 600 first-year students in August. South Hall was designed with community atmosphere in mind and is the second of two new residence halls in Phase 1 of the OU First-Year Housing Master Plan, following the opening of McCasland Hall last year. The residence hall features all the bells and whistles that any first-year student could wish for, but its most hotly anticipated features may well be the reappearance of an outdoor swingset and the Xcetera convenience store, which was frequented by thousands of students each year at its original home in Walker Tower.  Pre-demolition work on Walker began this summer and demoliton is slated over winter break.