Grounds for Celebration
Grounds for Celebration
Allen King has helped make OU a beautiful place for more than three decades. Now, the retiring director of landscaping and grounds and keeper of OU’s iconic autumn mum display has been recognized with the 2018 Otis Sullivant Award. The $20,000 annual prize is given to a faculty or staff member who exhibits “keen perceptivity” and is named to honor a longtime Oklahoma political journalist who was known for his ability to analyze and predict political trends.
A Century of Native Tradition
Morning Star Roberts, of Taos Pueblo, Choctaw and Chickasaw descent, dances at the 104th student-led powwow in Norman. The OU American Indian Student Association event, the oldest of its kind in the nation, featured fellowship, a grand entry, gourd dance and the crowning of Mr. and Ms. Indian OU. The event attracted more than 1,000 people from across the nation and is open to the public.
Generous Givers
OU donors powered the university’s rise to the top 10 public universities in the nation for private fundraising. A record $322.4 million in gifts during fiscal year 2016 led The Chronicle of Higher Education to place OU givers above such schools as Princeton, Brown, the University of Virginia and Texas A&M. “This tremendous ranking is a testament to our generous donors who invest so deeply in the mission of our university,” says President David L. Boren.
Joining the Greats
A statue of recently retired OU Sooners football coach Bob Stoops joined those of fellow coaching legends Bennie Owen, Bud Wilkinson and Barry Switzer on Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium’s south lawn in April. Stoops coached the Sooners for 18 years, from 1999 to 2017, and became the team’s all-time winningest coach with a 190-48 win-loss record, one national title and an amazing 10 Big 12 championships.
Davidson Honored
Longtime OU professor Jeanette R. Davidson was named one of 25 outstanding women in higher education by the magazine, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. Davidson, a professor in the Clara Luper Department of African and African-American Studies, has taught at OU for two decades and formerly served as director of the program. Diverse’s top 25 list is published in honor of Women’s History Month.
Courtroom Champs
OU’s reputation as a top law school and national moot court competitor just went gold. OU College of Law students won three national titles: the American Bar Association National Appellate Advocacy Competition, the National Black Law Students Association Nelson Mandela International Negotiations Competition (team members Doreen Appiah and Isaiah Brydie are pictured at left.) and the Andrews Kurth Kenyon Moot Court National Championships.
Sax Attack
The OU School of Music’s Elysian Saxophone Quartet won two national events in two weeks during March. The quartet won both the North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference Saxophone Quartet Competition and the Music Teachers National Association Chamber Music Competition. The group will tour internationally this summer. From left are: Jared Waters, Damian Cheek, Spiro Nicolas and Evan Harris. Jonathan Nichol, associate professor of saxophone, instructs and mentors the group.