OBU Magazine—Summer 2010
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SUMMER 2010 magazine www.okbu.edu OBUOKLAHOMA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY An EarnedSimple Beginning. Privilege Lasting Influence. 6 Preserving the Faculty Tradition 10 Broadening Perspectives 14 FromtheExecutiveOffice Across our nation and around the world, students soon will be packing up to head to college for the start of a new academic year. Back in my day, the list of college gear included a large hardback dictionary with a slipcover that would eventually fall by the wayside as its treasure trove of words were used to craft stirring research papers and clever reports. At least, that is what we thought we were doing. Today, our students get the same dictionary information off their phones. Access is much more convenient, but our quest for truth and responsibility to love the Lord with all our mind, as well as our heart and soul, is still foundational at OBU. We have responsibilities as Christ-followers to investigate life, science, literature, art and the professions, and in doing so we develop a greater appreciation, awe and love for God. I certainly empathize with the legendary Dr. John Wesley Raley who wrote: “I want my boy to study science … [and] when he has completed all of his investigations, to bow his head and say, ‘Oh wondrous Creator, Thy ways are past finding out.’ … I want my boy to study literature … but when he does I want him to know that life’s superb literature springs from the heart of God and is in that Blessed Book which you and I love. … I want him to interpret the progress … of man, but I want him to learn that history … is a plan culminating in the return of Christ and the incoming of the Kingdom of God. I want my boy to learn music, but I want him to have the harmony of God in his soul. … I want him to appreciate art, but I want him to know when he sees Turner’s ‘Landscapes,’ or Rembrandt’s ‘Portraits,’ or any of the rest of the masterpieces, that it is the hand of God that paints the sunset and colors the rose.” That is what I want for my own sons and for every student who studies at OBU. Ours is a worthy calling and worthy of investing our lives here on Bison Hill. In this issue of OBU Magazine, as we continue to celebrate OBU’s Centennial year, we see the long sweep of influence our university has exerted over the past 100 years. We see an Oklahoma Panhandle boy who made a fairly long trek to Bison Hill in the 1930s. Then we pivot to see the opportunities of the future as we reflect on the Centennial Class of 2010. The stories in these pages highlight the lives and activities of OBU family members who have seen God direct their paths through our campus. These stories share a common thread – the thread of investment. An online dictionary offers the definition of investment as something acquired for future benefit. Dr. J.T. Allen benefitted from his OBU degree. His family invested in him. He invested in his education. Now, he has invested a record-setting gift in his alma mater for the benefit of others. Recipients of his scholarship funds will be investing in an education for their future benefit as our graduates have over the past 10 decades. In turn, as demonstrated through our Profiles in Excellence, our graduates will be equipped to invest in the lives of others, and in their own careers and communities. The benefits of those investments continue to be evident around the world. We are grateful for the investment you have made in OBU. As we embark on our second century, the return on those investments will continue to grow. Each of us has the opportunity to continue investing in this enterprise of world-changing Christian higher education. Pack your bags and join us. David Wesley Whitlock OBU President OBUmagazine Features OBU MAGAZINE STAFF An Earned Privilege SUMMER 2010 | Vol. 6 • No. 3 2 Commencement is more than getting a diploma. The event Editor is steeped in tradition and a touchstone for many graduates. Marty O’Gwynn Writers Julie McGowan, Marty O’Gwynn, 6 Simple Beginning. Lasting Influence. Mackenzie Dilbeck OBU made a lasting impression on a product of the Creative Services Oklahoma Panhandle. His generosity will make an Chele Marker impression on generations of OBU students. Photographers William Pope, Julie McGowan Preserving the Faculty Tradition View OBU Magazine Online 10 www.okbu.edu/magazine A second installment on the past quarter-century at OBU looks at the growth of endowed academic positions on campus. Contact OBU Magazine [email protected] 405.878.2111 14 Broadening Perspectives OBU Graduate School students gain a global education in UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION the United Arab Emirates. President Dr. David W. Whitlock Provost and Executive Vice President for Campus Life Dr. R. Stanton Norman Executive Vice President for Business and Administrative Services Randy L. Smith Vice President for University Advancement Will Smallwood Departments CONTACT INFORMATION (area code 405) Profiles in Excellence 16 Academic Center .....................878.2023 Two university professors, a Admissions ..............................878.2033 Alumni ....................................878.2706 disaster relief leader, an attorney, Business Office ........................878.2020 and a couple devoted to education Campus Ministry .....................878.2377 are among this year’s award recipients. Career Services ........................878.2416 Mabee Learning Center ...........878.2251 President’s Office .....................878.2002 Campus Life 26 Public Relations .......................878.2111 Faculty and student news from Bison Hill. Residential Life ........................878.2404 Student Development ..............878.2406 Student Financial Services .......878.2016 Alumni News 32 Switchboard ............................275.2850 Centennial Homecoming is November 11-13. University Advancement ..........878.2703 OBU Magazine is published quarterly by the Public Alumni Notes 34 Relations Office, Oklahoma Baptist University, Shawnee, Oklahoma. It is mailed to nearly 40,000 Read the latest updates from OBU alumni. alumni, parents and friends of OBU throughout the country and world. To change your mailing address send an email to [email protected]; write OBU Magazine, OBU Box 61275, 500 West University, Shawnee, Oklahoma 74804; or call 405.878.2706. In compliance with federal law, including the provision of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Oklahoma Baptist University does not ille- gally discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, color, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, or military service in its administration of educational policies, programs, or activities, its admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletic or other university administered programs; or employment. From top: Commencement speaker and honorary degree recipient J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, (center, first row) posed with the Class of 1938. Uncle Jimmy Owens led the 1949 Convocation faculty professional. Led by faculty marshal Lee B. Spencer, an academic procession marched toward the south entrance of Raley Chapel in 1963. OBU GradUatiOn From their first days on the OBU campus, students are confronted with the expectation that they will graduate from the University. While that may seem an overly basic concept for entering freshmen, the Anfact is that six-year Earned graduation rates hover around Privilege 50 percent nationally. In fact, many universities now quote their six-year graduation rates in promotional materials. OBU, however, conveys the expectation that students will complete their time on Bison Hill and receive diplomas in Potter Auditorium four years after they begin study on the campus. Hence, the traditional conclusion of Welcome Week each August is “The Walk.” New students make the westward trek from the University Oval to the front steps of John Wesley Raley Chapel. That starts a journey many of them will complete four years later in cap and gown. The Walk for graduates is from the Geiger Center through flanking rows of faculty and administrators to enter Raley Chapel and celebrate completion of their OBU degrees. It is a grand tradition on the campus, a perfect-for-pictures event which celebrates completion of a task and inclusion in a community. It also demonstrates continuity of an institution. Throughout OBU’s century of existence, Commencement has maintained a formality that has transcended trends. The Walk did not begin when graduates had to find a way from the Geiger Center to Raley Chapel. It predated the opening of the chapel in 1961, back to days when graduates processed across the quadrangle for Commencement in what was then the University Auditorium, later to become Sarkeys Telecommunication Center. For many graduates, the chief memories of Graduation Day involve family. In a recent Facebook post, alumni recollections included Teresa Burgess, ’83, recalling her grandfather walking down the aisle to congratulate her. On the other end of the generational spectrum, Larry Masters, ’67, graduated three days before he and his wife, Barbara, had their first child. Faculty interaction also is high on the list of memories. In 1997, admiring the doctoral regalia worn by Dr. Tony Litherland, professor of political science, Gabriel Matney asked how he could get such apparel. “You must work much, much harder,” Litherland replied. (Matney followed his advice, earning a Ph.D. degree in mathematics education.) In May 2010, graduates received their own special regalia: a medallion signifying their membership in the University’s Centennial Class. They are part of a long procession of students who stood proudly – in cap and gown – on Bison Hill. 2010 Spring Commencement SUMMER 2010 | 3 OBU GradUatiOn Grads As they celebrated You are so up-to-date, but what you know today will be An Earnedaccomplishment Privilege of their college obsolete tomorrow. Knowledge will continue to increase.