Rick Steves touts importance of study abroad

Rick Steves, travel writer, host and producer of “Rick Steves’ Europe” on public TV and “Travel with Rick Steves” on public radio, will appear at Oklahoma Christian University on March 10. (Click here for more information on this special event)

In this column that Steves wrote for USA Today, he discusses the importance of a study abroad experience as part of a college education.

Oklahoma Christian University’s vibrant Study Abroad program deepens and broadens students’ intellectual, social, spiritual and aesthetic awareness as they study, travel and serve in other cultures.

OC Study Abroad opportunities offer experiential learning at its best - history, religion, philosophy, art and literature come alive as students link their study with their experience. 

The world becomes the classroom, with the chance to hike the Great Wall, snorkel the Great Barrier Reef, visit Mayan ruins, explore the Coliseum in Rome and many other magnificent historical sites.

The Study Abroad program also stretches and strengthens students’ faith through service and mission opportunities with churches, shelters and communities around the world.

Click here for more information about OC’s European Studies and Pacific Rim Studies programs, as well as the many other study abroad opportunities available at Oklahoma Christian.

23rd annual Valentine Cabaret

The Oklahoma Christian University Music Department presents their 23rd annual Valentine Cabaret dinner theater on Thursday through Saturday, February 9th through the 11th.

The festivities will start at 6:00 PM each evening, with a catered candlelight dinner in the McIntosh Conservatory, located inside the Garvey Center on the OC campus, followed by the Cabaret performance at 7:00 in the adjacent Recital Hall. The dinner menu will be a tossed green salad with dressing, followed by a hot London Broil steak, whole new potatoes with parsley butter, and grilled fresh vegetables, with chocolate and raspberry swirl cheesecake for dessert. Tea, hot coffee, and water will also be served.

This year’s Cabaret is titled ““An Evening of Modern Musical Theatre”, and will feature songs from a variety of Broadway’s more recent musicals. Featured will be songs from shows such as “Wicked,” “Spamalot,” “The Addams Family,” “The Producers,” and “Legally Blonde.” Performing will be cast members Madison Callaway, Hannah Faye Foster, Alyssa Jackson, Moriah Willing, Laura Vanderzee, Ryan Gonzales, Chris Jenkins, Reece Kingcade, Brian Wilcox
and Brett Vanderzee.

The show is directed and choreographed by Barbara Berard, with music direction by OC graduate and OCU graduate student Rebekah Parker, who will also play piano for the performances.

Tickets are $19.00 for the dinner and show, or $7.00 for the show alone. For tickets, call the OC Music Department at 425-5530, between 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday.

Top 10 Stories of 2011

1. Updates from Japan earthquake and tsunami
2. 2011 Spring Sing Results
3. Two Named Finalists for Oklahoma Christian President
4. First Week Follies 2011 videos
5. OC’s New Tuition and Fees Well Below National Average
6. Acappella adds two with OC ties
7. OC professor named president of Ohio Valley University
8. Homecoming 2011 Honorees
9. OC to Offer Honors Housing in Fall, Summer Honors Academy in July
10. Recap from Associates Dinner

*As judged by unique pageviews from Google Analytics on the OC News blog.

Two Named Finalists for Oklahoma Christian President

A national search to identify the best-qualified person to lead Oklahoma Christian University (OC) in the years ahead has produced two finalists. The ten-member OC Presidential Search Committee unanimously approved forwarding the names of the two finalists to the University’s Board of Trustees, with a recommendation to advance the process to the next stage involving campus interaction with faculty, staff and students.

The Board of Trustees, in a special meeting Monday evening, accepted the committee’s recommendation of the two finalists:

- Dr. John deSteiguer, OC Senior Vice President for Advancement, and
- Dr. Allison Garrett, OC Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

“We were impressed with the quality and quantity of candidates who applied for the position,” said Michelle Stephens, OC graduate and chair of the OC Presidential Search Committee.

“We had a number of outstanding candidates with the leadership, academic, administrative and communication abilities to serve as president of this exceptional Christian university. After much consideration and deliberation the past six months, the committee identified two truly exceptional candidates who demonstrated great enthusiasm for OC and its future. These two candidates are well acquainted with OC, and they understand the extraordinary importance of OC’s mission of educational excellence delivered in a Christian setting to help our students pursue their personal, academic and professional goals. As a committee, we are pleased to advance these two finalists, and we look forward to the next phase of the process.”

The 35-member OC Board of Trustees also unanimously accepted the recommendations of the two finalists submitted by the search committee.

“Oklahoma Christian has experienced several years of solid leadership under President Mike O’Neal,” said Don Millican, chair of the Board of Trustees. “As a result, Oklahoma Christian is strong today and better positioned for the future. Consequently, it is imperative we select an individual who is capable and ready to move our outstanding university forward. In this regard, we are pleased with the selection of these two finalists. We know them well. They are not only qualified from an experience standpoint, but both of them also reflect the strong Christian character we seek in the president of OC.”

Millican also commended the OC Presidential Search Committee for the work they did leading the search process.

John deSteiguer was recruited to the OC campus in 2002 as part of Dr. O’Neal’s new administration. At the time, deSteiguer was a senior development officer at Northeastern Oklahoma State University in Tahlequah. He brought his fund-raising acumen, leadership gifts, passion for higher education and love for students to Oklahoma Christian, and over the next decade has helped the university raise gifts topping $100 million.

A highlight of deSteiguer’s tenure at OC has been the $60 million Higher Learning~Higher Calling fundraising campaign that was completed nearly two years ahead of schedule in 2007. Notable fund-raising highlights achieved during the campaign include the $7.5 million Science Facility Initiative, the new Lawson Commons, four new endowed chairs, and more than 60 new or enhanced scholarship, operating andmaintenance endowments.

Previously, deSteiguer practiced law in the Dallas-based law firm of Haynes and Boone. He also served as a youth minister and campus minister in his hometown of Tahlequah, Okla.

He is a member of several civic organizations, including the Edmond Chamber of Commerce’s executive committee, the Oklahoma Planned Giving Council, the Edmond Rotary Club and the Oklahoma Bar Association.

deSteiguer received his undergraduate degree at Northeastern Oklahoma State University, summa cum laude, in 1984. He was a Rotary International Scholarship recipient at the University of Kingston, Jamaica, and earned his juris doctorate from Pepperdine University, magna cum laude, in 1989.

He and his wife, Darla, also an attorney, have two teenage children, Joe and Abby. He is a frequent Bible class teacher and a deacon at Memorial Road Church of Christ.

Allison Garrett was first on the OC campus in 1982 as an undergraduate student. She graduated from OC in just two years and then earned law degrees at the University of Tulsa and Georgetown University. She is a member of both the Oklahoma and Arkansas bars, making the high score on the Arkansas bar exam.

Her professional experience includes a decade working for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., in Bentonville, Ark., where she served as vice president of benefits compliance and planning, vice president and general counsel, corporate division, and assistant secretary. She oversaw large staffs and had budgetary responsibility for more than $550 million.

Her early career included time as a staff attorney for the United States Securities & Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C., and as an associate attorney for Pray, Walker, Jackman, Williamson & Marlar in Tulsa, Okla.

She was named to the OC Board of Trustees in 2003, at which time she also departed the corporate world for academia as an associate professor of law at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Ala.

Garrett came to work at OC in 2007 when she was named vice president for academic affairs. In her current role as senior vice president for academic affairs, she oversees the university’s faculty, supervises three colleges and graduate studies, and related academic functions. She led a revision of the university’s core curriculum, and facilitated growth in graduate programs, international recruiting and the Honors Program. She also teaches business law.

She co-chairs the board of the Dallas-based National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, and is active with the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce Advisory Board. She is a published author on a variety of international, corporate governance and pharmacy law topics.

She and her husband, Chip, also an attorney, have three children, Ethan, Tori and Noah. They attend Wilshire Church of Christ, where both teach Bible class and are involved with Leadership Training for Christ.

The Board of Trustees will conduct interviews with each nominee and will hold town hall-type gatherings for faculty, staff, students and alumni before a new president is named.

Millican said the board expects to name a new president at its February board meeting.

More information about the Presidential Search process is available at http://www.oc.edu/president/search.

Meinders, Anderson Highlight Oklahoma Christian Commencement

Oklahoma Christian’s fall commencement will feature two highly successful local business leaders, Mo Anderson, vice chairman of Keller Williams Realty, and Herman Meinders, founder of American Floral Services, Inc.  Anderson will deliver the keynote address and Meinders will receive an honorary doctorate.  The commencement, which begins at 10 a.m. Friday, December 16, in the Payne Athletic Center, will honor 86 undergraduates and 53 graduate students. 

Meinders is being honored for his lifetime of support for higher education and service to his community and industry.  He has been a champion and benefactor to many community programs, including local literacy programs for special needs students, Habitat for Humanity, the Meinders School of Business at Oklahoma City University, and the Diamond H Ranch for the Boy Scouts of America. He has also provided funding for a number of faith-related projects, including the Meinders Chapel at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa and the Meinders Hall at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif.

Meinders founded American Floral Services, Inc., an international flowers-by-wire service based in Oklahoma City, in 1970. AFS began in a garage apartment and initially consisted of 137 subscriber florists. From that beginning, AFS grew to rank as one of the largest floral wire services in the world. In November 2000, AFS merged with Teleflora, a competitor, to better serve the floral community. Meinders has received many honors for his dedication to the floral industry, the free enterprise system and community service, including the Century Service Award from Oklahoma State Florists’ Association and induction into the Sales and Marketing Executives International Academy of Achievement, the Oklahoma Commerce and Industry Hall of Honor, and the Oklahoma Heritage Association Hall of Fame. 

Mo Anderson’s personal integrity and drive have made Keller Williams Realty one of the most successful franchises in real estate history.  She has continuously cultivated the firm’s value system, inspiring associates throughout North America to maintain high standards of character within both their personal and professional lives.

(The audio clears up at the 33-second mark.)

Anderson, originally an elementary school music teacher, taught for 14 years before entering real estate. She established her first real estate office, a Century 21 franchise, in Edmond in 1975. It soon became the third top-producing office out of 7,500 Century 21 locations in North America. In 1986 she sold the company to Merrill Lynch Realty, where she served as a district vice president until December 1989.

In her current role as vice chairman of Keller Williams Realty, Anderson travels and teaches at Keller Williams’ training events.  In December 2006, she was named one of America’s Top 25 Influential Thought Leaders by REALTOR magazine. In January 2007, the Women’s Council of REALTORS featured Anderson as one of Real Estate’s Most Influential People in an article published in Connections. And, in 2008, she was inducted into the prestigious Hall of Leaders by the CRB Council.

Anderson has been named twice as Oklahoma’s Women in Business Advocate of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. She serves, or has served, on the boards of Edmond Memorial Hospital, the Francis Tuttle Vo-Tech Foundation, the Daily Living Center, and Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

Oklahoma Christian Receives $200,000 NEH Grant

Oklahoma Christian University has received a $200,000 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant according to senior vice president for advancement, Dr. John deSteiguer. The award was part of the $21 million in grants for 215 humanities projects across the U.S. announced recently by the NEH.

“This NEH challenge grant is a huge victory for Oklahoma Christian,” deSteiguer said. “The size of the grant, larger than some states’ total grants, speaks to the high quality of our humanities programs here at OC and the noteworthy track record of nationally prominent guest speakers brought to our campus in connection with the McBride Center for Faith and Literature. Under Dr. Scott LaMascus’ leadership our students have had seven consecutive years of McBride Center excellence.”

LaMascus said, “Being selected for such a competitive financial award is not only an acknowledgement of the quality inspired by Bailey and Joyce McBride, but also a signal that alumni and community partners invest in the McBride Center because we continue to place high value on humanities symposia which speak with excellence to the deepest matters of the mind, heart, and spirit. Christian faith has a lot to say about human experience and our guest speakers have proven that the resulting dialogues can be civil, intellectual, meaningful and bridge-building.

“In addition to my gratitude to the NEH and its Oklahoma affiliate, the Oklahoma Humanities Council,” LaMascus said, “I’m also personally indebted to all the speakers and their generosity with the McBride Lecture, as well as to the donors, alumni, foundations, faculty hosts, and staff—including Will Blanchard, an OC alumnus and amazing grant writer, and Frances Sawyer, who coordinates all the logistics for our annual events.”

“The National Endowment for the Humanities supports projects that document and explore the human endeavor in its many forms,” said NEH Chairman Jim Leach. “Whether it is preserving a valuable historical collection, enabling the production of a film or exhibition, or providing support for scholarly exploration of important topics in the humanities, the grants awarded today ensure that the shared stories of our past are available to communities across the nation for generations to come.”
Institutions and independent scholars in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico received NEH support this award cycle.
Noting that NEH gives virtually all its money in challenges, deSteiguer said, “The university will be seeking others who share the McBrides’ commitment to excellence in the humanities and who will want to partner with us to meet the NEH challenge.” 

About the National Endowment for the Humanities:
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.