A MESSAGE FROM DEAN DAVID R. EVANS

Oklahoma City University embraces the value of a liberal arts education for all students, an education that revolves around the Petree College of Arts and Sciences. The college serves as the heart of the university, preparing all students for success in life. The foundation for this success is the college’s focus on critical reading, writing, and thinking skills. Through these skills, our students develop the aesthetic sensitivity and moral awareness needed to become true servant-leaders. In keeping with the university’s tradition of service, the college has also implemented a service-learning component for many of the general education courses.

The college offers 25 undergraduate majors ranging from Art to Sociology. There are three different undergraduate degrees (Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Science) and five different master programs. Our 68 full-time faculty members are all active in their fields. Many are published authors, including modern languages professor Mark Griffin, and Philosophy and rhetoric professor Robin Meyers, whose recent book, The Virtue and the Vice, has been endorsed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Salwa Khoddam, Professor of English, is a noted authority on the works of C.S. Lewis, and has published and lectured widely on his works. Denise Short, director of the college’s PLUS program for adult students, received a grant from the Center on Aging and Older Adult Ministries of the United Methodist Church to establish a Senior Academy at Epworth Villa. But the accomplishments aren’t limited to faculty; indeed, they only begin there.

Political science students have made a name for themselves at the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature. The delegation to the mock legislature never fails to bring back both delegation and individual awards each year, including the prized Best Senate Delegation Award. Dr. Rich Johnson, Professor of Political Science, is interviewed regularly in the media on various issues concerning elections and other matters of concern.

Our science students are routinely accepted into prestigious graduate programs. In recent years, two biology majors, Brent Berger and Rebecca May, have received the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, of which only 300 are given out nation-wide. In 2006, six OCU alumni graduated from the OU Medical School, a remarkable accomplishment for a relatively small program. The biology department gives many students the opportunity for hands-on research, an opportunity that lead to May and fellow biology major Gideon Keith-Stanley being recognized at the West Coast Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Conference. The college is also home to the Alpha chapter of Beta Beta Beta, the international biology honor society.

Members of Sigma Tau Delta, the English honor society, returned with an international award for the Scarab anthology, a collection of writing and artwork by the university community. Donna Gregory, English and philosophy major, was elected student representative for the five-state Southwestern region, which is a non-voting position on the society’s international board of directors.

The Campus, the university’s student-run newspaper, is also housed in the college. The paper and its staff are regular award winners, and The Campus has received awards from the Oklahoma Collegiate Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalists. Faculty advisor Kenna Griffin sits on the Oklahoma Collegiate Press Association’s board of directors as did former editor Diana Tejada.

These success stories are only a small glimpse of the outstanding students, organizations, faculty, and programs of the college. Alumni of the college are enrolled in graduate programs across the world and are engaged in careers in medicine, law, journalism, education, politics, art; our alumni are writers, broadcasters, teachers, artists, and administrators. With the benefits of a liberal arts education, our students can achieve anything, and as dean of the Petree College of Arts and Sciences, it has been my pleasure to see them begin their journey into life.