
Sonya Bell: Media Manager and Journalist
Connections start here; Graduating in your home state Sonya Bell grew up in Tecumseh, only 40 minutes away from the University of Oklahoma, so from an early age, she felt that OU was the obvious choice for her college career. In high school, when beginning to consider different college choices, Bell’s English teacher, an alumna of the University of Central Oklahoma, encouraged her to tour the UCO campus and see what it had to offer. There were many schools Bell considered but

SWOSU President Randy Beutler announces retirement
Southwestern Oklahoma State University President Randy Beutler has announced his retirement, closing out a 35-year career in education and p

Dr. Bob Blackburn, Historian and Author
Dr. Bob Blackburn is known and revered across the state of Oklahoma for his work as a writer, orator and historian. But when the longtime executive director of the Oklahoma History Center first began college, he had his sights set on becoming a judge. In 1969, he enrolled as a freshman at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, to work toward a degree in the legal field. The classes he took at SWOSU, his experience on campus and the professors he met there led him down a new

Cindy Byrd, State Auditor & Inspector
Cindy Byrd has been the first to reach several milestones. She is the first graduate of East Central University to be elected as Oklahoma State Auditor & Inspector, an office she has held since 2010. She is the first woman to be elected to the office. And she is the first and only Oklahoma candidate to garner more than 800,000 votes in a state election. But despite her trailblazing accolades, she attributes much of her success to the support and encouragement of her family, f