Alumni return to OC

Hundreds of alumni, who once called Oklahoma Christian University home, returned to campus to reconnect with their alma mater.

Musicals, banquets, parades and reuniting with old friends made homecoming 2014 memorable for alumni, Alumni Relations Director Bob Lashley said. The Alumni Achievement Awards honored alumni who had been successful in their former departments’ eyes.

“On Friday at 6:00 p.m., the Annual Alumni Banquet awarded distinguished alumnus of the year and a lot of times that’s a couple,” Lashley said. “We also award a Young Alumnus of the Year and that is usually someone who has been out of school for seven years or less.”

A homecoming chapel took place in Hardeman Auditorium on Saturday at 10 a.m.  Rhonda Smith Baird, from the class of 1996-1997, said this was the first time for her family to attend chapel.

“This morning I wanted my family to get to experience chapel,” Baird said. “We have never done chapel at Oklahoma Christian as a family. We also enjoyed listening to the chorale. Terry Johnson who was the president when I was a student here spoke in chapel. I got to see Stafford North.”

Homecoming chapel is not usually geared towards students, but students were welcomed to attend. The chapel honored classes from the 1960s. This was Oklahoma Christian University’s third year to honor the group.

Traditionally, the oldest class participates in the homecoming parade with the different social service clubs, but due to cold temperatures, the group did not walk in the parade.

“I love homecoming,” Baird said. “I am always excited to see people that I went to school with. My whole family and I attend the musicals, which are always good. We plan to go to the musicals every year because we just really enjoy those.”

Alumni homecoming events ended Saturday night with the fourth-annual Barn Bash. This year, the Barn Bash was dedicated to the students who graduated in the 1990s.

Although alumni homecoming brought back memories of their time at Oklahoma Christian, some alumni said they wished their college experience had been a little better.

“I wish Oklahoma Christian had prepared me better to face the real world,” Alumna Staci Creekmore said. “I wish my professors had put more emphasis on the importance of networking. After graduating, I felt like I was being thrown to the wolves. The workforce with no direction and no one to counsel me on the next step.”

As the class of 2014 graduates in the Fall, alumni passed words of wisdom to the new class.

“The real world is fuller and lonelier,” Zeth McNeal, 2011 alumnus class, said. “If you thought you were busy in college, just wait for real life.  The real world is much busier, but it’s a different more taxing kind of busy.  In college, your life was like spaghetti, classes, social hang-out, meals, love interests, spiritual activity – all of theses were mixed and on top of each other.”

To the future Oklahoma Christian graduates, Creekmore offered a piece of advice.

“If I could redo my college experience all over again, I would have practiced better study habits,” Creekmore said. “Late night cramming sessions were all too common and it was difficult to balance work with classes. If I could redo anything I would get more sleep and start earlier on assignments rather than waiting until the last second.”

McNeal said future alumni should do what they love the most before success.

“I was blessed enough to get a job before I graduated,” McNeal said. “Yet, I’m becoming more and more sure it’s not what I want to do for the rest of my life.  Career is such a stupid word.  You will change.  So give yourself permission to do the best you can now and be content.”

Being alumni from Oklahoma Christian is an honor, one that should not be taken lightly, Baird said.

“I feel that all Oklahoma Christian graduates should try to be strong assets to their communities,” Baird said. “You, as a graduate or future graduate, are blessed for coming to this school and now that you have gotten the chance to go through Oklahoma Christian,  you must go and make a difference somewhere else and that could be anywhere.”

00