There is a lost past that may have been forgotten, but if you worked at OCCC from 1994-2006, you may have been part of this week in history:

In 1984-

OKCCC (now OCCC) was looking at increasing its enrollment fees 22%. If passed $1.75 would be added per credit hour. 

Administration proposed that with the additional income, the college could fund a wellness center, Little League teams and games.

Students also said they were in support of the added fees, and noted the tuition and fees would still be lower than any other college or university in the state.

While students were thinking about money, one college math professor, Keith Wilson, was thinking about how he would get around on campus using crutches after he hurt his knee playing video games.

The professor was playing “Jumpman” at home when his knee went numb.  Advice to older players came quickly: “I advise anyone over 40 to sit in a  chair while playing video games.”

Also, the college surveyed its students to find out areas that needed improvement. Student Relations Director Marion Paden reported these top concerns:

Enrollment personnel weren’t friendly or helpful enough

Students wanted more ash trays in buildings on campus.

In 1989-

The OKCCC (now OCCC) English composition program moved into the computer age by getting its own computer lab for students to learn how to type their essays using computers, check grammar and check spelling.

Warren Neal, composition and literature professor, said the lab would feature 26 IBM-compatible machines and would be used as both a computer lab and a teaching space for Oral and Written Composition, and News Writing I.

When not typing, students were struggling to get to class when President Ken Walker refused to close the college even though most areas in the metro had been covered in 10 inches of snow.

History Professor Ray McCullar questioned the requirement for faculty to come to class when he only had five students show up for his classes that day.

Despite Walker’s order that all faculty still teach, Linda Thornton, professor of composition and literature had to call in and cancel her classes saying “I couldn’t even get out of the driveway.”

 In 1992-

College President Bob Gaines was all smiles with the release of enrollment numbers that showed total students reaching 10,222.

Data showed growth in all populations including Black students who were 6.6% of the college population and Native Americans were 4.2%.

Further, the college was cleared in a discrimination lawsuit brought about by professor Jimmie Rogers. Rogers claimed the college did not accommodate for his blindness in its work requirements, according to the U.S. Office of Civil Rights.

While the college was cleared of civil rights violations, it was found in violation of compliance because it did not provide proper grievance procedures for complaints regarding discrimination.

In 1999-

Political Sciences Professor Dana Glencross traveled to Washington D.C. to represent the college as one of the speakers for the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Institute.

Glencross was giving a speech about the honors study topic “The New Millennium: The Past as a Prologue,” as it related to politics.

As Glencross was off campus, OCCC President Bob Todd and the OCCC Board of Regents instituted a hiring freeze because of the lack of higher education funding and the inability to increase tuition.

While Todd was kicking around budget ideas, dozens of students were kicking soccer balls on campus as they tried out for the OKCCC Intramural Soccer League

The college team competed against Rose State College, Oklahoma State University, University of Central Oklahoma and the University of Oklahoma.

In 2006-

OCCC asked Dean of Arts and Humanities Susan VanSchuyver, to serve as dean of Special Initiatives, for Ruth Charnay to fill in as the dean of Arts and Humanities, and for Dianne Broyles to serve as acting department chair for Communications and the Arts.

Part of VanSchuyver’s duties were to develop a required freshman orientation course for all students and to develop learning community pairings of classes.

In addition to pairing classes, Brent Noel, professor of Theater, showcased a new form of theater in which the audience an actors paired on stage in a Forum Theater Project.

Noel said during the show, the audience was encouraged to stand up any time and say how the plot line should move forward.