On game days, you may have seen him – cheering from the end zone, firing a shotgun after touchdowns, sporting long brunette locks and a Cherokee Nation patch on his “reds.”
Dakota Page, a University of Oklahoma RUF/NEK and an architecture junior, always saw himself being a part of the Sooner family one day.
“When I was young, I knew I wanted to eventually end up at OU,” Page said. “My dad played football here in the early ‘90s. He also was a mascot – Top Daug – and I saw the good time he had. [I made my college decisions independently,] but knew I eventually wanted to end up at OU.”
After graduating high school in the middle of 2020, Page initially enrolled at the University of Central Oklahoma before transferring to OU his sophomore year.
“I’m from a pretty small high school in a pretty small town,” Page said. “UCO was a big jump for me, and with online classes, I never found my niche. At OU, I went to a career fair and in the very back corner was a RUF/NEK booth. It was the most awkward experience, to just put myself out there, but everything worked out and it’s been a blast.”
In his time with OU Spirit, he’s experienced some unique OU moments, including two Heisman statue unveilings and the hiring of a new head football coach. His senior year is sure to be memorable as OU moves to the Southeastern Conference.
While heavily associated with football, Page and his fellow RUF/NEKs also support and appear at other OU athletic events like basketball, volleyball and soccer games. They also are active in volunteering and community work.
That part – community – is very important to Page. It is a thread stitched into his childhood, which he spent learning Cherokee and participating in Cherokee camp competitions with other tribal members, and it is a thread that he continues to weave into his OU experience through his campus involvement.
“People always ask, ‘What's your favorite part of game day?’ and I could say the shotguns or the Schooner and ponies, but mine really is the Fan Fest, taking photos with the fans and talking with them,” Page said.
Community is a thread he intends to continue carrying through his future work in architecture.
“As a Cherokee, I have tried to better myself and live as my ancestors once did by upholding traditions and sustaining the culture,” Page said. “I would love to one day be able to write an architectural book in my native Cherokee language and have it published. This would help provide a pillar of education in the field for future generations of Cherokee architects.”
In summer 2023, Page interned with Tulsa firm CJC Architects working on commercial projects, and just recently, in October 2023, he was accepted into OU’s Master of Architecture program.
Story and photo credits: University of Oklahoma Foundation
