Toronzo McInnis Named Outstanding Student

Toronzo McInnis was named the 2019-20 Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education Outstanding Senior. McInnis is a mathematics education major.
 

He currently serves as a student assistant in the K20 Center and is a student intern with OU Diversity Enrichment Programs. McInnis came to OU as a transfer student after previously attending Jones County Junior College (Ellisville, Mississippi) and Tulsa Community College.
 

“Toronzo is a natural leader with an infectious personality and energy,” said Stacy Reeder, interim dean and mathematics education professor. “As a mathematics education major, Toronzo has developed his abilities and knowledge to be an outstanding teacher who will have a transformative impact on the students in his future classroom.”
 

While at Jones County he was a senator in the Student Government Association and a member of Phi Theta Kappa. At TCC, he was community outreach director for the Tulsa Review and involved in Phi Theta Kappa.
 

“Watching him evolve into this amazing leader and person has been so inspiring,” said Susan Greer, director of alumni outreach and director of student groups in the College of Education. “You can’t help but smile when Toronzo is around and his presence is felt throughout the building. We are going to miss him so much when he graduates and whatever school ends up with him will be very lucky.”
 

While at OU, McInnis has been involved with the JRCoE Ambassadors program, Transfer Leadership Class, OU Transfer Days, Kappa Delta Pi (historian), Association of Transfer Students McLaurin and Lewis Leadership Conference, OU Giving Day, OU Black Student Association, Oklahoma Aspiring Educators Association, and OU Campus Activities Council, serving leadership roles in several of these organizations. He has also participated in Soonerthon and the Big Event.
 

“I have never seen him without a smile and that smile is contagious, said Sherry Cox, assistant dean for undergraduate advising in the college. “His smile, laughter and upbeat demeanor have a positive impact on the mood level of everyone he interacts with—strangers, students, faculty and staff.”
 

Last July, McInnis served as an academic counselor at the Duke Talent Identification Program summer studies program at Georgia Tech. Prior to that he spent a month in Uganda as part of the college’s study abroad program. Since then he has taken part in the JRCoE Bags, Beads and Books fundraiser, which raises money for the Center for Peace and Development Peace Conference Initiative for the women of northern Uganda.
 

“In Uganda, I was able to see how the access, quality and equity in education really differed from my own privileged background here in the United States,” McInnis said. “I was able to see the nearly heartbreaking yet incredible way that women and children were able to persevere in spite of seemingly insurmountable odds. I heard children talk about their love of school and taught women mathematics for help with their businesses.
 

“The trip reinforced my belief in the power and purpose of education for the betterment of our communities and world and will legitimately stay in my heart forever.”
 

An outstanding student in the classroom, McInnis has received numerous scholarships in his time at OU, including the Linda L. Lytle Education Endowed Scholarship, Humphreys Endowed Study Abroad Scholarship, Lew Wentz Debt-Free Teacher, Eunice Lewis Math Education Scholarship and OU Transfer Leadership Scholarship.