Dean's Letter
Change is at hand at Gaylord College and OU, with more to come later this year. Vaccinations are under way for our university community, a year after COVID-19 struck campus and everything else in American life.
Letter from Lee Reynolds
Spring is in the air and COVID shots are available. Life is good in Norman, Oklahoma, and we are all looking forward to returning to a more normal in-person semester in the fall. On March 10, Gaylord College’s Dean’s Leadership Class (DLC) held its final meeting of the year.
Letter from the Outgoing President
It was my pleasure to serve as the President of JayMac the last two years. During my tenure, I saw through the completion and implementation of bylaws, a successful launch of a website, the move to a digital newsletter, and a stronger relationship between Gaylord students and the JayMac board.
Letter from the Editor
Happy spring! In the Office of Admissions and Recruitment, this time of the year means yield season as we encourage students to commit to OU by May 1. OU's academic colleges play a key role in helping us recruit and yield prospective students, hosting webinars, collaborating on academic-specific emails and participating in events, including our annual Sooner Saturday, held on April 24.
Gaylord College takes this partnership a step further. During the three fall semesters before the pandemic, Gaylord hand-delivered admissions boxes to students who expressed an interest in the college. I asked Dean Kelley, Jeff Blahnik and Morgan Brammer to share their perspectives on this strong partnership, which you can read below.
“We at Gaylord College have been successful in growing our enrollment in recent years, and our partnership with the Office of Admissions and Recruitment is a key reason why. Jeff Blahnik has built a great team in OAR who couldn’t be more responsive to our needs. They are highly organized and helpful at every turn. We rely on them for advice on how best to reach prospective students, and their guidance, more often than not, helps us land prospects we want in our college. I’d like to think we are among OAR’s best partners on campus. We wholeheartedly share our success with them."
“A strong partnership with the colleges to recruit students is vital to our success because students want to understand the academic experience they will have before selecting OU. Gaylord has annually been one of our top partners in this collaboration. They take recruiting students seriously, and are hands-on with the effort, from Dean Kelley to the rest of the team. Annually, we work hand-in-hand with Gaylord to achieve enrollment goals and they have outpaced expected results because of their excellent efforts.”
"The partnership we have with the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication is the gold standard for the process we hope all colleges adopt when it comes to recruiting and yielding students at OU. From innovative communication techniques with the admission box, to handwritten holiday cards, to creatively using their alumni to story tell, Gaylord faculty and staff beautifully showcase what it will mean for a student to join the OU family during their recruitment. This collaborative effort between our offices is key and we are grateful."
I hope you'll join in my excitement as we complete the incoming OU class. And if you're ever interested in aiding Gaylord's recruitment efforts (maybe hand-delivering an admissions box once we're able to do so again), please let us know. We love connecting our incredible alumni with these future Sooners!
Chelsey Kraft
Class of 2013
Covering the Presidential Inauguration
Storme Jones, 2019 Gaylord grad and Griffin Communication's Oklahoma State Capitol reporter, shares his experience of covering the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
OU Food Pantry Reaches Milestone
Established in March 2017, the OU Food Pantry is a free resource open to all OU students, faculty and staff to address food insecurity and hunger on campus. Earlier this year, the OU Food Pantry hit a major milestone - 10,000 orders fulfilled.
Institute Teaches High School Students the Importance of Diversity in Journalism
OIDJ’s mission is to provide opportunities for students who might lack access to journalism training or who face other barriers to pursuing careers in journalism.
Spotlight on Inasmuch Foundation
Known as “Oklahoma’s quiet philanthropist,” Edith Kinney Gaylord established Inasmuch Foundation in 1982 for charitable, scientific and educational purposes. Her generosity is felt by Gaylord College students to this day. Since 2003, the foundation has awarded Gaylord College 43 grants.
Operation Secret Santa
“During this holiday season and challenging semester, Gaylord College's Secret Santa has a surprise for you. We would like to award you a scholarship to help pay your bursar bill!" Twenty-five Gaylord students received the most unexpected holiday gift last December, delivered directly to their OU inbox.
Momentum Builds for New Online Master's Program
An online master's program at the University of Oklahoma designed to help upwardly mobile professionals take their next career leap in the 21st Century is off to a quick start – and it's continuing to draw significant national and even some international interest.
Notable News
Kathy Terry, the mother of soon-to-be Gaylord graduate, Heather Terry, recently shared a message about their family's long OU history. Learn more about their story, meet the new Gaylord Ambassadors leadership and read In Memorium for two amazing alumnae, Lillian Morgan Cox and Judith Wall.
Gaylord Duo Named to PRSSA National Committee
Congratulations to Rachel Meltzer and Claire Gilpin on their election to the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) National Committee!
Exploring the Moral Identity of Recent JMC Grads
David Craig leads a national research team studying the moral psychology and ethical development of recent graduates from Gaylord College and other top programs across the country.
Listen to Student-Led "Survive & Thrive" Podcast
Gaylord College and the Institute for the study of Human Flourishing have partnered together this year on the creation and production of a podcast series called “Survive and Thrive.”
First, join JayMac and become a part of an outstanding alumni network that goes above and beyond to give back. By joining JayMac, you can introduce Gaylord to prospective students, take a tour of the Gaylord building if you haven’t been home in a while, help current students find internships or jobs and so much more.
Then, visit the JayMac website and social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn) for more information on how to get involved! We can’t wait to hear from you.
Tell us about your accomplishments since graduating from Gaylord College so we can compile them in Alumni News. Whether it's job changes, marriages, children or career advancements, we want to know everything.
Email your stories to gaylordalumni@ou.edu.
CONTACT
Lee Reynolds
Director of Community and Alumni Relations
leereynolds@ou.edu
Sundee Busby
President, JayMac
Sundee.Busby@obi.org
General Contact
gaylordalumni@ou.edu
DEAN, GAYLORD COLLEGE
Ed Kelley
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY AND ALUMNI RELATIONS, GAYLORD COLLEGE
Lee Reynolds
PRESIDENT, JAYMAC
Sundee Busby
EDITOR, JAYMAC NEWSLETTER
Chelsey Kraft
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