Letter from Lee Reynolds
Director of Community and Alumni Relations
It is March in Norman, and it appears the University of Oklahoma will have an even bigger freshman class than last year. Enrollment deposits and housing contracts have exceeded expectations, and that’s good news for our university and Gaylord College. Our college’s freshman class numbers are back to where they were pre-COVID.
As part of our recruiting strategy for the college, we see the Dean’s Leadership Class (DLC) as another opportunity to get admitted students to commit to OU earlier. Dean Kelley and I have identified 43 incoming freshmen who were sent an invitation to join the 2022-2023 leadership class a few weeks ago, and 13 have responded yes so far. The invitees include 33 females and 10 males to align with the college’s 68% female population already in place. Thirty percent of the invitees are students of color. A small portion are meteorology majors minoring in broadcast journalism – a continuation of this new cohort last year that underscores the strong partnership we have with the School of Meteorology. Twenty-two of the students are from Texas, 20 from Oklahoma, one from Arkansas and one from California. The DLC invitees represent students from large and small high schools and many first-generation students. It's a really good representative mix of our fifth DLC class.
The 2021-2022 DLC has been our most engaged to date. We think much of that is due to the isolation of COVID, but nonetheless it has been gratifying to see this class bond and interact with one another to such a high degree. I look forward to seeing what our next DLC class accomplishes.
We are always looking for alumni to speak to our students, whether in DLC meetings or in specific classes. If you are interested, please contact me.
Looking toward spring, we are excited about new initiatives within the college and continued growth from talented student storytellers. We encourage you to stop by when you are on campus and thank you for your continued support of Gaylord College in so many extraordinary ways.
Sincerely,
Lee Reynolds, APR
Class of 1977
