Dean's Welcome

What’s next at OU?

I get this question frequently after a tough year in which our alma mater was in the news too often for all the wrong reasons. Maybe we who work at the university, to use an old phrase, are too close to the story. But the cumulative effect of one negative headline after the other, particularly involving the transition in the president’s office, eroded morale on campus and no doubt left many of you wondering when it would end.

Well, what a difference the summer makes!

My sense is the days and weeks since the end of the 2018-19 academic year have brought not only some relief but a feeling that we are close to putting this rough patch behind us. And the key reason why is the person now occupying the office at the east end of Evans Hall.

The decision by OU’s regents to name Joe Harroz as interim president was absolutely the correct one, as he has the right stuff to handle what I think is the most demanding job in public life in Oklahoma.

Here’s how my thoughts were described in an interview with the OU Daily shortly after he was named:

“Kelley said Harroz is intelligent and personable, sometimes using self-deprecating humor to add levity to situations as appropriate.

“Kelley said he thinks Harroz is well positioned to manage OU’s three campuses. He described the university as a ‘highly complex, highly decentralized organism,’ with many different constituencies to consider.

“ ‘It takes someone with an extraordinary skill set,’ “ Kelley said, ‘but also someone who has the personality to be able to not only manage all of these different interests, but at the same time provide the kind of leadership, the aspirational leadership – that he can say we’re good today, but we need to be better tomorrow. And I think he has, again, the skill set, the experience, and as importantly the personality to be able to do that.’ “

Since then Joe has made a series of smart recommendations and good hires. One in particular was bringing in Guy Patton from the OU Foundation for a year to help create a university fund-raising system befitting higher education in the 21^st century.

My interaction with Joe when he was law school dean was nothing but positive, as I believe he understands the role of a program like ours and sees it as essential to OU’s mission.

Speaking of Gaylord, we will welcome another strong group of freshmen when classes begin Aug. 19. They are part of what is expected to be the largest number of freshmen in the university’s history. So despite the turmoil of recent months, the demand for an education at the University of Oklahoma has never been greater.

I feel better about OU’s direction than at any time in my four years as Gaylord College’s dean. The next decade – the 2020s – is close at hand, and I’m excited about what awaits us. And I hope you will be too.

Ed Kelley, Dean
Class of 1975