Oklahoma City University Athletics-the road to irrellevence

I am a proud graduate of Oklahoma City University, the little school on North Blackwelder, with two degrees, and a supporter of their athletic programs.

Decisions made in the early 1980s saw the school transition from a major university in our city, state, and nation, to a smaller, less relevant school, which put the athletic program out of the NCAA and new membership in the NAIA, a much less prominent association in college sports.

The administration of the day had to deal with financial issues that were putting the school in a desperate situation.   Money is a driving force for all higher educational institutions.  OCU was losing that battle in 1982.  Meeting pecuniary needs was the dark cloud hanging over the university.   Enticing new students to attend was not as easy as just telling prospective students to come and learn at OCU. That was a secondary conundrum that had to be addressed.  The Methodist Church, the affiliate religious denomination, was not as supplementary as needed, as many church related institutions were suffering some of the same deficiencies as OCU.

With the administration, generating a plan of continuing OCU’s place as the primary and most well-known higher educational institution in the city would not be easy.  From the history of that time to today, the road OCU took has put the school grouped with other schools in metro OKC, and the school lost that designation.  OCU is now just one of a group of schools that are basically the same in stature in both he city, state, and again, nationally.  The school with the city’s namesake has regressed in the last forty years, in prestige and athletic presence.