East Central Political Science senior Patrick Tadlock, from Elmore City, was awarded the Best Undergraduate Paper at the 2009 Oklahoma Political Science Association Conference.
Patrick Tadlock (left), a student at East Central University, is congratulated by Dr. Christine Pappas, ECU associate professor of political science, for receiving the Best Undergraduate Paper award at the 2009 Oklahoma Political Science Association Conference. Tadlock is a senior political science major from Elmore City.
The winning paper, "All Deliberate Speed': Oklahoma City Public School's Journey from Brown to Board of Education of Oklahoma City v. Dowell, 1955-1991," detailed Dr. Robert Dowell's protracted legal battle for integration of the Oklahoma City Public Schools. The Supreme Court's 1991 ruling effectively ended the federal court system's mandate for integration.
Of winning the award Tadlock said, "It was great honor to be awarded best undergraduate paper at the OPSA this year. It is an honor I won't forget. The paper taught me a lot about the desegregation battle right here in my own back yard." Tadlock is a member of Sigma Tau Gamma , CREW, Tiger Ambassadors, Pi Sigma Alpha, and Student Senate. Additionally, he is ECU's candidate for this year's Nigh Leadership Academy held at the Oklahoma State Capitol each spring. He hopes to attend law school after earning his degree in political science in May.
"Patrick is an amazing researcher. He is obsessed in his pursuit of the facts. With the amount of work he put into this paper, he totally deserved to win the award," said Dr. Christine Pappas, associate professor of political science. Tadlock's paper was written for her Public Policy Making class last spring. "I am also gratified that this is the second year in a row that my student won this award," she said.
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