Recent News

When graduates of East Central University receive their diplomas on Saturday, Dec. 15, a special visitor will be in attendance. Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, a nun and noted humanitarian, will be in the audience in support of two Ugandan men – Richard Kirabira and Charles Mugabi - who are receiving their master’s degrees. Sister Rosemary is also a guest of ECU President John Hargrave and Reggie Whitten, founder of Pros for Africa. The commencement ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. at ECU’s Kerr Activities Center in Ada. Sister Rosemary is director of the St.

East Central University’s Education Department is offering a new teacher certification program designed to improve mathematics and teaching skills.

The Elementary Mathematics Specialist certification is an 18-hour program intended for current elementary or early childhood teachers.

East Central University senior Iva Asllani, a political science major from Tirana, Albania, won the award for Best Undergraduate Paper of the Year by the Oklahoma Political Science Association, it was announced recently at Cameron University in Lawton.

Asllani’s paper titled ‘The Use of Precedent in U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument’ was inspired by her viewing U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments as the personal guest of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last March.

A political science class from East Central University recently raised $725 and awareness for children’s hunger.

Dr. Christine Pappas’ Political Science 1113 classes did a service learning project where they purchased 200 orange bracelets that say ‘No Child Should Go Hungry’ and sold them on campus and at ECU football games.

On Nov. 20, approximately 40 students participated in a ‘Day Without Food’ and fasted for up to 30 hours to build understanding for hungry children.

East Central University Professor of Communication Studies Dr. Robert Greenstreet served on two panels at the annual National Communication Association Convention in Orlando, Fla. In his first panel, Greenstreet joined select representatives from other colleges and universities in discussing efforts to encourage highly apprehensive students in the basic communication courses at ECU. “Since highly apprehensive people avoid communication, it is very difficult for these students to complete the general education speech course required by their major area of study,” Greenstreet said.

East Central University is going within the family to hire its new director of athletics.

“We received numerous qualified applications from all over,” said ECU President John Hargrave. “But at the end of the day we decided that the best person for the job was right here on campus. We are very excited to have found such an outstanding person. He really encompasses everything we were looking for.”

Dr. Jeff S. Williams, who has served as chair of ECU’s Department of Kinesiology for the past two years, will assume the director of athletics post, beginning Jan. 1, 2013.

A scholarship, in memory of Jeremy Harrel, has been established for a Pauls Valley High School senior who plans to attend East Central University.

Harrel, who was an ECU sophomore majoring in business, died in a car wreck on Dec. 6, 2011 and, with the one-year anniversary of his passing approaching, friends, family and the ECU Foundation have established a memorial scholarship in his honor.

The East Central University Upward Bound Math/Science Center has received a $297,000 grant renewal from the U.S. Department of Education, it was recently announced.

The grant is designed to help Upward Bound students strengthen their math and science skills and prepare them for postsecondary educational programs that lead to careers in those fields.

The three priorities of the program are to: