Recent News

"You gotta live until you die," believes Lorene Rocker, which explains why she is finishing her bachelor's degree at East Central University this summer -- at age 80 and with 13 great-grandchildren -- and is looking forward to a new career and possibly earning a master's degree in counseling.

"I've got to work. I can't just sit at home," she said.

The Masonic Fraternity of Oklahoma has established a $100,000 endowment at East Central University through its Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma to help fund cultural enrichment programming in ECU's Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center.

Wendell Godwin, a senior business executive who directed all sales functions in an 18-state area for a national Fortune 1000 company, has been named dean of the School of Business at East Central University. He will begin on May 17.

Open auditions will be held April 16 [FRIDAY] at East Central University for "Te Ata," a musical play based on the life of Mary Thompson "TeAta" Fisher, the famous Chickasaw storyteller and actress. Auditions will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. and 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the Chalmers Herman Theatre.

Potential cast members will audition for the playwright, JudyLee Oliva, an ECU alum, and the director, Dr. Christy Stanlake, a theatre professor and director at the United States Naval Academy.

Rehearsals will begin the last week of May.

Flutist Juliana Overmier will perform a concert for the Ada Arts and Heritage Center's First Friday series at noon May 7 [FRIDAY] at the center, 14th and Rennie.

Accompanying at the piano will be Dr. Starla Hibler, professor of music at East Central University. They will perform works by Sadao Bekku, Salamon Jadassohn, Rhené-Baton and Giulio Briccialdi.

The deputy director for the federal government's Indian Health Service and a successful Texas businessman and educator will be honored as East Central University's Distinguished Alumni for 2010 during Commencement ceremonies May 8 [SATURDAY] in Kerr Activities Center.

Hands-on and visual demonstrations of water and environment-related issues helped students focus on the importance of water to society and local communities during the seventh Annual Ada Water Festival/Earth Day at East Central University.

SHOWTIME, East Central University's musical theatre performing group, will present its Grand Finale' concert/cabaret "thank you New York" program at 8 p.m. Friday [APRIL 30] in the Estep Multimedia Center in the Bill S. Cole University Center.

The group also will show slides and video from their trip to New York City where SHOWTIME members studied at Julliard and New York University, the sights they saw and what they brought back.