ADA, Okla. – United State Representative Tom Cole will deliver the Annual Watkins Lecture, Friday, August 29 at 11 a.m. The event will take place in the ECU Foundation Hall, located inside the Chickasaw Business and Conference Center.

This event is free and open to the public. A reservation is required to participate in the luncheon portion of the event. Lunch will be served at 12 p.m.

This year’s lecture also marks the 5th anniversary of the Native American Legal Clinic, a service offered in partnership between ECU Legal Studies and Oklahoma Indian Legal Services (OILS). OILS is funded by the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). Congressman Cole has been a strong supporter of LSC throughout his time in Congress, making his presence at this year’s event especially significant.

OILS attorneys and staff including Director Stephanie Hudson will attend the event as well as tribal leaders from across Oklahoma. OILS provides quality legal services to tribal members, ensuring access to justice and supporting tribal sovereignty. 

Cole has served as the U.S. representative for Oklahoma’s 4th congressional district since 2003, currently in his eleventh term. He is the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, which he has served on since 2009 and has previously served as the Chairman of the House Rules Committee, a panel he was first appointed to in 2013.

During his distinguished career, Cole has served as Executive Director of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Chief of Staff of the Republican National Committee and Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. He has also served in several significant positions in the state of Oklahoma.

Cole is former college instructor in history and politics and holds a B.A. from Grinnell College, an M.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma.

He is a fifth generation Oklahoman and an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation. He has served as the Republican Co-Chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus since 2009 and was an inductee into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2017.

The Watkins Lecture was created by Lou Watkins, chair of ECU’s Political Science Department from 1980 to 1991, and wife of former U.S. Representative Wes Watkins. She is also a Distinguished Former Faculty award winner.

The purpose of the lectureship is to bring recognized authorities to ECU to address subjects of public interest at the local, state or national level.

For more information or to RSVP, please email ECU professor Dr. Christine Pappas at cpappas@ecok.edu.

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