Drew Williamson’s Dec. 8 Op Ed, “Debacle on 23rd St.” describes the successes of my father, Jerald C. Walker, as 14th President of Oklahoma City University during a time of economic duress for OCU, remembering the time as captured in a long-ago article entitled, “Miracle on 23rd St.” Indeed, my father did incredible things to […]
Commentary
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Debacle on 23rd Street?
In 1979, Oklahoma City University was in crisis, facing extinction as an institution. As a United Methodist University, the church conference decided to name a young and upcoming minister to lead OCU back, and Dr. Jerald Walker became OCU’s fourteenth President, presiding over an unpredictable and improbable comeback that occurred during a difficult economic era […]
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Denial syndrome
A new affliction is plaguing approximately 10 percent of Oklahomans, and it has gone from symptomatic to a full-blown outbreak in the midst of the most recent scandal involving Oklahoma’s superintendent of public instruction. The virus is known as Ryan Walters Denial Syndrome. RWDS is seemingly rampant amongst an increasingly smaller portion of our population, […]
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More than a trophy
I’ve lived in Oklahoma City the majority of my life. I was born here. I was here for the bombing. I’ve weathered the tornadoes. I’ve lived through the oil busts and the booms. I was raised here, and now I’m raising a family of my own in OKC. That hasn’t always been easy. The weather […]
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Oklahoma GOP: Goons on parade
The Oklahoma Republican Party’s recent annual meeting marked a pivotal moment for the state’s political landscape, cementing a leadership slate and policy agenda that signal a hard-right lurch. The newly elected leadership, under the banner of unwavering conservatism, unveiled a platform that prioritizes ideological purity over pragmatism, drawing sharp criticism for its exclusionary tactics and […]
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Walters plays politics and the Legislature fiddles
I’m just a simple guy, but it doesn’t take a Harvard degree to see what’s going on here. Ryan Walters is spending our hard-earned education dollars not on kids, not on classrooms, but on building his own political army. And what’s worse? The Oklahoma Legislature is sitting on its hands, watching it happen like they’re […]
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Clowns Left, Jokers Right: If You’re Mad About DJT, Blame the DNC
Donald J. Trump is back in the White House, and many Americans are wondering how it happened — again. But if you’re looking for someone to blame, don’t start with Trump or his base. Look to the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The 2024 election didn’t have to end this way. It was lost not on […]
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The math behind Stitt’s half and a path plan does not add up
By now, most everyone in Oklahoma has seen the ads for the governor’s plan to cut the income tax .5% each year until we get to 0% — or his “half and a path” plan. But what does that really mean for Oklahomans? For starters, we know that an across-the-board income tax cut does not […]
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It’s about education, stupid…
Listening to our State of the State address this week and reading about just some of the literally thousands of bills being proposed for the now in session 2025 legislative buffet, I somehow feel Oklahoma lawmakers are missing the point about leading our state forward. We have to get our public schools on a path […]
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New Year’s resolutions for Oklahoma
Heading toward the 2025 Oklahoma legislative session, lawmakers can reflect on last year’s session, “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.” After seeing over 3,000 potential bills filed for consideration, the session boiled down to a handful of meaningful issues and scored few real points for Oklahoma. The good: progress on grocery taxes for seniors […]