Oklahoma City University history

Also in 1907 the Epworth School of Law was established, with C. B. Ames as dean.

The new university opened in September 1911.

Negotiations with the city of Guthrie for a permanent home also failed, and on April 10, 1919, the trustees appointed a committee to study the problem of relocation.

In 1920 the university trustees purchased twenty-two acres of land for the new school at Northwest Twenty-third and Blackwelder streets.

In March 1922 ground was broken for a new building that was dedicated the following December.

In 1924, the college was renamed Oklahoma City University.

A June 1937 meeting of Oklahoma City leaders and the Methodist General Board of Education actually resulted in an agreement for OCU to become a tax-supported, municipal institution.

The conferences continued their joint support until Methodist unification in 1939.

Male students abandoned their studies to join the military, and in 1942, about 75 percent of the student body was women.

New government educational programs plus an aggressive fund-raising campaign liquidated all of the university debt by 1945.

In 1952 the Oklahoma City College of Law closed and transferred all of its properties and records to OCU. The Oklahoma City University School of Law opened as an evening school in September 1952.

The School of Business began offering master's degrees in the fall of 1963.

The Bishop W. Angie Smith Chapel was dedicated in 1968 as part of a plan to expand OCU's spiritual life.

In 1976 United Methodist Bishop Paul Milhouse discussed the school's issues to the Annual Conference of Oklahoma United Methodist churches in Tulsa.

OCU alumnus, Jerald Walker, became president in 1979.

After requesting that people direct their prayers and pledges to the University, by 1980 the Methodist Church had raised more than $3 million.

The Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company was founded in 1982 and programs expanding OCU’s international presence were established.

Paul W. Milhouse, Oklahoma City University: A Miracle at 23rd and Blackwelder (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Heritage Association, 1984).

Stephen Jennings became the university’s new leader in 1998, focusing on keeping the university in tip-top shape for its 100th birthday.

A few years later, in 2001, Tom McDaniel became president and led the university through several transformative years.

In 2007, OCU also had the opportunity to take part in what could only be described as a historic moment for both the city and the university – the Head of the Oklahoma Centennial Regatta.

Robert Harlan Henry, chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, became the university's 17th president in July 2010, succeeding Tom McDaniel.

The Stars have won 64 national championships, including the 2015 NAIA men's cross country championship, claiming that title for the third consecutive year.

Martha Burger became the 18th president — and first female president — of OCU in 2018.

OCU was named one of the Great Colleges to Work For in 2019.