Friday, September 13, 2024
Q&A: Gov. Stitt visits student leaders, encourages building relationships KENNEDY THOMASON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF @_KENNEDYPAGE
Courtesy of Mark Strotheide Mark Strotheide piloted H-60 Seahawks with the HS-4 Black Knights during his time in the Navy.
OSU graduates, faculty, staff remember 9/11 HAYDEN ALEXANDER NEWS & LIFESTYLE EDITOR On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four passenger flights. At 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Lieutenant Mark Strotheide a.k.a ‘Stro,’ a Navy helicopter pilot and OSU alumnus, was onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of San Diego, returning from a three-week training exercise. “There was only a few of us on the ship the morning of 9/11,” Strotheide said. “On the carrier, especially in the staterooms, we have TVs… we don’t get a lot of television, but you could see the news. We saw 9/11 happening and, honestly, probably like everyone else, we thought it was a TV show. At 9:03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower. Strotheide and military personnel across the country sprang into action. “We didn’t believe it was real,” Strotheide said. “Of course, news travels fast on a ship, and we found out it was real. It was probably 15 minutes, and the ship turned around, and we went into general quarters (battle stations); it was a mad scramble.” At 9:37 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon. Tom Joyce, an academic adviser at
OSU, was in the eighth grade. “My buddy told me about it,” Joyce said. “Went to history class and watched the second plane hit on TV.” At 10:02 a.m., United Airlines Flight 93 crashed, in a Shanksville, Pennsylvania, field as the passengers were trying to gain control of the plane. Jill Joyce, an associate professor of nutritional sciences at OSU, was sitting in history class at Greater Latrobe High School, about 30 miles away from the crash site. She watched the attacks unfold on TV. “I felt a little removed, almost like it wasn’t really happening, because we’re watching it on TV, and I’m seeing planes hitting a building,” Jill said. “The news was showing where the planes hit, and people were falling out of buildings.” Jill’s history teacher began to explain the attacks from a historical perspective in an effort to help his students process what they were seeing. “He did such a great job of calming us down and putting it into perspective that history is happening,” Jill said. The reality of the situation hit Jill after Flight 93 crashed. “I think what made it feel real was the plane that went down right by our high school – that put a lot of people into panic, and then D.C. is only three hours from us,” Jill said.
See 9/11 on page 7A
Note: This article has been edited for clarity and length. Lying on the bottom bunk of his bed at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house, then-sophomore Kevin Stitt pondered what to do with his summer. Stitt had a choice to make: become rush chair and spend his summer partying or sell books door-to-door. He chose the latter, starting the path toward becoming a businessman and establishing what would eventually become Gateway First Bank, one of Oklahoma’s largest banks by assets. His next stop was governor, where he has served for the past six years. Stitt’s term will expire in 2027. On Thursday, Stitt met with OSU students in the President’s Leadership Council, a scholarship and leadership program that selects 125 incoming freshmen each year. OSU President Dr. Kayse Shrum, who was also in attendance, hosted the event at University House. PLC students had the opportunity to submit questions beforehand, and five pre-selected questions were given to designated students to ask. Here is what Oklahoma’s top official had to say to some of OSU’s student leaders.
We put God first, then our family and then our work, right? And when you get that stuff out of balance, your life gets messed up, right? When people are always there, they’re just so focused on their job and their career, they’re really not much fun to be around. They’re just such drivers, and you’re like, man, get a life a little bit, right? “So you gotta keep balance and at the end of the day, I’ve got an important job as governor, but it doesn’t make me any more important than anybody else. So, we take our job seriously. We work hard, but at the end of the day, I’ve got to be a good father. I’ve got to be a good husband, and you have to ask my wife if I’m doing that one or not, but you got to keep your priorities right, for sure.”
Q: What has been the most difficult decision you’ve had to make as Governor, and how did you approach balancing the needs of the diverse groups that make up Oklahoma while making that choice? A: “COVID was just a beat down for everybody. Those were tough times, right? You’re trying to balance. You don’t know exactly what’s happening. You’re getting all this information. “But that was a really tough time, because you don’t put the Constitution in the attic just because somebody in Washington, D.C. tells you to. And so I’m trying to balance the whole state. I have some people telling me, ‘Shut everything down, shut everything down. Mandate masks, mandate Q: How do you manage the chalvaccines.’ And I just said, ‘You know lenges of balancing your personal what? I mean, I’m not going to do that.’ life with the demands of being I was one of the only governors in the Governor, and what advice do you country that did not do a mask manhave for young leaders striving to date. I said, ‘Listen, if you want to wear maintain that balance in their own a mask, wear a mask. But I’m not going lives? to make a farmer in western Oklahoma A: “I feel like I can always do a better a criminal because they’re choosing job at this. My wife and I have been not to.’ And those are tough decisions, married 26 years. We have six children, and I got a lot of criticism from certain so, three boys, three girls. Our oldest is people that think I should.” 23, probably a littler older than y’all. To read the full Q&A, go to ocolly. “But you know, its always a chalcom. lenge. And I believe you always have to have your priorities lined up, right? news.ed@ocolly.com
Payton Little Gov. Kevin Stitt said the relationships he built during his early career helped propel him to governorship.
Students host rally in support of Palestine; attract supporters, skeptics BELLA CASEY
megaphones Thursday. OSU Students for Justice in Palestine (OSU SJP) organized the protest in collaboration with Okstate Stand United. OSU SJP The sound of drums demanded OSU fly the Palbanging and students estinian flag at Wes Watkins chanting echoed off the walls of the Student Union Center for 24 hours, provide and Edmon Low Library as full transparency on OSU’s investments and “divest students rallied in support of Palestine and demanded and end partnerships with companies that are fueling OSU divest from Israel. and profiting off of the U.S. Students flooded the Israel Genocide of Palestinsidewalk in front of the rally, joining in on the “free, ians,” such as Lockheed free Palestine” chant, while Martin, Raytheon (RTX), Caterpillar (CAT), Northrop others shook their heads in disbelief as they walked Grumman, Boeing, Chevron, Palantir and Valero. past. Protestors gathered The vice president of beneath a large tree, holdOSU SJP, who asked The ing handmade signs and O’Colly to not use his name
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Lilian Easter Protester at the Student Union Garden fights to free Palestine on Thursday.
for safety reasons, said the protestors want Palestinian students on campus to know they are here for them, and they stand for them. “It’s one of the principles of this Cowboy Code, to stand for what matters, even when it’s hard, right?” they said. “And have a passion for it. And that’s why I’m out here, right? Is that we’re trying to take a stand for what matters, even if the university doesn’t think it matters, even if the university doesn’t think that Palestinian lives matter, it’s not important, or the financial gain is too good to pass up.”
See RALLY on page 6A