CAS News

When Danya Brewer started as a freshman, she never saw herself becoming president of the College of Arts and Sciences Student Council. Yet three years into her journey at Oklahoma State University, she is leading CAS in a new direction and leaving a legacy.

Noah Mennenga is excited to watch the Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music continue to grow larger and even stronger than it already is in the near future. The trumpet performance senior will graduate in May after a wonderful experience at Oklahoma State University. And as he continues his musical career, he looks forward to telling members of the next generation to consider OSU.

Mennenga spoke Saturday morning at the groundbreaking for the new Greenwood School of Music building, which will house a variety of music laboratories, classrooms, rehearsal spaces and teaching studios equipped with the latest technology for high-level studio production, offering a premier teaching and learning experience.

Josh Cox followed in his father’s footsteps in choosing Oklahoma State University, and it was his mother’s example that led to his choice of major and future career.

Cox is from Saginaw, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth. His mother, Angela, is a primary-school intervention specialist there, focusing mainly on children with dyslexia. She has also taught fifth grade, specializing in mathematics and science.

Abigail Ferrell was in her Edmond North High School government class when a life-changing text message arrived. It linked to a video of OSU President Burns and First Cowgirl Ann Hargis congratulating her. She had to watch it 10 times until she comprehended the message: She was named a fellow of the Oklahoma State Scholars Society, the university’s premier scholar-development program for the best in-state students. Ferrell is one of four recipients in its inaugural year.

While sitting in her high-school philosophy class in Germany, Luise Schoenknecht couldn’t help but be intrigued despite the language barrier. A few years later, when she had to choose a major at Oklahoma State University, she felt naturally drawn to philosophy. But she couldn’t help but wonder what she would do with that degree. Over three semesters, Schoenknecht changed her major from architecture to philosophy, to psychology, to philosophy again, and then to graphic design, before landing back on philosophy for good.

When Field Watts visited Oklahoma State University as a high-school senior, it was primarily to rule out OSU, which he viewed as a large, public institution. The Fort Smith, Arkansas, native had planned to go to a smaller, liberal-arts college in Arkansas or Missouri. That changed after his visit.

Amal Yayah’s journey from her hometown of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to OSU began when she was recruited by Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University. “They recruited me to work for them, and one of the requirements for my sponsorship was that I had to study abroad for both my master’s and my Ph.D.” 

It was quite the challenge that Yayah faced, and quite the time commitment. 

 William Colby Starr has always had an interest in medicine. Growing up, he was often sick with sinus infections, upper-respiratory infections and other ailments. He and his family relied on antibiotics to cure him. While in a science class his junior year at Lincoln Christian High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he decided to write a research paper on antibiotic resistance. From that moment, Starr was driven to find a solution for that problem.

Being a year ahead in a biological science degree is impressive. Senior Molly Haddox decided it wasn’t impressive enough and added a plant biology major to her college career. The addition paid off. The Okemah, Oklahoma, native recently won the plant biology outstanding senior award within the College of Arts and Sciences.