Douglass High School graduate to give Carlton College graduation address
One of the graduates of the last segregated class of Douglass High School will give the graduation address next Friday at Carlton College in Northfield, Minn. Here’s a news release from the school about Emmitt House’s summer commencement address:
Emmitt C. House, Carleton Class of 1971, will present the keynote address for the Carleton Liberal Arts Experience (CLAE) commencement on Friday, July 13 at 9:30 a.m. in the Weitz Center for Creativity Theater. House will address the 52 CLAE scholars and the Carleton community, speaking about his life experiences including navigating the college search process, his undergraduate education, graduate education, and his career as a lawyer.
House is a native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where he was raised in a family that settled in Oklahoma before statehood and participated in the 1889 Land Run. He attended Oklahoma City public schools and graduated from the last racially segregated class at Douglass High School. House chose to pursue a liberal arts education at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, graduating in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. While at Carleton, he was active in many student activities, including serving on the Student Senate. House and a visiting professor, Dr. Hagolani, organized and led the first group of Carleton students to participate in an academic seminar in Ivory Coast, West Africa. After graduation from Carleton, he was awarded a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship and spent several years in Europe and West Africa studying ethnography. He subsequently attended Northwestern University School of Law where he received a Juris Doctor in l978.
After settling in Chicago, Illinois, House practiced law in the energy arena for 35 years. He was an in-house counsel for several major enterprises including a large utility conglomerate and a multinational oil company. He served as General Counsel for an energy marketing company before transitioning to the private practice of law for the past 15 years. He was a partner in two minority-owned law firms in Chicago and has served on the Board of Directors of a major natural gas company. In his law practice, from which he retired in Spring 2012, House represented utilities, energy producers and marketers, wind and solar developers and many other entities, handling a broad range of corporate and commercial matters in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Over the years, House has been involved extensively in civic and community affairs in Chicago. He has been active in political and community affairs and has served on numerous boards of organizations as wide ranging as public radio, youth development and public policy promotion involving housing, immigration and diversity. House is an enthusiastic supporter of a liberal arts education and has served as an Alumni Trustee on the Carleton College Board of Trustees. In his free time, Emmitt enjoys fishing, reading and playing golf. His current passion is creative writing.
House’s appearance is the culmination of Carleton College’s annual CLAE program, an inspiring summer program designed for the best and brightest college-bound students representing high schools across the country. The Carleton Liberal Arts Experience (CLAE) select 50 high school students who have just completed their sophomore year and brings them to Carleton, all expenses paid, for a one-week summer program. The CLAE program introduces the strengths of a liberal arts education through an array of courses in science, art, social sciences, and technology.
Oklahoma Board of Education diploma waiver votes
I plan to keep a running total of how the ACE/EOI appeals process votes have turned out. Here’s a list of how the vote has gone by district.
- Broken Arrow: 2 granted, 4 denied, 15 dismissed
- Catoosa: 1 dismissed
- Choctow: 1 denied
- Lawton: 1 denied
- Mannford: 1 denied
- Marlow: 1 denied
- Norman: 1 denied
- Oklahoma City: 1 granted, 1 denied
- Schulter: 1 dismissed
- Strother: 1 denied
- Tahlequah: 1 denied
- Tulsa: 2 denied
- Tulsa Union: 2 granted, 1 denied
- Wagoner: 1 denied
And here’s a list of how the vote has gone by meeting.
Results from the June 5, 2012 Oklahoma Board of Education Meeting
Granted, Extenuating Circumstances: 1 (Broken Arrow)
Granted, Accepted into a University: 1 (Broken Arrow)
Postponed until June 28: 1 (Oklahoma City)
Denied: 7 (four from Broken Arrow, two from Tulsa, one from Wagoner)
Dismissed: 16 (one from Catoosa, 15 from Broken Arrow)
Results from the June 28, 2012 Oklahoma Board of Education Meeting
Granted, Extenuating Circumstances: 2 (Tulsa Union)
Granted, Accepted into a University: 1 (Oklahoma City)
Denied: 9 (Choctaw, Lawton, Mannford, Marlow, Norman, Oklahoma City, Strother, Tahlequah, Union)
Dismissed: 1 (Schulter)
Total Results from Oklahoma Board of Education for 2012
Granted, Extenuating Circumstances: 3 (one from Broken Arrow, two from Tulsa Union)
Granted, Accepted into a University: 2 (one from Broken Arrow, one from Oklahoma City)
Denied: 16 (four from Broken Arrow, one from Choctaw, one from Lawton, one from Mannford, one from Marlow, one from Norman, one from Oklahoma City, one from Strother, one from Tahlequah, two from Tulsa, one from Union, one from Wagoner)
Dismissed: 17 (one from Catoosa, 15 from Broken Arrow, one from Shulter)
Graduation season begins with John Marshall
Thank you to John Marshall for sharing their fabulous photos with us from their May 10 graduation ceremony. Principal Aspasia Carlson said it was a wonderful night. Star Spencer and Southeast honor their graduates tonight, and a full list of Oklahoma City Public Schools graduation will be in The Oklahoman tomorrow.
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal College honors first graduates
Congratulations to the first graduating class of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal College!
Last week, 13 students graduated from the college that shares the Weatherford campus of Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
Above are a couple photos from the event. The first photo shows College President Henrietta Mann and 2008 Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal College Princess Cristina “Cricket” Yellowman. In the next one, John Haumpo receives a stole, Pendleton blanket,
Good luck to them all!
Elevating Our Economy
The annual meeting of CareerTech educators and administrators started today in a new location — downtown Oklahoma City. (Previously, meetings have been held in Tulsa.) But CareerTech state director Phil Berkinbile had another locale in mind in his opening address — DisneyWorld.
He said Walt Disney’s dream started with a drawing of a mouse and a vision of greatness. CareerTech doesn’t have Mickey Mouse but it does aim “to help make dreams and success a reality for Oklahomans,” he said.
The CareerTech system of vocational technical schools across the state helps tens of thousands of high school students and adults each year gain job readiness skills, and for many, a start on a college education.
But the system also struggles with higher operating costs amid stagnant state funding, loss of many Baby Boomer instructors to retirement, and a significant high school drop out rate.
Still, CareerTech graduates add $2 billion annually to the state’s economy, Berkinbile said.
Now that’s a mouse that roars.
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
The feat of feet?
I’ve been to two graduations in two weeks. I’ve heard inspirational speeches, the usual blah-blah-blah about achieving dreams, and watched parents that talked on their cells phones for much of the ceremony.
But the image that sticks with me most are toes: some hairy, most unmanicured and often hanging off the ends of flip flops.
Our nation’s future — a generation of hope! — wore flip flops to their commencement ceremonies. Grads are required to wear standard graduation gowns and those square-shaped caps, leaving their shoes as their only fashion option.
If this were a test, most flunked. Especially the men. I saw hundreds in battered flip flops that would be an embarrassment on a beach, must less a place of pomp and circumstance.
Some women did wear nice footwear, sensible flats or even heels. But others failed just as miserably as the men.
Am I old-fashioned to think that graduates should dress a little better for this very important occasion? Did their parents even care? It would seem a sign of respect to try to look your best at graduation. And yes, people are looking at your feet. Or trying to look away.
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
E-mail me at ssimpson@oklahoman.com
Back to Class
My stepsister Gabrielle just graduated from college. So for the first time in 17-years, she’s not in back-to-school mode.
No shopping for clothes, no book-buying, no scheduling classes that don’t start too early.
It’s the strangest feeling, she says, wanting to get ready for class, but not needing to. My advice, go buy some new clothes anyway. You’ve earned them.
But what about thousands of students yet to graduate from college. I want to know your back-to-school rituals. How do you get ready for the fall semester?
It’s been a long time since I was in college, but one of my best pre-semester moves was to give my schedule of classes a walk-through. That way I’d know if I really could get from the science building to the liberal arts building in 10 minutes. Also, nobody wants to be the geek frantically unfolding their campus map on the first day.
I’m planning a story with some back-to-school tips so I want to hear all about your ideas. And I’m sure there are more than a few freshmen, and their parents, who’d like your advice.
E-mail me at ssimpson@oklahoman.com
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
Study Break
It’s time to study. For lawmakers, at least.
The Oklahoma Senate has announced 35 interim legislative studies, and several are tied directly to education.
Here are the topics — some rather broad — along with the Senator who requested the study and committee it was assigned to:
Graduation and drop out rates; GED requirements and rules; Thunderbird Youth Academy; Sen. Kathleen Wilcoxson; Education committee
Academic Performance Index; Sen.Kathleen Wilcoxson; Education committee
“Weighted” students, “at risk” students, and the proportion of funding schools receive; Sen. Judy Eason-McIntyre; Education committee
Funding mechanism for (OSU) Extension Services; Sen. Jeff Rabon; Appropriations committee
Review of the higher education funding formula as it relates to two year and regional institutions; Sen. Kenneth Corn; Appropriations committee
Higher Education funding formula with respect to institutional peer groupings; Sen. Susan Paddack; Appropriations committee
Review the constitutional and statutory requirements for serving on the Oklahoma State Board of Regents for the Agricultural and Mechanical
Colleges; Sen. Patrick Anderson; Education committee
What are your thoughts on this list? Do you think anything will come of the committee studies?
E-mail me at ssimpson@oklahoman.com
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
