Qualla: Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma State University: Introduction

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Robert Aslin, CC BY-SA 4.0. The first students assembled for class on December 14, 1891, in a borrowed church. There was no campus yet, just the authorization signed on Christmas Day the year before for an agricultural and mechanical college somewhere in Payne County. Stillwater won the prize, and on June 15, 1894, the first academic building, Old Central, was dedicated on the southeast corner of what was still flat plowed prairie. From that bare beginning, Oklahoma State University has grown into a land-grant research institution with over 34,000 students, 53 NCAA championships, and an alumni network exceeding 250,000 graduates that includes Garth Brooks, the father of the personal computer, and an Ethiopian emperor's admiration.

Image: Robert Aslin | CC BY-SA 4.0

Oklahoma State University: Castle of the Prairies

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Scootey, CC BY-SA 3.0. The early campus grew building by building across the Oklahoma plain. Williams Hall, constructed in 1900 as the first electrified building on campus, was nicknamed the 'Castle of the Prairies' for its turreted architecture. It survived until 1969. A barn serving the agricultural ...

Image: Scootey | CC BY-SA 3.0

Oklahoma State University: The Bennett Vision

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit DBinfo at English Wikipedia, Public domain. President Henry G. Bennett transformed Oklahoma A&M from 1928 to 1950, developing the strategic campus plan adopted in 1937 that guided construction for more than fifty years. He established the predominant Georgian architecture that still defines the campus and envisioned a cent...

Image: DBinfo at English Wikipedia | Public domain

Oklahoma State University: Wrestling Capital of the World

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Fletcherspears, CC BY-SA 3.0. Oklahoma State's athletic identity is forged in the wrestling room. The Cowboys' 34 NCAA team wrestling titles are the most ever won by any school in any single sport. They have produced 143 individual national champions, including Pat Smith, the sport's first-ever four-time cham...

Image: Fletcherspears | CC BY-SA 3.0

Oklahoma State University: Cowboys and Scholars

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mahanga, CC BY 3.0. On May 15, 1957, Oklahoma A&M became Oklahoma State University, reflecting the broadened scope of a curriculum that had grown well beyond agriculture. The university has produced 48 Fulbright Scholars, an astronaut, and a billionaire in T. Boone Pickens, whose donations exceeding...

Image: Mahanga | CC BY 3.0