UCO Debate Team Finishes Second at National Championship

The UCO Debate Team finished second in the Cross-Examination Debate Association’s National Championship Tournament earlier this week, UCO's best finish since winning the championship in 1990.

The duo of Grant Colquitt, a senior from Moore, Oklahoma and Zachary Huffman, a sophomore from Lamar, Texas competed against 74 teams from across the country including Harvard, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Texas at Austin, Emory University, the University of Michigan, Baylor, West Point and the University of Kansas.

On the way to finals, Colquitt and Huffman defeated two teams from Liberty University, including the No. 2 seed and the top two speakers at the tournament. In the final championship round, the team narrowly lost to the No. 4 Texas on a 5-4 decision.

Colquitt was named the 14th speaker at the tournament and he and Huffman were named to the Cross-Examination Debate Association’s All-American team for 2021.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"If you have a dream, don't let anybody take it away, and always believe that the impossible is possible."

— Selena, American singer-songwriter

DAILY HEADLINES

UCO Student Places First at Oklahoma Research Day at the Capitol

UCO biomedical engineering student Kayley McBride placed first in the Regional, Community and Tribal College category at the 26th annual Oklahoma Research Day at the Capitol in March.

McBride, from Edmond, Oklahoma, worked on the research project with fellow student Mahnoor Ahsan, a biology-biomedical science major from Pakistan, and mentored by Christina Hendrickson, Ph.D., human physiology laboratory coordinator at Central and Mel Vaughan, Ph.D., interim chairperson and professor of biology at Central.

The project, which explores using dandelion extract to treat cervical cancer, began in 2019 when Vaughan and Hendrickson began researching the human dermal fibroblast cells as normal cells and HeLa cells, known as cervical cancer cells.

Read the Full Article

Fostering Better Teaching and Learning for Students with Disabilities

UCO Disability Support Services (DSS) will host a webinar, "Fostering Better Teaching and Learning for Students with Disabilities," from 2-3:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 20.

The webinar is led by Wendy Harbour, associate executive director for programs and development for the National Center for College Students with Disabilities and the Association of Higher Education and Disability program.

The webinar will discuss innovative ways campuses and disability resource offices can support faculty in their work, in and out of the classroom, with students who have disabilities. The webinar will also explore strategies for enhancing relationships between disability resource offices and faculty and how to collaborate with administrators and faculty development centers.

To view the webinar or watch the recording, email DSS.

In Memoriam: Upton Bruce Henderson

Upton Bruce Henderson, Ph.D., UCO economic professor emeritus, died March 14.

Henderson retired from Central in 2000.

Read his obituary.

COVID-19 Vaccination Resources and Survey

All Oklahomans age 16 and up now are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. Visit the UCO Vaccine Clinic webpage for information on vaccine appointments from multiple providers in the Oklahoma City metro. 

Passport Health continues to host weekly on-campus vaccine clinics, alongside UCO nursing faculty and staff. To stay up to date on clinic information, Central community members should check their UCO email regularly. 

Central community members who have received the COVID-19 vaccine are asked to self-report their vaccination using the university’s voluntary vaccination reporting survey. 

Self-report a vaccination.