President Lamb investiture shows large turnout from UCO

     Todd Lamb, J.D. was inaugurated as the 22nd president of UCO on April 26, and was met with one of the largest turnouts in university history.

     According to information from Academic Affairs, the investiture was the largest in recent university history. As of the program printing deadline for the investiture, 189 faculty, 40 staff and 73 delegates registered to participate in the event.

     The event saw multiple members of the Oklahoma government including U.S. Senator James Lankford, Speaker of the House for the state of Oklahoma Charles McCall, Governor of the Chickasaw Nation Bill Anoatubby and Regent Michael C. Turpen attend to show support to Lamb. As well as the speakers, KFOR-TV anchor Kevin Ogle acted as the Master of Ceremonies (Emcee).

     Throughout the event, many from across the state and within UCO showed support to Lamb for taking on the role of university president.

      “Having had the privilege of working closely with Todd on various endeavors, I know him well, I thought ‘Of course they should hire Todd’,” said Ogle.

      Both Lamb and Ogle host the TV show “Flashpoint” alongside Turpen.

     “Right here at this institution, is home to the Chickasaw Nation Student Center, as well as the Native American success initiative,” said Anoatubby.

     He goes on to discuss the significance of these programs as well as how President Lamb can work to continue their success.

     “As a premiere institution of higher learning, UCO can build upon these endeavors,” said Anoatubby. “We are proud to already be partnered with you.”

     Offering a challenge to President Lamb, Anoatubby said, “I call upon you to sustain and build upon the existing work and efforts to support the First American population on this campus and in the community.”

     After many of the speakers had finished, a brief video was played in celebration of President Lamb, with many from the Oklahoma community reaching out to give congrats and advice for his future endeavors.

     “To all of you that I’m looking at now, in regalia and non-regalia, thank you very much for your attendance today,” said Lamb.

     Lamb goes on to discuss how higher education has impacted his life, even sharing a story of how he met the now-First Lady of UCO, Monica Lamb.

     “There has been movement in my personal and professional life thanks to higher education,” said Lamb. “It was a generational impact.”

     Lamb goes on to share a story of his dad, and how higher education changed the trajectory of his life.

     Lamb then shared advice that he had been given from his dad, “Todd, education is what you earn that nobody can take from you.”

      Lamb goes on to share his plans for UCO which includes boosting enrollment, working with faculty and staff and continuing to move the goal-post for the betterment of the university.