March 22, 2023
By Landry Brewer
Students at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Sayre are continuing the tradition of higher education in the Beckham County seat that began 85 years ago.
Which was before cell phones and the Internet.
Before American Presidents were term limited.
Before World War II.
Before Gone with the Wind hit the silver screen.
All because 85 years ago, Sayre’s residents understood the need for higher education.
Supported by progressive and visionary members of the Sayre community, Sayre Junior College was founded in 1938 under legislative authorization permitting public schools to add a 13th and 14th year of study. Sayre Public Schools and 18 other Oklahoma school districts added these years of study, and the Oklahoma Community College system was born.
Fifty-eight students enrolled in Sayre Junior College classes for the 1938-39 academic year.
They came from Berlin, Carter, Cheyenne, Delhi, Doxey, Erick, Grimes, New Liberty, Sayre, Sweetwater and Willow.
Sayre Junior College’s first president was O.H. McMahan. Wylie C. Quattlebaum served as Dean of Administration; N.D. Griffin was Dean of Men and Registrar; Elsie L. Turney was Dean of Women and Librarian. Tuition was $30 per semester for full-time students, or $3 per credit hour for part-time students.
A member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference of Municipal Junior Colleges, the Sayre Junior College Yellow Jackets competed in basketball, track, tennis and baseball.
The first degrees were awarded in May 1940—to 16 graduates.
President McMahan resigned in 1942 and was succeeded by B.H. Willoughby.
As with many other higher education institutions, SJC closed during World War II and reopened in 1946.
President Willoughby was succeeded by Ferrill Martin who served from 1947 until 1954. Arch Alexander, Dean of Sayre Junior College, then became president and served until 1965.
Harry Patterson, who had served as Dean since 1956, became the college’s 5th president and held that title until 1984. He was succeeded by Sayre Junior College’s 6th and final president, Paul Conner.
Conner was president when, in 1987, the Oklahoma legislature merged Sayre Junior College with Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford. SWOSU-Sayre was born under the leadership of SWOSU President Leonard Campbell.
According to the September 12, 2001, edition of the Sayre Record and Beckham County Democrat, the merger marked the end of the Oklahoma Community College system that began in the 1930s. Sayre Junior College was Oklahoma’s last remaining community junior college of the 19 that began under the Community College Assistance Act.
From 1938 until 1942, then from 1946 until 1956, Sayre Junior College shared facilities with Sayre High School. Then, in 1956, SJC moved to the campus’s current location.
In 1968, a dormitory, Mackey Hall, was built to provide housing for 104 students and included a lounge, cafeteria and living quarters for house parents.
In 1985, campus dorms were phased out, and Mackey Hall was converted into classrooms.
In 2022, campus facilities were consolidated, and all classrooms and faculty, staff and administrative offices are housed in the Alexander Building.
The SWOSU-Sayre Medical Laboratory Technician and Radiologic Technology programs, begun by instructor Chris Christian, began accepting students in 1968. Those programs were transferred to the Weatherford campus in 2020.
Eight people have served as Dean of the SWOSU-Sayre campus: Don Roberts from 1984 until 1999, Dr. Forest Redding in 2000, Dr. Bet Becker, Dr. Dave Allen and Dr. Dan Dill in 2000 and 2001, Dr. Jim James from 2002 to 2011, Sherron Manning from 2011 to 2019, and Bill Swartwood since then.
The Sayre campus has been guided by five SWOSU Presidents since the 1987 merger: Dr. Leonard Campbell until 1990, Dr. Joanna Hibler from 1990 to 2001, Dr. John Hays from 2001 until 2010, and Dr. Randy Beutler from 2010 to 2021 when Dr. Diana Lovell became SWOSU’s 18th President.
Much has changed since 1938; the need for higher education in western Oklahoma has not.
Endowed with the spirit of advancement and enrichment that learning brings, progressive, visionary members of the Sayre community recognized the need for higher education in far Western Oklahoma in 1938.
In 1987, that same spirit guided the merger of Sayre Junior College with Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
And, 85 years after higher education in Sayre began, that spirit lives on in the administration, faculty, staff and students of Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Yukon and Sayre.
Copyright 2023 Paragon Communications. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.
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