East Central University

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East Central University's mission is to foster a learning environment where students, faculty, staff, and community interact to educate students for life in a rapidly changing and culturally diverse society. Within its service area, East Central University provides leadership for economic development and cultural enhancement.
East Central University will be recognized both within the state and nation as Oklahoma's premier comprehensive student-centered regional University, offering outstanding academic programs and experiences for its students and contributing to the region's betterment and beyond.
East Central University is a public university offering a Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts, and Master's degrees.ECU is located in Ada, a city of 16,000, approximately 90 miles from Oklahoma City, 115 miles from Tulsa, and 150 miles from Dallas.
ECU is a Regional University. Students can enroll in and attend ECU classes on campus in Ada, in Ardmore at the Ardmore Higher Education Center, and McAlester at the Eastern Oklahoma State College branch campus. Some ECU classes are also available on OneNet and online. The ECU nursing program is available in Durant at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
East Central University was one of three traditional schools established in eastern Oklahoma in 1909. Three similar institutions had been established earlier in the western half of the new state, and each provided preparatory education, including two years of college leading to teacher certification.
Ada's selection as the college's location followed intensive lobbying efforts by the 25,000 Club, a local booster club which also raised funds for faculty salaries so classes could begin that fall in local churches and public school classrooms. The 1910 legislature appropriated funds for faculty salaries and construction of a building, which was completed later that year on a sixteen-acre site donated by Dan Hayes, a Chickasaw allottee.
In 1919 the six traditional schools became teachers' colleges and began to confer bachelor's degrees. In 1939 they added degree programs in Arts and Sciences and were designated as state colleges. In 1954 the six colleges were authorized to offer their first graduate work in a fifth-year program for teachers. Other Master's degrees have since been added. In 1974 East Central became East Central Oklahoma State University, which was changed to East Central University in 1985.
East Central has had nine presidents during its history: Charles Briles, James Gordon, Adolph Linscheid, Charles Spencer, Stanley Wagner, Bill Cole, Richard Rafes, John Hargrave, and Katricia Pierson. Distinguished alumni include four governors. Those serving Oklahoma were Robert S. Kerr, who is also noted for his career in the U.S. Senate, and George Nigh. Ernest McFarland, governor and U.S. Senator from Arizona, was a classmate of Kerr's. Varied Chickasaw and Choctaw governors and officials, including Governor Bill Anoatubby, also graduated from the University. Other East Central distinctives include pioneering efforts among Oklahoma universities promoting access to disabled students and developing corresponding undergraduate and graduate degree programs for rehabilitation services, services to the deaf, and similar areas. Today the campus consists of 37 buildings on 135 acres. The University typically enrolls more than 4,000 students per semester.
The East Central University Honors Program is designed to offer an enhanced educational experience to academically talented and highly-motivated students. Honors students join a community where they meet some of the brightest and intensely-motivated students at the University. Benefits include one-on-one work with professors on their subject of choice or completing an upper-division research project or thesis. Honors students enroll before other students to get the desired -- and needed -- courses promptly. These ambitious students have been accepted into graduate and medical school programs at Stanford, Dartmouth, and Johns Hopkins and medical, graduate, and professional programs in Oklahoma and neighboring states. Honors students have also seized the opportunity to travel and see parts of the world they have never seen before.
East Central University's Global Education office promotes, provides, and facilitates academic and cultural exchange opportunities for the students and faculty to develop global awareness and cross-cultural competencies through participation in campus programs at East Central University and throughout the world.
The Office of Campus Involvement communicates students' desires and input to the University. It implements them through on-campus programming in leadership development, service opportunities, and quality programming. The Office of Campus Involvement works alongside the general student population, individual student organizations, and Greek life to foster a sense of unity and campus pride. East Central University has over 70 different Student Organizations looking for new members! From academic and major-specific organizations to religious, service, or special interest groups.
The Office of Campus Involvement, located in the Administration Building, Room 150, is home to the Campus Activities Board, Greek Life, and Student Organizations. Whether you are an organization president looking to get some help or schedule an event, or a new student looking to get involved, the Office of Campus Involvement can help you.

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