East Central University is a public university in Ada, Oklahoma. It is part of Oklahoma's Regional University System. Beyond its flagship campus in Ada, the university has courses available in McAlester, Shawnee, and Durant, as well as online courses. Founded as East Central State Normal School in 1909, its present name was adopted in 1985. Some of its more prominent alumni include former Microsoft COO B. Kevin Turner, Modernist painter Leon Polk Smith, former NFL player Mark Gastineau, past governors Robert S. Kerr and George Nigh, former U.S. Representative Lyle Boren, OklahomaSupreme Court JusticeTom Colbert, and U.S. Army General James D. Thurman. ECU is approximately 90 miles from Oklahoma City, 115 miles from Tulsa and 150 miles from Dallas. Today the campus consists of 37 buildings on 135 acres; the university typically enrolls more than 3,500 students per semester from more than 30 countries and 25 states
History
The university was founded as East Central State Normal School in 1909, two years after Oklahoma was admitted as the 46th U.S. state. It was one of the six newly created state funded normal schools that were designed to provide four years of "preparatory" study, followed by two years of college work towards teacher certification. The school's establishment was the product of the intense lobbying efforts of the 25,000 Club, a local booster group. The club raised funds for faculty salaries so classes could begin that fall in local churches and public school classrooms. Graduates of the normal school program received lifetime teaching certification statewide. The 1910 Oklahoma Legislature funded faculty salaries and the construction of a building on a site donated by a Chickasaw allottee. In 1919, the normal schools were authorized by the Oklahoma Legislature to offer four years of teacher education, to offer bachelor's degrees, and were designated teachers' colleges. Expanding beyond education degrees, in 1939 the school became East Central State College. Fifteen years later, the regional colleges were allowed to offer graduate degrees. By 1974, the state legislature renamed the state colleges, and it became East Central Oklahoma State University—a name it retained until 1985 when it gained its present name.
Academics
ECU serves around 4,000 students and is perhaps best known internationally for its cartography program, as only a few such programs exist. ECU is also home to an Environmental Health Science Program, one of only 30 programs nationally accredited by the National Environmental Health Science and Protection Accreditation Council East Central is divided into 5 academic units with 70 degree programs. They are:
East Central hosts nearly eighty student organizations. Among them are a local chapter of Alpha Psi Omega and Pi Kappa Delta as well as the Student Government Association and Campus Activity Board. In addition, there are five Greek organizations at ECU divided among the Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Association :
Chi Omega Phi Theta Chapter Est. December 12, 1964
Zeta Tau Alpha Zeta Theta Chapter Est. April 16, 1966
Phi Kappa Tau - Gamma Xi Chapter - Est. April 15, 1966
Pi Kappa Alpha - Epsilon Omega Chapter - Est. October 25, 1963
