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DATE LINE, PAGE NUMBER, ETC. GOES HEREMarch 2018 SEMINOLE STATE COLLEGIAN PAGE 1

Seminole State College

CollegianSeminole, Oklahoma • Volume 46 • Number 6 • MArch 2018

Members of the Kinslow family presented the Sem-inole State College Educa-tional Foundation with a $75,000 check during the annual Trojan Baseball Kick-Off Banquet at the College on Saturday Feb-ruary 3. The Seminole State College Educational Foun-dation recently received a $75,000 donation from the Kinslow Family and the Seminole Sonic Drive-In. The funds have been desig-nated to help construct the new Brian Crawford Me-morial Baseball and Sports Complex – a joint project between the Foundation and Seminole State College.

Brooke Kinslow Case and Brett Case, along with their son Brody, present-ed the check on behalf of the Kinslow family during the annual Trojan Baseball Kick-Off Banquet at the Col-lege on Saturday. The Cas-es are both alums of Semi-nole State College. Brooke was a member of the Belles Basketball Team and Brett played for the Trojan Base-ball Team. He was a mem-ber of the 2004 team that ad-vanced to the JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado and finished 3rd in the nation. He later re-turned to serve as an Assis-

tant Coach for the Trojans.“Members of the Kinslow

family have had a long asso-ciation with Seminole State College. They have been great supporters – donating to our scholarship program and sponsoring SSC Edu-cational Foundation fund raising events and activi-ties. We are thankful for their commitment to this exciting project,” said SSC President Lana Reynolds.

Reynolds also expressed her appreciation to SSC President Emeritus Dr. Jim Utterback and former Tro-jan Baseball Coach Lloyd Simmons for their efforts in acquiring this donation.

Dr. Utterback expressed his appreciation of this lead gift, stating, “The Kinslow family and Seminole Sonic have been a wonderful part of the Trojan Baseball fami-ly for many years.

Not only have they been financial supporters, but they also have given their time, leadership and wise guidance on import-ant projects. On a personal level, my wife Karrie and I feel blessed to call them our friends.”

Gary Kinslow, owner of the Kinslow Group and a former SSC Educational Foundation Trustee, said he

is proud to be a donor for the new complex.

“Seminole State College and Trojan Baseball have been important to our fam-ily for four generations. We are pleased to add our sup-port to this important proj-ect that will help shape the future for Trojan baseball.”

While becoming a name-sake for late student-athlete Brian Crawford, the new baseball complex will also provide the College’s na-tionally-recognized base-ball program with a state-of-the-art facility. It can be used to attract games and tournaments through-out the state and beyond –

bringing in potential tour-ism dollars to local hotels, restaurants and other busi-nesses. This complex will benefit not only the commu-nity, but also generations of young athletes for years to come.

For more information about the SSC Educational Foundation and the Brian Crawford Memorial Base-ball and Sports Complex, or to make a tax-deductible donation, please contact SSC President Emeritus Dr. Utterback at 405-382-9555 or Educational Foundation Advancement Coordinator Autumn Wiles at 405-382-9506.

SSC Foundation Receives $75,000 Donation for New Baseball Complex

Pictured (l-r) are: Larry Smith, SSC Director of Rural Business and Resources Center; Lana Reynolds, SSC President; Brody Case; Brooke Kinslow Case; and Brett Case.


DATE LINE, PAGE NUMBER, ETC. GOES HEREPAGE 2 SEMINOLE STATE COLLEGIAN March 2018

Article courtesy of Kim Hayes, Senior Producer, Diti-gal Content. AARP Integrated Media

In October 2017 AARP Okla-hoIn October 2017 AARP Okla-homa honored 50 people at the 9th Annual Indian Elders Hon-ors. As the nomination process for 2018 opens this week, we profile one of the 2017 honor-ees, Cynthia Yerby, 65, a mem-ber of the Seminole Nation in Oklahoma.

The perfect personification of AARP’s “Disrupt Aging” motto, Cynthia Yerby talks with passion about her many hard-fought accomplishments: getting a master’s degree while working and raising a fami-ly; mentoring youth; becom-ing a traditional sewing artist; and — when she was 40 years old — launching a career as a champion arm wrestler.

Yerby, pictured here in a 2002 match, is a champion in New York, where she is one of only two people in the New York Arm Wrestling Associa-tion hall of fame.

Yerby is a retired educa-tor and senior counselor from Seminole State College in Okla-homa, where for 35 years she provided educational advise-ment and personal guidance to

students. When she was 40, one of

her students invited her to see him compete in arm wrestling. After the official competition was over, people in attendance started to challenge one anoth-er, so Yerby gave it a try — and ended up beating her opponent easily. From there she started competing locally and a new passion was born, Yerby said. Eventually she entered the World Arm Wrestling Cham-pionships in Petaluma, Calif. She placed third in her first competition and eventually went on to travel the world as a member of the USA arm wres-tling team, becoming a 10-time world champion, 11-time USA national champion and a state champion in 31 states.

Embarking on such a phys-ical sport at an older age was certainly unique, but Yerby wasn’t about to let anything hold her back.

“People usually start when they are 19 or 20. I was always competing against younger contestants. I once compet-ed against a 16-year-old when I was in in my 40s and won,” Yerby said.

Due to her stellar reputa-tion, she is often challenged to arm wrestle by people she

meets. One of her fondest mem-ories is arm wrestling country music star Tim McGraw, whom she met at a movie premiere party. She’s also arm-wrestled the late blues artist B.B. King and former football coach Bar-ry Switzer.

Yerby is mostly a self-taught arm wrestler. “It was trial and error and [about] wanting to do it so bad,” she said.

In her first four years of competition, she couldn’t get past third place and considered quitting. Deciding she would try one more time in honor of her mother, who had recently passed away, Yerby went to a high school coach for assis-tance on strength training.

“He gave me a weight lift-ing routine and told me ‘you do this, you will win,'” Yerby said. That statement would be-come the mantra for her life.

“Three months later I went to Petaluma again and got to the finals. At the last pull, I couldn’t even walk. I was over-come; I couldn’t breathe. I just looked up and said ‘help me, mom,’”

Yerby remembers. “My opponent was a big blonde and looked ferocious. I just slammed her [arm], and every-one around started crying and

screaming. … The referee an-nounced that I was finally the new world champion!”

Yerby gives motivational speeches where she tells the audience to persevere against any challenge and to always go in with the attitude that you can succeed. “Anything worth anything isn’t going to be in-stant. You have to work. … We set our own limits,” Yerby said.

After dealing with health is-sues, including winning a bat-tle against the potentially fatal Graves disease, Yerby retired at age 59 as one of the most suc-cessful female arm wrestlers of all time.

But retirement hasn’t im-pacted her work ethic. She turned her love of sewing into an endeavor to preserve and promote the Seminole patch-work tradition.

She sews for numerous tribes, including the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, which recently invited her to join them at the National Museum of the Amer-ican Indian in Washington, D.C., where her work was fea-tured for a week. You can also see her creations on Facebook at Native Designs by Cynthia Yerby.

Yerby, who has counseled and mentored tribal youth throughout her career, takes that role very seriously.

“There is always somebody watching you, so be somebody that people can look up to,” she said.

She is glad to see elders be-ing recognized by AARP Okla-homa again this year.

“Elders should be recog-nized for their tenacity and their spirit, how they help their families, the love they share for people,” Yerby said.

“We are passing [Native American] languages down and trying to teach our kids how to do right, to survive in life.”

Yerby — who has been mar-ried for 42 years to her hus-band Monty and has two adult sons and three grandchildren — says she misses profession-al arm wrestling but enjoys her retirement. “But if I wanted to, I would get ready and do it again.”

From Arm Wrestling to Mentoring, Seminole Woman Disrupts Aging

AARP Oklahoma Associate State Director Mashell Sourjohn, honoree Cynthia Yerby (Seminole Nation), AARP State President Joe Ann Vermillion and AARP National President Eric Schneidewind at the AARP Oklahoma 9th Annual Indian Elder Honors.



Two Seminole State Col-lege employees were recog-nized for their hard work and dedication during the monthly Seminole Cham-ber of Commerce Forum on Thursday, February 8. Assistant Professor of Math Emily Carpenter was honored as “Educator of the Month” and Business and Education/Language Arts and Humanities Of-fice Manager Carmen Hutchins was honored as “Classified Staff Member of the Month.”

The Seminole Chamber of Commerce Education Committee, along with the Lions Club and Blue Rib-bon Realty, recognize SSC employees several times during Forum each year. Individuals are nominat-ed from across the campus and chosen by SSC ad-ministrators to receive the honor.

Carpenter came to SSC as an adjunct instructor in 2015 from Bethel Public Schools, where she taught for over 10 years.

In 2016, she assumed her current role as Assis-tant Professor of Math. She teaches a variety of cours-es including Basic Algebra, Quantitative Reasoning, Statistics and Math Con-cepts for Educators. Car-penter also serves as Tran-sitional Math Coordinator at the College. In this role, she works closely with other instructors to ensure gateway and corequisite courses meet the needs of SSC students.

On campus she is a member of the Faculty Senate, where she cur-rently acts as secretary. She also serves on the College’s Student Success Committee. Emily holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Ele-

mentary Education and a Master’s Degree in Teach-ing, Learning and Leader-ship, both from Oklahoma State University.

Carpenter and her hus-band Colby reside in Te-cumseh with their two children, Cayden, 10, and Quinn, 8. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, camp-ing, running, biking, and following her kid’s activ-ities, which include bas-ketball, softball, wrestling and showing Beefmaster cattle.

Hutchins came to SSC in February of 2016 and currently serves as the Business and Education/Language Arts and Hu-manities Office Manager.

She previously worked for the Oklahoma Depart-ment of Human Services where she served over twenty years in public ad-ministration and social

services before retiring from the organization.

In her current role on campus, she oversees the daily operations of both division offices, including greeting visitors, helping students and managing administrative tasks for faculty members and divi-sion chairs. Hutchins is a member of the SSC Classi-fied Staff Association and currently serves as the or-ganization’s secretary.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Ad-ministration from Oklaho-ma State University and a Master of Education from the University of Central Oklahoma.

Hutchins resides on a farm in Hughes County with her husband, son and four dogs. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, gardening, and spending time with family.

Seminole Chamber Honors Seminole State Personnel

Emily Carpenter Carmen Hutchins



Seminole State Delegation Attends Higher Ed Day

A large delegation of cam-pus and community leaders representing Seminole State College attended “Higher Ed-ucation Day” at the Capitol in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Feb. 13. The event, sponsored by the Oklahoma State Re-gents for Higher Education, is held annually to demon-strate grassroots support for Higher Education funding.

A late afternoon session was held in the chamber of the Oklahoma House of Rep-resentatives.

Speakers included Gov. Mary Fallin; Sen. Roger Thompson; Rep. Jadine Nol-lan; State Regents Chair Ron-ald H. White, M.D.; State Regent Gen. Toney Strick-lin; State Regent Jeffrey W. Hickman; Chancellor Glen D. Johnson; and President Jer-ry Steward, Oklahoma City Community College.

Four students also spoke at the event. Nikoma Early, Western Oklahoma State Col-lege; Erica Stephens, Oklaho-ma State University; Kalen Russell, University of Central Oklahoma; and Yaseen Shur-baj, University of Oklahoma, shared how they have bene-fitted from higher education and how attending one of Oklahoma’s public colleges and universities has positive-ly impacted their lives.

Prior to the afternoon program, community and campus leaders representing Seminole State College were guests at a luncheon held at the Oklahoma University Faculty House. Those pres-ent included State Senators Jason Smalley, Ron Sharp, Roger Thompson and Darcy Jech. State Representatives in attendance were Leslie Os-born, Dell Kerbs, and Kevin Wallace.

Following introductions by SSC President Lana Reyn-olds, the elected officials spoke to the SSC delegation about their support of higher education and their outlook on the new legislative ses-sion.

Community support-ers in attendance included: Dan Boren, SSC Founda-tion Trustee;Karel Brewster, Brewster Associates; Bryan Cain, SSC Regent; Randy Gil-bert, Owner Gilbert Truck-ing; Suzanne Gilbert, SSC Foundation Trustee; Jim Har-din, SSC Foundation Trustee; John Hargrave, SSC Founda-tion Trustee; Leonard Har-jo, SSC Foundation Trustee; Kim Hyden, SSC Regent; Dr. Rebecca Kennedy, SSC Vice President Emeritus; Harrel Kennedy, Retired Higher Ed. Administrator; Kelly Kirk, Retired SSC Professor; Judy

Kirk, Retired Bank Executive; Chris Moore, Bancfirst Presi-dent; Jeramy Rich, SSC Foun-dation Trustee Mark Schell, SSC Foundation Trustee; and David Wilson, SSC Founda-tion Trustee.

SSC students in atten-dance were: Gavin Aldridge, Earlsboro; K.C. Bryan, New Lima; Adam Choate, Semi-nole; Will Cotner, Seminole; Kaylie Davidson, Seminole; Hunter Dugan, Tecumseh; Daryian Fancher, Harrah; Triniti House, Moss; Zacha-ry Ilbery, Checotah; Destanie Jacoway, Tecumseh; Cassi-dy Johnson, Bristow; Macyn

Kinkade, Shawnee; D.J. Lee, Holdenville; Bo LeFlore, Shawnee; Meghan Mickle, Midwest City; Breana Mur-phy, Choctaw; Wyatt Norton, Earlsboro; Sidney Osborn, Seminole; Miles Piersall, Sem-inole; Kristopher Scott, Semi-nole; Ernest Sego, Tecumseh; Miranda Shupe, Chandler; Cami Sosbee, Okemah; and Gage Wright, Stroud, Gracie Adams, Seminole, Brandon Jones, Seminole.

President’s Leadership Class, Student Government President and concurrent stu-dents pose for a group photo in front of the State Capitol following the Higher Educa-tion Day program on Tues-day afternoon.

College representatives present were: Lana Reynolds, President; Tom Mills, Vice President of Academic Af-fairs; Dr. Bill Knowles, Vice President for Student Affairs; Holly Newell, Sponsored Programs Compliance Offi-cer; Larry Smith, Director of Rural Business & Resources Center; Kristin Dunn, Direc-tor of Community Relations; Melanie Rinehart, Director of Financial Assistance; Steven Little, Coordinator Media Re-lations; and Autumn Wiles, Coordinator Foundation Ad-vancement.

SSC Student Government President Miles Piersall (center) and SSC con-current student Brandon Jones (right), delivered Valentine’s Day candy to State Representative Leslie Osborn (left) and thanked her for supporting Higher Education.



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The Seminole State Col-lege Educational Foun-dation received a $50,000 Presidential Leadership and Cultural Programming endowment from the Ma-sonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma during a special presentation on Monday February 5.

This donation will help provide leadership op-portunities for students at the College – specifically members of the President’s Leadership Class. The PLC program was established at Seminole State College over a decade ago.

The two-year scholar-ship program provides approximately 40 to 45 students with unique ed-ucational, cultural, volun-teer and leadership oppor-tunities. Throughout the year, they are able to meet with state leaders, learn about state government and philanthropy, study leader-ship styles and participate in community volunteer work.This endowment will also fund cultural activi-ties on campus that will be available not only to stu-dents but to the entire cam-pus and surrounding com-munities.

SSC President Lana Reynolds expressed her gratitude for such a gener-ous gift to SSC.

“The financial support that the Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma is making to the PLC pro-gram, as well as to cultural programming for our entire campus community, is tre-mendous. Through their support, students in the PLC program will be given

more opportunities to de-velop their leadership skills and further enhance their personal and professional growth. This gift will also help us expose students, employees and communi-ty members to events and activities celebrating arts and humanities. Gifts such as these are always appre-ciated – especially in tough budget times.”

Representatives of the

Oklahoma Masonic Charity Foundation present at the event were Grand Master C.W. Corky Grigsby, Exec-utive Director John Logan and President Ike Isaacs.

This grant is part of ef-forts by the Masonic Foun-dation to place endowed funds in publically funded colleges throughout Okla-homa. For more informa-tion, visit http://www.mc-fok.org.

Foundation Receives $50,000 Masonic Endowment



Area Seminole State Col-lege student Gavin Win-chester of Prague, Okla. re-cently attended the Nigh Institute Leadership Acade-my held in Oklahoma City.

Winchester received a George and Donna Nigh Public Service Scholarship this year through the Nigh Institute program funded by the Oklahoma Legisla-ture. During the leadership academy, students visited with members of the House of Representatives and the Senate and attended sessions concerning Oklahoma’s local government, government re-lations, the national election, public policy and Oklaho-ma’s economic future.

In addition, the group visited Quail Creek Country

Club, Paycom, Tinker Air Force Base, Express Ranch, Devon Tower, “The Oklaho-man”, the Oklahoma Histor-ical Society and the Oklaho-ma State Regents for Higher Education Offices.

The group also had the privilege of meeting many of Oklahoma’s leaders includ-ing Clay Bennet, owner of the Oklahoma City Thunder; Robert Funk, founder/CEO of Express Employment Pro-fessionals; Bobby Stem, Pres-ident of the Association of Oklahoma General Contrac-tors; Dan Boren, former Okla-homa State Congressman; and Vicki Miles LaGrange, the first African-American woman attorney for the west-ern district of Oklahoma.

The theme of the leader-

ship conference this year was “You Can Do It From Here.” Winchester explained that all of the influential lead-ers throughout the institute encouraged student partic-ipants that they can do any-thing from Oklahoma. “Each speaker at the Nigh Academy helped me gain confidence for my future. They stressed that not everyone has to be born into a rich and power-ful family to be successful. Jim Thorpe was born in my hometown of Prague and be-came the world’s greatest ath-

lete,” said Winchester. Win-chester is a 2016 Prague High School graduate. At SSC, he is a freshman member of the President’s Leadership Class and will be inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Internation-al Honor Society on campus next week.

Winchester is the son of Heather Annis and Robert Winchester. He is the grand-son of former long-time SSC math instructor Larry Vick-ers and his wife Rosella, and Jenny Pratka and Tom Win-chester.

Winchester Attends Nigh Leadership Academy

Gavin Winchester (center) meets former Edmond Mayor Carl Reherman (left) and his wife Glo Reherman (right), directors of the Nigh Leadership Academy.

As part of this year’s Nigh Academy activities, Gavin Winchester visits the Ex-press Ranch in Yukon, Okla. where he meets the largest and oldest Clydesdale horse, at the facility owned by Robert Funk, founder/CEO of Express Employ-ment Professionals.



On Wednesday February 7th NASNTI hosted an event on campus in honor of Black His-tory Month titled "Overcoming Obstacles". The guest speak-er was Joyce Jackson who is a former award winning broad-cast journalist. Mrs. Jackson is recognized as the first African American Newscaster in Okla-homa at KOCO-TV. She is also founder, editor, and publisher of Shades of Oklahoma Maga-zine. Two Seminole State Col-leges Belles, introduced Mrs. Jackson for the Program. Pic-tured are Breail Goodlow of Del City and Mykayla Dumas of Tulsa.

The Seminole State College Na-tive American Serving Non-Trib-al Institutions Project (NASNTI) is committed to empowering stu-dents' academic success through

post secondary options leading to baccalaureate transfer and so-cioeconomic stability. In order to achieve this Seminole State Col-lege must engage students with success.

The NASNTI project has three components: Revision of high-risk courses, Comprehensive professional development, and engagement services for stu-dents. Each component com-pliments and links to the other components, creating an array of strategies and services that work together to enhance and increase the potential for student success and retention.

To achieve this, the project also includes: tutoring, peer mentors, professional development, early alert, and the infusion of technol-ogy into education labs.

Black History Month: Overcoming Obstacles

The Aggie Club volunteered at the Muskogee(Creek) Nation - All-Indians Livestock Show Friday January 26 and Saturday January 27. The students as-sisted with the show and helped pass out awards. In return, the tribe was able to provide a generous donation to the club in the amount of $625. SSC Sophmore Zach Ilbery (right) received the check on behalf of the SSC Aggie Club.

SSC President Lana Reynolds was one of several community guest read-ers to visit Wilson Elementary School on Wednesday February 28. Reyn-olds read If I Ran the Circus by Dr. Seuss to third-grade students in Mrs. Sonia Scott’s class as part of the national week-long birthday celebration of the children’s book author.

Top Cutlines From the Month of Febuary



Men's & Women's Golf

Women's Soccer

Softball

SEMINOLE STATECOLLEGE ATHLETICS

Stay up to-date on all SSC Athletics @ www.sscathletics.com

March Athletics ScheduleBaseball Men's Tennis

Women's Tennis

Men's & Women's Golf

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