Mayes County scholarship recipients included Brianna Tweed (from left), Leeann Howell and Cade Simpson. Other scholarship awardees (not pictured) included Faith Buford, Seth Hobbs and Mallorey Sanders.
Almost $20,000 was raised by the Rogers State University Mayes County Scholarship Breakfast to benefit RSU students.
Held Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Mayes County Event Center in Pryor, the annual breakfast fundraiser provides scholarships for students from Mayes County attending RSU in Pryor, as well as those from Mayes County enrolled in classes at Rogers State University in Claremore.
Opening remarks were made by RSU Interim President Dr. Mark Rasor.
“Mayes County is very important to Rogers State University,” Rasor began. “We have 406 Mayes County residents that are currently enrolled at Rogers State University, with about 200 concurrent high school students taking classes with us – 100 from Pryor and another 100 on our campus at the Mid-America park, so we’re excited about student involvement from Mayes County, and we look forward to continuing to serve them.
“There are really two reasons we’re here this morning. One is to say ‘thank you’ for your continued support of Rogers State and our students, to help many of them graduate debt-free, partly because we’re very affordable and partly because we encourage them to work – whether a part-time job or a student worker job,” he said. “Last year, the Foundation gave over a million dollars in scholarships for our students because of generous donors like you, and those scholarships and what you folks do help make higher education accessible to our students.”
Rasor then updated the room on exciting things happening at RSU.
“Enrollment is up on the Hill this year,” he continued. “We’re up for the second year in a row – about four percent on credit hours and about two percent in head count, so we’re excited about that.”
Rasor then touched on the university’s new STEM building and the new chemical engineering program, which projected a total enrollment of 25 students after five years, but already has 28 enrolled in only its second year.
Following Rasor’s remarks, RSU Senior Director of Development Tonni Harrald thanked event sponsors and important contributors, and recognized several others in attendance.
She was followed by Mayes County Breakfast Scholarship recipient and student speaker Brianna Tweed, who offered words of thanks to donors who helped impact her future.
“My name is Brianna Tweed and I’m a freshman at Rogers State University,” she began. “I live right down the road in Chouteau and lived there all my life. I was involved in so many things in high school because I wanted the opportunity for scholarships to college.
“Being honest, I wasn’t thinking about RSU because I had the mindset of leaving home and going to a school a lot further than Mayes County,” she said. “It was that fear that if I stayed close, I wouldn’t be able to achieve all I wanted to achieve. Little did I know that couldn’t have been further from the truth, and in looking at colleges, the only one that felt right for me was RSU.
“A lot of consideration and prayer went to choosing my college home, but I only ever felt peace at Rogers State,” she said. “In choosing RSU, I came to the realization that I didn’t have to leave home to achieve all the goals I had for myself. In fact, being close to home helped me in more ways than I could have predicted.”
She then shared her gratitude for her RSU scholarship and how much it has impacted her.
“One thing about RSU is that the biggest blessing for me is the scholarship I received,” she said. “As someone who is an inspiring physical therapist, more schooling is required than a bachelor’s degree. The scholarship endowment RSU gifted to me tremendously helped in furthering my education. I’m incredibly thankful for the opportunities provided to me by RSU. Thank you all.”
In addition to Tweed, other students named 2024-25 Mayes County Breakfast Restricted Scholarship recipients were Faith Buford, Kaleb Cox, Seth Hobbs, Leeann Howell, Mallorey Sanders and Cade Simpson.
Closing remarks were offered by RSU Vice President for Development Steve Valencia.
“That’s what Rogers State University is all about – it’s about opportunity. It’s about the opportunity we give to more than 3,000 students every year,” Valencia said. “I was telling Brianna earlier that the reason she has the scholarship she does is because of the people in this room. Everyone in this room who contributes to the Foundation makes the opportunity possible for students like Brianna to achieve their dreams and to do it here – not to have to leave but stay here in Mayes County.
“Other than having the right academic programs, scholarships are the second most important criteria a student considers when choosing a university,” he said. “At Rogers State, we’re very fortunate in that respect. The scholarships make a difference. More than 40 percent of our students graduate debt-free, and that’s something that’s very, very important to us.
“Again, thank you to all the sponsors,” he said. “What we do isn’t possible without your support and we’re grateful you’re able to be here today and to be able to support this cause.”
The RSU Pryor campus is the only university that serves the Pryor and Mayes County areas. On average, more than 400 students are enrolled each semester at the Pryor campus.
The RSU Foundation’s next fundraising event will be the annual scholarship auction and dinner, themed the “Red and Navy Royale,” at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Catoosa Nov. 9.
For more information or to make a tax-deductible donation to the RSU Foundation, contact Tonni Harrald at [email protected] or 918-343-7767 or Steve Valencia at 918-343-7780 or [email protected].