You could say it’s a family tradition. Since the 1950s, the Fagan family has attended Oklahoma State University. Three generations of family members have had classes in these same buildings on campus today. I walk up the same stairs trod by my grandparents at Oklahoma A&M. Three generations of orange blood flow through my veins and will continue into the next generation.
My grandpa, Bill Fagan, served in the Navy during the Korean War. After the war, he decided to come to Stillwater to earn his degree in Civil Engineering after attending Okmulgee Tech before the war. During his first year back at OSU, one of his good college friends kept telling him that he absolutely had to meet this girl that was in a history class with him. Around this same time, my grandpa was being set up on a blind date by one of his other friends. The date comes around, and my grandma, Patsy Sue Howell, and my grandpa meet on the balcony of the Student Union. And it turns out, my grandma is the girl that my grandpa’s friend had in his history class. The rest, they say, is history.
My grandparents had 9 children and 17 grandchildren. Of those 9 children, 6 attended OSU and 3 earned undergraduate and graduate degrees; two of their spouses did the same. Of the grandchildren, 8 have either earned degrees or are currently attending. My grandpa’s brother, Jim Fagan, also attended OSU and had 3 children that all attended OSU, along with their spouses and 5 of their children. Currently, we have 7 Fagan family members at OSU. I don't think many other families can say that.
Oklahoma State is a family tradition, and each year it continues. Although some of us have received substantial offers from other universities, we always find our way back to Oklahoma State University, back to Stillwater, back home. We accomplish amazing things because of this university, and the Fagan legacy lives on in the buildings and sidewalks of OSU.