Scholarship fund established to celebrate 1949 OCW graduate Mary Jo Duggan Copeland

The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma welcomed Gov. Mary Fallin on Thursday, April 7 to a reception dedicating the Mary Jo Duggan Copeland Scholarship. Mary Jo Duggan Copeland, mother of Fallin, graduated from the Oklahoma College for Women, now USAO, in 1949. The scholarship fund has raised more than $75,000 to aid students beginning in the fall of 2016.

Copeland was the first female mayor of Tecumseh and worked more than 25 years at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services as a social worker and a district supervisor.

“I am so proud that USAO is honoring my mother and her legacy of public service and as a USAO graduate with a scholarship in her name for today’s generation of students,” said Fallin. “Just as this school has been able to do throughout its illustrious history, this scholarship will provide students financial assistance while they receive a high-quality college education.”

The OCW was the first college created by Oklahoma’s first Legislature. Nationally ranked for quality and value, the mission of the university since inception is to provide accessible and affordable high-quality baccalaureate education especially suited to bright and talented students.

Scholarships, like the Mary Jo Duggan Copeland Scholarship, are important to not only the mission of USAO, but also to the students attending the university. Half of the current students are eligible for low-income federal Pell grants while more than 75 percent of all students receive some form of need-based aid.

“Our students are exceptionally hardworking and a large percentage are first-generation students,” said President John Feaver. “The majority are in need of financial aid. Ninety percent are enrolled full-time and balance their studies with part- or full-time work, involvement in a range of campus activities, and service to campus and community. We are grateful to Gov. Fallin for dedicating the Mary Jo Duggan Copeland Scholarship Fund in honor of her mother and to all of the donors who made a contribution to the fund.”

The Mary Jo Duggan Copeland Scholarship Fund was established by Regent Mo Anderson, USAO Board of Regents, and Regent Mike Turpen, Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.

To learn more about giving to USAO, visit www.usao.edu/giving. For more information about educational opportunities at USAO, visit www.usao.edu.