OU Language Requirements
The University of Oklahoma is reviewing whether to keep the foreign language requirement for its College of Arts and Sciences.
The college serves about a third of OU students. According to reporting from The OU Daily, the college’s dean says the review will compare how many Association of American Universities institutions include language requirements. As part of its strategic plan, OU aims to be recognized by AAU, which is a prestigious organization of research universities.
Thursday, The Norman Transcript reported the college’s academic advisors were instructed not to enroll students in language classes so administration could point to low enrollment numbers. However, OU President Joseph Harroz said The Transcript article “went too far,” and no decisions have been made. The evaluation will be completed in three months.
New State Senators
The new cast of Senators includes three Democrats and eleven Republicans, hailing mostly from Tulsa and Oklahoma City and the surrounding suburbs.
Newly elected Senator Kendall Sacchieri said her priorities include income - and property-tax changes.
"I’d like to see some reform that doesn't require an assessor to just, you know, nail down a sale price to dictate everybody else. Right now, it’s kind of a forced hand," she said.
Sacchieri joins the Senate after serving as the McClain County Assessor - the person who calculates property taxes, their revenue production and property market value in any given county.
She said there are fairer ways to calculate property value than Oklahoma’s current system and she plans to propose legislation to get the state up to speed. She also expressed an interest in cutting the individual state income tax, which the Senate has already filed legislation to do.
Historic Black Theater Renovation
Before its closing in the 1960s, the Jewel Theater was an entertainment hub for the Black community on the eastside of OKC.
Now, The Jewel Theater Foundation and design firm Open Design Collective are renovating the space to preserve its legacy. With a million-dollar grant from the Mellon Foundation, the beginning of the revitalization project was celebrated outside the theater with remarks from the theater’s owner, Arthur Hurst, project supporters and descendants of the original owners.
Jewel Jones, the granddaughter of the original owners, said the renovation is an attempt to keep the legacy of OKC’s Black community alive.
“This is a place to come back to, and I love it, and I'm just in awe that it's happening," she said.
The first phase will restore the exterior bricks, replace the roof and install new doors and windows.
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