Tuesday is OU’s annual Giving Day.
OUR ASK: Whether with your time, dollars or other generosity, we hope you’ll contribute to our mission. Increasingly our donors give recurring pledges in the range of $14, which mirrors what OU students pay in annual fees that support the Daily, or $50, which is between ¼ and ½ the cost of paywalled local news alternatives. You can also help us compete in OU Foundation donor challenges that could add up to $1,500 to our accounts.
SUPPORT OPTIONS:
1. Becky Willis Memorial Fund for News Leadership: Fuel a $1,250 leadership scholarship and help underwrite other student needs.
2. Stacy Wehrenberg Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund: Assist a student who knows significant adversity.
3. Buy Daily merchandise.
4. Contribute your expertise: If we launched an alumni board to develop long-term fundraising, would you have pertinent experience? Let’s talk.
TIMELINE: Gifts accepted throughout April 14. help sustain the success of the only independent student-run news organization that’s served OU and Norman — while forging generations of media professionals — since 1916. Contribute now
Honors
• Pacemaker: In March, the Daily earned its ninth Pacemaker, commonly known as the Pulitzer of collegiate journalism, in results announced at the annual Associated Collegiate Press conference in San Francisco. Peers honored in the online category included the Daily Bruin (UCLA), Daily Northwestern, Daily Iowan, Harvard Crimson, Michigan Daily, Minnesota Daily, Daily Orange (Syracuse), Baylor Lariat and the Red & Black (Georgia). The Daily has been at least a finalist 10 times in 12 years.
• Hearst: In January, Daily 2024-25 editor Peggy Dodd (’25) placed fourth in the Hearst Awards’ feature reporting category for her story on how Daily alums covered the Oklahoma City bombing and its impact on their lives. She is the Daily’s 30th Hearst honoree since 2014.
• Gaylord College: In March, Marti Gallardo (’78) and Hannah Allam (’99) were named distinguished alums in an event coinciding with the college’s 25th anniversary. Gallardo, now retired, was a sales and marketing executive with The Dallas Morning News and The Wall Street Journal. Allam, who covers national security at Pro Publica, is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner.
• Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame: In May, four journalists who started their careers at the Daily will be inducted: Cindy Elliott Allen, Mike Brown, Kathryn Sherry McNutt and Ed Turner.
• Alum featured: The Choctaw Nation produced a spotlight feature on Baxter Holmes (’09), reflecting on his career arc from Tuskahoma to the OU Daily to ESPN. “I met the newspaper adviser at the University of Oklahoma, a wonderful guy named Jack Willis, worked at the student paper under him,” Holmes said in the piece. “He created an incredibly professional environment that ended up producing a lot of journalists that worked at some of the most prestigious outlets around the world. My life was at the student newspaper and that was — for lack of a better word — that was my tribe.”
Next student leaders selected
• OU Daily: Publications Board elected Willie Gillespie as 2026-27 editor-in-chief. The journalism junior, currently video editor, has led a newsroom-wide shift to a video-first model, scaling the Daily’s social media presence and reshaping how stories meet audiences. Gillespie said his vision is to prepare every staffer for the rapidly evolving media industry. The board elected Audrey McClour, a creative media production junior who now serves as a news editor, as 2026 summer editor-in-chief.
• Advertising: For fall 2026, Alana Trotman has been hired as sales director and Krista Fleming as marketing manager running our emerging sponsored content operation.
Innovator-in-residence application open
• THE JOB: For the second year, OU Student Media is hiring a working professional as a part-time media innovator-in-residence.
• 2025-26 INNOVATORS: Mike Sherman, a veteran sports, news and investigative editor, served as our inaugural innovator in fall 2025. Will Pry, a veteran newsroom leader with a distinguished track record of fostering transformational change, is serving as our innovator this spring.
• WE’RE SEEKING: Applicants who have proven success in leading-edge journalism and a commitment to mentoring future media professionals. The successful candidate will frame a vision for how their expertise will elevate the work of the Daily while enriching students’ career development. They may also propose alignments with Gaylord College.
Alumni news
• Alexia Aston (’24), who covers politics at The Oklahoman, was one of 15 journalists from across the nation selected for the National Press Foundation’s 2026 Widening the Pipeline Fellowship. The program supports journalists of color who could be future newsroom leaders.
• Jenny Dial Creech (’05) has been honored by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association as a distinguished high school adviser. Before joining St. Mark’s School of Texas in 2022, Creech worked at the Houston Chronicle and The Athletic.
• Joy Mayer (’96), executive director of Trusting News, saw her organization awarded the Brown Democracy Medal. Penn State’s McCourtney Institute for Democracy recognizes practical innovations, such as new institutions, practices, technologies or organizations that advance democracy or enrich its conceptions.
• Collin McDaniel (’23), is now social media manager at Circuit of The Americas, leading creation, management and distribution of digital content across social channels and venues. He previously was a social media coordinator for the organization.
• Jillian Taylor (’23) was one of six journalists selected for 2026 National Science-Health-Environment Reporting Fellowships, which offers training, mentoring and networking to early-career journalists while they continue their work.
