NOAH COLLINS - native american, rural, researcher.

As a Native American (Cherokee and Apache), Noah Collins is a fearless voice for a group which lacks substantial representation, faces racism, and seeks to exist on their campus. Like other Native students, Noah’s identity is challenged by a lack of representation. Noah recognized the obstacles facing Native students and used his identity to increase their representation.

Through achievement in research and academic excellence as well as opportunities to serve his people in many areas of campus life, Noah brought representation to Native students for work they have always done.

For Noah, Native students have always done incredible things, but they are not seen as existing in the spaces they inhabit. Without full representation, people do not recognize how Native history and presence shapes campus.

Noah stands the center of the South Oval on campus, a space that sits on Native land and serves as an integral community gathering place.

VANESSA MERAZ - family, immigrant, hispanic woman.

Vanessa Meraz’s upbringing and her status as an undocumented immigrant serves as the foundation for her identity. Existing as an immigrant is central to Vanessa views worldview and her actions.

Everything that Vanessa does ties to her family. In any endeavor in college, Vanessa has remained cognizant of how her existence and the opportunities she has are a product of her parent’s sacrifices in immigrating to America.

Through the Hispanic community at OU, Vanessa found a place that represents her as who she is. Through this community, Vanessa has seized chances to support and create opportunities for others like herself.

She stands in front of Boyd House, the symbolic place of welcome on OU’s campus. Vanessa realize that OU was not traditionally built for people like her, but the individuals who are here and taking up space, individuals like herself, make OU a place for those people.

LEANNE HO - queer, non-binary, asian american.

Leanne Ho grappled with their queer and Asian American identity in the transition from a diverse and inclusive high school environment to a much larger and vastly different college setting.

Leanne considered the ways in which their Asian American identity intersected with their queer identity as well as the points of contention that intersection created. As someone who was raised as a woman Leanne carries the elements of that experience while embracing their queer identity.

And in embracing their queer identity, Leanne has formed a newfound chosen family through advocacy for the LGBTQ community. While they are likely not the first queer person to hold prominent positions on campus, Leanne has openly shared their identity in a way that has blazed a trail and represented people like them.

They sit at the edge of the Ada Louis Sipuel Fisher Fountain, a place dedicated to a civil rights pioneer and those like Leanne who seek to push boundaries and create opportunities for others.

CARLOS RUBIO REGALADO - undocumented, hispanic immigrant, family.

Existing as an undocumented male is at the core of Carlos Rubio’s identity. Traversing the difficulties and systematic obstacles that face a young undocumented person shapes how Carlos pursues his academic and personal endeavors.

As a minority student at a predominantly white institution, Carlos has sought to hold true to his identity in the face of moments and settings in which his identity is not commonly accepted.

His understanding of self has driven him to embrace a sense of confidence in what he does both for himself and others like him. Similarly, a deep connection and love for his family is central to Carlo’s identity and how he seeks to cultivate familial community in the areas he find himself in.

Carlos stands next to Robert Indiana’s Love statue in front of OU’s Visitor Center. This was the first spot his family visited on campus and it represents a place where Carlos felt comfortable in pursuing his collegiate career. A feeling he has sought to provide for other students in his time at OU.

CHRISTINE MURRAIN - bi-racial, woman.

In her time in college, Christine Murrain has grown confident in her bi-racial and female identity and fully embraced how it shapes her. In finding this identity, she overcame perceptions that minimize or diminish elements of her racial identity. Christine realized the limits of such perceptions and forged a path to challenge them.

Through an understanding of the intersectionality of race and gender on a college campus in areas like representation and opportunity, Christine found the truth in who she was. This realization and development of identity guides her pursuits.

While she has developed a sense of connection to and confidence in her identity, she has recognized that not everyone can feel the same. As such, she invests her identity towards efforts to promote meaningful messaging that helps others hear and find voices like their own on campus.

She stands between the doors to the Holmberg Hall performance center. For Christine, Holmberg is a space where one becomes anything they desire to be just as she has done so herself.

ALEX BARON - hard worker, white, male.

Alex Baron possesses a perspective on life that is rooted in how he understood his identity as a child and through his work ethic today. Growing up poor, Alex developed a sense of positivity that has impacted how he takes on life and reacts to the setbacks he faces.

Coming from a poor background, Alex has had the relentless drive to work hard at every endeavor he has embarked upon from an early age. For Alex, he must work hard for everything he has had as those opportunities were not always presented to him when growing up.

Despite the obstacles he has faced, Alex is aware of the sense of privilege he possesses in existing as a white male. His background shapes how he has perceived himself in terms of his identity, how he recognizes his place privilege on campus, as well as in the drive found within his identity.

He stands in front of Couch Restaurants, a place where Alex has worked throughout college beginning his freshman year when he needed cover the cost of his room and board and now to care for his parents and girlfriend.

DESTINEE DICKSON - bi racial, woman.

Destinee Dickson’s understanding of her bi-racial identity has served as the foundation for her college experience. Finding and defining her blackness was a pivotal aspect of her identity.

Destinee never fully understood the intricacies of her bi-racial identity while growing up. Her realization of identity comes through finding and protecting her community. At OU she has found herself at the front of groups such as the Black Emergency Response Team, which formed following continued racist incidents at OU and those specifically in early 2019, where she has championed racial equality.

In her involvement on campus, Destinee has sought to find the balance in combatting perceptions that she acts “too white” or is not “black enough”. She has realized this struggle to battle perceptions that exists in herself and other mixed individuals while striving to invest in campus community.

Destinee stands at the steps of Evans Hall, a place that never had any significance to Destinee until this year after the steps served as the platform for the Better Together March against racism on campus. For Destinee, Evans represents the pinnacle of administrative action at OU and place where there is an everlasting need for change.

JAYCIE THAEMERT - bold, woman in stem.

In finding her identity in college, Jaycie Thaemert developed a sense of boldness. As a woman studying anthropology and astronomy within the STEM field, she has faced the misconceptions that cloud over women who pursue such interests.

She has shaped her identity through a desire to overcome the perceptions women face as they attempt to enter what are narrowly considered as male fields. Hearing from professors who do not see her ability to comprehend the material or apply her knowledge within the field have created some of those perceptions.

The struggles she faces as a woman are evident within her identity and balanced by her recognition of the privileges that she possesses. In venturing into this field and finding involvement in areas in which she can encourage others to mark their own paths, she has formed a bold identity.

She stands between bleachers in Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, a place that holds some of the most poignant memories of Jaycie’s college career. As a former member of the Pride of Oklahoma and an out-of-state student, the stadium serves as a place that represents the family Jaycie has found in college.

NATE BULLOCK - bi-racial, gay, man.

Nate Bullock’s formation of identity matured as he placed himself in different communities in college. Nate has developed his identity by finding groups and opportunities to bring out sides of himself that he had never seen growing up.

Navigating the challenges of being bi-racial have shaped how Nate has found his identity and embraced his college experience through involvement in familiar spheres and within the black community.

His sexuality and status as a gay man adds another complexity to his identity which he has sought to explore and hold personal to himself. To exist as who he is regardless of what space he finds himself is a central element of his identity. For Nate, college has served almost as a second adolescence as he has faced the challenges of his identity and grown into how they shape him.

He stands in front of the May We Have Peace statue, which features an inscription that states “The university is a place to learn how to challenge and argue with each other without ever ceasing to love and respect each other”. In college, Nate has worked to challenge things such as racism on campus while lending himself to love and respect others.