East Central University was one of three normal schools established in eastern Oklahoma in 1909.
Three similar institutions had been established earlier in the western half of the new state; each provided preparatory
education including two years of college leading to teacher certification. Ada's selection as the college's location followed intensive lobbying efforts by
the 25,000 Club, a local booster club which also raised funds for faculty salaries so classes could begin
that fall in local churches and public school classrooms. The 1910 legislature appropriated funds for
faculty salaries and construction of a building which was completed later that year on a sixteen acre
site which had been donated by Dan Hayes, a Chickasaw allottee. In 1919 the six normal schools became teachers' colleges and began to
confer bachelors degrees. In 1939 they added degree programs in Arts and Sciences and were
designated as state colleges. In 1954 the six colleges were authorized to offer their first
graduate work in a fifth-year program for teachers. Other master's degrees have since been added.
In 1974 East Central became East Central Oklahoma State University which was changed to East Central University in 1985. East Central has had only seven presidents during its history: Charles Biles; James Gordon;
Adolph Linscheid; Charles Spencer; Stanley Wagner; Bill Cole, and Richard
Rafes. Distinguished alumni include three governors.
Those serving Oklahoma were Robert S. Kerr, who is also noted for his career in the U. S. Senate, and George Nigh.
Ernest McFarland, governor and U.S. Senator from Arizona, was a class mate of Kerr's. Varied Chickasaw and Choctaw
governors and officials also graduated from the university. Other East Central distinctives include pioneering efforts
among Oklahoma universities promoting access to handicapped students and the development of corresponding undergraduate
and graduate degree programs for rehabilitation services, services to the deaf, and similar areas. Today the
campus consists of 37 buildings on 135 acres; the university typically enrolls more than 4,000 students per semester. Alvin O. Turner Bibliography Biles, J. Hugh. The Early History of Ada. (Oklahoma State Bank, 1954). Boeger, Palmer, et. al. The East Central Story. (East Central University, 1984). East Central University, 2002-03 Catalog. (East Central University, Ada, OK, 2002). A History of Pontotoc County, unpublished Master's Thesis. (Oklahoma State U, 1940). Kroeker, Marvin E. and Guy W. Logsdon. Ada, Oklahoma, Queen City of the Chickasaw Nation. (Donning Co., 1998).History of ECU
