Cowboys Care Initiative welcomes first cohort of ambassadors

Cowboys Care Initiative welcomes first cohort of ambassadors

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

Media Contact: Jeff Hopper | Communications and Media Relations Manager | 405-744-5827 | [email protected]

It's been a short two months since First Cowgirl Angela Hess kicked off the Cowboys Care initiative, and it's already reaching milestones.

On Wednesday, Hess and the Cowboys Care team wrapped up October's Mental Health Awareness Month with a perfect bow: the graduation of nearly 100faculty, staff and students in the first cohort of Cowboys Care Ambassadors.

"I am overjoyed and grateful," Hess said. "To watch this initiative grow from an idea in the president's office to where it is now, it's truly amazing. Cowboys Care is officially a reality, and it's thanks to our ambassadors."

The ambassador program - open to all faculty, staff and students - is designed to provide anyone facing mental health issues another opportunity to connect with Cowboys Care resource information.

Ambassadors will display an orange bandana and a teal button on their person, backpack, briefcase or anywhere outward-facing. These items will serve as immediate, visual cues to others that the person is a Cowboys Care Ambassador and can help guide them to resources for assistance. Each item will also have a QR code that will link directly to the Cowboys Care web site.

"The response to this program has been overwhelming," Hess said. "I thought we'd get a handful of students to sign up to participate. Instead, we had over 100 who took the training to be an ambassador. It's beyond my wildest dreams."

Hess hopes that word of mouth and the sight of ambassadors across campus will encourage others to join the ambassador program and help become another resource for those struggling with mental health challenges.

For Bella Ridener, a psychology junior and driving force behind the Cowboys Care initiative and ambassador program, the event served as a reinforcement of a passion project close to her heart.

"It's eye-opening. It shows that people do care and do want to be a part of a program like this; it's not something I just dreamt up," Ridener said. "As a student, I hope the program encourages those struggling to speak up and that they have someone to lean on and that we can care for each other."

Hess hopes the program helps diminish the stigma surrounding mental health and can be greatly impactful to the thousands of people who traverse campus on a daily basis.

The First Cowgirl closed her comments at Wednesday's graduation ceremony with a challenge and encouraging words from a mantra that has meant so much to her.

"Let's lock arms and walk in the same direction of making mental health less of a stigma and more of a conversation," Hess said. "As ambassadors, you are now the person who can say to someone who may be struggling, 'I see you, I hear you and I'll help you.'"