ECU Students at the Capitol

East Central University's Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature group (O.I.L) recently sent a delegation to

the 2nd Session of the 56th Legislature in Oklahoma City. The session was held in the state capitol April

2nd-6th, and each delegate had a unique job.

Students representing ECU in the delegation included: Alex McGregor, representative from Prosper, Texas;

Jurnee Catron; representative from Seminole, Lily Fuchs, press journalist from Sweetwater; and Diego

Cifuentes, senator from Pauls Valley, Oklahoma.

"The ECU OIL delegation truly showed out. We had delegates serving in several areas such as in media, the

Senate, and the House of Representatives," said Fuchs, ECU OIL Delegation President. "Altogether, we worked

to pass around 100 bills that have a chance of becoming real Oklahoma legislation."

Because the OILS experience is a mock legislature session, college delegations from around the state converge

on the state capitol during the assembly. Delegates voted on bills and resolutions to change Oklahoma laws.

"We spent our time correcting bills in committees, advocating for bills through caucus, discussing and voting on

these bills, and documenting the daily events," said Diego Cifuentes, who served in the senate.

Founded under the leadership of then Oklahoma Lt. Governor George Nigh and a small group of dedicated

college students in 1969, O.I.L. provides students from institutions of higher learning across the state an

opportunity to write, debate, and pass legislation about the issues they believe are important.

"While attending the session, we learned a lot about parliamentary procedure, government operations, prevalent

issues, and how our Oklahoma government operates" Catron said. "We will use what we learned to strengthen

our own OIL at ECU in the future, it was a very successful conference, and many of our delegates look forward

to participating again in the coming years." McGregor mentioned.

The Department of Politics, Law, and Society at ECU is dedicated to building political community through

active learning, engaged citizenship, and the promotion of democratic values.

For more information about the undergraduate and graduate programs available at ECU, contact department

chair Dr. Christine Pappas at cpappas@ecok.edu.

Media Contact: Diego Cifuentes

Share this post