27 “It’s one way of giving back,” Claudia Bartlett says. “You establish relationships when you go to school there. As the years go by … we all have this common goal that we want to see OSU become even better.” Claudia, who graduated in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in advertising and public relations, and Bart, who began his college studies at OSU before transferring to the University of Illinois to finish his degree in ceramic engineering, both love to contribute to the university because they “bleed orange,” Bart says. And orange has run through Bartlett veins for generations. Edward Bartlett was an Oklahoma A&M chemistry graduate in 1912, Bart says. Their financially successful lives allowed Edward and his wife to create the Edward E. Bartlett and Helen Turner Bartlett Foundation. Their estates became the permanent basis for the foundation, which donates to various nonprofit agencies, educational programs and community development projects throughout Oklahoma. In 1965, the foundation began awarding two scholarships to Sapulpa High School seniors headed to OSU. “It’s the longest-running program from the foundation,” Bart says. Currently, she sits on the OSU Foundation Board of Governors and the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Advisory Board. “There’s a lot to be said about the OSU family,” she says. “A lot of people are so proud of being a part of OSU.” Although the Bartletts spend much time ensuring students get the opportunity to experience OSU for themselves, they also find time to improve the lives of those outside the college age group. Seeing others of all ages and generations succeed is a driving force behind many decisions made by their foundation. Thousands of dollars have been donated to various Oklahoma communities to benefit a variety of programs ranging from art education programs to renovations at the Bartletts’ hometown library in Sapulpa to nonprofit agencies that serve senior citizens. Claudia volunteers with Sapulpa Public Schools and is on the executive committee for the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, which supports academic excellence in the state’s public schools. Her husband, a plant manager at McElroy Manufacturing Inc. in Tulsa, also serves on the board of the Boy Scouts’ Indian Nations Council. “We try to touch a crosssection of ages within the community,” Bart says. That passion for others is what led them to each other in 1992. They began dating while they were both serving on the board for an alternative school for at-risk children. In September 2012, Claudia and Bart celebrated their 18th anniversary the way many couples do — focusing on their family. “We (had) an exciting evening at a Boy Scout troop meeting with our son,” Bart says, laughing. While shuttling their son, Harrison “Trey” III, a sophomore in high school, and their 13-year-old daughter, Sarah, to band practices and football games, keeps them busy, the entire family still finds time to put on their favorite color and head to a football or basketball game at OSU — their second home. “I’ve always felt comfortable on campus,” Bart says. “I guess that’s part of it — you always feel welcome.” “As the years go by … we al l have this common goal that we want to see OSU become even better.” — Claudia Bartlett Although OSU has chosen the two seniors for more than four decades, Bart says the university has rules to follow when making the final decision. The candidates cannot qualify for financial aid or be receiving a hefty amount in scholarships, leaving a group of students who often have few options in covering college costs. “We’ve always felt that these are the kids who fall through the cracks of the system,” Bart says. “They’ve done everything they’ve been asked to do to prepare for college, and statistically, they will do well and succeed.” The Bartletts’ goal to aid OSU students did not stop with the scholarships. The couple donated $500,000 for an endowed chair in chemical engineering. Then, in 2007, the foundation donated another $500,000 to create an endowed chair in chemistry — the first endowed position for chemistry at OSU. This donation met two of the Bartletts’ goals: to help bring in the best educators for future chemistry students and to honor Bart’s father Harrison, who studied chemistry at Oklahoma A&M in the 1940s. Although Bart’s family history runs deep at OSU, Claudia is making sure that she, too, has an impact on future generations at OSU.
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