Influencing Life’s Dance Myr-Lou Rollins-Wade’s childhood dance classes lasted a little longer than expected — 46 years to be exact. The former OSU professor and dancer dedicated her career to teaching students to love dancing. And today, she continues to inspire them with an endowed scholarship. “Students were the prime reason I loved teaching at OSU,” Rollins-Wade says. “Hopefully students who are seriously interested in dancing will try a little harder if they know there’s money available.” Rollins-Wade, a Texas native, took private dance lessons and began teaching children’s dance classes as a teen. After graduating from high school, she traveled to Hollywood to pursue a career in dancing and show business but quickly realized it wasn’t her dream. She returned to Texas to enroll in Texas State College for Women (now Texas Woman’s University) in Denton. While a student, Rollins-Wade joined a dance group and traveled around the country to perform. She received a bachelor’s degree in dance recreation in 1956 and a master’s degree in 1958. A dance professor at OSU for 30 years, Myr-Lou Rollins-Wade brought the latest interpretive dance techniques to campus when she joined the faculty in 1956. “OSU was the last stop on our dance tour my senior year at Texas Woman’s,” Rollins-Wade says. “A lady sat down next to me on the bus and offered me a job teaching at the university. I hadn’t even considered career options because at the time I just wanted to graduate. But I fell in love with OSU.” Enticed by Oklahoma State’s beautiful springtime campus, Rollins-Wade accepted a professor position in OSU’s College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) dance program. She taught dance majors as well as students fulfilling physical education requirements. Although modern dance was her specialty, Rollins-Wade taught ballet, tap, jazz, “acrobatics” (gymnastics) and “body mechanics” (aerobics). “I loved ballet until I realized I could dance barefoot and quickly switched to modern dance,” she says. “Back then we didn’t have hip-hop, and my body is thankful for that!” After 30 years at Oklahoma State, Rollins-Wade retired from the first and only job she ever held in 1986. She remains involved in the Emeriti Association and College of Education and A&S Associates Group and enjoys ballroom and country dancing with her husband, Ken. Inspired by the integration of dance classes into the theater program, Rollins-Wade established two scholarships in the COE and College of Arts and Sciences. qMyr-Lou Rollins-Wade and her husband, Ken Wade, who still love to go dancing, hope their endowed scholarship will encourage students to pursue dance. “Even though times change and priorities shift, I wanted to remind students that there’s still such a thing as dance,” RollinsWade said. “I don’t want the day to come when the art of dance is completely forgotten.” Rollins-Wade plans to remain involved in OSU life, and hopes her donation will inspire others to do the same. For more information about the Myr-Lou Rollins-Wade Endowed Scholarships, please contact Suzanne Thompson at 405-744-6469. Katie Treadwell photos/courtesy Oklahoma State University 25
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAxMjk=