CAS CONNECT 2015

“Sti l lwater is truly my home, and there’s no better city in Oklahoma. I can’t think of anything better than keeping some of the talent coming through to stay here and help Sti l lwater grow.” — Sti l lwater Mayor Gina Noble 23 “They just had someone quit, and they offered me a visiting position just for one year because they thought I had been a good T.A. [teaching assistant],” Noble says. “It’s been 13 years, and I’m still here.” Noble, who was recently promoted to associate clinical professor in the OSU School of Media & Strategic Communications, is ready and willing to teach whatever courses the school asks of her. She has taught almost every PR or strategic communications course the school offers, as well as reporting and sports media courses. Her enthusiasm is also part of the reason why Noble even- tually found herself becoming involved with the Stillwater City Council. A zoning issue caused Noble to realize how much city government affected her and her neighbors. As a neighborhood leader, she addressed the city council planning commission; soon, her neigh- bors and her son were encouraging her to run for city council. “It made me think that people have to do this, and I could do this,” Noble says. “This is something that is an important job in the city. I just decided I would try.” In 2013, Noble was elected as a city councilor. Over two years, she worked with Stillwater residents to address issues such as zoning, city infrastructure and budget concerns. She grew more passion- ate about public service and felt good about helping Stillwater and its people move forward. When former Mayor John Bartley’s term was coming to an end this year, Noble realized that with her son leav- ing for college in the fall, the timing for a mayoral run couldn’t be better. She began her campaign in early 2015, and many of her students and colleagues pitched in with television ads, radio spots and overall campaign management. Jarilyn Blaine, an OSU junior in multi- media journalism, has had Noble as an internship adviser and says the decision to work on her campaign was an easy one. “I am interested in politics and was excited to work on a campaign,” Blaine says. “I was really excited to work with Gina because after talking to her I knew she could help Stillwater move in the right direction.” Noble had the support of the OSU community, but how would the Stillwater community respond? On April 7, the community answered when Noble won the mayoral race. Now that she is Mayor Gina Noble, what will happen to professor Gina Noble? Noble knew she couldn’t afford to leave her students, both emotionally and financially, as the position of mayor is voluntary and unpaid. She is prepared to find a balance between professor, mayor and mom. “I’m already really organized and plan things down to the minute,” Noble says. “I’ll continue to do what I did for city council because it’s worked well for me. On a daily basis, I’ll get up early and check and answer all my emails and do a little work on everything in the evenings. I do my real ‘homework’ during the weekends.” As a faculty member at OSU, she is in a unique position to bridge the city and university communities. Stillwater Public Schools have a high number of teachers with master’s degrees, and Stillwater High School students often take free classes through OSU to give them a head start on college. Noble wants to take advantage of Stillwater’s “education community” — it houses OSU’s main campus, Meridian Technology Center and the headquarters of Oklahoma CareerTech — for her plat- form of encouraging OSU graduates to “work, play and stay” in Stillwater. “Stillwater is truly my home, and there’s no better city in Oklahoma,” Noble says. “I can’t think of anything better than keep- ing some of the talent coming through to stay here and help Stillwater grow.” CITY OF STILLWATER