CONNECT 2021

Locke became her mentor and was central to Hoyt’s experience at OSU. As a senior, Hoyt directed a production of Everyman at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. It was at one of the rehearsals that Locke gave Hoyt advice that she still remembers decades later. “Vivia said that the big secret of theatre is to just keep it simple,” Hoyt explained. She carried that advice through her graduation in 1966 and her master’s degree at Colorado State University. She returned to Oklahoma in 1977 and taught English and theatre at high schools in Perry and Oklahoma City. Theatre taught her the importance of understanding the history behind whatever book, play, poem or any other piece students are reading. This concept made her a better English teacher, she said, recalling a specific student performance of Riders to the Sea . The one-act play is set in Northern Ireland, and she had her students studying Celtic culture and early 1900s history. “I taught the kids the correct accent, the mourning process in Celtic culture and all the important aspects from that time period that needed to be portrayed correctly,” Hoyt said. “Theatre is a great way for students to understand the importance of learning about the world around them.” Throughout her teaching career, Hoyt used theatre to positively shape her students’ experiences and lives by allowing them to express their creativity through having fun with their own ideas. “I came in one night for rehearsal and they were fooling around as characters from Star Trek,” she said. “They were playing Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Sulu and a few other characters from the show. It was very creative, and they were having fun and enjoying what they were doing, which is what it’s all about.” Apart from inspiring creativity and learning, Hoyt made sure to prepare her students for the work that life would require of them. Hoyt retired in 2006 after 34 years of teaching. She enjoyed working with so many incredible students but knew that many of themwere not able to pursue theatre into college because of financial circumstances. “There are a lot of kids out there who were just like me,” she said, adding that Locke changed her life’s trajectory by offering her a scholarship. “They don’t have the opportunity to continue on with theatre financially, so when I had the chance to create this scholarship, there was really no choice, I just knew I was going to do it.” Hoyt’s scholarship will be funded through her estate, but she is already donating additional money to the fund and will get to meet the first recipient of her scholarship in the fall of 2022. Hoyt hopes this scholarship will be transformative for the OSUDepartment of Theatre and allow the recipients to do what they are passionate about. “My goal isn’t for them to become the next Helen Mirren or Lin-Manuel Miranda,” she said. “I just want them to be able to choose their own path. Everybody needs that opportunity.” OSU COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SC I ENCES 35