By RACHEL EMERSON
Student Reporter
The Northwestern Enid campus recently gained two new additions.
The Northwestern Leadership Council in Enid and Student Services Coordinator Candace Reim took on a couple of projects in the last year, one of which not only benefitted the campus itself, but also the Enid community. The two projects are a new disc golf course on campus and the new student lounge.
In January 2014 the Leadership Council was looking for something fun for students to do that would also bring more exposure to the school and recruit more students. Enid campus Dean Wayne McMillin had the dream of a disc golf course. They began fundraising to build the course and received a great deal of support, donations and sponsorship from the Enid community.
When the project first began, Reim posted on Facebook about the Leadership Council’s efforts to raise money for a disc golf course. She said, “The first person to come forward was our very own Dr. (John) Stockmyer.” They learned Stockmyer, an associate professor of business on the Enid campus, is actually a member of the Professional Disc Golf Association, so they sought his input in the project.
The next person to respond to the announcement of the new course was David North. A citizen of Enid, North had been trying to get a course built in town for a while and was interested in assisting the council. He put in numerous hours helping with this project. Not only did he help with the fundraising for it, he also designed and built the course.
“Without David we would not have been able to make this dream happen so fast,” said Reim.
The course consists of nine holes. Each hole was paid for by a sponsor and named after that sponsor, with the exception of the ninth hole. The first hole was named after North because of his dedication to the project. The ninth, and last, hole was named after McMillin. The Leadership Council thought they should name a hole after him, since it was his idea to build the course in the first place. They also feel they are lucky to have a Dean who spends time getting involved with the activities of the students because that is not something you see often at most Universities.
One reason the council wanted to build the course was to bring some recognition to the school. Since opening earlier this month, it has done just that. People are out playing most of the time and there are even people from all over the state coming to play.
The course is open and free to the public. Discs are available for purchase from the Leadership Council. The Council is in the process of planning a tournament at the course April 19 and The Tulsa Disc Golf Association has agreed to help host the tournament.
The Leadership Council and Reim also has begun work on a new student lounge for their campus.
They raised all of the money through fundraising events and began working on the project in October 2014. They painted the walls, including a mural of the “Ranger,” and the ceiling tiles in a red and black checker pattern. Wanting to get as much out of the money they’d raised for the lounge, Jessica Lounsbury, a student on the council, and Reim stood in line for five hours on Black Friday to buy TVs for the lounge. Also included in the lounge is a pingpong table and computers for students who don’t prefer the quiet of the library to have somewhere on campus to work. The council was able to complete the project just in time for classes to start in January.