The Gold Star Society
Join Other Supporters in Securing Our Future
By including Oklahoma City University in your estate plan, you are helping to strengthen the school and what we have to offer, benefit our students for generations, and create a meaningful legacy. Directed or unrestricted gifts that qualify for membership are gifts in a will or trust, charitable beneficiary designations (including transfer on death or payable on death designations), charitable remainder trusts, and gifts of life insurance.
The Gold Star Society is our way to show our appreciation and honor your commitment to supporting and transforming the university. Benefits of membership include:
- Welcome gift
- Tickets to holiday Vespers
- Tickets to select performing arts productions
- Annual newsletter
- Invitations to recognition events
- Special acknowledgment in Focus Magazine
If you are considering making a planned gift, please contact us if we can be of assistance or visit the Tools & Resources page.
You might also be interested in reading about how other supporters made planned gifts that provided benefits for us and for them. If you should be included in the Gold Star Society, please use the button below to notify us of your planned gift.
Gold Star Society Background
Oklahoma City University did not start out as the fully formed institution we know today. The early twentieth century was a difficult time for a fledgling university. As a result, the school’s name, its leaders, and even its location changed several times during those early years. In the face of so much instability, the university remained firmly attached to its Methodist roots as it evolved. The first incarnation of OCU was a little school called Epworth University that opened its doors to Oklahoma City students in 1904. The mid-1950s was an extraordinary time in the life of OCU campus development. Construction on a particularly special addition—the Gold Star Building, which memorialized the Americans felled by World War II—began in 1949.
The Gold Star Society
The Gold Star Building memorializes those from our OCU community who lost their lives in service to their country. The Gold Star Society recognizes those donors who make everlasting gifts to the future of OCU. The future of OCU is now shared with entering freshmen as they pass and touch the Gold Star sculpture after completing the matriculation convocation, beginning their experiences at OCU and remembering those who have dedicated their legacy so that OCU students may be forever changed. Then upon graduation, these same students touch the Gold Star to symbolize their growth throughout their time at Oklahoma City University.
The Gold Star Society was established to recognize the generosity and foresight of those who embrace the vision of our founders for OCU’s future by making certain planned gifts today. The hallmark of this special group of friends is its commitment to a vibrant, academically strong, and financially sound university, now and for years to come.
