Statement from David Boren to the Board of Trustees

Dear Friends:

I wish I could be with you in person today to express my deep appreciation for all the hard work and support that you have given to the Foundation. Because of your efforts, the Foundation has been very effective in accomplishing its mission to improve public education through the recognition of outstanding educators and students in public schools. It could not have happened without your dedication, and I am very grateful.

Never has the mission been more important. Our schools have been buffeted by destructive forces like never before. They are in desperate need of adequate funding. They have been negatively impacted by the pandemic and the shortage of teachers who have had to do their work under terrible circumstances. At the same time, our public schools have become a battleground for cultural and political wars. Our educators do not receive the recognition and respect that they deserve. Reading and other educational scores are precipitously declining.

All of this is happening as our country is locked in a struggle to remain a world leader. Some economists believe that China has already overtaken the United States economically. No one doubts that others are rapidly gaining on us.

We cannot remain a first-rate nation unless we have a first-rate system of public education. We have no time to waste if America is to have a bright future. My hope is that the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence will continue to play its role for many years to come, and that it will be part of a renaissance of public education in our state and union.

I wish I were 20 years younger and in good health so that I could continue to play an active role. Regrettably, this is not the case, and I am unable to be as active in the work of the Foundation as a Chairman should be. For these reasons, I have decided that I should step down from the chairmanship. While I step away from the Chairmanship, I will certainly always remain an enthusiastic supporter of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. I will always be proud of its work, and I will always be grateful to the dedicated supporters who have given it life for almost 40 years.

David L. Boren

Annual Meeting Remarks from OFE President Andrew Morris

(The following remarks are excerpts from Andrew Morris's Annual Meeting address to trustees.)

I think it’s appropriate that we take a minute to compare the present of the Foundation to what Chairman Boren and a group of 155 other trustees started 37 years ago. This foundation is what it is, in large part, because of the leadership and support that we have received from David and Molly Boren, as well as the other founding trustees and the many trustees who have served this organization for so long.

Since establishment, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence has:

• Recognized 3,600 Academic All-Staters and 181 Medal for Excellence honorees

• Sent hundreds of teachers on Fund for Teachers fellowships quite literally around the globe

• Allowed nearly one thousand history and civics teachers to experience Colonial Williamsburg and bring that experience back to their classroom

• Given significant other professional development grants

• Provided support for countless mentors and mentoring programs

• Hosted both in-person and virtual Colonial Days for tens of thousands of Oklahoma students

• Provided resources, networking, and growth opportunities to just about every local school foundation in the state of Oklahoma

That is pretty incredible! I would like to thank Chairman and Mrs. Boren for their commitment and support of this foundation and for the vision that they had for it, as we look at all the good it has accomplished over the past 37 years.