Megan Carline was 16 when she dropped out of high school. Eight years later she went back to school, became an honors student and will soon represent the state of Oklahoma at a national convention in California.

She said she would never have gone back to school if not for the help of a local college campus that allows her to pursue her business degree.

“This campus is a symbol of opportunity for our community,” the college sophomore told those attending a celebration Friday at the McAlester campus of Eastern Oklahoma State College.

Carline was one of three students at the school who spoke about the role the college has played in their efforts to earn their degrees.

“At 24, I felt it was too late” to go back to school, Carline said. But with the help of teachers and school officials, she discovered she could earn a college degree in McAlester, where bachelor’s and master’s level curriculums are offered through distance learning from East Central University and Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

Friday, Carline said she has been elected parliamentarian of the Oklahoma Chapter of Phi Betas Lambda business student organization.

She will represent the chapter at the organization’s national convention in Anaheim, Calif., this summer.

The EOSC-McAlester campus was first opened for classes 10 years ago, and Friday’s celebration observed the anniversary.

Kendra Burnside and Loretha Sweetin also spoke about their experiences as non-traditional students benefiting from courses offered at the campus.

Sweetin, a self-described “grandma,” said she earned her associate’s and bachelor’s degrees from EOSC and SOSU, respectively. “I took every class here,” she said, referring to the McAlester campus, and said she would never have been able to finish those degrees had she been forced to travel elsewhere for her studies. “I thought college was still for young kids,” she said. “This truly made a difference in my life.”

Dr. Stephen E. Smith, president of EOSC, also noted the centennial anniversary of the Wilburton school, a year-long event recognizing the college’s creation in 1908 as the Oklahoma School of Mines and Metallurgy. The name of the school, and its curriculum, changed several times before it became EOSC in 1972.

For several years, the school offered classes in McAlester, mostly at the high school after the traditional school day was over. Local bankers and philanthropists Clark and Wanda Bass recognized the need and stepped in to help.

First National Bank President Bruce Hall recalled those contributions made by the late Basses while they lived in McAlester.

“They were both visionaries with wealth,” he told those seated Friday in an auditorium and in a building both named in honor of the Basses.

The EOSC-McAlester campus became a reality after the Basses pledged more than $2 million and considerable time to the effort.

Lance Woodliff recalled serving as a trustee on a board with Wanda Bass created to help plan the campus. From securing the land to paying for a concrete parking lot, he said Bass devoted much of her time to making sure EOSC-McAlester was a first class institution.

“I can’t tell you how many people in McAlester Wanda involved,” he said, referring to those she consulted on everything from paint color schemes to furniture.

He agreed with Hall that the work done by the Basses in McAlester left a lasting mark for many generations

“They left McAlester, Southeast Oklahoma and the state of Oklahoma a whole lot better than they found it,” Hall said.

Others speaking Friday included McAlester Campus Director Nikki Heath, Mayor Kevin Priddle, Mike Bailey of the EOSC Board of Regents, Dr. Duane Anderson and Dr. Michael Turner, presidents of ECU and SOSU, respectively, and legislators Rep. Dr. Brian Renegar and Sen. Richard Lerblance. They talked about their experiences with the schools, both in McAlester and at Wilburton, some as students, some as employees and some as partners in education.

Renegar said he graduated from EOSC and later returned to teach a couple of classes. He also took a course at the McAlester campus, and said while he’s working at the capitol, he sometimes has an opportunity to put to good use what he learned in that class.

“What I learned in American Sign Language, I use occasionally on the House floor,” he said, eliciting chuckles from throughout the Clark Bass Auditorium.

Lerblance addressed the importance of education and research in Oklahoma, and said he was glad to see Gov. Brad Henry’s veto of a bill banning stem-cell research in Oklahoma survive a debate Thursday in the Senate.

“Whether you agree with (stem cell research) or not, if that bill had stood, that gives the state of Oklahoma a black eye of what we think about research,” the senator said. “That we don’t want to do the research. We don’t want to step outside the box.

“Education is the success of Oklahoma.”

Contact Kandra Wells at kwells@mcalesternews.com.