Scholarships are often about so much more than money. For example, the C.W. Riley Memorial Honors Scholarship symbolizes family more than finances.

Oklahoma Baptist University Honors Program students gathered in the Honors Suite at the Mabee Learning Center on August 22 for a special ceremony to celebrate the C.W. Riley Memorial Honors Scholarship recipients.

The scholarship, funded by Mark Riley, owner of Walker Funeral and Cremation Services, honors his late father, C.W. Riley. The scholarship is awarded to three freshmen or sophomores who have experienced a death in the family and embody the Honors program’s core values of pursuing truth, goodness, and beauty each year.

Mark Riley presents the C.W. Riley Memorial Honors Scholarship to Klaire Landham, a freshman nursing major. Photo provided.

The scholarship recipients are Klaire Landham, a freshman nursing major, Kordon Brinkley, a freshman pre-allied health major, and Kayla Easter, a sophomore biology major.

Mark Riley’s connection to the OBU Honors Program began when one of the program’s students completed an internship at Walker Funeral and Cremation Services.

During the ceremony, Mark Riley shared with the recipients his great love and appreciation for his father C.W. Riley, a computer systems analyst at the Boeing Corporation, who died when Mark was a sophomore in college.

“My father was a brilliant man, one of the smartest people I ever met on the face of this planet,” he said. “The wealth of information that he held in his mind was just incredible. I could always ask him any question and I could always get an answer. Maybe one out of a hundred, he would say I don’t know, and we’d go to the encyclopedia or go find it. I didn’t realize at the time, as a child, what a blessing that was to me.”

Riley was asked about his commitment to supporting the honors program and its students.

“I’m pleased to support each of you, recognizing that you too, have had challenges in losing someone very close to you,” he said. “That was one of the reasons that I wanted to help others who had had some of those challenges. My father also encouraged me to care for others. He taught me that you will never care for yourself if you’re not caring for others. Whatever you do with this, I support you and know that you have an ally in this community.”

The OBU Honors Program offers a rigorous academic experience for students who are committed to intellectual and personal growth. To be eligible for the program, students must have a minimum unweighted GPA of 3.5. While there is no minimum test score requirement, the average ACT composite score for the last five entering classes has been 29, and the average SAT score has been 1350. A comparable CLT score would be 91.

In the Honors Program, students engage with the works of history’s greatest thinkers, including Plato, Aristotle, Homer, and Shakespeare, through classes that alternate between group lectures and smaller seminars. The program is designed as an ongoing conversation about the pursuit of truth, beauty, justice, and redemption.

Mark Riley presents the C.W. Riley Memorial Honors Scholarship to Kordon Brinkley, a freshman pre-allied health major. Photo provided.

Honors students also have the opportunity to participate in a month-long, low-cost summer study abroad program led by OBU faculty. Previous trips have included destinations such as England, Scotland, and France, with future trips potentially including China, Peru, and Greece. These study-abroad experiences allow students to earn OBU class credit while exploring the world and deepening their academic understanding.

In addition to their coursework, Honors students take part in colloquia—small, seminar-style classes on specialized topics. These classes provide students with the chance to explore subjects beyond their major, such as “Musings on the Multiverse” and “The Medieval Roots of The Lord of the Rings.” Many students complete their Honors experience by writing a thesis within their major, guided by professors who are experts in their fields.

Participation in the Honors Program at OBU prepares students for future success in graduate studies and prestigious careers. However, the true rewards lie in the relationships students build with their peers and faculty and the ideas they engage with during their time in the program.

For more information about the OBU Honors Program and how to apply, go to https://www.okbu.edu/academics/honors/honors-application.html.

Feature photo provided – Mark Riley presents the C.W. Riley Memorial Honors Scholarship to Kayla Easter, an Oklahoma Baptist University sophomore biology major