OU Order of the Coif Inducts Stan Evans as Honorary Member

March 7, 2017 | By Mackenzie Dilbeck, Director of Communications
As part of the Order of the Owl Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, the OU College of Law’s Order of the Coif chapter traditionally inducts a new honorary member. Last night, the chapter inducted Stan Evans as its 2017 Honorary Member.
 
Stan Evans became Dean of Students at OU Law in 2003. His appointment was unprecedented as he had just been a law student the year before. He was also the first African-American to serve in a Dean position at any Oklahoma law school.
 
During his tenure as Dean of Students, positive changes were seen at the College of Law: minority first year enrollment rate increased from 17 to 28% in one year; incoming minorities had the highest LSAT and GPA averages ever; bar passage rate jumped from 90 to 97% -- third highest in the U.S. in 2007; minority graduates’ bar passage rate jumped from 75 to above 90%; three times since 2005, the OU Law minority bar passage rate has been 100%; OU Law achieved the highest Native American attendance in the nation; and in 2009, OU Law was recognized by U.S. News as one of the 20 best law schools for diversity in the nation. Since his retirement from OU Law in 2012, he has continued to help students and alumni as a counselor, advisor, and recruiter.
 
As Chairman of the Oklahoma Human Rights Committee, Dean Evans energized the state on Human Rights awareness and sought recognition for outstanding leaders.
 
Evans served as the Chairman of the OBA’s Military and Veteran’s Section and is one of the leaders in Oklahoma Lawyers for America’s Heroes Program which provides free legal services to Oklahoma soldiers and veterans. He is also the chief legal coordinator for Oklahoma City’s MAKE-A-WILL and Family Financial Counseling Programs. Through the use of volunteer attorneys, and law students, over 500 families now have the tools to pass wealth from one generation to the next. For these two projects and his mentoring of young lawyers and students, he received two Oklahoma Governor’s Commendations and three major OBA Awards: 2011 Pro Bono Person of the Year, 2013 Diversity Award and the 2016 Trailblazer Award.
 
Evans is a Vietnam War veteran, and served 32 years rising to the rank of Colonel.
 
The Evans family has scholarships at the OU College of Journalism, the OU College of Law, and the OKC Urban League.
 
He and his wife of 48 years (Saundra) have two children (Lisa & Stan II). It was the loss of their oldest child, Lisa, in 1997 that caused a change of direction in their lives. They committed the rest of their lives to helping others create a vision of success, and to guiding people to become the best they can be.
 
Pictured: OU Order of the Coif Serjeant Prof. Jonathan Forman, Dean Stan Evans and OU Order of the Coif President Prof. Katheleen Guzman

The following recent graduates were also elected to membership in The Order because their grade records ranked in the top 10 percent of OU Law’s 2016 graduating class:

  • Stephen Michael Bergren
  • John Claude Brannan III
  • Nick Coffey
  • Maggie Dowdy
  • James D. Hall III
  • Nathan B. Hall
  • Mark Alan Hayes, Jr.
  • Jason W. Hubbert
  • Hilary Ann Hudson
  • Lindsay Nichole Kistler
  • Barbi McClennen Lorenz
  • Kendra Marie Norman
  • Ruth E. Stevens
  • Danielle Page Wojciak

In addition to honoring Evans and inducting the Class of 2016 members, the chapter also recognized three new faculty members who have exhibited qualities of scholarship consistent with the objectives of The Order: Profs. Roger Michalski, Melissa Mortazavi, and Josh Sellers.

Congratulations to Dean Evans, Profs. Michalski, Mortazavi, and Sellers, and the newest members of OU’s Order of the Coif!

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