FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                    October 3, 2007

LEGENDARY RANGER ATHLETE PLEDGES $25,000 TO VISION FOR VICTORY CAMPAIGN

            As a former All-America football player and three-sport letterman at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, Stewart Arthurs clearly understands the role that athletics plays in the life of his alma mater.

            To this day, Arthurs cherishes the camaraderie shared with his teammates and wants future Rangers to have the same opportunities that he experienced.

            That is why Arthurs has presented Northwestern with a gift of $25,000 to support the Vision for Victory athletics campaign that will renovate the football and baseball venues.

            “I am so appreciative of what Northwestern has done for me,” Arthurs said. “I wanted to give back something.

            “I am very much in favor of the plan to upgrade the facilities. The improvements are very much needed.”

            Bob Battisti, athletic director at Northwestern, said the school will name the team meeting room and public reception area in the new football locker room after Arthurs.

            Arthurs, who has served as the city attorney in Cushing since 1970, has a storied history at Northwestern.

            A native of Bristow, Arthurs was an all-state basketball player in high school and had his sights set on continuing his career at Northwestern as a football player.

            “I wanted to play football at Northwestern, but the school did not have a scholarship available for me,” he said. “They offered me a basketball scholarship instead.”

            Arthurs took that scholarship and went on to earn all-conference honors for three years. In 1960, he led the team in scoring with 13.7 points per game. He also was a conference champion in track competing in the low hurdles.

            However, Arthurs’ greatest fame came on the gridiron, where he earned All-America honors in 1960 and established new school records in career rushing yards, career touchdowns and touchdowns in a season. He also was named an academic All-American in 1960 and 1961, and served as the president of the Student Government Association as a senior.

            Arthurs earned 12 varsity letters.

            “At that time, they told me I was the first person since Junior Johnson to accomplish that feat,” Arthurs said.

            Arthurs attended Northwestern at the same time his mother Marie was beginning her career as an English professor at the school, becoming one of its most respected and beloved faculty members.

            “She set the bar a little high,” Arthurs said.

            Just like he did as a student-athlete, Arthurs distinguished himself in his professional career. Following graduation in 1962, he was awarded a Rotary Foundation scholarship that allowed him to study at the London School of Economics. He graduated from law school in 1966 and went into private practice.

            Arthurs served three years on the Board of Governors for the Oklahoma Bar Association and nine years as a trustee for the Oklahoma Bar Foundation. Arthurs also is a retired U.S. Army colonel after serving with the Judge Advocate General corps.

            Northwestern’s Vision for Victory plan calls for nearly $4 million in renovations to the football and baseball venues. More than $1.8 million has been raised since the plan was unveiled in September.

            Arthurs is committed to helping the Vision for Victory dream become a reality.

            “This will put us in a position to be competitive in attracting great student-athletes,” he said. “There are a lot of people like me who benefitted from athletics at Northwestern, and we now have an opportunity to give something back.”

-NW-