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  • September 11, 2026
  • Sean Doherty

Applications Due Oct. 1 for Reichenberger Legacy Scholar Program Trip to Philadelphia

Six people in matching black “NWOSU Donovan Reichenberger Scholar 2026” hooded sweatshirts stand in a row on grass at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, with rolling green countryside and a clear blue sky behind them.
Northwestern Oklahoma State University's inaugural class of Donovan Reichenberger Legacy Scholars and their faculty organizers while visiting the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Collinsville, Illinois, in April 2026. Left to right: Dr. Aaron Mason, Keegan Logsdon, Channing Dillinger, Ava Carr, Jacob Arnold and Dr. Eric Schmaltz.
Six Northwestern Oklahoma State University students and faculty members walk single file along a dirt path across a broad grassy plaza at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, with Monks Mound and its wooden staircase rising in the distance beneath a clear blue sky.
The inaugural class of Donovan Reichenberger Legacy Scholars crosses the Grand Plaza toward Monks Mound at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in April 2026.
Three people from Northwestern Oklahoma State University, seen from behind wearing backpacks, walk across a wide green field toward Monks Mound at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. A large tree stands in front of the flat-topped earthen mound, with a wooden staircase running up its side under a blue sky.
Members of Northwestern Oklahoma State University's inaugural Donovan Reichenberger Legacy Scholar class walk toward Monks Mound at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Collinsville, Illinois, during the program's inaugural trip in April 2026.
Northwestern Oklahoma State University students in hooded sweatshirts and backpacks walk up a gravel path toward a long concrete staircase climbing the grassy slope of Monks Mound. A single figure stands at the top against a blue sky.
Donovan Reichenberger Legacy Scholars approach the staircase to the summit of Monks Mound, the largest pre-Columbian earthwork north of Mexico, at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Collinsville, Illinois.

ALVA, Okla. — Northwestern Oklahoma State University students have until Thursday, Oct. 1, to apply for the 2026-2027 Donovan Reichenberger Legacy Scholar Program, which will send selected students to Philadelphia in February 2027.

The Northwestern Department of Social Sciences runs the program, titled “Rangers Walking Through History — Philadelphia 2027.” Students will explore American exceptionalism and the role Philadelphia may have played in shaping it.

The program gives students real-world exposure to ideas and concepts covered in traditional classroom study through travel and first-hand experience at historic locations. Selected students receive free travel, courtesy of the Reichenberger Legacy Scholar Endowment.

How to Apply

  • Deadline: Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026
  • Eligibility: all full-time Northwestern undergraduate and graduate students
  • Not eligible: concurrent high school students
  • Minimum age: 18
  • Online: Apply online for the Donovan Reichenberger Legacy Scholar Program
  • Download: Download the Donovan Reichenberger Legacy Scholar application form (PDF)
  • Hardcopy: Email the completed form to Dr. Eric Schmaltz at ejschmaltz@nwosu.edu
  • Questions: Contact Schmaltz by email or at 580-327-8526

Philadelphia Sites Students Will Visit

Students will visit sites vital to the American Revolution and the formation of the U.S. Constitution, including:

  • Christ Church and the Christ Church Burial Ground
  • The Declaration House
  • George Washington’s President’s House Site
  • Independence Hall
  • Congress Hall
  • The Supreme Court Chamber at Old City Hall
  • The First Bank of the United States
  • The National Constitution Center
  • Carpenters’ Hall
  • The Library of the American Philosophical Society
  • The Museum of the American Revolution
  • The Benjamin Franklin National Memorial in the Franklin Institute
  • The Liberty Bell Center
  • The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolution
  • The site of the Walnut Street Prison

How the Program Works

The program has two components.

The first component begins this fall. Students review online resources, read required texts and meet with faculty to discuss theories associated with American exceptionalism.

Students must complete these requirements to move on. Northwestern Department of Social Sciences faculty members overseeing the program judge student performance at this stage.

The second component is the trip itself in February 2027. Students agree to make the trip and to follow all university and departmental protocols while traveling.

After they return, students write a final assignment on a topic the faculty organizers choose. Students who complete both components may earn the Donovan Reichenberger Legacy Scholar designation and receive a certificate. They can then list the distinction on their resumes for graduate school applications or employment.

The inaugural class — Jacob Arnold, a senior history major from Enid; Ava Carr, a senior history major from Tuttle; Channing Dillinger, a sophomore agriculture major from Hugoton, Kansas; and Keegan Logsdon, a junior political science major from Alva — traveled to Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Collinsville, Illinois, in April 2026.

Donovan Reichenberger, Northwestern Oklahoma State University alumnus, faculty member and benefactor, in a studio portrait wearing eyeglasses, a dark suit jacket, white dress shirt and a gray patterned tie against a dark maroon background.

Donovan Reichenberger’s Legacy at Northwestern

Donovan Reichenberger was born Aug. 5, 1926, in Mount Hope, Kansas, and graduated from high school in Sharon, Kansas. He served in the U.S. Navy for 18 years beginning in 1945, with assignments in the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, during World War II and the Korean War.

He married Dorothy Teutschmann on June 6, 1958. After his naval service the couple moved to Alva, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in social science from Northwestern State College, now Northwestern Oklahoma State University, in 1965. He earned a master’s degree from Wichita State University in 1967 and joined the Northwestern history department that same year.

He also served as Northwestern’s faculty representative for the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference from 1975 until his retirement in December 1992, after 25 years of service. After retiring, he served as chairman of the Centennial Steering Committee and helped plan Northwestern’s 100th anniversary.

In 1996, he and his wife created the Donovan Reichenberger Chair in History. The gift provided non-appropriated funds to benefit Northwestern’s history program. That gift and the couple’s many other contributions continue to support the Northwestern Department of Social Sciences. Dorothy Reichenberger died in 2005. Donovan Reichenberger died Dec. 14, 2020.

Contact Information

  • Program contact: Dr. Eric Schmaltz, Northwestern Department of Social Sciences chair and professor of history — ejschmaltz@nwosu.edu, 580-327-8526

Media Contact:

Sean J. Doherty, University Relations Specialist
Email: sjdoherty@nwosu.edu
Phone: 580-327-8480

 

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