OSU Regents approve honorary doctorate for special alum

Friday, March 7, 2014

The Oklahoma State University/A&M Board of Regents voted today to award an honorary doctorate to humanitarian and activist Dr. Tererai Trent in May, when she is scheduled to serve as speaker at OSU’s undergraduate commencement ceremonies. The honorary degree is subject to approval by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. 

Secretly educating herself as a youngster, Trent rose from a childhood of poverty in Africa to earn both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from OSU while raising a family. She shattered all barriers to become a symbol of hope for women in her home village and gained widespread attention when TV host Oprah Winfrey designated Trent her “all-time favorite guest.”

“Tererai’s story of hope, determination and hard-fought achievement is deeply inspiring for all of us,” said OSU President Burns Hargis. “We would be very pleased to recognize her with one of the university’s highest honors, the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.”  

Trent earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education from OSU in 2001, followed by a master’s degree in 2003 and a doctorate from Western Michigan University in 2009.

When Trent joined Winfrey as a guest on the Oprah Show in 2011, Winfrey announced that she had donated $1.5 million to help Trent build a school for the children in her hometown in Zimbabwe, Africa.