More stories of gifts in action

Celebrating Beauty, Inside and Out
Plunkett Park Beautification Campaign:

Gerald “Cowboy” Barnett Bell Plaza
When Gerald “Cowboy” Barnett first set foot on the UCO campus in the mid 1930s, no one could have anticipated the impact he would leave on those he taught and worked with.

“He made such an impression on people. They still love and adore him…people still say that he was their hero,” recalled Barnett’s daughter, B. Ann Cole.

Barnett graduated from Central in 1939 with a degree in Physical Education and athletic letters in eight different sports. He joined the college’s faculty that same year and coached its elementary and high school teams until he joined the Navy in 1942.

He returned in 1946 as an assistant professor of Physical Education and a coach for the basketball, football, baseball and tennis teams.

“He chose to be a teacher and coach, and you have to assume he did that because he cared about young people and the impact he could have on their lives,” added Roger Cole, B. Ann’s husband and member of the UCO Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

The Coles have chosen to honor Barnett’s legacy by making a lasting impact on UCO’s campus. Their generous contribution to the Plunkett Park Beautification Campaign allowed them the privilege to select the name for the latest phase of the project.

The Gerald “Cowboy” Barnett Bell Plaza, located on the north border of Plunkett Park, just east of Evans Hall, is the new home of the original bell that called students to class at the Territorial Normal School (UCO’s original name). Dedicated in September 2007, the plaza features attractive landscaping and gathering areas for students, faculty and visitors.

“It’s an opportunity to memorialize him and to be a part of something meaningful for UCO. I doubt there’s any other university I’ve been to in the state that has really put as much emphasis on their beautification as UCO has.

The atmosphere students will feel when they walk through campus…it really makes a difference,” said Roger Cole.

By all accounts, Barnett made his own difference while at UCO, with perhaps the strongest evidence of this coming when his life was tragically cut short at age 33 after a battle with liver cancer. His athletes kept a constant vigil at his hospital room until he passed away on October 18, 1950. B. Ann Cole, only nine years old at the time, remembers the church being so full for her father’s funeral, they had to install speakers outside.

“It was raining that day, and hundreds of people stood outside and waited for a chance to pay their respects.”

Now, rain or shine, those who walk UCO’s campus will be able to honor a man who left their university a better place because of his leadership and devotion to students.

(Photo:  Roger and B. Ann Cole visit the Gerald "Cowboy" Barnett Bell Plaza, which was dedicated in September 2007.)