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Council to change tax ordinance to enable Gilcrease demolition

Back at the beginning of March, we reported that Gilcrease Museum would not be renovated and expanded, as Tulsa voters were promised in April 2016, but would instead be demolished and rebuilt as a smaller facility, with the help of funding from the University of Tulsa and other donors. The...

Posted by Michael Bates on May 22, 2020 2:18 AM

Gilcrease Museum demolition

Lower Falls of the Yellowstone, Thomas Moran, 1893 Remember when we voted on the Vision Tulsa package in 2016? Did you know you were voting to demolish Gilcrease Museum and build a smaller one in its place? Me, neither. But it was announced last month that demolition is what we're...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 2, 2020 11:55 PM

Jacob Howland speaks at Hillsdale: University of Tulsa, GKFF, and the surveillance state

Back on February 4, 2020, Jacob Howland, University of Tulsa professor of philosophy, and a leader in the fight against the corporate takeover of the university, spoke at Hillsdale College on TU's restructuring, on the influence of the George Kaiser Family Foundation, on GKFF's view of Tulsa as "beta city"...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 2, 2020 10:38 PM

Geoffrey Orsak "kindest man on the planet," writes mother-in-law

Last night I received an email from Gretchen Bohnert of Houston in reply to my recent blog entry about the mysterious and sudden dismissal of University of Tulsa President Geoffrey Orsak after only 74 days in office. Mrs. Bohnert is the mother of Orsak's wife Cate, and she wrote to...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 24, 2012 11:01 PM

Geoffrey Orsak: A sudden and mysterious dismissal

On Wednesday, September 12, 2012, the University of Tulsa suddenly fired President Geoffrey Orsak just 74 days after he took the post. The former SMU Dean of Engineering had been granted a leave of absence the day before to be with his father, reported to be in hospice care in...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 13, 2012 11:14 PM

Herb Johnson still playing pro basketball, 25 years after TU

A friend sent along a fascinating sports story from Yahoo sports blog "The Dagger": 25 years after playing for Nolan Richardson at the University of Tulsa, 6'10" center Herb Johnson, who celebrated his 48th birthday last month, is still playing pro basketball. Drafted by Cleveland in 1985, but never playing...

Posted by Michael Bates on January 2, 2011 11:25 PM

Urban notes, 2010/07/20

Recent articles of interest on urban policy, both in Tulsa and elsewhere: Daniel Jeffries posts a map of the present-day University of Tulsa campus, comparing it to a map from the 1960s, showing the removal of the street grid over the last half century, and adding this comment: TU continues...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 20, 2010 6:25 PM

TU in the 1940s at Circle Cinema

Tonight (November 30, 2009) also brings another fascinating glimpse of Tulsa's past to the Circle Cinema in Whittier Square, Admiral Blvd. and Lewis Ave.: RadioTU presents a screening of "Going to College", a film about life at The University of Tulsa in the forties, on Monday, November 30 at 7:00...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 30, 2009 2:08 PM

Small world, isn't it?

I'm reluctant to post this, because it could be read as conspiracy-mongering, but I was just fascinated by all the interconnections evident in a single Tulsa World story about a new professorship at the University of Tulsa College of Law. The new chair in energy law is being endowed by...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 29, 2009 11:56 PM

Good news from TU workshop

Last night, on TulsaNow's public forum, DSJeffries posted this summary of last night's PLANiTULSA workshop for the TU area: It seems everyone in this area is on the same page: -Bringing in new businesses and housing while preserving our great existing brick buildings -Establishing a link to downtown via 6th...

Posted by Michael Bates on February 24, 2009 5:23 PM

Mu-ve along, little dogies

When I'm writing a column that has a historical angle, I'll look through the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps or the 1957 Polk Directory for Tulsa. Writing about the Pearl District, I was browsing the street listings for 5th Pl. In 1957, Paul Harvey's mom, Mrs. Anna D. Aurandt, still lived...

Posted by Michael Bates on February 16, 2009 11:32 PM

"TU has lost a sense of belonging to Tulsa"

Dan Weber, a senior at the University of Tulsa, has a column in the school's student newspaper, The Collegian, about the impact of TU's campus expansion and its efforts to attract more residential students on its relationship with the city from which it takes its name: [The class of 2009...

Posted by Michael Bates on January 26, 2009 11:56 PM

Hurricane Homecoming '69, part 2

Irritated Tulsan has posted the second set of scans from the program for the 1969 University of Tulsa football homecoming game against the University of Houston. This section includes player photos and plenty more ads, including a KTUL channel 8 ad featuring their sports director, Hal O'Halloran, a fine man...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 20, 2008 1:17 AM

Irritated Tulsan on a tear

Irritated Tulsan says that this non-blogging life is interfering with his ability to write quality content, but that's manifestly not the case. Like an oyster, he continues to turn minor irritations into pearls of hilarity (and sometimes wisdom). Honest Downtown Tulsa Signs An open letter to Mayor Taylor, about her...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 14, 2008 12:31 PM

Condemning TU: University of Tulsa benefits from city's abuse of eminent domain

An edited version of this piece was published in the August 9, 2006, issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly. The edited, published version of the piece is online in the Internet Archive. Posted on the web April 28, 2013. Condemning TU By Michael D. Bates Usually it's the daily paper's editorial...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 9, 2006 12:52 AM