Bryce McKinnis, the new Director of Marketing and Communications at USAO, started this past November. He began as a Communication major at the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO). After getting his degree, he worked as a sportswriter for The Tulsa World, one of the largest newspapers in the state. However, after two years, he felt that it was time for a change.
“I wasn’t really getting to utilize some of my natural skills, like leadership, project management and really working with other people,” McKinnis said.
A job search led to him finding the Director of Marketing and Communications position for the University of Science and Arts (USAO), and he applied.
For McKinnis, being able to work at a school like the USAO is a chance for him to prove that no matter where you start, you can do something great. He comes from a no income household, in which both he and his sister were raised by a single, disabled mother. Growing up, he wanted to be a sportswriter, and he excelled in high school, even earning scholarships to places like the University of Oklahoma. Mckinnis decided on UCO because he needed to attend a more affordable college.
“My goal was always to make the most of it and to compete when I entered the professional world with the people who had gone to larger universities, and to show them, you know what? Just because I didn’t go to OU or OSU doesn’t mean I can’t be just as good, if not better than you, at this,” McKinnis said.
His upbringing is what gave him the motivation to strive to do better.
One of the goals McKinnis has for the Marketing and Communications department is to keep the history of the university intact while looking toward the future. He aims to get more attention on USAO, be it through local TV or statewide newspapers. He believes it deserves to have its place in the sun and wants to see it flourish.
“I think that’s the USAO story, [It’s] overcoming. We’ve been overcomers at this university for over 115 years, and I think the story that will be told about this university is that we persevered, we created leaders, and we did it with generally under-privileged kids,” McKinnis said.
This mentality is a part of what keeps McKinnis from folding under the pressure of being Director of Marketing and Communications at a school with such a rich history. His desire to provide opportunities for the future students of USAO, who are the future of the county, is what drives him.
McKinnis believes that regular people are what make the world better. He believes that education is important to invest in and he loves that he gets to help aid in that.
For McKinnis, USAO is more than a job. It’s a career, it’s what gets him out of bed in the morning, but more importantly, it’s where he feels he belongs.
Malik Roberts is a second-year communication major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
