Orange Pride: Alnetta Morris

Oklahoma State University-Tulsa community engagement coordinator Alnetta Morris has planted joy on the OSU-Tulsa campus from the start.

She started her role in January 2021 and instantly made it her own.

The position of community engagement coordinator creates and leads initiatives to help OSU-Tulsa invest in the lives, businesses and organizations of its neighboring communities – but Morris has gone above and beyond the job description to establish the campus as a welcoming hub for service and education for all walks of life.

“I have a passion. It’s not a job to me,” Morris said. “I love what I do and I think that comes across in the work and what it takes to put it together. I don’t mind doing the work, because it’s for my community, and for OSU-Tulsa.”

Passion and Excellence

Morris’ passion and proficiency in her role has earned her the Orange Pride Award for Employee Excellence. The award is presented to a member of the OSU-Tulsa staff who demonstrates outstanding customer service skills and efforts above and beyond their normal job duties.

Her kindness and personality have led her to a network of passionate and service-minded people and organizations in the city who are excited to host programs, teach workshops and work events.

“I think what’s been a big plus for me, is that the world is small,” Morris said. “People I have worked with 10, 15 years ago, I’ve been able to make those connections and form those relationships.

Through her dedication to service, education and leadership in Tulsa organizations such as Solid Foundation Preparatory Academy, First Baptist Church North Tulsa and the Alpha Xi Sigma chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, she has made connections that have turned into community partnerships.

“When I reach out, they know I come from a good place.”

The Power of Community

The success of Morris’ outreach and programming have turned into popular and reoccurring opportunities for impact at OSU-Tulsa. Many of last year’s successful events are back by demand – including a Back-to-School Bash to provide school supplies and other resources for kids, and a STEMFORCE workshop to help middle and high school students explore STEM careers.

Morris also continues work on pre-collegiate conferences to introduce high schoolers to education and careers beyond their high school diploma, which served more than 2,000 students last year from Union, Jenks and McLain High Schools and included Spanish-language opportunities.

She is looking forward to expanding and extending OSU-Tulsa’s offering of the popular Money Matters workshop series, which teaches financial literacy lessons for all ages. Credit recovery and house buying workshops for adults are also in the works.

These opportunities are produced by Morris’ deep-rooted connection to Tulsa, listening to what OSU-Tulsa’s neighbors say they need and working to find low-cost and free programs to provide it.

“The community is behind me, OSU is behind me,” Morris said. “They say ‘if you build it they will come,’ so if I dream it, it will happen. I’ve been very blessed these things have happened, but it’s because of the community that this dream has come together.”