- Alumni Excellence Award -
Our third Alumni Excellence Award goes to Michael Synar, Central High School Class of 1968. Mike was involved in many activities at Central, such as being elected state Junior Classical League (Latin Club) president, All School Musical, and speech/debate. At the national high school Extemporaneous Speaking Championship he debated against future NBC newscaster Jane Pauley. From a ranching family, while in high school Mike was a two-time National 4-H champion. He attended the University of Oklahoma, where he was voted Man of Distinction. He earned a master’s in economics from Northwestern University and a juris doctorate from OU Law School before running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Mike took office on January 3, 1979, and in 1980 was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of America by the United States Jaycees. As the maverick Congressman from Oklahoma Mike was influential in many House committees and projects including chairing the Subcommittee on Environment, Energy and Natural Resources, fighting against tobacco advertising, and helping found the Rural Health Care Coalition.
Many of his battles were not popular, such as championing better gun control, higher pricing for cattle grazing on public lands, and for campaign finance reform during the Gramm-Rudman debate. However, Mike stood true to his convictions. He was instrumental in the passage of the Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994. He was diagnosed with brain cancer that year and his term of office ended on January 3, 1995, after eight consecutive terms. In 1995 he was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. In accepting the award he said, "I believe that to be courageous is to be guided by your own internal compass, rather than popular decisions and the madness of crowds." Mike Synar passed away on January 9, 1996. His obituary appeared in the New York Times and other influential newspapers. The Mike Synar Center on the NSU Muskogee campus was named in his honor.
