Sooner Club Profile: The Meeks

NORMAN, Okla. -- Norman is a three-hour drive from Waynoka, a tiny town tucked away in the northwest corner of the state. But the 300 mile round-trip trek does nothing to hamper the Sooner spirit of Mike and Lee Ann Meek.

Chances are when you pull into the Lloyd Noble Center for a men's or women's basketball game, the Meeks' red Cadillac is one of the first cars you'll see. Whether it's basketball or football, if the Sooners are playing you'll find the Meeks in the stands.

Married 14 years, Mike and Lee Ann's first date was to the OU vs. Colorado football game in 1989. Mike has been a football season ticket holder for 38 years.

"I got out of the Army and applied for season tickets and was able to get them for the 1973 season -- Switzer's first year," Mike said.

In addition to their constant support from the stands, the Meeks have also been proud members of the Sooner Club for the past 20 years. Since 2007 they have provided tremendous financial assistance to OU's student-athletes as members of the Bud Wilkinson Society.

"It was just the fact that financially we got to a point where we could do that," Mike said of their annual contributions. "There are different reasons for our giving. Part of it is the benefits we receive but it's just as much about helping young people.

"When you get older it is kind of your job, your obligation, your duty to help younger people. That's just the way it works. We got to the point where we could, so that's just what we do," he said.

During last year's Year of the Fan open house event, the Meeks, like many other Sooner Club members and fans, got to see the facilities that their generosity helps provide for OU's student-athletes. According to Lee Ann they were in awe getting to see inside the Switzer Center, coaches' offices and football locker room. But the thing that struck them the most was the learning and academic center.

"When we left, that was the thing we both talked about the most," Lee Ann said. "All of the support and all the facilities they have for the student-athletes -- to be able to succeed not just in their sport but in the classroom and have the opportunity to earn a degree. I really had no idea they had anything like that."

For the Meeks, like many other Sooner Club members, the opportunity to provide OU's student-athletes with the resources to be successful in the classroom, in competition and in life is what encourages them to give year after year.

On a football road trip Lee Ann was talking to the mother of one of the players. The mother asked which player was hers. Lee Ann replied that they feel like all of the players are theirs.

"We just love them all, not anybody in particular," Lee Ann said. "Even if you don't know those kids at the beginning it is great to watch them grow. They are Sooners and that means they are family."

"The neat thing about college athletics is that it's a revolving door," Mike added. "The faces change every year. There is always a new class coming in and you get to watch them grow and mature from year to year. You can really see the change in those kids from when they arrive to the day they finish."

Thanks to the continued support of donors like the Meeks, the Sooner Club has increased its annual fundraising from just under $8 million in 2001 to over $19 million in 2010. This year the goal is to surpass the $20 million mark for the first time in program history.

The Sooner Club is committed to equipping OU's 600+ student-athletes with the tools necessary to pursue all of their scholastic and athletic goals. The OU Athletics Department is entirely self-supporting and receives no state funds, university subsidies or student fees. The Department's reliance on private support increases each year as the cost of education and the resources necessary to maintain a championship athletics program continue to escalate.

"Whatever we have donated to the Sooner Club, we always feel like we get back far more than we put into it," Mike said. "To be able to watch these kids achieve their goals athletically and also in higher education, we just feel blessed and rewarded by watching them."

For more information on joining the Sooner Club, or to renew your membership, visit TheSoonerClub.com, or contact the office at (405) 325-8000 or toll-free at (866) SOONER CLUB.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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