Prentice Gautt Academic Center

ACADEMIC SUPPORT FOR STUDENT-ATHLETES

The Prentice Gautt Academic Center, at the University of Oklahoma, is the finest academic support facility in the nation. Student-athletes can come for academic assistance for more than 90 hours a week. The strong financial commitment by the department, coupled with the dedication of the Prentice Gautt Academic Center staff, makes this the premier student-athlete support center. This dedication creates a firm academic foundation for OU student-athletes.

Located on the second and third floors, in the north end of Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, the multimillion-dollar academic center began in 1992 and was expanded in 1994. A second renovation was completed in 2002. The Prentice Gautt Academic Center provides each student-athlete with a six-step graduation plan: assessment, skill development, counseling, academic recognition, faculty relations, and an Athletics Department managed residence community. This is accomplished through continued support of the Athletics Department.

The Prentice Gautt Academic Center operates in concert with the missions of the University of Oklahoma and the OU Athletics Department by providing leadership and professional services that guide, support and enhance the academic endeavors and holistic development goals of student-athletes.

Core Values

1. Integrity – We adhere to basic moral and ethical principles, and follow through on our commitments. We abide by governing codes of our work including NCAA, Conference and University rules, and actively encourage a culture of rules compliance and academic integrity in all we do.
2. Optimism – We seek the best in others with joy.
3. Respect – We honor and appreciate others and ourselves and treat everyone with kindness and courtesy.
4. Pedagogy – We embrace every opportunity to teach, learn, and promote self-directed lifelong learning.
5. Continuous Improvement – We get better every day as individuals and as a community.

Strategic Goals

1. Support the education of student-athletes as they progress toward earning a college degree.
2. Promote the health, safety, welfare and development of all student-athletes.
3. Continue to surpass required academic standards (e.g., eligibility, retention, graduation) set for student-athletes.
4. Enhance the intellectual, personal, career and civic interests of student-athletes.
5. Support the psychosocial health and mental performance of student-athletes.
6. Facilitate the campus integration of student-athletes.
7. Appreciate diversity and promote inclusion among student-athletes.
8. Implement best practices and pursue innovative approaches in student-athlete academic advising
and academic support.
9. Promote the professional development of staff.
10. Practice integrity, rules compliance and good sportsmanship in all our interactions.

REMEMBERING A SOONER HERO

In the fall of 1956, Prentice Gautt became the first African-American student-athlete to play football for OU. He was thought to be Oklahoma’s finest player on the 1958 team as he led the 1958 and 1959 teams in rushing. He earned All-Big Eight honors twice and was the outstanding player in the 1959 Orange Bowl. Off the field, Gautt was a gifted student, earning Academic All-America honors while playing at OU. He played professionally before joining the staff at Missouri as an assistant coach. He became an Academic Counselor and Counseling Psychologist in the Missouri Athletic Department, eventually earning his Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Missouri.

On April 1, 1979, he joined the staff of the Big Eight Conference as an Assistant Commissioner. He was named Associate Commissioner in May 1983 and, in June 1994, was promoted to Senior Associate Commissioner. When the Big 12 Conference was formed, Gautt was named as associate commissioner.

In honor of Prentice Gautt, the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents announced in March of 1999 that the athletic academic center would be renamed as the Prentice Gautt Academic Center. Formal ceremonies to rename the center were held in the fall of 1999.

“Prentice Gautt was truly a great person and he will be remembered as one of the most outstanding graduates in the history of the University of Oklahoma,” said OU President David L. Boren.  “His moral courage helped to bring racial justice, not only to our state and to intercollegiate athletics, but also to our entire nation.  His deep religious faith and quiet dignity, as well as his commitment to academic excellence, make him a worthy role model for the generations which will follow him. 

As today’s student-athletes pass through the doors of the center that bears his name, it would be appropriate to pause and think about the man behind that name. He came before you, not to make a path without challenges, but to give you the opportunity to travel that path. He left you a guide for how to do it with class and dignity and how to become the best person you can be. And ultimately, that is the best tribute any of us can pay Prentice Gautt.

CENTER MAP