Alyssa Rogers

Alyssa Rogers of Purcell is among the six graduating seniors at East Central University who have been selected as finalists for the George Nigh Award.

The award is to be presented Friday, May 15, at the 7 p.m. spring commencement ceremony to be held at the Koi Ishto Football Stadium.

The George Nigh Award goes to the top graduating senior from ECU annually and is named in honor of the former governor of Oklahoma and ECU alumnus.

In addition to his terms as governor, Nigh served multiple terms in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and as lieutenant governor. He also served as president of the University of Central Oklahoma.

The late Julian Rothbaum, a Tulsa oilman, banker, and state regent for higher education, established an endowment through the ECU Foundation, Inc., to fund the Nigh Award. Each year top ECU seniors are invited to apply and undergo a rigorous application and interview process.

Rogers will receive her B.A. in Education with University Honors, while maintaining a 4.0 GPA.

She is a member of Alpha Chi Honor Society and has distinguished herself through consistent academic excellence, including an Honors Thesis focused on Scarborough’s Reading Rope and its application in the classroom.

She is a founding member of the Tiger Education Association, where she has helped promote teacher readiness and support local schools through community engagement.

Within Chi Omega, she has held multiple roles, including DEI Chair and Alumni Relations Chair, while also serving on the ECU Panhellenic Council as Recruitment Chair.

Her commitment to service extends into tutoring students in the Ada community and participating in numerous campus and nonprofit volunteer initiatives.

Rogers has gained hands-on classroom experience as a daycare teacher and teacher’s assistant intern, where she has taught the foundations of reading, early math concepts, and student development across multiple age groups.

Following graduation, she plans to teach in Title I, rural elementary schools in Oklahoma, with a focus on long-term student growth and fostering a love for literacy.

She plans to pursue a master’s in reading instruction and become a reading interventionist, dedicated to improving literacy outcomes across the state.