David Boren obit

David Boren dies at 83: Leaves sweeping, complex legacy as politician, OU president

 

He was not on the list.

Former U.S. Senator, Oklahoma Governor and OU President David Boren died Thursday at 83.

At 2:22 a.m., Bob Burke, Boren’s longtime friend and manager of his 1978 Senate campaign wrote in an email to OU Daily that Boren had died surrounded by family at his home.

His lifetime in public service and 24 years as the university's president made him one of the most consequential leaders in Oklahoma history. In retirement, his legacy was tarnished by allegations of misconduct that he denied, was never indicted for and that the university he transformed continues to fight from becoming public in a protracted legal battle.

The son of a U.S. representative, Boren was born in Washington, D.C., on April 21, 1941. Growing up, Boren attended public school in Bethesda, Maryland, and his hometown of Seminole. He graduated from Yale University in 1963 and from the University of Oxford with a master’s degree as a Rhodes scholar in 1965. He earned a law degree from the OU College of Law in 1968.

After 28 years as a politician, rising from state representative to governor to U.S. senator, Boren spent another two-plus decades at OU as president before retiring from public service in 2018.

His efforts to enact open meeting laws for public bodies, advocate for increased governmental transparency and elevate educational initiatives defined his time in state office. As a U.S. senator, Boren was remembered as a bipartisan lawmaker who was the longest serving chair of the Senate intelligence committee, championed human rights and helped secure the release of Nelson Mandela.

At OU, where he became the university’s president at a time some thought he might vie to become the nation’s, the old-school Southern Democrat oversaw a vast and lasting transformation of a leading-edge Republican state’s flagship higher education institution and its reputation, from the physical appearance of campus to athletics and the student experience.

“No Oklahoman had more influence in the state's first century than David Boren,” wrote Burke. “His career in public service spanned more than a half century. No one has served in so many ways. … He truly believed that the education of our citizens was paramount to creating a better place to live and work.”

A year into his retirement, however, two OU graduates’ accusations of sexual misconduct against Boren and a longtime university associate led to the launch of an investigation. OU would also investigate and later acknowledge misreporting of alumni donor data to U.S. News & World Report during Boren’s tenure dating back to 1999. The investigations and a later lawsuit ensured the accusations — which Boren steadfastly denied — would shadow his legacy through his final years, which he largely spent at his ranch near Newcastle as his health declined.

OU hired law firm Jones Day to investigate the claims, which referred its findings to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. The bureau did not charge Boren with any crime, and no indictment was ever filed. All related files were labeled as personnel records and have not been made public. A lawsuit that argues the Jones Day reports should be released to the public under Oklahoma’s Open Records Act is currently on appeal.

In April 2023, those close to Boren organized a gathering at Norman’s Embassy Suites to celebrate his birthday. Some of the state’s most powerful and politically connected people were among the attendees, including billionaire oilman Harold Hamm, Tulsa philanthropist George Kaiser and former Gov. David Walters, per the Tulsa World. 

Today, Boren’s impact can still be felt across campus from his statue overlooking the North Oval to one of his proteges, Joseph Harroz Jr., serving in Evans Hall. Before becoming OU’s 15th president, Harroz was Boren’s legislative director and legal counsel in the U.S. Senate. Under Boren at OU, Harroz served as OU’s general counsel from 1996 to 2008, before becoming dean of the College of Law in 2010.

In an email sent to students and faculty, Harroz remembered Boren for his belief in bolstering higher education and his leadership.

“Few individuals have so wholeheartedly dedicated their careers to serving others as President Boren, who was driven by a bold vision to create a better, stronger future,” Harroz wrote. “He was guided by a steadfast philosophy of serving the greater good, as well as an enduring belief in the transformative power of education.”

Boren’s political career 1966-1994: Oklahoma House to U.S. Senate

In 1966, Boren entered politics and won a seat in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, representing Seminole County. He served four terms in the state Legislature, from 1967 to 1975. While in the Legislature, Boren practiced law in Seminole and chaired the social sciences department at Oklahoma Baptist University in nearby Shawnee.

In 1974, Boren ran for governor with the promise to reform the state government. He won and served a single term, becoming the youngest governor in the nation at 33, before launching a campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1978.

In 1968, Boren married his first wife, Janna Lou Little. They had two children, Dan — who served as a U.S. congressman from 2005 to 2012 — and Carrie, before divorcing in 1975. In 1977, Boren married then-Pontotoc County Special District Judge Molly Shi in the governor’s mansion.

In a statement provided to OU Daily by Burke, Dan Boren wrote that his father dedicated his life to public service and saw it as his calling.

“He was driven by a deep desire to improve the lives of others and build a better future for our state, nation and university. The countless heartwarming stories I hear almost daily from people across this state who he helped are reminders of his remarkable life,” Dan Boren wrote.

Though he won his campaign for Senate, Boren faced several accusations from his opponents, including that he was a Republican and that he was gay. After Boren won, he swore on a family Bible during a 1978 press conference that he was not.

“I further swear that I have never engaged in any homosexual or bisexual activities, nor do I approve of or condone them,” Boren said at the press conference, according to the Associated Press.

Boren served in the Senate through 1994, when he resigned to accept the position of president of OU. Boren was the last Democrat to serve as senator for Oklahoma.

His time in Washington was hallmarked by a chair position on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, a vote against the Gulf War, regret over his vote to confirm Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas in 1991 and a consideration for the role of defense secretary by former President Bill Clinton.

Boren’s Washington legacy left some colleagues like former Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) saying Boren should run for president of the United States. In 1996, Reform Party presidential candidate Ross Perot unsuccessfully sought Boren to be his running mate.

Boren’s OU presidency 1994-2018: Campus, academic, athletic improvements

OU under the Boren administration went through transformations physically, academically and athletically. Boren’s tenure followed the five-year stint of President Richard Van Horn, who resigned after several financial audits and investigations in 1993.

Boren raised over $2 billion from private donors and was dedicated to building study abroad programs and increasing the number of National Merit Scholars. Boren sought to increase the number of students studying abroad by 50% and provide new scholarships for those students.

Boren founded both the Honors College and the College of International Studies, the latter of which still bears his name. He oversaw the creation of over 30 new programs and OU Cousins, the establishment of flat-rate tuition and massive transformations to campus, including upgrades to or construction of Oklahoma Memorial Union, Holmberg Hall, the Michael F. Price College of Business, the Stephenson Research and Technology Center, Gaylord Hall and Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Sean Burrage, chancellor of Oklahoma higher education and former OU vice president for executive affairs and chief of staff under Harroz, wrote in a statement provided by Burke that Boren’s achievements in higher education are renowned.

 “David Boren’s contributions to Oklahoma higher education, our state, and our nation are immeasurable,” Burrage wrote. “As a statesman, lifelong public servant, and president of the University of Oklahoma for more than 20 years, his leadership, vision, and deep understanding of the value of education for every Oklahoman are widely recognized.”

Boren also expanded and improved on-campus housing options, including building Headington Hall, the residential colleges and Cross Village. Cross Village began as a financial burden for OU but has since become a staple for OU’s housing program.

Boren’s campus beautification efforts — often personally led by Molly Shi Boren — included the creation of 10 new gardens across the Norman and Health Sciences Center campuses funded by over $2 million in endowments. Other endowments focused on lighting buildings at night, including Evans Hall, Oklahoma Memorial Union and Bizzell Memorial Library. On the Norman campus, 20 new fountains and sculptures were placed during Boren’s tenure.

In an example that showcases the politically powerful connections he leveraged, over the span of three years, Boren brought to campus to deliver speeches former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1999, former Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2000, South African bishop Desmond Tutu in 2000, former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev in 2001 and former Sen. John McCain in 2001.

Boren was a major player in the success and improvements of OU’s athletic department. In 1995, he hired Patty Gasso as softball coach, and in 1998 he hired Joe Castiglione as athletic director and Bob Stoops as football coach. Under Boren, OU made multiple appearances in the College Football Playoff, made Final Four appearances in women’s and men’s basketball and won national titles in football, softball, men’s golf and women’s and men’s gymnastics.

Over the years, Boren was generally considered a proponent of student causes and activism. In 2015, he recognized OU’s first Indigenous Peoples Day.

In one of the most challenging moments in recent OU history, Boren took quick action against OU’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity chapter after a video that made international news was posted online showing members reciting a racist chant. Speaking the next day, before he closed the house, he said, “Real Sooners are not bigots. Real Sooners are not racists.” He also publicly denounced racist demonstrators on the South Oval in 2016.

In a statement provided by Burke, George Henderson, OU professor emeritus and civil rights activist, wrote that Boren had been his friend since Henderson arrived on campus in 1967.

“I am saddened by the news,” Henderson wrote. “He has been a caring and supportive friend to me and countless others. His love for the University of Oklahoma has been unmatched. His death will leave a hole in my heart — forever.”

Boren was also the subject of protests during his tenure, such as when students flooded Evans Hall after he commented on research about sexual assault on campus to OU Daily in 2016.

“We try to really train students about (sexual violence), and you try to also say, 'Don't get yourself in a situation where you're incapable of saying no,’” Boren said.

In 2016, a Boren-backed penny sales tax supporting public education was shot down by Oklahoma voters. The tax would have been distributed across K-12 schools, career and technical programs and higher education options.

It was the only political defeat of his career, and perhaps hastened the end of it as Oklahoma’s political climate continued to change. 

Ken Levit — a member of the Oklahoma Regents for Higher Education, executive director of the George Kaiser Family Foundation and former OU-Tulsa president who worked on Boren’s Senate staff in Washington — wrote in a statement provided by Burke that Boren was a mentor and teacher to countless Oklahomans who have followed his footsteps into public service and higher education careers.

“David Boren forged a path of exemplary public service and dedication to the state of Oklahoma and his country,” Levit wrote. “From his time as governor where he led a modernization of state government and made historic investments in education to his leadership in the U.S. Senate where he was a great reformer, bridge builder and a guiding hand for the country’s intelligence community, he led with wisdom, boundless energy and deep compassion. We were fortunate to claim him as an Oklahoman and his mark will endure for many generations to come.”

On Sept. 20, 2017, Boren announced his retirement, effective June 2018. He ultimately departed as the second-longest serving OU president following George Lynn Cross.

“The calendar finally caught up with me — that’s the biggest thing,” Boren said during his retirement speech in 2017. “I didn’t want to be president unless I could give every ounce of my energy to the job. ... Time takes a toll on that, so I knew it was inevitable, and I had to face it.”

As Boren departed from Evans Hall, his successor James Gallogly was publicly critical of OU’s financial status, leading Boren to push back against the criticism in a 2018 editorial in The Norman Transcript, beginning a notable public feud between the two.

Nearly a year after Boren’s retirement, two OU graduates came forward and alleged sexual misconduct against Boren and one of his colleagues, former Vice President of University Development Tripp Hall, staining Boren’s presidential and political legacy.

Boren’s alumni donation misreporting and sexual misconduct investigation, NonDoc lawsuit

OU Daily first reported in December 2018 that OU hired law firm Jones Day to investigate potential misreporting of alumni donations to U.S. News & World Report over multiple years during Boren’s tenure.

In March 2019, The Oklahoman first reported that Jones Day had requested to interview Boren after OU received allegations of serious misconduct it was legally obligated to investigate.

Media outlet NonDoc published an article later that March detailing sexual misconduct allegations against Boren by OU alum Jess Eddy. Eddy described incidents of unwanted sexual touching by Boren between late 2010 to 2012 and once by Hall. A former OU employee, Levi Hilliard, made an additional accusation and filed a lawsuit against Hall. Hilliard accepted a financial settlement, and the lawsuit was later dismissed.

Boren, then 77, denied all accusations.

In June 2019, Boren submitted a two-page letter to OU making a highly unusual move of cutting all remaining ties with the university. He surrendered his president emeritus status, ceased any teaching duties, cleared his campus office and gave up his free tickets to OU sporting events.

After Eddy’s allegations were made public, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation began looking into the claims. OU turned over the Jones Day report to the bureau. Screenshots from the report found Eddy’s account to be “generally credible,” and OU later confirmed to Eddy that he had been subjected to a “hostile” working environment during OU’s Title IX investigation.

Following the completion of the state’s investigation, neither Boren nor Hall faced indictments.

"I have made the decision, after considering all relevant facts and circumstances, to not seek a grand jury criminal indictment relative to Boren’s and Hall’s alleged wrongful conduct while they were employed by the University of Oklahoma,” the special counsel, Patrick Ryan, told The Oklahoman in 2020, of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation’s inquiry.

The Jones Day reports, which OU paid $1.5 million to have produced, have never been released to the public. NonDoc editor-in-chief Tres Savage sued the OU Board of Regents in 2021 after OU denied his Open Records Request for a copy of the reports. Savage is an OU alum who served as the Daily’s editor-in-chief in 2007-08.

Savage told media outside of the courtroom after a November hearing the public has an interest in knowing that the university is engaging in proper and ethical financing practices, adding he finds it concerning OU would “cover up” investigated behavior.

“It is a story where a powerful individual who had leverage and sway and used that in undue manner in arguably a violation of university code, arguably in violation of the law, to gain sexual gratification from employees, from students, and in many cases, that behavior was known and was not addressed by the university for an extended period of time,” Savage said.

In January, a Cleveland County judge ruled the records were exempt under the Open Records Act’s personnel records exemption. Savage said he plans to appeal.

The legacy of Boren: Reconciling leader, man

In 1995, Boren outlined a 15-point plan for improving OU that he delivered to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.

Among his goals:

• Better tout OU’s existing strengths.

• Invest more current resources to the university’s educational mission.

• Reward great teaching and mentoring.

• Modernize learning tools.

• Prepare students for interfacing with the world at large.

• Inspire in students a commitment to public service.

• Make the university more user friendly.

• Transform the stature of the College of Law.

• Reinvigorate fundraising.

• Found an elite Honors College.

• Remain an athletic power while better merging student athletes into campus life.

• Foster more interdisciplinary learning.

• Beautify campus while preserving its history for the enrichment of all.

An ambitious list for its time, it was a largely completed list upon his retirement and became a foundational framework for the university of today, both in regard to its many strengths as well as its persistent weaknesses. One of the primary critiques in his later years being the consolidation of power in the hands of a president who reigned from Boyd House and Evans Hall almost as if they were a mini White House and Oval Office.    

In an interview with OU Daily, Henderson remembered how the Borens took OU’s campus from “mediocre to excellent,” a feat Henderson said couldn’t be overstated.

“We live up to our song — ‘beautiful by day and night,’” Henderson said of the transformation Boren led, quoting the lyrics to the OU Chant. “He was committed to the equity of all people."

Before Boren’s arrival, Henderson said, it was clear OU was “striving to be average.” Upon landing in Norman, Henderson said Boren immediately decided that OU would become an outstanding university.

“I haven't seen or worked for any other individual administrators who was a total administrator in terms of caring, not just for the buildings and the grounds, but for the people and for the visitors,” Henderson said. “I remember watching the making of David Boren into not only a very, very good legislator but also someone who really had no experience in being a university administrator. I saw the growth, and I saw the changes, and we changed with him.”

Henderson, who first became friends with Boren when the young lawmaker taught at Oklahoma Baptist University in the late 1960s, later became one of the faculty members who asked Boren to leave the Senate and return to Norman.

“I didn’t come to the university for money. David didn’t come to the university for money,” Henderson said. “I came for the students. He came for us.”

Henderson recalled a walk they took together shortly after Boren took the job in which the new president told Henderson he expected his friend would hear the rumors and shared the whispers that followed Boren throughout his life.

“I said, ‘David, I don't care about those things. I care about you and how you treat me and the other people that I know.’” Henderson said. “I'm reminded of the song: ‘I'm a man and man ain't no saint.’ None of us are.

“What mattered to me was what he was doing in the arenas and the situations where we were together and other people, where he was considerate of others. From my perspective, I'm aware of the other side, but darn it, all of us have a dark side, but I think the light side is, for me, what shines brighter in terms of David.

“The house of Boren, or the house of the university,” Henderson said, “was recreated from the equivalent of the (Great Depression) to where we are now.”

Boren is survived by his wife, Molly Shi; daughter Carrie and her husband Greg Headington; son Dan and his wife Andrea (Heupel) Boren; and grandchildren, Janna Lou and Hunter Daniel.