Without dissent, the Oklahoma Senate on Monday approved the appointment of the widow of a former member of the OSU/A&M Board of Regents to a seat on that board, ending a weeks-long political drama between the Senate and Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Jennifer Henderson Callahan was Stitt’s third appointee for an open seat on the board, which oversees Oklahoma State University and four other colleges and universities in Oklahoma. Callahan will succeed Rick Davis of Guthrie, who had served on the board since May 2011, when he was appointed by then-Gov. Mary Fallin. Callahan will serve an eight-year term that will expire April 4, 2032.
Callahan's nomination, carried by Sen. Kristen Thompson, R-Edmond, cleared the Senate Education Committee during a 13½-minute session on Monday morning. Among those attending the meeting in support of Callahan were OSU President Kayse Shrum and the presidents of two other schools governed by the board, Kyle Stafford of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami and Ron Ramming of Connors State College in Warner.
The full Senate, meeting in a special session called by Stitt to consider the nomination, convened about an hour later and spent less than three minutes on the nomination before approving it 39-0. The Senate quickly adjourned the special session sine die after the vote.
Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, called it a “very smooth confirmation process today. The third time’s the charm. I appreciate all the work the Education Committee did in the last few weeks vetting Ms. Callahan and getting it ready. I appreciate the governor for making this nomination. I think she will serve OSU well.”
Stitt praised the Senate's confirmation of Callahan."Jennifer Callahan is going to be a great fit for the OSU Board of Regents," Stitt said in a statement. "I'm glad the Senate voted to confirm her and I look forward to her leadership as OSU grows to become a top-10 university in the nation."
Stitt originally nominated Norman businesswoman Susan Bergen for the post. Bergen’s nomination sailed through the Education Committee by a 12-0 vote but, in the final week of the regular legislative session in May, the full Senate rejected the nomination by a 32-13 vote, with eight committee members who had approved Bergen in committee later voting against her confirmation.
Stitt then nominated former OSU athletic director Mike Holder to the post on June 10 and called for the special session. Questions quickly arose about Holder's qualifications to serve on the A&M board. Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, said several groups, including agriculture organizations and OSU alumni, had raised concerns.
The governor withdrew Holder’s nomination nine days later and replaced it with a nomination for Callahan.
“The first nominee, she got through the Education Committee, but then there was a lot of concern raised by outside groups that got to my members about her serving in that capacity,” Treat said. “I voted for Ms. Bergen but I was in the vast minority on that. I don’t know exactly what drove everyone’s vote on that."
“Mr. Holder (is an) excellent guy and did a great job as athletic director, but there were two fatal flaws to his nomination, in that he was still deriving some income from OSU and he didn’t derive his income from agricultural-related activities and that would flip the board to where the majority would not, and that would have violated constitutional and statutory language,” Treat said.
New OSU/A&M regent has a background in cattle ranching, law
Callahan is an attorney and board director for Oklahoma City-based McAfee and Taft, a law firm, for which she co-chairs the firm’s agriculture and equine industry group. She is also the widow of Jarold Callahan, who served as a regent on the OSU/A&M board until his unexpected death in December.
Jennifer Callahan’s legal work has focused on executive compensation and benefits planning, according to the law firm’s website. She has also advised nonprofits, schools, foundations and health care organizations about tax issues.
With her husband, she has owned and operated Callahan Cattle Company, which has operations in Oklahoma, Blaine and Craig counties. She also serves as the secretary/treasurer for the Cattlemen’s Congress, a group that promotes and advances the cattle industry. In 2020, that group honored her with its Diamond Hats’ Ag Woman of the Year Award for her commitment to the Oklahoma Youth Expo, which benefits the state’s 4-H and FFA exhibitors.
She said she’s originally from northern California and earned her bachelor’s degree at California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo before moving to Oklahoma to work on advanced degrees at OSU and the University of Oklahoma.
During the committee meeting, Callahan said she’s “committed to the future of the institutions that are governed by this board of regents and what they represent in terms of a very wide variety of educational opportunities for the citizens of Oklahoma, as well as the economic benefits to our state of having an educated, dynamic workforce that is a result of these institutions’ efforts.
“I am very passionate about agriculture. Our country’s economic engine has been built on a strong agriculture base and I see our success as a country continuing to depend on a healthy, vibrant ag economy.”
Only three senators asked her questions during the hearing. When Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, inquired about Oklahoma’s workforce shortages and how OSU is poised to meet some of those demands and keep a college education affordable, Callahan noted how OSU “has done a lot to facilitate that by holding the line on tuition” for a third straight year. That prompted the committee’s chair, Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, to slowly applaud. Pugh has been a staunch opponent of tuition increases at state colleges at universities, citing appropriation increases for higher education in recent years.
In addition to OSU, Northeastern A&M and Connors State, the OSU/A&M board governs Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell and Langston University in Langston. Langston and OSU are Oklahoma’s two land-grant universities.
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