Romance Remembered

Bud ('52) and Sarah McFarland (Parker '51) have claim on many firsts in university history. Among the first 97 students to enroll at the new Central Christian College in Bartlesville in 1950, they were first year class officers, sang in the first school chorus, and performed in the first school musical. Sarah reported for the first school newspaper and graduated with the first class. Bud was the first basketball team manager and was on the quartet that first sang the words "Alma Mater, hail to thee!"

Meeting and falling in love on campus, the McFarlands were also pioneers of the OC romance?a journey that wasn't necessarily easy in 1950. "Back in those days you couldn't hold hands on campus," says Bud. "Touching wasn't allowed." Date nights were also restricted at that time, and often chaperoned. (And students complain about the rules today!)

But Bud and Sarah found time for romance in their day-to-day routine. "I worked part time as a secretary," Sarah says giggling. "And I was on the mop crew," says Bud. "And everyone would always talk about how clean the floor was right outside the door," Sarah continues. "Right around her desk," laughs Bud.

That's not to say they never dared to break the rules. "One night I walked Sarah over to the girls' dorm," Bud says in a conspiratorial tone, his eyes still sparkling with mischief even today. "And I gave her a goodnight kiss." Sarah laughs and shakes her head as Bud continues: "And, when I looked up, there stood Roy Lanier, Chair of the Bible Department! Needless to say I got some demerits on that." With a glance at Sarah, Bud adds: "but it was worth it."

These first memories at Central Christian are at the heart of the McFarlands' life story. "Finding Sarah and being able to have a great relationship and life together?it all began there," says Bud. He means that quite literally, too, as the couple wed on campus in March 1952?another first in university history.

As Bud and Sarah look back on over sixty years together, they cherish their pioneering days at Central Christian and hope to help a new generation experience their own firsts at OC. "We have a responsibility to make what it did for us?to have it do that for others," says Bud. To do this the McFarlands have remembered OC in their will, leaving the university a child's share of their estate.

For a couple who has grown alongside OC since day one, it is so meaningful that Bud and Sarah are, in such a profound way, claiming this campus community as family. "Central Christian had humble beginnings," says Sarah. "It has come so far?and it has to continue."