Courtesy Photo / OBU
Actor Henry Winkler is well known for his role as Fonzie on the TV show
Koal Manis
Assistant News Editor
Tuesday, Mar. 3, OBU hosted its annual Green and Gold Gala, in downtown OKC at the Bricktown Events Center.
The keynote speaker was Henry Winkler, an Emmy award-winning actor and author known for playing Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzareli on the show “Happy Days” and as a guest star on Arrested Development.
Additionally, Winkler has been working on a children’s book and has already published 35 other books.
Winkler was originally scheduled to attend the Green and Gold Gala of 2019 but was unable to attend, so OBU TV and other students were excited to hear from him as he spoke this year.
Senior journalism major and marketing minor Olivianna Calmes attended the Gala this year with OBU TV to cover the event for campus news.
Calmes noted that be- sides Winkler, OBU had others speak throughout the night, including John Holcomb.
OBU senior Misael Gonzalez prayed during the event for all attending, and Dr. Smallwood and OBU President Heath Thomas both spoke.
The Bison Jazz orchestra and the OBU a cappella group True Voice performed for the gala’s guests.
A silent auction was one of the gala’s main events.
The audience was given an opportunity to give donations at the end of the evening as well as through donation slips on the tables.
“The whole event is geared toward getting money for student scholarships,” Calmes said.
The audience was made up of mostly OBU alumni, but also a lot of prominent people in the Shawnee community and others interested in helping OBU’s mission.
The event helped show how impactful OBU students are.
The event showed a spotlight video of McKenzie Reece, a theatre major graduate who has since gone to New York and auditioned for theatre work there.
Reece was in attendance at the Gala. OBU showed through her story just one example of a successful OBU graduate.
“Henry Winkler talked about his struggle with dyslexia and his full journey of an acting career and he gave a really meaningful talk as well,” Calmes said.
Specifically, Winkler discussed the struggle of growing up with unsupportive parents and how he didn’t learn until later in life that dyslexia was part of that struggle.
He talked about getting bad grades and how hard it was for him to take tests as a child. Since then, Winkler has taken a stand for those who struggle with learning.
He also discussed achieving dreams through perseverance and dedication.
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