What endures: How 10 lives continue to shape OSU 25 years later

The following excerpt was originally published by OSU Brand Management. Read the full story at news.okstate.edu.

On Jan. 27, 2001, a plane carrying 10 members of the Oklahoma State University men's basketball program and athletics support staff crashed in Strasburg, Colorado, while traveling home from an away game.

All 10 people on board were killed, sending shockwaves through Stillwater and far beyond campus.

Classes paused.

Games stopped.

A university mourned.

A quarter century later, the date continues to drift further in the past, but the Cowboy family continues to keep its promise that the 10 lives the crash took with it are not forgotten.

For OSU, remembrance has never been passive.

What remains is more than remembrance. Ten scholarships established in honor of those who died continue to support OSU students, extending the impact of the individuals lost that day into classrooms, careers and lives across campus.

In the months and years following the crash, families, alumni, friends and fans sought a way to honor lives defined by mentorship, service and commitment to others. The result was a series of endowed scholarships, each carrying a name, a story and a set of values meant to endure.

Those scholarships were not designed to look backward. They were created to invest in future students whose paths would be changed because others once believed deeply in education, teamwork and opportunity.

Today, those investments continue to change lives.

In recent years, students receiving these scholarships often arrive at OSU with little personal connection to the events of 2001. Many were not born. Yet through the scholarship process, they learn they are now part of something larger than themselves; beneficiaries of a legacy rooted in resilience and generosity.

Stephen Howard understands that connection from multiple perspectives.

Howard, now director of marketing and communications for the Spears School of Business, spent six years working directly with OSU men's basketball as the program's sports information director. Today, he is also a graduate student, receiving the Kendall Durfey Scholarship, established in honor of one of the 10 individuals lost in the crash.

Durfey was a television and radio producer and engineer for OSU. Working with the Cowboy Radio Network was his dream job.

"Aside from the financial support, it's the impact that stays with you," Howard said. "It's more about what it represents than anything else."

During his time with Cowboy basketball, Howard sat at the desk once used by Will Hancock, one of the victims of the crash and a fellow media relations colleague. The desk was a daily reminder of the individuals whose absence still shaped the program's culture.

"When you sit in that chair, you're reminded every day of what happened," Howard said. "You don't forget it. And you don't take it lightly."

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Oklahoma State University Athletics

What endures: How 10 lives continue to shape OSU 25 years later

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