One was a recruited scholarship athlete, the other two were walk-ons. In the classroom, they were all working toward different degrees — sociology, business, and education.
But they were all united by one trait.
They were Oklahoma State University students.
They were working toward a goal that would make friends, family and fans proud of them.
And now, thanks to a Friday decision by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, Oklahoma State University will be able to make that goal a reality.
Jared Weiberg, Daniel Lawson and Nate Fleming — three students out of the 10 OSU basketball family members who died in the Jan. 27 plane crash in Colorado — will be granted posthumous degrees during OSU’s May commencement exercises.
“What we would like to do is give a representative of each victim’s family — if they choose to attend — a diploma during graduation,” said OSU President James Halligan. “I think in interacting with the victim’s families, it will be a very meaningful experience.”
According to an OSU Regents for Higher Education news release, the request was made by Halligan. The measure was granted interim approval by the OSU’s Board of Regents and will gain final approval at their April 27 meeting.
“We had sent a letter specifically asking them to (allow the university to grant posthumous degrees),” Halligan said Sunday.
The measure also was approved by the deans of each student’s college, the OSU Faculty Council and the executive vice president for Academic Affairs.
Fleming was working toward a bachelor of science degree in business administration, Weiberg was earning a bachelor of science degree in secondary education, and Lawson was working on a bachelor of science degree in sociology.
The fateful plane crash took the lives of two OSU basketball players and eight of the team’s support staff.
In addition to Lawson, Weiberg and Fleming, the crash also took the lives of pilots Denver Mills and Bjorn Fahlstrom, OSU radio play-by-play man Bill Teegins, director of basketball operations Pat Noyes, trainer Brian Luinstra, media relations coordinator Will Hancock and radio engineer Kendall Durfey.
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