Jack Lancaster, former adviser for The Daily O’Collegian and winner of multiple journalism awards, retired at the end of the 2007 fall semester. Lancaster was the paper’s adviser since 1982 and many students said they attribute their success and interest in journalism to him.
The man who led the Daily O’Collegian since 1982 said he has a new direction in life.
Jack Lancaster retired from his position at OSU at the end of the fall semester. Lancaster not only taught editing and magazine writing at the university but also was the O’Collegian adviser.
Lancaster studied education at Northwestern State University. He came to OSU to get his masters in journalism. He chose to finish his education at OSU because it allowed him to combine his passion for education as well as newspapers, Lancaster said.
Lancaster chose to go into journalism because he loved the business.
“I just got ink in my veins,” he said.
He said he felt as if he never had to work because being a journalist was so much fun.
He loved working with students at the O’Colly and many attribute their success to him.
“He took me — an unhappy engineering student struggling to get through Calculus 2 — and helped mold me into someone with six great journalism offers when I graduated,” said Jason Collington, Web editor for the Tulsa World.
Collington was an editor for the O’Colly during spring and fall semesters of 1998.
To many of his students, Lancaster was more than an adviser; he was also a friend.
“I love that Jack didn’t just advise us,” Collington said. “He was a counselor and a friend who helped everyone.”
Lancaster inspired his students through encouragement and constructive criticism.
“It’s funny to say but I looked forward to his criticism every day,” Collington said.
Every day, Lancaster would meet with the staff and give his critique of the paper.
Collington said everyone on staff knew his critique as “red copy” because of the red pen he used.
“He was awesome,” said Barbara Allen, satellite adviser for the Tulsa World.
Lancaster advised Allen from 1994 until 1998. Allen said she feels one of the reasons he was a good adviser was that he let students reason out their own issues instead of just telling them what to do.
“There are probably a hundred working journalists who would credit their drive and ambition to Lancaster,” Allen said.
The success of Lancaster’s journalism career is shown not only through the success of his students, but also in the various awards he has received.
Lancaster said he has won the National Adviser Award four times and was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame. However, he is most proud of the awards he helped the O’Collegian staff win.
The O’Colly won the All American Award in 1990 and each year for 15 years straight, Lancaster said. The O’Colly staff was also inducted into the Associate Collegiate Press — the only newspaper in Oklahoma to be awarded this honor.
Though there were good times throughout his career at OSU, there were also tough times, such as the 2001 OSU plane crash and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, Lancaster said.
During these times of sadness, Lancaster spent time with his students to help them cope with their grief.
Apart from teaching and advising, Lancaster has also worked with newspapers and magazines. He was the managing editor for the Elk City Daily News, wrote freelance for several magazines and was a correspondent for the Associated Press.
He has also written a book titled, “Weekend with President Jimmy Carter.”
Lancaster refers to being a journalist as “having a front seat on life.” He said he feels that he was able to learn more about life as a journalist than he would have in any other occupation because he was able to meet and interact with so many different people.
Now that he is retired, Lancaster plans to write even more.
“I am 57 and I still got a lot of tread left on the tires,” Lancaster said.
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Missing newsworthy paragraph to story:
“Lancaster recently lost interest with the paper after buying the bar ‘Stable’s’ and spending most his time there, rather than teaching the students the proper journalism skills they need.”
Your school is hosting the National Collegiate Wheelchair basketball tournament this week. It is a shame there is nothing published in our paper promoting this event. Eight different collegiate teams are traveling to the OSU campus to compete for the National Championship.
The editorial cartoon in the June 4th paper really puzzled me. While I have not been the biggest Boone supporter in the past, I can find no fault in his latest actions. His biggest criticism in the past was that he cared only for athletics and did nothing for education. Now he gives 100 million dollars for education and gets criticized for throwing education a bone? A bone? really? How much would he have to give for that bone to be a steak? 200 million, 300 million? I know it’s cool to criticize the MAN for buying the university, but at least give him credit where credit is due.
Dear Editor:
Few Americans grasp the ramifications of a piece of legislation entitled “Directive 51”, which is very similar to The National Emergency Powers Act that Germany’s fledgling democracy adopted after World War I. This piece of legislation was later used by Adolf Hitler to seize total control over all branches of the government, and establish his brutal Nazi regime.
It is safe to assume the Bush baddies will simulate a national emergency by staging yet another Terrorist Hoax to cancel the elections this November. Once again, the United Fascist Union cautions you, watch out for this man, Bush, he is replicating the worst aspects of tyrants from the past.
Sincerely yours,
Mr. J. Grimes
Presidential Candidate of the
United Fascist Union
Thanks for the heads-up, Jackson. I’ll look into this right away, I promise.