Patricia Freeman, a 1968 graduate of Checotah High School and longtime advocate for education, has announced a generous pledge to support first generation students at the University of Oklahoma.

Patricia, who was raised in Checotah, plans to fund a series of scholarships aimed at helping students who are the first in their families to attend college.

Patricia and Monroe are establishing the Patricia Freeman and Monroe Cameron Scholarship Fund through the University of Oklahoma Foundation. The commitment begins this school year with two $10,000 scholarships to be awarded to Checotah graduating seniors who plan to attend OU.

Annual awards will be given for five years.

Monroe graduated from Ardmore High School and will be giving like scholarships to graduates from Ardmore. Patricia and Monroe intend to expand their philanthropy even further.

Following the five year program, the couple will establish up to 15 annual full-ride scholarships divided between Checotah and Ardmore. These scholarship awards will continue perpetually.

“Education has always been the key to opportunity,” Patricia said in a prepared statement. “We want to make sure students from towns like Checotah and Ardmore have every chance to succeed, no matter what their background.”

Now living in Big Sky, Montana, Patricia and Monroe continue to maintain close ties to Oklahoma and to the communities that shaped their lives.

The University of Oklahoma has expressed its gratitude for Patricia and Monroe’s pledge, calling it an investment in the future of the state and in the students who will lead it.