Rhodes reflection: Greteman discusses career since being named OSU’s first Rhodes Scholar

Rhodes reflection: Greteman discusses career since being named OSU's first Rhodes Scholar

Friday, August 30, 2024

Media Contact: Jordan Bishop | Editor | 405-744-7193 | [email protected]

Blaine Greteman has made the most of his time as a Rhodes Scholar.

After three years as a reporter for TIME magazine in London, he became a professor and director of the English and Creative Writing program at the University of Iowa and is currently dean of Kendall College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tulsa.

Oklahoma State University's first Rhodes Scholar grew up in the small Oklahoma town of Hydro - population 927 - whose claim to fame is the Hydro Free Fair, the oldest free fair in the United States.

Many small towns don't have museums or large libraries, and Hydro was no exception, but Greteman made the best of the small-town life, where the teachers are well-connected to their students and go out of their way to create opportunities for them. Greteman's teachers opened possibilities for him through writing clubs and the Odyssey of the Mind program.

"The willingness of the people in a town and a school of that size to make opportunities for their students was remarkable," Greteman said. "It set me up for success at OSU. In the long run, I would never have gotten the Rhodes Scholarship without those things, so growing up in a small town like Hydro was really great."

Greteman started at OSU as a biosystems engineering major but switched to English. He found the engineering curriculum quite structured and wanted to pursue the arts and humanities outside the program. So, he transferred to English, where he helped found the campus literary magazine Papyrusand began writing for the O'Colly.

One big event that pushed him to switch to English was taking an English class while he was still an engineering student and getting a C on his first paper. Greteman had never gotten a C in his life and became obsessed with learning to write better.

"I made trip after trip to office hours and ended up with an A in the class at the end," Greteman said. "I think that process of learning that in an area I thought of as being strong, I still had a lot of room for growth. That was what intrigued me about studying literature. I got hooked, and that's all there was to it."

Before Greteman came to OSU, there was no literary magazine on campus, so he joined a group of students looking to start one. Papyrus ran from 1996 to 2009. The students had to learn how to start a literary magazine from scratch, and eventually, Greteman became the editor.

"Ultimately, those people I worked with on it remain some of my closest friends," Greteman said. "One of them I'm married to. It was important, and the ability to go out and do something that wasn't there before was important. That probably also fed into my Rhodes application because the Rhodes looks for academic strength, but it also looks for leadership and people willing to fill a gap if they see it."

As for the O'Colly, Greteman was an opinion columnist. Although he wasn't a staff reporter, he worked with the editorial team and became friends with them. One of those reporters was Jason Collington, now Tulsa Worldeditor, with whom Greteman has been able to reconnect since becoming the dean of TU's Kendall College of Arts and Sciences.

Greteman's time as an opinion columnist gave him the chance to test his ideas and learn how to advocate for causes he was passionate about. He said his columns were considered a little controversial on campus, and after criticizing Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating in one, Keating wrote a reply in the O'Colly.

"I kind of consider it one of the highlights of my career," Greteman said. "I got under his skin enough to prompt him to engage on the pages of the student newspaper. I always thought that must have been a sign I was doing something right. It really was a lot of fun. It was a good chance to test out a voice, and I got to see that I was actually capable of advancing some of the issues I cared about to a pretty important audience."

Greteman then went on to write for the Oklahoma Observer, and he credits both that and the O'Colly with helping him get his job at TIME, and his career writing for other magazines, including The New Republic, Slate, andThe London Review of Books.Greteman has also published two books, with Cambridge University Press and Stanford University Press.

In 1998, Greteman's professors inspired him to apply for the Rhodes Scholarship. Edward Jones and Edward Walkiewicz, Greteman's English professors and mentors for a Wentz research project, told him he should do it. Robert Graalman was the director of scholar development and the professor for a one-hour "Windows to the World" class, which introduced students to awards like the Rhodes Scholarship.

"I probably wouldn't have pictured myself as somebody who would apply for the Rhodes," Greteman said. "But those two people, Bob Graalman and Edward Jones, had been working with potential Rhodes Scholars at OSU for a while. This had been a part of their mission. Their vision for OSU was that we would support students in getting the Rhodes and other awards like it."

The Rhodes Scholarship has been awarded annually since 1903 and is among the most prestigious honors a college student can attain. According to the Rhodes website, 32 people from the United States are selected yearly, and a little over 100 are chosen worldwide. Its winners have gone on to become Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners as well as heads of state.

The application for the Rhodes Scholarship is fairly intensive yet straightforward. It requires a personal statement, a resume and eight letters of recommendation from professional and volunteer experiences. The applicant must also undergo several interviews. There are district interviews and regional interviews, and the regional interviews may last all day, but the winners are announced that night. Greteman will be serving on an interview committee this year in San Francisco.

"Everybody who makes it to that stage is a strong candidate and an interesting person with a lot to offer," Greteman said. "The time you get to spend sitting around and meeting people from all over the country applying for this award is valuable, interesting and fun. I tried to approach the whole process with an eye toward having fun because the chances of winning an award like that are pretty minimal."

Greteman has many memorable moments from OSU, but one special one was the year the Cowboy basketball team reached the Final Four in 1995. He said the campus exploded with joy and celebration.

That moment made Greteman a college basketball fan and an OSU basketball fan, leading to one of his other biggest OSU highlights.

"After I won the Rhodes, OSU made a pretty big deal about it," Greteman said. "I was walking out of a restaurant in Stillwater, and Eddie Sutton was driving by, and he honked and gave me a thumbs up. So I thought, the Rhodes is great, but getting honked at by Eddie Sutton is probably the ultimate highlight of an OSU career."

Rhodes Scholars are given the opportunity to attend Oxford University in England. Greteman's time at Oxford taught him to adapt to change and new environments and to reset his expectations. He fell in love with England and moved to London to work for Time because he didn't want to leave. Greteman said he visits as often as possible, and some of his closest friends are there.

Another big part of Greteman's trip to Oxford was that he had never been out of the country. Flying to England was the first time he had ever experienced anything like that. Greteman said the opportunity to take his kids there and have them grow up knowing and expecting that being a global citizen would be part of their lives was transformational for him. This experience has also driven how he creates opportunities with his students.

"I try to find a way to create opportunities and open up possibilities to encounter other cultures and understand them better," Greteman said. "And by way of that encounter, to better understand your own culture and where you come from."

Greteman's kids are now looking into going to college. His oldest, Finn, is at TU, and his daughter, Jocie, is currently touring universities. His twins, Whitman and Beckett, are still in high school but are also considering college.

"The thing I learned about OSU is that finding the right fit is really important," Greteman said. "OSU was a good place for me. It offered me mentorship and support; I don't think I would have gotten that anywhere else. I want them to find a place with a good fit and take advantage of its opportunities."

As a scholar and teacher, Greteman has plenty of advice for students pursuing scholarships, growth or trying to find their interests.

"I have always told students that when you're 18 and entering college, it's doubtful that you know exactly what you want to do with the rest of your life," Greteman said. "You should try to leave room for change and growth and new directions in your trajectory through college.

"Don't be afraid to go where your passions and interests take you."

Story By: Mak Vandruff | [email protected]