This I Believe

Dr. David Surratt currently serves as the Vice President for Student Affairs & Dean of Students at the University of Oklahoma.  He is responsible for leading teams that support various programs focused on student access, student support and advocacy, leadership development, and personal care for students at the University of Oklahoma which includes the Norman campus as well as campuses in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and an international location abroad in Arezzo, Italy.  

Dr. Surratt has 17 years of higher education experience with several colleges and institutions including Penn State University, St. Peter’s University, Rosemont College, and the University of California – Berkeley.  He most recently served as the Assistant Vice Chancellor & Associate Dean of Students at the University of California - Berkeley and has served in various leadership roles there since 2013 including interim Dean of Students and interim Associate Vice Chancellor.  In his previous role, he was responsible for a broad array of student affairs programs including protest and demonstration management, residential life, student leadership and advising, Recreational Sports, New Student Services, and the Student Environmental Resource Center. Prior to this role, he was the interim Associate Vice Chancellor at UC Berkeley where he managed housing, events and facilities, campus dining, Cal 1 Card Office, and the early childhood education program.  He also held positions as dean of students, chief housing officer, and other student affairs roles at the previously mentioned colleges and institutions. 

David holds a doctorate in Higher Education Administration from George Washington University and is also an alumnus of the University of Oklahoma earning a bachelor's degree in English Literature and a master's in Human Relations.  Dr. Surratt serves as a member of several national professional associations and is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.  

Rayle is a Freshman at OU who, before traveling back to her home state of Oklahoma, lived in Dallas for 6 years. The time she spent away from her culture-rich hometown of Tahlequah Oklahoma has greatly impacted her perspective on her Choctaw/Cherokee culture and made it all the more important in her life. She loves teaching basket-weaving for AISES/AISA members and taking care of her plants. Rayle is currently pursuing a degree in Botany with a minor in Native American studies and hopes to one day become a family physician at a tribal clinic in her community. 

Miguel is the son of Mexican immigrants and a first-generation college student who is currently a junior at the University of Oklahoma. Miguel is studying sociology and women's and gender studies and his research interests are centered at the intersections of race, poverty, and educational access. Although his biological family consists of his mom, dad, and little brother, the people he's met through his involvement in the President's Leadership Class, Crimson Club, and Withrow Leadership Scholars will forever be family. Miguel's passion for justice and equity led him to create Miracle Mindset, which is an early outreach college access program that has awarded thousands of dollars in laptops and scholarships to first-generation, low-income high school students since 2017. Ultimately, Miguel aims to spread hope and create positive contributions to every space he enters.

InAnna, originally from Ohio, is a freshman at OU. She loves to read and intends to major in Political Science, then go on to law school. She’s grateful to be able to share her story at This I Believe. 

Robert Con Davis-Undiano is a third-generation Mexican American born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1948. He went to public schools in southern California and attended Cal-State University, East Bay, and the University of California, Davis, where he graduated in 1979 with a Ph.D. in American literature and literary theory.

In 1974-75, before receiving the Ph.D., he was a Fulbright Professor at the University of Pisa in Italy and in 1980 came to the University of Oklahoma.  At OU, he currently wears many administrative hats.  He is a full professor in the Department of English and one of the editors of the journal GENRE. He was the editor of the international book series “Introducing Ethnicity” (Edinburgh University Press 2004-2010) and founded and directed (with Ronald Schleifer) the influential book series “The Oklahoma Project for Discourse and Theory” (University of Oklahoma Press 1994-1999).  In 1999, he became executive director of the World Literature Today organization and the holder of two university chairs—Presidential Professor of English and Neustadt Professor of Comparative Literature.  

He is the current editor of the acclaimed University of Oklahoma Press book series “Chicana & Chicano Visions of the Americas,” which has published 21 prestigious volumes.  In addition to other duties, he directs OU’s Latinx Studies Program and chairs many university executive committees and oversight panels, including those for the College of Professional and Continuing Studies and the Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies (parent organization of the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education).

Publishing in Chicano Studies, American studies, and literary criticism and theory, he is author, co-author, or editor of 14 books and over 60 articles. His books include The Paternal Romance: Reading God-the-Father in Early Western Culture (1993); Culture and Cognition: The Boundaries of Literary and Scientific Inquiry (co-author; 1992); and Criticism and Culture: The Role of Critique in Modern Literary Theory (co-author, 1995).  Since the late 1990s, he has worked on Chicano/a and Mexican American topics. His most recent book, Mestizos Come Home!  Making and Claiming Mexican American Identity (2017), won the 2017 International Latino Book Award and has been nominated for many national book prizes.

In 1993, he received the Rufus G. Hall Faculty Achievement Award and in 1994 was awarded the Kenneth E. Crook Annual Faculty Award.  In 2004, he received the prestigious Sullivant Award for Perceptivity.  He was Dean of the OU Honor’s College from 2005 to 2009 and has been faculty of the year several times for his work with Latino students at OU.  In 2017, he was Oklahoma’s “Hispanic Literary Artist of the Year.” Over the last decade, he has also been the host of a public radio show and two public television shows—the “Power of Ideas” and “Current Conversations.” He is a mentor and role model to Chicano and other minority writers, students, and faculty. Students credit him with changing their thinking, their attitudes, and their lives.  In 2018, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame.

J.D. Baker is an Oklahoma City native and 2018 OU graduate, earning his Bachelor's degree from Gaylord College. During his time at OU, he was active in the university community and served as the Student Government Association president in 2017. He was recognized with the Glenn Snider Human Relations Award by the Oklahoma Education Association for his advocacy in mental health, disability concerns and LGBTQ issues. He also received the Clara Luper Department of African & African-American Studies Leadership Award. He currently serves as the special assistant to the Oklahoma City Mayor and also serves in several capacities on local boards and volunteering for local youth programs. J.D. is a member of the OU Black Alumni Society and a board member of the OU LGBTQ Alumni Society.

Dr. Janna Storey Martin (Dr. J.) is from Southeast Oklahoma and she graduated from Haworth High School. Following high school, Dr. J. received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from East Central University with a major in speech/theatre education. After graduation, Dr. J. taught high school for two years at Pleasant Grove High School in Texarkana, Texas. Dr. J. graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Master’s Degree in Organizational Communication Consultancy. She completed a Ph.D. in Instructional Communication from the University of Oklahoma. Dr. J. taught at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma for one year and was in charge of their Speech Education Program as well as teaching multiple classes in public speaking and communication.

Dr. J. has taught on the collegiate level at Oklahoma City Community College, Rose State College, Oklahoma State University, Cameron University and the University of Oklahoma. She has been an instructor at the University of Oklahoma for 17 years. In past years she trained and developed new graduate teaching assistants in the Department of Communication at OU as well as taught classes in group dynamics, interpersonal skills, presentation skills, debate and public speaking. She has taught classes in the Women and Gender Studies Department at OU and currently teaches in the Department of Human Relations at OU. Dr. J. typically teaches four classes every semester (Interpersonal Skills/Group Dynamics and Service Learning/Capstone). She has presented multiple convention papers in Instructional Communication as well as published a book chapter on “Postpartum Depression.” She was recognized with an “Inspiring Teacher” award from OU Athletics, has spoken at the OU Greek Forum to Sororities and Fraternities, and most recently taught a graduate class for military students in Washington D.C. Dr. J. is currently a faculty member in the Department of Human Relations at the University of Oklahoma.

Dr. J is married to Russ Martin, who is the Pastor of the Seeker Church in Norman Oklahoma. They have been married for 25 years and together have three children: Michael, Megan and Matthew. Two of her favorite quotes are: “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” (Gandhi:) and “Education is the most powerful weapon for changing the world.” (Mandela)