Oklahoma Baptist University alum Norma Phillips, 1966, is a 2009 recipient of the OBU Alumni Association’s Profile In Excellence Award.
The award is given to a former student who has “demonstrated recognizable accomplishment in his or her profession, business, avocation or life service in such a way as to bring pride and honor to the University.” Each year, 12 Profile In Excellence recipients are selected.
The idea of “home” serves as a common icon of security and comfort for families worldwide. For Phillips, the concept served as the driving force of her influential career, beginning with her time at Oklahoma Baptist University.
“Leaving home was a little scary for me, and OBU seemed to be a good fit,” she said.
“I went to an orientation in the summer, and the students who introduced us future OBU students to the campus made it feel just like home. It ended up being exactly what I needed; a place where I could mature in a Christian atmosphere and try out new ideas.”
Phillips not only considered OBU a second home, the campus also was an environment where she could grow and be challenged in her thinking.
“What OBU did was to enable me to think for myself,” she said. “Both OBU and the era I was there challenged me not to accept blindly what was or what appeared to be. The mid-’60s was a time when civil rights and academic freedom were the issues, and they were discussed openly at OBU by students and teachers from all walks of life. Those lessons enabled me to reach for new experiences.”
Phillips left OBU with an enthusiasm for making a difference through change. She began working in Kansas as a secretary in a government setting.
Though she had not planned on becoming a civil servant, Phillips started gaining knowledge in many areas and got a taste of what it was like to work in a state occupation.
“I found it interesting to move from place to place and to feel that I’d done something that benefitted a number of people, even if it was simply cutting some red tape or finding an answer for someone who needed help,” she said.
As a rising agent of change, Phillips turned her attention to a specific public: low-income families. She desired for the feelings of security and comfort instigated by the idea of home to be conveyed to families through change. She began her work with the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services with the hope of seeing effective transformation in housing programs for low-income families.
Phillips saw the housing programs within the department grow to receive the HOME Investment Partnership Program, federal assistance helping provide affordable housing for low-income Americans. The program eventually became a quasi-governmental agency called the Kansas Housing Resource Corporation. Phillips took the housing organization to new heights, innovatively working with a program to make houses more energy efficient by conducting thorough energy audits for each home.
“The success of the program influenced other housing programs, leading to energy improvements in the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program and the HOME programs,” she said.
Now retired, Phillips and her husband, Lorne, a 1965 OBU graduate, reside in Topeka, Kan. Reflecting on her career, she said she drew motivation from her time at OBU and the encouragement she received to embrace new experiences and ideas. She used those resources to help provide the comfort of home to people throughout Kansas.
While the OBU environment influenced Phillips, she also recalled individuals who helped to shape her career. She remembers Manoi Adair, professor emeriti of business, as someone who pushed her to become a catalyst for change.
“She gave me opportunities to do things I would never have attempted on my own, like substitute teaching a class or two,” she said. “I was never cut out to be a teacher, but her confidence in me gave me the confidence to try new things.”
SHAWNEE, Okla. —
