Trae Trousdale, mass communications/political science senior, is pursuing his passion for non-profit work and civic engagement.
Trousdale said he applied for two graduate programs and was accepted into both. Trousdale was accepted into the master’s in public administration and the Native American studies program at University of Oklahoma, as well as the master’s in non-profit management program at Columbia University of New York.
Trousdale said he found his passion for civic engagement in his childhood town in rural Oklahoma.
“When I was seven years old, I actually got involved in my hometown of Tecumseh. My grandfather had this lifelong dream of revitalizing our area, and he wanted to work on bringing his town to be competitive with the rest of Oklahoma,” he said. “He and my grandmother devoted their retirement years to opening a small boutique hotel. They bought a small building that had been built before Oklahoma statehood.”
Trousdale said when his family moved downtown, the town began to invest in the area and planned to redo the infrastructure and the bump outs, which involved knocking down a tree in his grandparent’s front yard.
“They had a Bradford pear tree which I loved, and I would climb it and read or sit under it with my grandmother. My grandfather was very reserved and docile, and he was never one to ruffle feathers, but I talked to him about it, and it was the first time that he had told me to stand up for something I believe in,” Trousdale said. “Through that encouragement, I actually chained myself to that tree every day after school for a week.”
Trousdale said at the end of the week, the city manager invited him to City Hall to talk about it.
“He really took it seriously. I was pretty touched to see what all he was able to do,” Trousdale said. “He ended up calling the director of Oklahoma Department of Transportation, and they sent out a couple of surveyors to see if we could uproot the tree and move it, but it was determined that there was no way to go through with the development project, so they knocked it down.”
Trousdale said through that experience, he began attending city council meetings at age seven and got his town’s centennial clock to be moved to where the tree once stood.
Trousdale said he learned something important from the experience.
“Something he said to me that really stuck with me was ‘leave it better than you found it, in everything you do.’ That’s what I’ve used in the base of my own leadership philosophy,” he said.
Trousdale said he hopes to one day work with non-profits in rural Oklahoma, specifically those run by tribal nations. Trousdale said he wants to create effective change in those areas, whether it pertains to education, homelessness or other civil issues.
“Oklahoma is home to 39 indigenous nations. What I would like to do is work in rural Oklahoma and figure out how to stir donor dollars and donations that they would be putting out into the community in ways that we can effect meaningful change and have the greatest impact,” he said.
Taylor Downey, youth ministry senior and Trousdale’s fiancé, said Trousdale is passionate about civic engagement.
“He’s been very involved with his tribe since he was young. He is Citizen Potawatomi, and he has gone through their leadership program,” Downey said. “It’s a really prestigious program for young students to learn about their culture, learn the language and participate in the traditions that happen at their festival every year. He just been really involved and wants to give back, which is classic Trae.”
Downey said Trousdale fully commits to everything he does.
“Once he gets a project, he’s going to go for it full force and not stop until it’s done perfectly,” she said. “He has a great way of making everyone he meets just feel very special.”
Trousdale formerly served as Student Government Association president, executive director of Homecoming, president of the interfraternity council, director of student civic engagement and member of the diversity and inclusion hiring committee, to name a few.
In addition to finishing out senior year and applying to graduate programs, Trousdale has also been planning a wedding with Downey.
Trousdale said planning a wedding in a pandemic has been interesting.
“It’s still been really fun for Taylor and I. Taylor is working full time, on top of going to classes, on top of planning, so I’ve had to take more of an active role in planning,” he said. “I love to create binders and spreadsheets and pamphlets, so I’m not complaining.”
He said they got engaged the day before campus was officially closed in spring 2020, so they have had to change their plans several times.
Trousdale said students should be willing to be flexible, work hard and be humble.
“I am a big believer in embracing overextension because I think it forces you to prioritize things in your life, and when you’re able to do that, you can tap into that willingness and vigor for things that are meaningful to you like never before,” Trousdale said. “Leave things better than you found them.”
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