STILLWATER, Okla.(AP) — A single, stubborn homeowner is standing in the way of a grand athletic complex being built at Oklahoma State University with a record $165 million gift from oilman alumnus T. Boone Pickens.
It is an eminent-domain dispute that touches on the very origins of the 116-year-old university, originally called the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College.
The holdout homeowner’s claim: The university has no authority to take away his land because OSU’s governing body, the Board of Regents, has failed to abide by a long-forgotten requirement that at least five of its eight members be farmers.
“It’s like a fake cop pulling you over and writing you a ticket,” said homeowner Kevin McCloskey, who once attended OSU. read more…
