DURANT — Southeastern Oklahoma State University will present the Heritage and Benefactor awards as part of Homecoming 2009.

The Heritage Award is being presented posthumously to Dr. Anne Ruth Semple. This award honors individuals who have impacted the history of Southeastern in some unique way.

The Benefactor Award will be presented to Scott and Carol Crain. It is awarded to individuals, businesses or foundations who support the university through financial means.

Both awards will be presented at the Distinguished Alumni/Former Faculty Awards Banquet on Friday, Oct. 9, at 5:30 p.m., in the Visual and PerformingArts Center.

Dr. Anne Ruth Semple was a professor of education at Southeastern for 43 years and, upon her retirement, was named Professor Emeritus.

She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Education at Southeastern in 1933, her master’s at Austin College and received her doctorate from Oklahoma A&M, now Oklahoma State University. She taught at Oklahoma Presbyterian College before and during her teaching career at Southeastern. She was a pivotal figure in the transition period between the establishment of OPC and Southeastern Teachers College. OPC was already established in 1909 and Southeastern was just beginning as a state normal school.

Semple was one of many teachers who taught at both institutions, which shared students, faculty and facilities. Being Choctaw, she related to the adjustment issues of Native American students entering college and she became a mentor for countless students during her life as a teacher.

She was recognized for founding Southeastern’s first Indian Institute, which later became the Native American Symposium, which continues today. Semple was named by the governor as Poet Laureate of Oklahoma in 1944, making her one of only 17 individuals in the history of the state to be so named, and the only Native American woman to be honored. One of her most notable books of poetry is “Prairie Born.” Her doctoral thesis was a history of OPC and was the basis of a published volume entitled, “The Ties That Bind?”

Her brother, William Finley Semple, was chief of the Choctaws during the 1920s. He was married to Clara Petty Semple, one of the first five graduates of Southeastern. Clara was the valedictorian and later became the first president of the Southeastern Alumni Association. Her great-grandfather, Peter P. Pitchlynn, was principal chief of the Choctaws in the 1860s.

Scott Crain is a local businessman and lifelong Durant resident who graduated from Durant High School in 1979 and Southeastern in 1984.

In 2008, he and his wife Carol made one of the largest-ever individual monetary gifts ($100,000) to the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Their eldest son, Drew, graduated from Southeastern in May and is working with Feed the Children in Oklahoma City. Their youngest son, Chase, has taken a semester off from school and is working at Silverado Golf Course. He plans to return to Southeastern and play on the golf team.

“Carol and I were excited and blessed to be able to give this gift to the athletics programs at Southeastern,” Scott said. “We have been fans of Southeastern athletics for a long time. We have come to know and love several student-athletes over the years and count many former and current student-athletes as part of our family.”

Scott serves as voluntary chaplain for the Southeastern football team.

“I provide spiritual guidance and encouragement for the players,” Scott said. “We have a great staff of coaches, but the players still need another person they can relate to off the field. Carol and I are very aware of the importance of a college education and have seen where athletics provides an opportunity for many students to access educational opportunities where otherwise they may not have been available.”

Scott was a member of the Durant Community Facilities Authority (DCFA) for eight years and also served as president of the Durant Multi-Sports Complex. He was instrumental in raising money for local facilities that included building the Multi-Sports Complex, renovating the football field at Southeastern, building the new Bloomer Sullivan Arena on the Southeastern campus and the new campus tennis courts.