CU’s Katie Stringer named Top Oklahoma Coach of the Year

Cameron University faculty member Katie Stringer, a Communications instructor who also serves as the university’s speech and debate coach, has been named Top Oklahoma Coach of the Year by the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Forensics Association.

Stringer was recognized for her service to speech and debate events throughout the state. She was involved in organizing numerous tournaments and worked to ensure that tournaments had competitors and judges on-site. As the outgoing president of OIFA, she helped orchestrate the state tournament, according to a press release.

 “As a fellow coach in Oklahoma, I was incredibly happy to hand the award to Katie at the state tournament,” said John Mikolajik, incoming OIFA president and a faculty member at Tulsa Community College. “She has earned that title years over for her work in the field of forensics in Oklahoma. She has run tournaments, taken over state organizations and worked to bring as many people into the fold for speech and debate as possible. She is a pleasure to work with, and her support of the state, students, and forensics as a whole is something that everyone should emulate.”

Stringer joined the CU faculty in Fall 2019. Under her tutelage, CU’s speech and debate team was named Oklahoma State Champion in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Additionally, she has coached members of her team to numerous individual titles at local, regional and state tournaments, according to a press release.