Cameron University is a public university in Lawton, Oklahoma. It offers more than 50 degrees through both undergraduate and graduate programs. The degree programs emphasize the liberal arts, science and technology, and graduate and professional studies. It was founded in 1908, soon after Oklahoma was admitted as a state, as one of six agricultural high schools in the largely rural region. History The Oklahoma Legislature created six agricultural high schools in each judicial district in 1908, a year after statehood. Lawton was chosen over Anadarko in April 1909 to receive a high school; the town had already set aside a portion of land to develop a higher educational institution. The University Improvement Association, under the auspices of the Lawton Chamber of Commerce, organized the effort to acquire of land two miles (three kilometers) west of the town. Its original goal was to secure a private Baptist college. Arrangements with the Baptists fell through in the summer of 1908. The Catholic Church approached the Association with an offer to found an all-male institution on the site. This plan was rejected by the town leaders, who were predominantly Protestant. What was known as the Cameron State School of Agriculture was named for Rev. E. D. Cameron, a Baptist minister and Oklahoma's first State Superintendent of Schools. The first classes were held on Statehood Day, November 16, 1909, in the basement of a bank building, while a new campus building was being constructed. In 1927 Cameron added junior college-level classes to the school's offerings, when local higher education needs exceeded what was available in southwest Oklahoma. With this expansion, the institution was renamed as Cameron State Agricultural College. By 1941, the high school preparatory classes were dropped. Cameron was classified solely as a junior college that year, when the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education was formed and joined the group of institutions governed by the Board of Regents of Oklahoma A&M Colleges. Based on additional development of programs and curriculum, in 1966 the legislation passed a bill authorizing the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education to allow the college to award Baccalaureate degrees. The institution's name was shortened to Cameron College in 1971 and, with more program expansion, changed to Cameron University in 1974. As the 1970s continued, Cameron demonstrated its dedication to expanded academic offerings through the construction of a fine arts facility designed to serve students in theatre, music, broadcasting,