One of Tulsa’s most treasured landmarks has received renewed attention in recent months thanks to grassroots organizing and community collaboration.
A lifelong Tulsan, Lauren Rogers (B.A. ’18) has a lot to show for her past six years working in public relations, advertising, marketing, and the strategic media industries. Perhaps the most striking of which is how public-minded her work is.
Take, for example, her role with the new Tallasi Creek Council Oak Tree Foundation. Established in late 2023, this budding organization seeks to preserve, protect, and promote the heritage of the legendary Council Oak tree located at East 18th Street and South Cheyenne Avenue near downtown Tulsa.
The site is sacred to many. Following forced removal from their homeland, the Locv Pokv Tvlse tribal town of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation established new ceremonial grounds beneath the massive tree that overlooked the Arkansas River in 1836. The Creek word ‘Tallasi’ or ‘Tvlvhasse’ (meaning ‘old town’) is the origin of the city of Tulsa’s name.
Rogers connected with the team as a representative from Tulsa Regional Tourism, a division of the Tulsa Regional Chamber, where she was director of communications. While her initial goal was to find resources about the tree’s history to share with people visiting Tulsa, she discovered that the tree and surrounding parks were in need of maintenance as well as updating the 1960s-era lightning protection.
Once the Tallasi Creek Council Oak Tree Foundation was established as a 509(a)(2) public charity, Rogers was elected secretary and treasurer of the volunteer board.
With her help, the organization now has a presence on Facebook and Instagram (@counciloaktree), launched its website, creekcounciloaktulsa.org, and hosted its first public volunteer planting event on Dec. 21. The foundation is also running an ongoing fundraiser selling Council Oak Tree T-shirts, hats, and pint glasses with help from Mythic Press and NEFF Brewing.
Since the foundation began collaborating with the city and Muscogee (Creek) Nation to create a care plan for the tree, city officials announced intentions to return Council Oak Park and Stickball Park to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. This remarkable land transfer is slated to take place in early 2025.
A former PR professional at Gilcrease Museum, Rogers currently serves as a consulting partner for ke comms, a boutique public relations firm based out of Tulsa. She says this position allows her “more flexibility, focus, and full effort” on the projects that she wants to give her head, hands, and heart to. Whether supporting mission-driven clients around the world, such as Land Rights Defenders, covering stories for publications like TulsaPeople, or ghostwriting, Rogers takes satisfaction in how her career allows her to serve prosocial clients while also earning more than enough.
Rogers graduated early from the Department of Media Studies in UTulsa’s Kendall College of Arts & Sciences in fall 2018 after spending a semester abroad at Universidad Veritas in Costa Rica. Her campus experiences with the branding and advertising programs, in particular, launched her into a rising career, which she can see clearly now that she sits on the board of the Public Relations Society of America’s Tulsa chapter.
“Lauren embodies precisely the professional liberal arts vision that Media Studies brings to the Tulsa region: public-minded,ethical media work realized through fearless, superlative professionalism. She is helping author the second century of meaningful UTulsa media success,” said Professor Ben Peters, chair of the department.
“Tulsa is on the rise right now, and that means new opportunities are constantly popping up,” said Rogers. “There are lots of organizations in the region finding funding for new communications positions and media projects. They would rather hire talent plugged into the local network, like graduates from TU, than search outside of Tulsa to fill those roles.”
Given her strong media and communication background, Rogers is actively pursuing her PRSA accreditation and considering graduate study in journalism with an emphasis on data science and international, especially Latin American, studies.