2026 Alumni Awards
Alumnus of the Year: This award recognizes an alumnus who advances the Kingdom of God through noteworthy, long-term accomplishments in professional endeavors, significant service to the church, and a positive impact on the lives of others.
Young Alumnus Award: This award is given to an individual under 40 who displays distinguished leadership in his or her field and shows promise of future growth professionally and personally.
Servant Leader Award: This award honors alumni who exemplify the heart of OKWU’s mission: to develop and send servant leaders who advance the Kingdom of God. Rooted in the principles of OKWU’s Kingdom Path—servanthood, education, community, and transformation—this award recognizes alumni who demonstrate Christlike love, pursue truth through a biblical worldview and lead with wisdom and grace.
2026 Outstanding Alumni Honored
In recognition for their courage, achievement, and commitment to OKWU's vision and mission, we proudly present this year’s Alumni Awards.
Joe & Dawn Marie Colaw
Alumni of the Year
They laugh easily. They tell stories that stretch across generations. And somewhere between South Dakota, Missouri, Indiana, and Oklahoma, you begin to see it. This isn’t just a life built together. It’s a life shaped by God’s steady hand.
For Joe (‘77) and Dawn Marie Colaw (‘77), a lifetime of ministry was never about recognition. When they were named Oklahoma Wesleyan’s 2026 Alumni of the Year, the honor reflected what those closest to them have long known. Their lives have been marked by steady faithfulness and servant leadership. For 50 years, they faithfully pastored, led, and invested in people.
Dawn Marie’s story begins in South Dakota, where she grew up in a family that was transformed when her parents came to faith in Christ. “I was old enough to know the difference… what a difference Jesus makes when he comes into a home.” That moment shaped her understanding of what it means to follow Jesus and share her faith with others.
Joe’s path carried a different vision at first. Raised in a pastor’s home, he came to Bartlesville Wesleyan College determined not to enter ministry, saying, “I’m not going to be a pastor. I’m going to be an attorney.” But during his freshman year, that direction changed. Through a series of undeniable encounters, Joe sensed a clear call to pastoral ministry. What began as resistance became surrender, and ultimately, a lifelong calling.
Joe and Dawn met in 1972 at a Wesleyan General Conference in North Carolina. They stayed connected through letters, then enrolled together at BWC. They married in 1975 while still in school and graduated in 1977, already stepping into ministry together as they served in a local church.
Their early years led them to Brookings, South Dakota, where they pastored for eleven years. From there, they were called to Indiana Wesleyan University to serve in college ministry before returning to First Wesleyan Church in Bartlesville, OK. What began as a step of obedience became a long season of impact. For 35 years, they faithfully served the same community, investing in generations of students, families, and leaders.
Their 50 years of ministry have always been shared. While Joe preached and led, Dawn counseled, discipled, and created spaces where people felt known and welcomed. Together, they modeled a partnership rooted in calling, not position.
That legacy extends beyond their own work. Their two sons, both graduates of OKWU, carry the same heart for ministry. One is now a pastor at Trinity Wesleyan in Indiana. The other is “making Jesus famous” as the owner of six fitness centers.
Looking back, their story is not defined by a single moment, but by a pattern. Saying yes when no is easier. Trusting God in uncertainty. A legacy measured not in years, but in lives changed for eternity.
Dawn Marie still sees it the same way she did as a child when a “wonderful guest came to our house.” Jesus continues to change lives through their legacy.
Today, Joe and Dawn Marie’s connection to Oklahoma Wesleyan remains strong. Their lives stand as a reminder that a life surrendered to God will always leave a lasting impact.
Nathan Wall
Young Alumnus Award
Nathan Wall (‘14) doesn’t try to be someone he’s not.
“I will never be the cool youth pastor,” he says. “I am the awkward, quirky person that God has created me to be.”
That clarity has shaped a ministry defined not by comparison, but by calling.
For Nathan, being named OKWU’s Young Alumnus of the Year reflects a life already deeply invested in others. Since graduating, he has served in full-time youth ministry, first in Croswell, Michigan, and now at First Wesleyan Church in Bartlesville. He faithfully leads students, mentoring young leaders, and shaping the next generation of the Church.
His calling began early. Raised in a Christ-centered home, Nathan never knew a time when he didn’t believe. In eighth grade, at a youth convention in Denver, he sensed a clear call to ministry.
“From the eighth grade on, ministry was all that I thought about.”
At OKWU, that calling took shape through relationships more than classrooms. Mentors and professors saw his potential before he saw it in himself, calling him into leadership and building his confidence.
“I didn’t think that I could really be anything, and OKWU gave me that confidence.”
Today, that transformation defines his ministry. Nathan leads with presence. Whether preparing messages or meeting one-on-one with a student, his focus is simple: be fully there.
“If I can simply focus on the people that I’m with, they feel valued and loved.”
That philosophy shapes how he invests in students, showing up to games, meeting for lunches, and walking alongside them beyond weekly gatherings. His leadership extends into the broader community as well, serving as District Youth Pastor, coaching youth sports, and volunteering in local schools.
At the core of his work is a future-focused mindset. Success isn’t measured by numbers, but by lives changed over time.
He is committed to helping students know what they believe, why they believe it, and how to share it with others, equipping them for a faith that lasts.
Already, that investment is multiplying. Former students are stepping into leadership and ministry, carrying forward what they’ve been taught.
Nathan’s journey is already marked by consistent presence, preparation, and purpose. And through it all, a commitment to simply be who God created him to be.
Charissa Dunn
Servant Leader Award
Charissa Dunn (‘82) is not interested in recognition from the platform.
She would be one of the first to tell you there are others more deserving. That instinct to step back while continuing to serve has defined her life and is why she is being honored as this year’s Servant Leader Award recipient.
Charissa earned a double major in Business Administration and Business Education from Bartlesville Wesleyan College (BWC). Her calling did not begin with a clear plan. In fact, she once resisted the idea of becoming a teacher. Over time, through prayer and the steady leading of God, that direction became clear.
Once it did, she committed to it fully.
Charissa spent 12 years teaching in Copan, Oklahoma, before returning to BWC in 1994. For more than two decades, she served as a professor, Student Teaching Supervisor, and Practicum Placement Coordinator. In those roles, she helped shape future educators with consistency, care, and a deep sense of responsibility for their impact.
Her influence was rarely found in a single moment. It was built over time.
“The little things make the difference… it’s the cumulative of all of the things that make you who you are.”
That belief shaped how she approached her work. Students were not projects to manage. They were people to invest in. Many of those students would later point back to small, faithful moments that made a lasting difference in their lives.
From 2020 to 2024, Charissa stepped into a role as alumni director. Once again, her focus was to reconnect graduates to the university, strengthen relationships, and create meaningful community.
“You’ve got to be faithful to God every day… live your life for something bigger than yourself.”
That kind of faithfulness does not draw attention to itself, but it builds something lasting. It creates momentum through daily obedience. It shapes lives through consistency rather than visibility.
Even in retirement, Charissa continues to serve. She chooses roles that support others rather than lead from the front, creating space for the next generation while remaining faithfully involved.
Her life reflects what it means to be a servant leader. Not driven by recognition but grounded in calling. Not defined by position, but by a steady commitment to serve wherever God places her.
It is that kind of faithfulness that leads to meaningful impact over time.