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An ORU Degree - With a Twist

Where does Bryan Looney (97) use his nursing degree? Hint: it's not in a hospital.

By Laura B. Raphael

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Click Photo to Enlarge Dr. Kenda Jezek, dean of the Anna Vaughn School of Nursing, visits with Bryan, Joy, and son Aidan in her office. They were discussing ways that Bryan could help current ORU nursing students learn more about healthcare statutes and regulations in Oklahoma, a specialty of his as a healthcare attorney.

Ten years ago, if you'd told Bryan Looney that one day he'd be as comfortable class="text" in the courtroom as he was in the classroom, he wouldn't have believed you. After all, he was extremely shy, and public speaking was about 110th on his list of 100 things he liked to do.

So when he came to ORU, he prepared for the family business of residential care facilities, finishing a nursing degree from the Anna Vaughn School of Nursing and then taking a nursing services coordinator position in Arkansas.

That's where the twist begins.

"When I graduated, I knew that being a nurse in a hospital wasn't what God desired for my life," Looney explained on a recent visit with wife Joy (Hamer-96) and infant son Aidan to his ORU stomping grounds. "I knew I should do something in healthcare but not clinical nursing, not the day-to-day caring for patients."

But what should he do instead?

He turned to God for the answer, praying about different paths, including pursuing an MBA and getting into the business side of healthcare.

Then Looney started talking with a pastor from their church, a young man who decided to pursue a law degree part-time from the University of Tulsa.

"Looking back, I realized God's hand guided me to this pastor," Looney said. "His experiences in law school were positive, which made me think that mine could be, too. He also explained that to be a good lawyer you had to be highly analytical, which I've always been. So I decided to go for it." He received his juris doctorate--with highest honors, no less--from TU in May 2001 and was ranked number five in a class of 178. Not shabby at all for someone who, not long before, had "never dreamed of becoming an attorney."

Today, Looney is an attorney licensed in both Arkansas and Oklahoma (where he received the highest Oklahoma score on the Bar Exam during the July 2001 sitting) and is an associate at the Rogers (Arkansas) law firm of Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard, P.L.L.C.

Don't think, however, that he's left his ORU nursing degree behind.

He is a member of the Health Regulatory Practice Group and frequently represents healthcare businesses and providers--including nurses--in a variety of formats such as state and federal courts, tribunals, and boards.

Although Looney has only good things to say about the academics at both ORU and TU, he is especially appreciative of one aspect of his ORU education not emphasized at Tulsa's other private university: the spiritual one.

"[Because of ORU,] I'm always thinking, Is this what God wants me to do? before taking action. I learned to always consult God before doing anything," he said.

The emphasis on spiritual matters has been particularly helpful for him as an attorney, especially considering the reputation of lawyers. "Attorneys are frequently accused of being unethical. But ORU taught me how to apply my ethical principles and make moral decisions, which I carry into my occupation as an attorney. I'm certainly not your typical lawyer in that respect."

Indeed, as a staff member and later section editor of his law school's professional journal, he chose to tackle plagiarism in a fellow student rather than let it continue. Bolstered by the strong morality that ORU instilled in him, Looney stood up for what was right, not what was easy.

Another benefit of his ORU experience reveals itself when confronting the unique set of "worldly pulls" that attorneys must face--money, prestige, power. "It's easy to get off track, to let all of that stuff take over your worldview. You have to constantly re-focus yourself and ask, What am I doing this for? Myself and money, or because this is an occupation I believe God wants me to do?"

Nurses who become lawyers...engineers who become teachers...businesspeople who turn to medicine... it's not so unusual. Even Steve Martin, the prolific comedian and writer, started out with a degree in philosophy, of all things.

But Looney believes that ORU students who choose careers that are partially or entirely unrelated to their original degrees, have a unique opportunity to shine.

"Don't limit yourself," he wants them to know. "Believe that you can do something other than just one occupation. In fact, you're more prepared than others because of your experience at ORU. The values you learned there will let you go further."

And that's a good lesson, no twist necessary.