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Felix Clary
ICT + Tulsa World
TULSA, Okla. – Bacone College student-athlete Peyton Golightly had one semester left. He was blindsided when the school shuttered at the end of the fall 2023 semester, according to his mother.
Forced to transfer out of state to Mission University in Springfield, Missouri, Peyton lost his basketball scholarship from Bacone.
“The uncertainty of where I was going to finish school weighed very heavy on me,” he said. “I was blessed to have a school reach out to me to play basketball, (but) the move out of state was difficult.”
The day before he left for Missouri, his car was hit by an uninsured driver. When he finally started at his new school this month, he sustained a sports injury and is now unable to play basketball.
“He is devastated,” Tiffany Golightly said in an ICT and Tulsa World interview.
Bacone closed because of an ongoing lawsuit over unpaid HVAC work.
The school has almost gone on auction many times, but the auction has been continually canceled.
Peyton is still hoping to finish all of his courses and graduate on time this spring, though with plenty of added stress.
He needs knee surgery, another out-of-pocket cost to the Golightly family.
“There aren’t any tribal health facilities in Springfield,” his mother said.
Because his car is undrivable, the family traveled to Missouri to pick him up for a Christmas visit.
“At Bacone, he was exposed to his culture,” Tiffany said. “He no longer has that.”
Peyton, an honor roll student with a major in health exercise science, has plans to be an occupational therapist.
“After graduation, I plan to pursue my masters in occupational therapy. I still have two years of eligibility to continue playing basketball,” he said.
He was on a basketball scholarship that was paying for his school, but with him having to transfer, that is now lost.
“He didn’t deserve that,” Tiffany Golightly said.
Options limited for Bacone students
“I enjoyed my time at Bacone,” Peyton said. “The class sizes were small so the professors could give individualized instruction. This was beneficial in helping the students be successful.”
Peyton had told his mother often about rumors of the school closing, Tiffany said, prompting her to call the school. She said administrators reassured her Bacone would remain open.
“The uncertainty is ridiculous, just not knowing and hoping. … It’s just frustrating because you don’t know who to believe, and those poor kids are all blindsided,” Tiffany said.
Bacone Interim President Nicky Michael said Peyton was not the only student who had to transfer out.
The school reached out to surrounding colleges, including Northeastern State University and Connors State College, to help the students transfer. This was not an option for Golightly, as no other surrounding universities offered his major.
“I know some of the other kids on the basketball team just went home. … If they were young or didn’t put up great numbers and a coach didn’t call them, they now have no place to go,” Tiffany said.
Michael said part of the reasoning for shutting Bacone down was to allow time for much-needed renovations on campus. She said the original HVAC contractor did not complete the job.
“The campus does need a lot of work,” Tiffany agreed. “That’s why I don’t understand what the HVAC company did. I’ve seen (Bacone’s campus). It needs some TLC obviously.”
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