A Special Family Reunion

For as long as she could remember, Claire Switzer dreamed of attending the University of Oklahoma. After all, with a name like "Switzer," OU seemed the logical choice.

The OU Club of Houston helped turned Claire's dream into a reality by presenting her a club scholarship in advance of the 2013-14 academic year.

Now a freshman student at Oklahoma, Claire hoped she might run into a distant relative of hers while in Norman. Indeed, Claire is related to former OU football coach Barry Switzer.

That encounter happened this week, "Sooner" than Claire could have imagined and came as a complete surprise to her. She tells the story of how her life took a most unexpected turn.

"I was walking on the South Oval to go to Chipotle for the OU Homecoming benefit when I got a call from Lauren, a friend of mine who lives at the Alpha Chi Omega sorority house. She said that Barry Switzer was there and asking for me.

"As an Alpha Chi pledge, I've dealt with a lot of questions about my last name and I've told everyone that Barry and I are distant cousins. I laughed when Lauren shared her news, figuring she was joking. I tried to call her bluff, when finally she told me to hold on a second.

"An unmistakable voice then came on the line. 'Is this Claire Switzer?' I froze in my tracks. At first I was speechless, but finally I managed to stutter some sort of reply. 'I'm at the Alpha Chi house,' Coach Switzer told me, 'and was hoping you might be able to stop by.'

"I'm not sure if I actually answered him, because in the next moment I was sprinting to the sorority house. After I hung up the phone, I called my dad. At first he was concerned because I seemed out of breath. I told him I was running across campus to meet Barry Switzer. He was as excited as I was.

"By the time I got to the house, Coach Swtizer was saying goodbye to several of the girls who live there. It's a good thing everyone wanted to have a picture taken with him, otherwise, I think he would have left! As soon as I saw him I yelled out, 'I'm here! I'm Claire Switzer!'

"He gave me a big hug and told me how glad he was to meet me. When I asked how in the world he found me, he explained he had received a letter from Tim Gregg, one of the board members of the OU Club of Houston. The letter said I was at OU, I had pledge Alpha Chi Omega sorority, and that Fred Switzer was my grandfather.

"'Fred is a very prominent member of our family, Claire,' Coach Switzer said. 'In fact, I brought you something that might help you better understand just how we're related.'

"He handed me a packet filled with his family's--and mine--genealogy. He told me to go through it when I had time and that when I was finished to give him a call and we'd get together again.

"Someone snapped a photo of the two of us (see above), and in it, he looks as happy to meet me as I was to meet him. After he left, the house was abuzz with excitement that Barry Switzer had paid a visit.

"And he'd come to meet me!"