Governor’s Can You Relate Tour to Stop at OBU

September 15, 2001

Governor Frank Keating's marriage ambassadors, Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott, will join Oklahoma Baptist University students for the second time this year on the Can You Relate 2001 Tour, Thursday, Sept. 13, at 3:30 p.m. in the university's Yarborough Auditorium. The tour is part of the governor's Oklahoma Marriage Initiative to lower Oklahoma's divorce rate.

OBU is one of 11 universities invited to participate in the tour, which will culminate in the one-hour seminar on a number of different topics about improving relationship skills.

"Our hope is to help students learn more about basic relationship," said Dr. Dick Rader, vice president for religious life. "We want them to gain the knowledge of how to have solid relationships spanning from roommate relations all the way to finding their life mate."

The Parrotts hope that students attending the seminar will learn more about themselves, what they can bring to relationships and how family origin shapes the way people relate to others.

Other topics during the seminar will be bridging the gender gap and understanding the opposite sex, building lasting friendships, secrets to finding lasting love, and handling lost friendships and break-ups.

The Parrotts are nationally recognized psychologists and authors. They have appeared on "Oprah," "CBS This Morning," "NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw," "The View," CNN and the Fox News Network. The couple also co-directs the Center for Relationship Development at Seattle Pacific University.

The Parrotts currently serve as scholars-in-residence for the governor, and are adjunct faculty at Oklahoma State University.