The history of the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature was born out of the Vietnam War.

In 1968, a small group of college students, from several different colleges and universities across Oklahoma, approached then Lt. Governor of Oklahoma, George Nigh, about a way to increase representation of college students on the state legislative level. In essence, they were attempting to find a way to properly and orderly represent the views and opinions of all college and university student in Oklahoma to the State Legislature.

It was that idea which gave birth to the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature.

In December 1968, the first group of students gathered to elect interim state officers who would organize and draft governing and incorporation documents.

In the Spring of 1969, the 1st Session of the 1st Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature was held, where the governing and incorporation documents were first debated and adopted, along with a formal election being held to elect state officers to a full term under the new constitution and statutes of the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature, on top debating legislation concerning a variety of “real world” affairs, ranging from the Vietnam War, the death penalty, abortion, county governance, prison reform, sex education, de-segregation, and student due process rights.

The 2nd Session of the 1st Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature was held in early November 1969 as well, solidifying that OIL would hold two (2) legislative sessions a year: one during the spring semester and one in the fall semester, with a general election occurring during the Spring session.

On April 3, 2008, the Oklahoma House of Representatives and Senate passed House Concurrent Resolution 1072, which congratulated OIL for it’s 40 year anniversary.

In 2011, the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature Foundation was established to handle and manage the financial and legal affairs of the student organization. The Foundation consists of alumni of OIL, who volunteer their time and efforts to expand the financial resources of the student organization and handle any legal aspects of the student organization, thereby shielding the current student participants from financial liability.

This chain of having two (2) legislative sessions a year went unbroken until 2020, when, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Spring Session was canceled. Due to only candidate having filed for the officers who served on the Board of Directors, a full general election was not needed, and the judicial retention elections were postponed until the Fall 2020 Session, along with the election for the Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives and the Deputy President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

Both the Fall 2020 Session and the Spring 2021 Session were held virtually, as it was still unsafe for large groups to gather in person. This commitment to ensuring that OIL would still meet, albeit virtually, ensured that student concerns were still voiced to the actual Oklahoma Legislature.