This past year, Oaksterdam University marked a huge milestone: our 15th anniversary! We’re proud to be America’s first cannabis college, still going strong, and fresher than ever. As we wrap up 2022, we want to share some of your alma mater’s achievements. Here are the Top 10 Reflections:
1 | Celebrating YOU
Our biggest achievement this (and every) year is our alumni. We want to congratulate Oaksterdam University’s Class of 2022! You have officially joined the ranks of the Oaksterdam Gladiators. We number 80,000 strong from 110 countries, and Oaksterdam-trained professionals represent the best of the cannabis industry. We can’t wait to hear about all the wonderful things you do. Go forth and conquer!
2 | Oaksterdam Alumni Network
High achievers want to keep in touch. We launched the Oaksterdam Alumni Network to bring professionals, friends, and family together on a plant-friendly platform to connect, mentor, share, hire, and more. It’s free and open to all — with special offerings, especially for our alumni. Join OAN here.
3 | ONE Industry. ONE Goal
This past year marked the realization of OU Chancellor Dale Sky Jones’ dream to provide career opportunities in cannabis to those who need it most. OU launched The Oaksterdam Nonprofit for Education, also known as The ONE. This national organization not only promotes scholarships, it raises awareness of effective public health practices and supports industry standards for educational program accreditation. Learn more and donate here. Add The One to your Amazon Smile!
4 | Budtender’s Book
Wow. The classic Oaksterdam Budtender wisdom is now published! 🙌 Just in time for the holidays, we released the most comprehensive guide for budtending available on the market. The Budtender’s Guide: A Reference Manual for Cannabis Consumers and Dispensary Professionals is designed to make you a great budtender, or be your own budtender. Check it out on Amazon.com.
5 | Event of the Decade
We pulled out all the stops and threw a huge party to celebrate our 15th Anniversary at the historic FOX Theatre in our hometown of Oakland, Calif. and brought luminaries and industry leaders together for a powerful experience. The highlight was the screening of American Pot Story: Oaksterdam, a documentary that traces OU’s rebellious contributions leading the legalization movement. If you missed it, don’t worry. You can catch the film at Slamdance, Jan. 24th & 25th, 2023 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
6 | OU Day!
In honor of our 15th anniversary, our friends at Oakland City Hall declared November 10th forever Oaksterdam University Day! Every year, you can grab your favorite method of ingestion and celebrate OU on 11/10.
7 | Home Grow
We’re always rolling out new courses, webinars, and programs to stay on the cutting edge of professional cannabis education, but in 2022 we launched a course especially for hobbyists. Home Grow teaches everything you need to know to start from seeds or clones and end up with a healthy harvest of your own. Whether you’re growing in a tent, greenhouse, or outdoors, we’ve got you. To support this effort, we also opened our Friday Garden Club to all students — including asynchronous and alumni. Our experts answer questions in real-time in these “Hort Labs,” helping your indoor or outdoor garden grow.
8 | Equity Expansion
Social justice has always been a core foundation of OU’s mission, evidenced by the marijuana policy reform battles we fought and won to medicalize, decriminalize and legalize. We’ve long supported BIPOC-owned, women-owned, and veteran-owned businesses, and our work providing technical assistance to social equity programs expanded in 2022. In addition to serving Palm Springs and Los Angeles with trailblazing 1:1 coaching systems to meet participants where they are, we were selected by the City of Oakland, Long Beach, Monterey County, and the great State of Connecticut to launch a groundbreaking business accelerator program.
9 | Cannabis Degrees
In a super-exciting development, Oaksterdam partnered with Golden Gate University to make our courses count toward a Bachelor’s Degree! Now, our Horticulture, Business of Cannabis, and Extraction & Manufacturing courses count for six credits each, meaning you can transfer 18 credits toward an online Bachelor’s degree!
10 | Cannabis Style
As the cannabis industry continues to grow, more journalists and academics are writing about the plant than ever before. In April, Oaksterdam published the Cannabis Terminology Style Guide to establish common-use definitions of the terms and concepts core to writing about its complexities. In conjunction with the free guide, we also established a Cannabis Content Review Service that invites any journalist, reporter, writer, or public relations professional to submit their cannabis-related work for professional review. With roots 50 years deep, our network represents the best and brightest in the industry with knowledge of horticulture, business, law, science, therapeutics, and more.
What a Hit of Hope going into 2023. Shout out to the entire OU Team for making it happen!
A special shout out to our fearless leader, Dale Sky Jones. In 2022, she appeared on stage at the Fox Theater and in the documentary, American Pot Story: Oaksterdam. Dale was on WeedTube, Cannabis Talk 101, and Grateful Dead Radio. She was named a founding Board Member of the newly-launched Cannabis Media Council; appointed to the Cannabis Advisory Board for Community College of Denver; and the advisory board of Minorities for Medical Marijuana. She even hosted a German Federal Health Commission delegation that visited Oaksterdam to get information on their legalization legislation! Catch up with Dale on LinkedIn.
