Former U.S. President Harry Truman visited campus in 1957 to express his appreciation for the leadership role the college had taken in furthering the work of the Technical Cooperation Administration, especially in Ethiopia.

The TCA was a technical assistance program (known as Point Four) that was started by Truman in 1949 to provide training for developing countries that was designed to help them help themselves. Truman had appointed Oklahoma A&M College President Henry Bennett to lead the effort and he was visiting most of the countries involved when he and his wife were killed in a plane crash in Iran in 1951.

Several faculty members from OSU would eventually devote many years of their lives teaching and working with the Ethiopians and helping establish what is now known as Haramaya University (formerly Alemaya University) in Ethiopia. A documentary titled "Point Four" features offers an historical overview of the effort and commnets from several of the individuals and families involved in the effort.