Skip to main content
Current StudentsFaculty/StaffmyOKSTATEDirectory
Quicklinks
/
Search
Apply
Close
Search
DirectoryA-Z Site Index
Quicklinks
Logins
myOKSTATEEmailO-Key AccountCanvas
Academic Schedule
Academic CalendarCatalogClass ScheduleRegistrar
Places & Departments
BookstoreBursarIT HelpdeskLibraryParking & TransitStudent Union
Trending Now
OSU CalendarCampus MapFall Commencement
Go back to top of page
Open Main MenuClose Main Menu
About OSU Academics
UndergraduateAcademics
Graduate and ProfessionalEducation
OnlinePrograms
Admissions
UndergraduateAdmissions
GraduateAdmissions
Cost & Aid Student Life Research
About OSU Academics
UndergraduateAcademics
Graduate and ProfessionalEducation
OnlinePrograms
Admissions
UndergraduateAdmissions
GraduateAdmissions
Cost & Aid Student Life Research Apply to OSU
Current StudentsFaculty/StaffmyOKSTATEDirectory
Search
DirectoryA-Z Site Index
Quicklinks
Logins
myOKSTATEEmailO-Key AccountCanvas
Academic Schedule
Academic CalendarCatalogClass ScheduleRegistrar
Places & Departments
BookstoreBursarIT HelpdeskLibraryParking & TransitStudent Union
Trending Now
OSU CalendarCampus MapFall Commencement
Go back to top of page
Black History Month celebrates and honors the achievements and contributions made by African Americans to the economic, cultural, spiritual and political development of the United States.

What is Black History Month?

The commemoration began as “Negro History Week” in 1926. The second week in February was chosen because it marks the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass and the ratification of the Constitution’s 15th Amendment, which removed race as a qualification for voting.
Celebrations and support from universities and colleges around the country led to the week evolving into a full month.
Homecoming parade african american student association
Kaitlyn Kirksey, SGA President

“Black History Month is important because it celebrates a group of people who have been left out of history, and a perfect example is the Tulsa Race Massacre, which was left out of Oklahoma history textbooks. Our history as people of color is your history as people in America. All of us are a part of American history.”

- Kaitlyn Kirksey
Former Student Body President

Black History Month Featured Events

Afro-American Society member stage a walk out in the 1960s

 

Office of Multicultural Affairs Events

Join the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Center for Africana Studies as well as various student organizations and campus units in recognition of Black History Month.

VIEW OMA EVENTS

Tulsa Race Riot

 

100 Points of Truth and Transformation

From June 2020 through June 2021, OSU-Tulsa, in partnership with OSU-Stillwater and OSU Center for Health Sciences, will present 100 opportunities (points) for students and the public to connect with the truth of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and be inspired toward transformative justice.

MORE INFO

OSU African American HighlightsOklahoma State University is a nationally recognized leader with an unwavering commitment to achieving inclusive excellence across its university system.

50%
increase

 in African American students earning a bachelor’s degree from 2010-2019

8
years straight

of OSU receiving the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity award

97%
increase

in undergraduate students of color from fall 2009 to fall 2018

OSU Professor Teaches State’s Only ‘Black Wall Street’ Course

This course, taught on the OSU-Tulsa campus, examines the history and evolution of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, coined “Black Wall Street” by educator and historian Booker T. Washington. Quraysh Lansana, OSU adjunct professor, is a poet, author and educator who teaches the course based on his 17 years of research.

The Dream Lives On

How students today are moving MLK’s vision forward
Audrea Jackson, Miss Black OSU 2019-20, explains how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream is pushing her forward as a black student at OSU.

Statue Honors OSU Integration Pioneer

A life-size bronze sculpture depicting civil rights pioneer Nancy Randolph Davis, the first African American student to attend Oklahoma A&M College in 1949, was dedicated outside the College of Human Sciences (now known as the College of Education and Human Sciences) in January 2019. 
Davis overcame racial obstacles — sitting outside a classroom until fellow students’ complaints were heard and she was allowed a seat in the class — while working toward a master’s degree in home economics. She taught in Oklahoma high schools for 43 years.
Nancy Randolph Davis sculpture
burns speaking at Nancy Randolph Davis sculpture dedication

“You could not have better values than Nancy Randolph Davis,” OSU President Burns Hargis said. “She believed in education and spent her life in education and in civil rights. We all have benefited from her.”

- President Hargis

Oklahoma State University Archives 

Dr Mitchell, first black faculty member at OSU
Dr Mitchell, first black faculty member at OSU
Dr. Earl Mitchell Jr. was the first black tenured faculty member at OSU. Mitchell joined the biochemistry department in 1967 and served as a professor until 2007. Among several positions during his 40-year tenure, he served as associate vice president of Multicultural Affairs and was a role model for minority students. He received the Human Rights Award from the Oklahoma Human Rights Commission in 2003 and was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 2005.
Barry Sanders football headshot
Barry Sanders football headshot
Barry Sanders played with the Oklahoma State University Cowboys for three football seasons. In 1988, Sanders completed the greatest individual season in college football history by winning the Heisman Trophy and averaging 7.6 yards per carry and more than 200 yards per game. Sanders set several college football records including 3,248 total yards and 39 touchdowns.
Afro- society of OSU
Afro- society of OSU
The Afro-American Society, now named the African American Student Association, was chartered on Jan. 31, 1968. The association encourages members to become involved in academic, leadership, social and political activities at OSU. The African American Student Association has grown from 11 founding members to hundreds of active members (circa 1979).
Alpha Phi Alpha, OSU
Alpha Phi Alpha, OSU
In 1958, a local chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation's largest black fraternity, was established on campus. The seven original charter members included Orlando Hazley, the first black athlete to letter at OSU. The fraternity focused on raising awareness of African Americans and promote unity on campus (circa 1981).
Patrice Latimer became the first African- American to be president of the OSU Student Association.
Patrice Latimer became the first African- American to be president of the OSU Student Association.
In 1973, Patrice Latimer became the first African- American to be president of the OSU Student Association
John W. Montgomery
John W. Montgomery
In 1975, John W. Montgomery began serving on the OSU Board of Regents. Montgomery was a veterinarian from Poteau, Oklahoma. In 1954, he petitioned for the integration of schools in Poteau and it became the first integrated school in Oklahoma.
Back To Top
MENUCLOSE