Langston University history

The meager funding from the State Legislature was assisted by the Enabling Act of 1906 in which Section 13 of each township was set aside for the benefit of education.

On November 16, 1907 (the year Oklahoma became a state), Langston City was officially established.

Isaac Berry McCutcheon was appointed the second president in 1915 following President Page’s resignation to become president of Macon College in Missouri.

Although the Oklahoma State Board of Regents accredited the school in 1929, regional accreditation remained out of reach for nearly twenty years.

When President Sanford resigned, Benjamin Franklin Lee was appointed as the second interim president in 1939.

Early Langston residents lobbied for a college, and although the Colored Agricultural and Normal University would not officially adopt the name until 1941, it was popularly known as Langston University.

In 1942 a herd of registered cattle was started and a prize Hereford bull was purchased from the Turner Ranch, many improvements occurred to the campus, including a modern sewage system, stadium, and library, and the school began printing its own catalog.

The President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities listed 105 four-year and two-year public and private institutions that were postsecondary academic entities founded before 1964 to educate African Americans.

In 1969 the Board of Regents dismissed Hale in a secret meeting, prompting Langston students to march at the state capital in his defense.

Sims resigned, and the director of the Cooperative Extension Service, James L. Mosley, was appointed fourth interim president, serving in 1974-75.

Ernest L. Holloway, Langston University alumnus, was named fifth interim president in 1977-78.

In 1978 the State Regents for Higher Education assigned an urban mission to Langston, and the next year under Holloway the school opened extensions in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Zella Black Patterson, Langston University: A History (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1979).

Donald Spivey, "Crisis on a Black Campus: Langston University and Its Struggle for Survival," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 59 (Winter 1981–82).

The E. (Kika) de la Garza Institute for Goat Research, established in 1984 as the American Institute for Goat Research, continued to attract research scientists, agricultural specialists, and other visitors on the state, national, and international levels.

In 1987 Langston University joined with the Guthrie Arts and Humanities Council in opening the doors of the newly renovated historical Pollard Theatre in Guthrie, which has provided for Theatre Arts students a unique opportunity for experiential learning.

In 1989, after an appropriation from the Oklahoma Legislature, the college created the E. P. McCabe Honors Program.

In the 1990’s the residence of former presidents (the White House) was renovated and dedicated as the Helen Aline Johnson Hospitality Management Center.

In 1996 the Centennial Court student apartments were constructed and opened, increasing university housing bed space by approximately 520 beds.

Born in turmoil, strengthened through adversity, Langston University today sits “high on a throne with royal mien.” She celebrated her centennial in March 1997 and has moved with confidence into a second century of excellence.

In Fall 2000 approval was given for the Master of Rehabilitation Counseling degree.

The University’s second master’s degree - the Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling - was offered in January 2001.

Cecelia Brooks, "'Oklahoma's First Black Governor': Doctor Isaac William Young," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 82 (Spring 2004).