The diversity classes would tackle issues like “how being Black, Hispanic or poor impacts a person’s ability to become successful, rather than focusing on generalizations about different cultures,” Thomas says.
The university also plans to strengthen its ties with Langston University — Oklahoma’s only historically Black university — in hopes of enticing Langston graduates to apply for graduate programs at OSU.
“We want to develop better partnerships and ensure that our students are able to work and compete in a global market when they graduate,” Thomas says.
OSU kicked off this year’s Black History Month observance by honoring Nancy Randolph Davis, the first Black student to break the color barrier at the Stillwater campus.
Now 80, Davis was allowed to enroll in three courses in the summer of 1949 despite sanctions facing the university, then called Oklahoma A&M College.
Initially told by one administrator that Blacks were not welcome, Davis persisted in her demands to pursue a master’s degree at OSU and was able to enroll with the help of the NAACP.
— Associated Press
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