Template:Short description {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other{{#if:Langston University seal.png|Template:Main other }}{{#if:|Template:Main other }}{{#if:|Template:Main other }}{{#invoke:check for unknown parameters|check |unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox university with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y | academic_affiliation | academic_affiliations | academic_staff | accreditation | address | administrative_staff | affiliation | affiliations | athletics_affiliations | athletics_nickname | athletics_nicknames | budget | campus | campus_type | campus_size | canton | caption | chair | chairman | chairperson | chancellor | city | closed | colors | colours | coor | coordinates | country | dean | director | doctoral | embedded | endowment | enrollment | established | faculty | footnotes | former_name | former_names | founder | founders | free | free1 | free2 | free_label | free_label1 | free_label2 | head | head_label | image | image_alt | image_name | image_size | image_upright | language | latin_name | location | logo | logo_alt | logo_size | logo_upright | map_size | mascot | mascots | module | motto | mottoeng | motto_lang | mottoeng | name | native_name | native_name_lang | nickname | nrhp | officer_in_charge | other | other_name | other_names | other_students | parent | postalcode | postcode | postgrad | prefecture | president | principal | province | provost | pushpin_label_position | pushpin_map | pushpin_map_caption | rector | region | religious_affiliation | sporting_affiliations | sports_free | sports_free1 | sports_free2 | sports_free3 | sports_free_label | sports_free_label1 | sports_free_label2 | sports_free_label3 | sports_nickname | sports_nicknames | state | students | superintendent | top_free | top_free1 | top_free2 | top_free_label | top_free_label1 | top_free_label2 | total_staff | type | undergrad | vice_chancellor | vice-president | vice_president | visitor | website | zipcode }}{{#invoke:Check for clobbered parameters|check | template = Infobox university | cat = Template:Main other | image; image_name | other_names; other_name | former_names; former_name | founders; founder | academic_affiliations; academic_affiliation | academic_staff; faculty | campus_type; campus | other_students; other | location; address | location; city | location; address | location; canton | location; prefecture | location; province | location; region | location; state | location; country | location; postalcode | location; postcode | location; zipcode | postalcode; postcode; zipcode | coordinates; coor | colors; colours | free_label; free_label1 | free; free1 | athletics_nicknames; sports_nicknames; athletics_nickname; sports_nickname; nickname | athletics_affiliations; sporting_affiliations | affiliation; affiliations | mascots; mascot | nrhp; embedded; module }}
Langston University (LU) is a public land-grant historically black university in Langston, Oklahoma. It is the only historically black college in the state and the westernmost four-year public HBCU in the United States. The main campus in Langston is a rural setting Template:Convert east of Guthrie. The university also serves an urban mission with centers in Tulsa (at the same campus as the OSU-Tulsa facility) and Oklahoma City. The university is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
HistoryEdit
The school was founded in 1897 and was known as the Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University. From 1898 to 1916 its president was Inman E. Page. Langston University was created as a result of the second Morrill Act in 1890. The law required states with land-grant colleges (such as Oklahoma State University, then known as Oklahoma A&M) to either admit African Americans or provide an alternative school for them to attend as a condition of receiving federal funds.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The university was renamed as Langston University in 1941 in honor of John Mercer Langston (1829–1897), civil rights pioneer, first African-American member of Congress from Virginia, founder of the Howard University Law School, and American consul-general to Haiti, though it was always referred to as "Langston".
Poet Melvin B. Tolson taught at Langston from 1947 until 1964. Tolson was portrayed by Denzel Washington in the film The Great Debaters.
In August 2021, former university President Kent J. Smith Jr announced the university would use COVID-19 relief money to forgive the debt of students enrolled between spring 2020 and summer 2021, forgiving $4.65 million in student debt.<ref name="Debt Forgive">Template:Cite news</ref>
Langston University commemorated the opening of a new allied health facility on its Tulsa Campus on March 30, 2023. The facility was dedicated as the Jack Henderson Allied Health Facility on August 2, 2024. The 17,000 square-foot building is home of the Langston University School of Nursing and Health Professions.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
President Kent J. Smith Jr announced his retirement as the university's 16th president effective at the end of the Spring 2023 semester. The Oklahoma Agricultural & Mechanical Colleges Board of Regents unanimously appointed Ruth Ray Jackson as interim president beginning July 6, 2023. In April 2024, she was appointed the institution's 17th president with the investiture on March 14, 2025.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
AcademicsEdit
Six schools house the degree programs of Langston University: Sherman Lewis School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences; School of Arts and Sciences; School of Business; School of Education and Behavioral Sciences; School of Nursing and Health Professions; and the School of Physical Therapy. A total of 30 undergraduate and six graduate degree programs are offered at LU.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref>
According to US News and World Report, Langston had an 18% graduation rate within the standard four-year period of study in 2025.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The university offers the Edwin P. McCabe Honors Program for highly motivated undergraduate students with exceptional academic records.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The university was accredited with a Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT) program in 2005. It is the university's only doctoral program and one of three DPT programs in the state.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Langston University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Langston currently has the lowest total cost per credit hour of any four year university in Oklahoma.<ref>https://secure.okcollegestart.org/Financial_Aid_Planning/Financial_Aid_101/Oklahoma_Tuition_Breakdown.aspx</ref> Langston was ranked as the #1 value among all HBCUs by BestValueSchools. <ref>https://www.bestvalueschools.org/hbcu-colleges/</ref>
AthleticsEdit
The Langston athletic teams are called the Lions. The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Sooner Athletic Conference since the 2018–19 academic year. The Lions previously competed as a member of the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) from 1998–99 to 2017–18. They were also a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) from 1931–32 to 1956–57, which is currently an NCAA Division I FCS athletic conference.Template:Citation needed
Langston competes in nine intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include basketball, football and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cheer, softball, track & field and volleyball.
Marching PrideEdit
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Langston's marching band is known as the "Langston University Marching Pride". It is a major ambassador of the university, a supporter at athletic events, and serves as a training center for students interested in pursuing a career in music and/or developing pertinent life skills. Charlie Wilson, of The Gap Band, once served as Drum Major. The Marching Pride has performed for the Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Kansas City Chiefs, and has marched in front of huge crowds at the Georgia Dome, AT&T Stadium, the former Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, and has participated in four Honda Battle of the Bands, often marching in front of crowds of over 40,000. Members of the Marching Pride often receive an out-of-state fee waiver along with additional scholarships based upon their audition. <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Clear left
Notable alumni and attendeesEdit
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See alsoEdit
- KALU, Langston U. Public Radio Station 89.3 FM
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
Template:Colleges and universities in Oklahoma Template:HBCU Template:Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund Template:Sooner Athletic Conference Template:Oklahoma college sports