LU President’s Inaugural Set
Smith Formally Becomes 16th Chief Executive of 116-Year-Old Institution

By JOHN W. SIMMS
Special to the Chronicle

 

LANGSTON—Inaugural ceremonies for the 16th president of Langston University will be held next month.
Dr. Kent J. Smith Jr. will formally become the 16th chief executive of the university when investiture events begin at 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 14.
The ceremonies will be held at C.F. Gayles Gymnasium.
After the investiture ceremonies, there will be an unveiling of the presidential bust at Langston’s Presidents Plaza.
A reception will follow at the John Montgomery Multi-Purpose Building.
A semi-formal event will begin at 7 p.m. at the gymnasium.
Dr. Smith was named president of Langston by the Board of Regents of Oklahoma Agricultural & Mechanical Colleges in January of last year, and assumed office on June 4.
Prior to being named Langston’s president, Dr. Smith was vice president of student affairs and chief student affairs officer at the University of Ohio.
He served as dean of students at Auburn University in Alabama, and as director of multicultural affairs at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.
Before that, the president of Langston University was assistant director of Black student services at Colorado State University.
Dr. Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and a master’s degree in education administration from Southern University of Baton Rouge, La.
He received a doctorate degree in education from Colorado State.
Langston University, Oklahoma’s only predominantly Black school of higher education, was established in 1897.
Today, the four-year, land-grant university boasts urban and rural missions.
The university has three campuses: the main campus in the town of Langston, plus urban campuses in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
Accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges & Schools, the university offers 37 undergraduate degrees and five graduate degrees.
Undergraduate degrees are offered in Langston’s schools of agriculture and applied sciences, arts and sciences, business, education, behavioral sciences, and nursing, health professions and physical therapy.
The Division of Graduate Studies offers the university’s graduate degrees..

Dr. Kent J. Smith Jr. is the 16th president of Langston University.