Ruth Ray Jackson, the 17th president of Langston University, holds investiture ceremony
LANGSTON — Calling the event 'a reflection of our collective journey and shared purpose,' Langston University President Ruth Ray Jackson said her investiture held Friday afternoon was 'a powerful affirmation of legacy, resilience and our shared commitment' to the school's future.
The investiture, a tradition for new college presidents, serves as a formal inauguration ceremony and often is held several months after a president takes office. OSU/A&M regents named Jackson as Langston's 17th president last April and she began her presidential tenure at Langston — Oklahoma's only historically Black university and one of the state's two land-grant higher-education institutions — last May 1.
The university has held events all week celebrating Jackson, highlighted by the investiture inside the I.W. Young Auditorium on Langston's campus in rural Logan County. The university unveiled a bust of Jackson following the ceremony on Langston's Centennial Plaza.
Multiple elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Stephanie Bice, attended the ceremony. Also among those listed as being in attendance were six members of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (Courtney Warmington, Dustin Hilliary, Ken Levit, Jack Sherry, Steven Taylor and Jeff Hickman) and five members of the OSU/A&M Regents (Rick Walker, Jennifer Callahan, Billy Taylor, Joe D. Hall and Chris Franklin), which govern Langston.
Also present were the state's current and immediate past higher education chancellors, Sean Burrage and Allison Garrett, respectively.
University and college presidents from Oklahoma State University, Harris-Stowe State University in Missouri, Huston-Tillotson University in Texas, Virginia State University, Northern Oklahoma College, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College and Connors State College were listed as delegates from their schools for the ceremony.
'The history of Langston University is a story of resilience,' Jackson said. 'Our founders — the determined citizens of Langston City — raised the funds to establish this university because they understood that education was the key to empowerment. They faced adversity, yet they persevered — for us. As we forge ahead, we must embody that same spirit. Every challenge is an opportunity. The road has never been easy — but it has always been worth it.'
A Louisiana native, Jackson attended another HBCU, Southern University, earning her bachelor's and master's degrees there before earning her doctorate at Colorado State University. As she worked on her advanced degrees, she spent a decade in secondary education at two Louisiana high schools, teaching English and African American Studies and serving as an assistant principal and a head principal.
She moved to the university level in 2002, becoming an assistant professor at Louisiana State University's Shreveport campus. Within a couple of years, she was the chair of that school's Department of Education.
Jackson began working at Langston in 2014 as the university's dean and a professor in its School of Education and Behavioral Sciences. She later became Langston's vice president for academic affairs before being named as interim president after Kent Smith Jr. retired after the 2022-23 academic year.
She's only the second female president in the history of Langston, which was founded in 1897, 10 years before Oklahoma became a state. JoAnn Haysbert was the first, serving in the role from 2005 to 2011. Jackson noted her investiture was being held during Women's History Month.
Jackson also mentioned others connected with Langston — Bessie Coleman, the first Black and Native American woman to earn a pilot's license; civil rights icons Ada Sipuel Fisher and Clara Luper, 'whose activism transformed lives,' Jackson said; and former Langston President Ernest Holloway, who retired in 2006.
'We stand on the shoulders of giants, and Langston University has always been, and will always be, a beacon of excellence and boundless potential,' Jackson said.
'Our students are our greatest treasure. Langston University, like all HBCUs, is more than an institution of learning — it is a sanctuary of belonging, a place where students are affirmed, empowered and equipped to lead. We instill in them the confidence to walk into any room knowing they belong, and the responsibility to hold the door open for those who follow.'
Jackson celebrated Langston's recent designation in the Carnegie Classification, which is the leading framework for recognizing and describing institutional diversity in higher education across the U.S. Langston is part of a new category called 'Research Colleges and Universities.' Langston trails only the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University in federal grant generation.
But even with such recognition, she said, Langston has many challenges, such as maintaining federal funding for HBCUs and receiving the state and federal investment that land-grant universities 'rightfully deserve. Our mission remains unwavering: to provide access, opportunity and excellence for our students and communities.'
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Langston University holds investiture for President Ruth Ray Jackson
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