Langston University

(This story was originally published in ‘E Roar Digital Magazine | Vol. 3 Issue 2 on March 6, 2026)

by Ellie Melero

When Maya Offord arrived at Langston University as a freshman in Fall 2022, she was immediately greeted by a Student Ambassador.

The Ambassador welcomed her to Dear Langston and helped her find her way to student check-in. There, she met other Ambassadors who would continue to help her navigate the campus that was about to become her home for the next four years.

Throughout that first day, and her entire first week, Offord continued to have overwhelmingly positive interactions with Student Ambassadors. From putting on fun events in the evenings to doing “dorm storms” to check on her and her fellow freshmen, the Ambassadors made sure Offord truly felt like she was a member of the Lion Pride.

“As soon as I got on campus that first day, my first people that I had were Ambassadors,” Offord said. “It really inspired me to go be an Ambassador because they were good mentors, and I was like, ‘I really, really want to be a part of that.’”

Offord is now a senior quad major––psychology, corrections, general studies and criminal justice––and she is the Student Ambassadors’ membership and training chair. She is one of the thousands of students and alumni whose time at school has been made all the better thanks to LU Student Ambassadors.

The Langston University Student Ambassadors is an organization made up of model students who want to elevate their HBCU through community service and peer mentorship. They serve as freshman orientation leaders, assist with campus tours, help with ceremonial events, and volunteer around campus and in the Town of Langston community. They are heavily involved with student activities across organizations, and they are experts in LU history.

Student Ambassadors are an integral part of LU, but for most of the university’s proud history, the organization did not exist.

A Directive from the President

When Dr. JoAnn Haysbert became the President of Langston University in Fall 2005, she gave Dezz Lewis a mission: create a student ambassador program.

“Then, all we had, really, was the McCabes, Mister and Miss Langston, Miss Black Langston and the three SGA elected officials,” Lewis said. “Those were your student leaders. And (Dr. Haysbert) said, ‘Man, we need more when people come to campus.’”

She tasked Lewis, who was the Director of Student Life at the time, with creating a new group of students who could serve as “ambassadors” to help represent Langston University during campus visits and other important events. She left it up to him to decide how the club would be organized and run, and he embraced the challenge.

Lewis knew he wanted the organization to be different from any other student organization. As a proud alumnus himself, he wanted it to be a way to instill school spirit and pride in students while shaping them into young leaders. He wanted it to create a sense of belonging on campus because he knew students who felt they belonged were more likely to finish college. Most of all, he wanted it to be impactful not just for its members, but for Dear Langston as a whole.

After brainstorming for a while, Lewis created a set of goals and measurable outcomes for the program. Then, he went to work.

He decided rather than follow the standard student organization model of the time, where clubs were run by presidents and a few other executive positions who made all the decisions, the Student Ambassadors would be run by the Ambassadors’ Council. They would create committees for the various aspects and functions of the organization, and each committee would have a chair. Each chair would have a seat at the Ambassadors’ Council. The Ambassadors’ Council Chairman would be the spokesperson for the organization.

With the framework established, Lewis began working out how he would train the Student Ambassadors. In addition to their role as student representatives during campus visits, the administration had decided the Ambassadors should also serve as orientation leaders during Lion Camp, Langston University’s week-long freshman orientation program that takes place the week before classes begin in the fall semester.

“We needed orientation leaders for the freshman orientation,” Lewis said. “So when you drop your kids off, the first people you see are the Ambassadors. They’re your model Langston students, and they embody the Timeless Human Values.”

Once he had a plan ready, he set to work recruiting students. In Spring 2006, the Student Ambassadors had their first official meeting with a class of 36 students. At the end of the summer, they attended the Student Leadership Institute and held a retreat to prepare for Lion Camp. In Fall 2006, new students were greeted for the first time by Student Ambassadors.

A Staple of Student Life

When Lion Camp ended, the Student Ambassadors remained. They were meant to be student leaders year-round, and they were meant to serve the entire campus community.

The Student Ambassadors would reach out to other student organizations and ask what support was needed. They would help recruit students to attend various club events as well as official university programs and sporting events. They cultivated a shared sense of school pride with their peers, and they worked to better the student experience for everyone.

They also continued to receive training. On Wednesday evenings in the fall, Student Ambassadors attended a leadership class with Dr. Haysbert, giving them direct interaction with their president and an opportunity to influence their campus.

Lewis also continued to train them himself, teaching them to recite the Timeless Human Values and the Profile of a Langston Student so that they might take them to heart and learn to embody those qualities. He taught them about the history of the university, and he taught them poems he hoped would inspire the students to continue to strive for success.

“They learned everything that was poured into me as a young adult,” Lewis said. “A lot of affirmations and poems. They had a curriculum. It spawned out of conversations I had with my mentors in college, but most of all, my grandmother made me memorize every poem, affirmation you could think of. So, a lot of what they were doing was stuff that I learned as a kid and stuff I learned at Langston (University).”

As the Ambassadors established their role in campus life over the next few years, Lewis continued to refine what he called “the core” of the program. He would add to the curriculum as he saw needs arise. He changed the membership process so that instead of recruiting specific students who had shown leadership potential, any student with a 2.0 GPA could apply to join.

Eventually, Lewis relinquished his role as advisor to the Student Ambassadors. Now, Dr. A. Dominique Williams, the Assistant Dean of Students in the Office of Student Life, serves in that capacity. Since taking over the role, Dr. Williams has continued to improve the organization.

She believes that as student leaders and representatives for the institution, the Student Ambassadors should be held to a high standard. Members must now maintain a 2.5 GPA minimum in addition to the thorough application and training process. Their role in the community has also been expanded.

After Lion Camp, the Ambassadors continue to mentor freshmen throughout their first year of school. They assist with campus tours and recruitment events like High School Day. They participate in service projects like serving meals in the cafeteria. A new service project they recently added was attending HBCU days at high schools and middle schools in Oklahoma.

“There’s still room for growth,” Dr. Williams said. “There’s still room for this organization to be bigger and better than it currently is. This is an awesome opportunity for students to be engaged and just spread the good word of Langston (University).”

The Student Ambassadors have become a staple of student life at Dear Langston, and dozens of students apply each spring to be inducted into the program in the fall. With each new Ambassador Class inducted and freshman class welcomed, their impact continues to grow.

20 Years of Impact

After 20 years, there are many aspects of the Student Ambassadors program that have become tradition. Customs like “L’s Up” and many spirit chants originated from the organizations’ early years. Saying “I am a Langston Man” or “I am a Langston Woman” when introducing oneself is now common. The “Ask Me” t-shirts from Lion Camp are easily recognizable symbols of the club.

Now, students like Trinity King cannot imagine Langston University without the Student Ambassadors.

When King first came to Langston, the Student Ambassadors helped her feel at home. Her Ambassador mentor, Kayla, helped make her transition into college easier. She wanted to pass on that same support and encouragement she received, so King applied to become an Ambassador during the spring of her freshman year. Kayla even wrote her a letter of recommendation.

King was inducted into the Ambassador Class of 2023, and she has loved it ever since. She now serves as the Chair of the Student Ambassadors. As she prepares to graduate with her bachelor’s degree in animal science in May, King knows her time at LU wouldn’t have been the same without the program.

“That first interaction I had my freshman year (with Ambassadors), it really changed my trajectory,” King said. “Learning about the history of Langston, I take that to heart with me. I’m Langston ride or die.”

King and Offord were both inspired to join the Student Ambassadors because they had felt its positive impact early on in their time at LU, and they continue to see how its influence impacts the campus community beyond people’s first years.

Many students join Student Ambassadors at the end of their freshman or sophomore years, and they often go on to become leaders in other student organizations afterward. King tells new students that Ambassadors is a great “starter organization” because it helps you get involved on campus and teaches you to be an active member of the community. The program’s lessons on leadership, personal responsibility and school pride stay with you as you move on to your next club or internship or job.

“I believe Ambassadors shaped me into being a leader,” Offord said. “Although I’d been in leadership roles in high school, I didn’t really get that experience until I got here. Being an Ambassador, it encouraged me to be a really good leader and also to take accountability. It also taught me it’s OK to go other ways and work with other people because when you’re a leader, you have to be able to be flexible.

“And then it also helped me to love Langston (University).”