Langston University

By Ellie Melero, Media Relations Specialist

At 10 a.m. on a bright and sunny Monday morning less than two weeks into his summer vacation, Tomas was back in the classroom.

The rising junior from Southeastern High School in Oklahoma City listened excitedly as Dr. Lindsay Davis explained the Quiz Bowl rules to a lecture hall full of students from the 2025 Langston University Math and Science Academy. Like many of his fellow Academy students, Tomas was ready to compete for bragging rights in the fast-paced trivia game.

They were split into two teams that rotated in groups of four to compete head-to-head answering questions ranging from pop culture trivia to properly solving math equations. In no time at all, the room was filled with excited shouts and laughter as the students raced to their buzzers, trying to be the first to correctly answer a question and earn points for their team.

“Currently, since we’re learning about the Quiz Bowl, I’m going to try my best to excel in that,” Tomas said. “And just overall, I’m trying to improve my skills and learn new things with my teachers.”

The Quiz Bowl was just one of many activities these high school students participated in during the Math and Science Academy. For two weeks, the 25 students who made up this year’s cohort lived on LU’s Langston campus and got a taste of what life is like in college. They spent their days learning about math, science and technology and their evenings relaxing and having fun.

The students took classes on public speaking, ACT preparation, math, biology, chemistry and technology. They also went on outings such as touring the E. Kika de la Garza Goat Research Center, a day trip to the Oklahoma Science Museum in Oklahoma City, and a field trip to a water park. In the evenings, there were movie nights and other recreational activities.

“What I especially like here is that while they are giving you work, they’re more into their lessons,” Tomas said. “They’re more into teaching. Like, I have this one teacher, Dr. Abraham, and while in the middle of lectures, if you have questions, he makes sure to answer all of them. That’s really cool because the teachers here invest so much of their time and knowledge into the students that even if you didn’t want to do the work, you’re still going to learn.”

For more than 30 years, Langston University has hosted the Math and Science Academy in the summers to inspire high schoolers to pursue careers in STEM. Dr. Lindsay Davis took over as Summer Camp Director for the Academy three years ago, but long before that, she was a student herself.

As a high schooler in Oklahoma City, Dr. Davis attended the Math and Science Academy every summer. That’s where she first met Dr. John Coleman and Dr. Alonzo Peterson, who were LU faculty members in chemistry and mathematics, respectively. It was the first time she had ever met a Black chemist or a Black mathematician, and it was also the first time she realized those were careers she could pursue if she wished.

Each summer, Dr. Davis was excited to return to the Academy and learn more about math and chemistry until she was finally able to enroll in the Chemistry program at Langston University. She went on to become the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Texas at Arlington in 2021 before returning to Langston University as a faculty member working under Dr. Coleman, Interim Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences; and Dr. Peterson, Vice President of Academic Affairs.

“Oftentimes, I tell people that Math and Science Academy is what inspired me to become a chemist,” Dr. Davis said. “Because I’ve been through the program, I understood the impact that it had. So, my goal (as director) was to be very intentional, to plant seeds in the students because it was once a seed planted in me.”

Chloe, a rising junior at Baton Rouge Magnet High School in Louisiana, has been inspired to explore new career paths thanks to her time at the Academy.

Before coming to the Academy, Chloe was thinking about becoming either an interior designer or a physical therapist, but she hadn’t made up her mind. The Academy gave her an opportunity to learn more about other fields she hadn’t considered.

In her technology class, she learned about different types of coding and had an opportunity to practice coding on a board while building a smart farm. As someone who loves lotion, one of her favorite activities was making lotion in her chemistry class.

“(The Math and Science Academy) is all about STEM, so it really gives me an inside look into what it’s like,” Chloe said. “The teachers talk about what they do, and the different fields and majors you can go into. You get to do a lot of different things.”

This year, in addition to the traditional academic and social elements of the Academy, Dr. Davis wanted to add professional development and community building elements. She added Intro to Public Speaking to their daily class schedules and brought in faculty and staff members to serve as guest speakers on topics like financial literacy and navigating financial aid in college.

In an effort to be more connected to the local community, this year’s cohort also attended a Memorial Day program at the Wm Conrad Veterans Memorial Gardens in the Town of Langston. Later in the week, they completed a service-learning project to help beautify T.G. Green Park in the Town of Langston.

“I think that the Math and Science Academy can help in many ways,” Dr. Davis said. “Not only academically, socially and personally, but we had a chance to get the students into the community and to do some good work.”

Another important element of the camp was preparing students for the ACT.

On their first day, the students took a practice ACT to help give them a baseline from which to start. For some of the students, it was their first time taking an ACT or SAT test. Every day, they attended an ACT preparation class in the mornings, and on the last day of the Academy, they took the official ACT exam.

On average, each student improved by three points from their practice test score.

The opportunity to improve his ACT score was something Tomas was happy about because he’d only taken the test once before the Academy. Improving his score was important to him because he knew he wanted to pursue a career as a forensic chemist, and a good ACT score will help him get into a good program.

Throughout the Academy, though, he learned a lot more than just how to improve his ACT. He was particularly excited to discover a new interest in pathology thanks to his biology class with Dr. Abraham. He learned the difference between epidemiology and pathology, and it’s already changed his perspective on his potential future career.

Experiences like this are part of what allows the Math and Science Academy to have such a profound impact on students, and it’s why Tomas said he encourages other students to apply.

“It was a very good experience,” Tomas said. “This camp is amazing, and it can teach you so many new things. In one week, you learn stuff that it would take regular teachers weeks to teach. It’s just amazing.”

The Math and Science Academy is funded by the Oklahoma Regents for Higher Education, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.