Langston University

(This story was originally published in ‘E Roar Digital Magazine | Vol. 2 Issue 7)

by Ellie Melero

Music, laughter and conversation filled Langston University-Tulsa’s front lobby on the Tuesday of Homecoming Week as students, faculty, staff, alumni, community members and their families flocked to the campus for its annual Homecoming Block Party on Oct. 7. Sitting at a table in the middle of the lobby, happily chatting with anyone who wanted to stop by, sat 98-year-old Ozetta Parker (née Walker).

As Parker looked around at all the activity, it amazed her how much things had changed at Langston University since she was a student in 1946.

Parker grew up on a farm near Tulsa in the 1930s as one of nine kids. She enjoyed farm life, especially the big homemade meals her mother would prepare, but education was always a major focus in her community. So when her older sister Pauline moved to the city, Parker began staying with her during the school year so she could attend Booker T. Washington High School.

In the city, Parker and her siblings walked everywhere they needed to go, and they didn’t go out at night. They lived in a tight-knit community where everyone looked out for one another. Her teachers were strict, but Parker could tell they cared. When Parker graduated from high school in 1946, Pauline encouraged her to attend college and study home economics.

“She liked my cooking,” Parker laughed.

Langston University didn’t have a campus in Tulsa back then, so Parker made her way out to Logan County. She lived in Sanford Hall–which was a women’s dorm at the time–and studied home economics.

Life at LU was different than what Parker was used to. The rural campus felt almost isolated from normal society, and Parker thought her dorm room didn’t have much space. She especially missed her mother’s cooking. But there was a lot about life at Dear Langston that she loved, too.

The university offered plenty to do as far as providing students with social activities. Students went to sporting events and church regularly, and when there were dances, they were well attended. Parker met a lot of people and made a lot of friends.

“They had entertainment for us,” Parker said. “They had a little place where you could go dance. I don’t know what they called it … but you go there and socialize when you had the time.”

Although Parker spent a lot of time studying in her room or in the library, she said she enjoyed her classes. Her home economics courses taught her about a variety of things, including cooking, proper housekeeping and sewing. She learned she really enjoyed sewing. She loved drawing her own designs and then using them to create items like aprons and dresses.

Parker loved her time at LU, but she had to leave after two years. She moved to Oklahoma City, found work, got married, started a family and moved back to Tulsa, but she never forgot about her time at Dear Langston.

For years, Parker would return to LU with her family for every Homecoming. She loved connecting with old friends and seeing how much the campus and university continued to grow. But as she got older, the trip out to Langston became harder to make, and she stopped going.

This year, her son saw an advertisement for the Homecoming Block Party at LU-Tulsa, and they were both excited to attend their first Langston University Homecoming celebration in several years.

This provided her the opportunity to remember not just what Langston University meant to her, but what it can mean to everyone.

“Education is what’s going to help us make this world a better place,” Parker said. “(Langston University) is a good place to go to learn and socialize and entertain and leave a legacy for the children behind us to go as high as they can.

“Learn as much as you can and help each other.”