OSU Alumni Association inducting Nancy Randolph Davis into the OSU Hall of Fame
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Nancy Randolph Davis, the first African-American student at Oklahoma State University and a graduate of the College of Human Sciences is among the four new members set to be inducted to the prestigious OSU Hall of Fame.
Davis will be inducted posthumously at a ceremony Friday, February 9, at the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center.
Induction into the OSU Hall of Fame is the highest honor bestowed by Oklahoma State University. It recognizes alumni and former students with outstanding lifetime achievements in society and professional life.
In 1949, Davis became the first African-American enrollee at what was then Oklahoma A&M College. She had previously received her bachelor’s degree in home economics from Langston University in 1948. Davis began her teaching career in 1948 at Dunjee High School in Spencer, Oklahoma. She attended OSU during the summers and received her master’s degree in 1952.
Davis retired from Oklahoma’s Public Education System in 1991 after 43 years of service, 20 years at Dunjee High School and 23 years at Star Spencer High School.
She was also active in the Oklahoma City N.A.A.C.P. Youth Council, a member of the Oklahoma Retired Teachers Association, Langston University Alumni Association, OSU Alumni Association and the OSU Black Alumni Association.
In 1999, Davis was honored with the OSU Distinguished Alumni Award, and OSU’s Davis Hall in residential life was named in her honor in 2001. Each year, OSU celebrates “Nancy Randolph Davis Day” at both the OSU-Stillwater and OSU-OKC campuses. She was also the recipient of the OSU College of Human Sciences’ Enhancing Human Lives Award and was inducted into OSU’s Greek Hall of Fame in 2012.
Davis has also been recognized and honored multiple times by the state of Oklahoma. In 1991, Governor David Walters designated May 31 as “Nancy Randolph Davis Day,” and she was the recipient of the Oklahoma Human Rights Commission’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. Davis was also inducted by the Ntu Art Association into the Oklahoma Afro American Hall of Fame. In 2015, she was inducted posthumously into the Oklahoma African-American Educators Hall of Fame.
Davis was married to the late longtime educator, Fred C. Davis. She was the mother of Dr. Nancy L. Davis of Oklahoma City and Calvin O. Davis, Esq., of Lubbock, Texas, and the stepmother of Freddye M. Davis of Kansas City. She also had two grandchildren. She was a life member of the OSU Alumni Association.
Davis passed away March 23, 2015. Her children, Calvin and Nancy Lynn, will be accepting the award in her honor.
For more information about the 2018 OSU Hall of Fame honorees and induction ceremony, visit orangeconnection.org/hof.