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hen Sylvia Lewis was appointed to the OU Board of Regents in 1986, she made history as the first African-American to serve on the governing body of the state’s flagship university.

One of the first things she did after her appointment was call George Henderson.

“Sylvia called me, she says, ‘George, I’m a regent, and you’re my professor,” Henderson recalls.

The quick and decisive phone call was representative of not only Lewis’ strength and authority as an individual, but also of the close and committed relationship that she would work to develop with members of the black community across campus, opening a door to decision-making not only for herself but for all those whose voices she listened to.

Henderson, himself a civil rights leader, OU professor emeritus and trailblazer as Norman’s first black homeowner, said Lewis’ presence alone in Board of Regents meetings re-shaped the university.

“It meant that no longer could whatever happened behind those doors when the regents were meeting remain a secret from us black people,” Henderson said. “Sylvia would let us know.”

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efore Lewis joined the board, it was a group largely composed of white men who had been active in state politics.

Shifting that trend was part of the reason then-Gov. George Nigh named Lewis to the position in April 1986, less than 40 years after the first black student gained admission to the university as a result of the Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher vs. OU Board of Regents case.

“A happy day has arrived,” Lewis, then 65, said at the time of her appointment.

Lewis previously served as dean of student affairs at Langston University, the state’s then-all black college, and directed the same university’s Oklahoma City branch.

After the Ponca City native graduated from Langston University in 1942, segregation policies barred her from attending the University of Oklahoma. She instead attended the University of Nebraska for graduate studies, but later returned to the Norman campus in 1952 to finish her master’s degree.

Lewis’ tenure as a regent spanned six years, until she retired in 1992 due to poor health and family constraints. At the time of her resignation, the board issued a statement citing its deep regret at her departure.

“She has served with great distinction for the past six years and her abiding concern for the best interests of the university will be long remembered,” the statement read.

Her tenure was marked by the role she had in selecting Richard Van Horn as the new president after the university’s 11th president, Frank Horton, stepped down in 1989.

More than that, however, she is remembered for the role she had in encouraging conversations surrounding diversity, voicing the opinions of those who had been shut out of the conversation for so long and engaging with students about issues important to them.

Norris Williams, former coordinator of black student affairs, started working at OU in 1977. He first got to know Lewis, whom he describes as outgoing and friendly, while she was working in student affairs at Langston.

Her passion for and commitment to students never wavered, continuing even long after she had stepped into the higher role that is typically distanced from the everyday affairs of students.

Before each board meeting, Lewis would swing by Williams’ office to ask how things were going. She gave Williams her home phone number and told him to call any time — an option he took her up on whenever he wanted to get her opinion on issues he dealt with in his job.

Henderson, too, recalls Lewis as someone who was easily available. She regularly met him for lunch, making sure to meet in conspicuous places so that others could see Henderson was connected with a regent, he said.

Lewis supported and advocated for issues that pertained to the black community in a way that had never been done before, or as much since, her time on the decision-making board. Williams called her the minority community’s “sounding board.”

“I was spoiled by her,” Williams said. “Because after that, I barely saw any regents anymore.”

Williams, whose interests lay in student affairs, found an ally, listener and supporter in Lewis, who shared the same devotion to students. She would hold speaking events for her sorority sisters, talk with undergraduate students and get involved on campus.

“Her main interest was the welfare of students at the university,” Williams said. “And most regents, usually students are not the first thing on their mind — it may be brick and mortar or maybe the prestige of being a regent. But her main and major concern was students and dealing with the problems that students face, whether it was housing, financial, social, cultural — she felt a part of that, she wanted to be a part of that.”

Lewis died in March 1995 at 73. The university’s president at the time, David Boren, issued a statement saying the school was saddened by her death.

“As a regent, she constantly put students first and kept the university wisely focused on its principal mission, the education and mentoring of our students,” Boren said. “I will personally miss her wise counsel, support and encouragement.”

Even after she no longer sat on the board, Lewis paved the way for the next black regents, including Sipuel Fisher, who was appointed in 1992, and Melvin Hall, who was also appointed in 1992 and became the first black chairman of the board in 1998.

But regents of minority communities are few and far between. Today’s board is comprised of all-white members.

“I’m very proud of where we are,” Hall said in a 1998 Oklahoman article. “But I think we need more work, and I don’t think I’m alone in that sentiment.”

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ach spring, nearly 150 black high school seniors gather on OU’s campus for a weekend meant to prepare them to thrive in the university setting.

The George McLaurin and Sylvia A. Lewis Conference is named after two trailblazers — OU’s first black student and first black regent — to inspire students to see where they have come from and why they are able to be where they are.

“We talk about them as pioneers and trailblazers at the University of Oklahoma and talk about them as people to model yourselves after,” said Trey Moore, who coordinates the conference. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy for them being trailblazers at the university at that time, and they are two examples that our students can look up to.”

Williams said he doesn’t know exactly what Lewis’ experience was serving on the board, but from an outside perspective, he said he does not know if the other regents gave her the respect that she deserved.

“Thinking about the times, and a female, an African-American female on the board, and knowing how macho white males can be — particularly at that time, things are better now — but at that time, I don’t know how supportive they were of Ms. Lewis,” Williams said.

Lewis was someone who took advice from others, but ultimately made up her mind, lobbied for what she believed to be important and used her vote on the powerful board to make change and force conversations surrounding diversity and inclusion, Henderson said.

The fight for justice and equality at OU, led by people like Lewis, is something Moore hopes will be remembered by students who attend the conference named in their honor.

“We don’t want that lost to history,” Moore said. “Because we’re not taught a lot about them in school or here at the university so we want our students to know, especially African-American students, that African-American students have helped pave the way for them and are tethered to the university, and played a large role in making this university diverse and inclusive.”

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eated in a chair in his office on the seventh floor of the Physical Science Center, Henderson is surrounded by books, pamphlets and memorabilia from his past as a civil rights activist and community leader.

He’s not there to talk about himself — although he justifiably could, for hours — but about the strong women like Lewis, Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher and Clara Luper, who forged a path for himself and countless others.

“If you’re fortunate, you will meet a lot of people,” Henderson said. “If you’re extremely fortunate, you will meet a few people who are a blessing to you and will contribute to your personal, professional growth. I met those women. Strong women.”

He not only had the home phone numbers of each, but often used them. There’s no better person to speak to the legacy and impact of these three trailblazing women than Henderson.

“I refer to them as the Big Three of African-American women in Oklahoma — no one cast a longer shadow than those women,” Henderson said.

He flips through the delicate pages of a yellowed pamphlet. It’s from a 1996 Black Student Association ceremony that honored him, Sipuel Fisher, Lewis and several other heroes and heroines in OU’s black community.

He talks in inspirational quotes and powerful sentences, building to the crescendo of his moving speech until he catches himself, laughing.

“I can hear Clara and the others saying, “Preach, George, say the word,’” Henderson says.

But his passion is contagious, his message — the message he thinks Lewis and Sipuel Fisher and Luper would give now — is clear.

“I challenge the next generation — finish what we started,” Henderson said. “Finish what they started. It was never meant for people like them and me to take you all the way — it’s your time and your turn now.”

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