Publisher’s Note: The Black Wall Street Times is the first to break this devastating news for our community. We urge the University of Oklahoma to preserve this vital department that safeguards Black history and benefits all students.
Update: The University of Oklahoma’s Senior Vice President and Provost Andreì-Denis Wright issued the following statement:
“The University of Oklahoma is not closing the Clara Luper Department of African and African American Studies or the Schusterman Center’s Judaic and Israel Studies or their programs.
Review of both degree programs was triggered by a routine, multi-step evaluation of the university’s 300+ programs conducted under State Regents provisions.”
The Black Wall Street Times has requested an interview with OU’s SVP and Provost Wright regarding why the program was “triggered” at this time and is awaiting a response. The BWST’s has also been made aware that some staff members were sent an email.
NORMAN, Okla. — Members of the Clara Luper Department of African & African American Studies (CLAAS) board say the University of Oklahoma is moving toward dismantling the department — a step that, if finalized, faculty and advocates warn, would erase a vital space for Black scholarship in the state.
Named after civil rights leader Clara Luper—who sparked the 1958 Oklahoma City sit-ins that helped ignite the national movement—the department has stood as a rare academic space dedicated to exploring Black history, culture, and political struggle in a majority-white institution. Its elimination, critics argue, would not just cut courses but undercut the very values Luper embodied: courage, resistance, and the fight for equality.
OU also maintains programs in Native American Studies (NAS) and Latin American Studies, though it remains unclear whether those programs could face similar cuts.
Legacy Committee Pushes Back
The Clara Luper Legacy Committee, made up of Clara Luper’s family members and those who marched alongside the late civil rights pioneer, blasted the recommendation as a betrayal of both history and principle.
“Eliminating the CLAAS Department will serve to dishonor the legacy of a woman who was the first African American admitted to OU’s graduate history program,” the committee wrote.
The group emphasized that the department has played an irreplaceable role in teaching students about moments in Black history that might otherwise be forgotten. They said the university’s decision runs counter to the spirit of 2018, when OU named the department after Luper in what was then described as a “deeply meaningful” recognition of her decades-long fight for equality.
“Having this department is a must,” the committee stressed, adding that it is committed to ensuring future generations have the chance to study the rich history of African Americans in Oklahoma and beyond.
A Rare and Alarming Step
Universities almost never eliminate entire academic departments. Universities often consolidate or rename programs, but dissolving a department devoted to African & African American studies remains extraordinary.
For students, the change could mean the end of opportunities to pursue majors or minors in the field. OU would “teach out” current enrollees, allowing them to finish their degrees, but it would deny new students the option entirely. The university might reassign tenured faculty, while lecturers and adjuncts—who often carry the weight of teaching in Black studies—face uncertain futures.
Dr. Raymond Doswell, Executive Director of the Greenwood Rising Museum in Tulsa—which educations the public about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and honors the legacy of the Greenwood District, dubbed Black Wall Street—issued the following statement:
“I am disappointed to learn of the decision to dissolve the African American Studies program at the University of Oklahoma. Programs like these are essential to ensuring that future generations understand the full breadth of our state and nation’s history,” he told The Black Wall Street Times.
“At Greenwood Rising, we remain steadfast in our mission to preserve and share the stories of the Greenwood District, while connecting that history to ongoing conversations about race, resilience, and justice. At a time when academic institutions are scaling back critical learning opportunities, Greenwood Rising stands as a place of truth-telling and remembrance – a resource for students, educators, and communities across Oklahoma and beyond,” he added.
Kristi Williams, founder and executive director of Black History Saturdays and a National Geographic Explorer, told The Black Wall Street Times: “The University of Oklahoma closing its African & African American Studies department is proof that these people are crazy. The erasure of Black history is violence in its finest form. Every time an institution dismantles spaces for us, they’re telling us our history, our truth, and our very existence don’t matter.”
Political Pressure from the Statehouse
The move comes after years of escalating attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion in Oklahoma and across the nation.
Last year, Governor Kevin Stitt signed an executive order banning state funds for DEI programs, framing them as ideological rather than educational. Earlier this spring, the Legislature doubled down with Senate Bill 796, which prohibits DEI staffing and training in public higher education altogether.
While those laws targeted administrative offices, not academic departments, advocates warned they would create a chilling effect. Under pressure from lawmakers who have railed against “woke indoctrination,” OU appears to be going further than the statutes strictly require.
Clara Luper’s Legacy at Risk
OU named the department after Clara Luper in 2018, celebrating Oklahoma’s pivotal role in the civil rights struggle. Luper’s leadership in the Oklahoma City sit-ins inspired a generation of young activists and placed the state on the national map for grassroots resistance.
Stripping her name from a department dedicated to Black studies, advocates argue, erases more than an academic unit—it erases a legacy.
“Dr. Amos N. Wilson once said, ‘If you want to oppress a people, you rob them of the memory of themselves.’ That’s exactly what’s happening here,” Williams added.
National Reverberations
If the dissolution goes forward, Oklahoma will join a growing list of states—Florida, Texas, and others—where conservative leaders have taken aim at African American studies and related programs. But closing an entire department named after a civil rights icon would mark one of the most dramatic steps yet in the national anti-DEI campaign.
Scholars warn that the move could harm OU’s reputation nationally, complicating recruitment of faculty and students and putting the university at odds with accreditation standards that value curricular diversity.
What Comes Next
OU officials have not yet issued a public announcement. The Black Wall Street Times has reached out to the university and is awaiting comment.
Civil rights leaders, alumni, and student groups are already mobilizing to defend the department, calling on the administration and Board of Regents to reverse course.
For students, the fight is immediate. The state now faces a lasting question: Will Clara Luper’s name inspire new generations, or will Oklahoma’s flagship university silence it?
The Black Wall Street Times shines a light when institutions try to erase our history. Clara Luper fought for truth in Oklahoma’s classrooms—now it’s on us to keep that fight alive. Independent Black media ensures our stories can’t be silenced. Join us today.
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