The admissions office prepares itself for an estimated 800 students from across America to come to Langston University’s campus on October 31st for LU’s Annual High School Day. Though an event of this scale may seem intimidating to many, Director of Admissions Jocha Gordon, who previously worked at Southern University, has the experience and preparation to alleviate those nerves.
“I moved here from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, so I’m used to putting on these events. I worked at one of the big SWAC schools, so I’m used to high school day. … Normally, what we do is right when the semester ends, we’re already starting and thinking about the next high school day.”
Gordon is in her third year at Langston and has already created a legacy for herself. Since starting, she has broken admission records twice, with the number of admitted students this year being the highest it’s been in five years.
Her work consists of on-campus events, such as High School Day and the Senior Showcase, which, as she details, is a more intimate experience that prepares seniors for their time at Langston by helping them meet administrators in their potential major, as well as obtain vital resources like their student ID. In addition to this, Gordon travels the world representing the “brand” that is Langston University.
Gordon’s efforts have even landed her, as well as Langston University Marching Pride director Dr. Mark Gordon, in a Bohemian Parliament address for their impact on the country’s community. She said, “So we didn’t actually get a chance to go, but they [Bohemian Parliament] mentioned us. Like, they read this whole thing about myself and Dr.Gordon and how many scholarships that we gave for the band students.”
For Gordon, her work in higher education is her “ministry”, so having moments like this is not as far and few between as it may seem. Gordon exemplifies this grandeur by detailing the story between her and a former student turned colleague.
She said, “When I first came to Langston, one of my student workers was from Southern University. She applied for a position in my office two months after I got here… I met her when she was 16. I was able to hire her as my administrative assistant. I promoted her to my outreach engagement special, probably about six, seven months after that, and now she is the resident director in Centennial. So that just shows you this is a ministry where you love up on the students. They remember you, and you do it because you love what you do, not because you want a pat on the back. … I genuinely love what I do.”
This love for academia and spreading the word of Langston is not just a numbers game for fellow educators and administrators like Gordon; rather, it is a mission to ensure that young people have an understanding of their options after high school, regardless of their academic or personal background.
Yukon High School educator and sponsor of their Minority Student Union, Heather Jones, believes that even while working at a predominantly white institution, it is still important that students, staff, and parents are educated about the presence of Langston.
When explaining why this is significant, she said, “I think that often times, our students that grow up in different backgrounds see the people in authority as so much different than them, and that has caused a lot of like systemic issues for a lot of minority groups. And so I think that if students can see themselves in the leaders that are presenting themselves in front of them, they’re able to relate to them and see themselves in that position, in the future as well. So I think that for schools that are predominantly in a white community. It’s just a really slippery slope between, you know, school and the prison system. So we need to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to diversify ourselves so that our students can see success in every shade.”
Jones, like Gordon, has taken her role in education and transformed it into a cultural shift at Yukon High School, starting up resources like the Minority Student Union or MSU, which helps students from diverse backgrounds understand that they have just as much of a deserved place in school as their peers.
In creating spaces like MSU, Jones has been able to highlight the various aspects of education that might have been overlooked without her efforts. Because of this, she has seen many intersections between her students in MSU and their navigation through their college search journey.
She said, “It [MSU] has allowed our students to diversify themselves, to be more willing to do things like going to a HBCU … Most of our students that have gone to Langston have also been in MSU. So, I think that it has allowed them to feel like themselves and really get comfortable in the education world, because looking at people all day that … can’t relate to you in any way can be really maddening, and so I think it has allowed students to feel as though they are capable of being and succeeding in an educational setting.”
The work of Gordon, Jones, and educators across the country helps to support students in believing in their futures, and with their continual efforts, they will keep bridging the gap one student at a time.
Layla Nickerson
Layla Nickerson is a sophomore broadcast journalism major with a minor in marketing. Her “why” as a student reporter is to be a storyteller of culture and community, in hopes of featuring all the aspects that LU has to offer, whether they are niche or grand. She believes that the work of The Gazette grants power to the students of Dear Langston by giving them a voice, and because of this, she knew it had to be something she was a part of. Outside of her journalistic tendencies, Layla loves immersing herself in other forms of media like music, film, TV, and occasionally reading. For any inquiries, she can be reached at layla.c.nickerson@langston.edu in Outlook as well as @layla_nickerson on Instagram.
