LAFAYETTE, La. — The UL Lafayette Alumni Association recently dedicated a bridge on the Alumni Center grounds to Christiana Smith, the first African American student to graduate from the university.
"She was accumulating credits—college credits—at different schools, right. From TSU in Houston, they would come out here in the summer, stay with relatives, and then she would transition to go to Southern in Baton Rouge," said Jonathan Haskin, Smith's grandson.
Then, in 1954, a court decision ruled that the school, then known as Southwestern Louisiana Institute, could not refuse admission to any resident on the basis of color.
"And she was like 'Wow, this is awesome! I get to go to school finally,'" Haskin said. "She enrolled in school, and in '55 of that fall, she was already finished."
At the next ceremony in the spring of 1956, Smith earned her diploma and became the school's first African American graduate and, according to Haskin, the first African American graduate of any southern university.
Since then, she has been memorialized by the university.
"It wasn't until 1992 that we actually named this chapter in her honor, and so the Christiana Smith African American Alumni Chapter—we're proud to have it still standing and going strong," said Ruben Henderson.
To learn more about the chapter, visit their webpage here.
The chapter's latest dedication to Smith was a bridge at the Alumni Center.
"The purpose and significance of bridges is to bridge and bring people together. It is to provide opportunities and access to those that may not necessarily have it," Henderson said.
These opportunities began with Christiana Smith and her legacy.
"She set the bar high, right, and it's up to us to continuously raise it but with quality and with presence and with gratitude," Haskin said.
