The Oral History of Dr. Thomas-Smith Final paper

The Oral History of Dr. Thomas-Smith
Carl Blair, Raheem Cardwell, Jimmie Duplessis, Celia Hinkson, Michael Pittman, Kiana Thomas
Communication 2513: Principles of writing for the Discipline
December 4, 2012

2
The city of Prairie View has transformed a lot from the slave plantations that ran
throughout this part of Texas. It is baffling to know that our ancestors who were once chained
and beaten worked on the same land as a historically black college named Prairie View A&M
University. We have recorded dialogue of Dr. Thomas-Smith’s experiences and outlook of
Prairie View A&M University from her arrival at Prairie View almost thirty years ago until
present day.
According to the Prairie View A&M website, the very distinguished “Dr. Emma
Joahanne Thomas-Smith has served Prairie View A & M University for over thirty years as a
teacher, mentor, administrator, and supporter.” She has been recognized for her participation in
various organizations that have uplifted the University of Prairie View, as well as the
surrounding community. She now serves as the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic
affairs. Our group, which included Carl Blair, Raheem Cardwell, Jimmie Duplessis, Michael
Pittman, Kiana Thomas, as well as myself, Celia Hinkson, had the pleasure of interviewing Dr.
Thomas-Smith in order to learn about her experiences here in Prairie View, Texas. During the
interview we asked her about her knowledge on diversity in terms of ethnicity on campus, the
community, education, her career, organizations, and finally about athletics; each group member
chose a topic that related to them on a personal level.
I decided to ask Dr. Thomas- Smith about diversity in terms of ethnicity because I am of
a mixed race. Being that Prairie View A & M University is a Historically Black
College/University, many people are unaware of the amount of diversity there is on campus.
According to Dr. Thomas-Smith diversity on campus has long changed since she arrived here at
Prairie View. My first question on diversity was “When you first arrived here in Prairie View,
Texas, was there a lot of diversity, and how did people feel whether there was or wasn’t any

3
diversity?” 1 Her first response was to tell as well as show me a photograph. She spoke about
how when she first arrived the faculty and staff was heavily populated with African-Americans,
it was until some odd years later that it was later mixed with a variety of different ethnicities. In
her own words she said that “we may be one of the most diverse faculties in the A&M system.”2
She also talked about the student population in terms of diversity, in saying that there have been
radical changes in the increase of other minorities besides African-American. Although the
majority of students still have a background of African-American; minorities such as Hispanic
and Caucasian have grown in recent years due to more recruitment capabilities, increase and
developments in certain majors, as well as many opportunities for students such as programs and
internships.
The next question I asked dealt with whether or not there were any advantages or
disadvantages to be of a lighter skin tone or darker skin tone. In the years since Dr. Thomas-
Smith has been on the Prairie View campus, she has not heard of any situations in which students
or faculty were treated unfairly due to their skin color. Since she is often made aware if there is
any situation in which discrimination may occur due to the office she holds on campus, this can
be considered a reliable source of information and fact. If there were any incidents dealing with
discrimination, she would be made aware of the situation and it would be handled appropriately;
on the other hand she could not give a definitive response on whether discrimination does occur
because no such incidents have been reported to her.
During the interview with Dr. Thomas-Smith, she spoke highly on the rise of different
minorities within the campus and incidents of discrimination are rarely reported to her
1 Dr. Thomas-Smith (Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs) by Kiana N. Thomas, Celia Hinkson,
Michael Pittman, Raheem Cardwell, Jimmie Duplessis, Carl Blair, October 25, 2012, transcript.
2 Ibid.

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knowledge. Due to the information I obtained from my interview, I was able to conclude that in
terms of diversity Prairie View A&M has changed and will continue to change throughout the
years. Seeing that this campus now holds growing numbers of minorities other than African-
American can be seen as profound accomplishment since the city of Prairie View, Texas was
once a slave plantation.
While diversity has become a strong point for Prairie View A&M; it has not always been
that way. Education is a very important concept that African-Americans need to grasp in our
society. Dr. Thomas-Smith had a lot to say about education in the Prairie View community. First,
Prairie View A&M University was originally established for a different purpose. The main
reason that Prairie View A&M was established was because blacks were not permitted to attend
Texas A&M, originally a completely white institution. Desegregation of schools did not occur
until the sixties, so Prairie View A&M was strictly an all black institution. I, Michael Pittman II,
thought that the blacks in the local community were the reason that the university was built.
According to Dr. Thomas-Smith, “Another factor that helped the fruition of Prairie View was the
Morrill-Land Grant Act of 1862.”3
Prairie View A&M has had very limited resources, but over time the school has enhanced
their quality of education. This is not surprising because historically, we as African-Americans
have always been the last to receive perks and rewards that we need to grow and thrive not only
as individuals but as a culture, and race. “When Dr. Thomas-Smith first arrived to Prairie View
A&M University there was a shortage of Masters Programs and a complete lack of Doctoral
Michael Pittman, Raheem Cardwell, Jimmie Duplessis, Carl Blair, October 25, 2012, transcript.

5
Programs at the university.”4 These mishaps of the past have been taken care of and now the
university possesses a litany of programs to specialize in. Along with the degree programs,
“curriculum, enrollment, and size of Prairie View A&M has increased since the late sixties.”5
Education has been of great value to the black community since blacks were first able to
formally educate themselves. According to the journal by Nieves, “Black women reformers had
long been concerned with the issue of race uplift involving as it did a sense of duty and
obligation to the race.”6 Blacks have been striving for a better quality of life since when we were
first brought over to the U.S. as slaves. “African American women in the North were actively
involved in forming mutual aid societies for the economic survival of the less fortunate.”7
African-American women’s involvement in the black community has always been prevalent
because of the statistical lack of fathers in the community. “Elizabeth Evelyn Wright, founder of
the Voorhees Industrial School, saw education as a remedy for years of chattel slavery…”8
Education was and still remains the key to true success for the black community and it should be
viewed as a privilege not a right because blacks have just recently been able to legally educate
ourselves in the classroom. “Race uplift, for women like Wright meant putting African American
people first – developing out of a belief that through education, economic independence, and
sanitary living conditions, Black people could thrive on their own through self-help, self-
empowerment, and self-improvement.”9
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Angel David Nieves, “To Erect Above,” 279.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid., 277.
9 Ibid., 280.

6
The significance of education to African-Americans in today’s society needs to be
stressed more and more each day. Instead of seeing sports or drugs as a way out of our
impoverished communities, African-Americans need to see more doctors, lawyers, professors,
and other professional careers that beat the odds with their mental capacities rather than trying to
beat the odds of surviving to reach twenty-five years of age.
The views on the importance of education can be related to the developing community of
Prairie View, Texas. In the interview, I, Kiana N. Thomas, asked Dr. Thomas- Smith “How has
Prairie View changed as a community from 1968 to now?” She explained how when she first
arrived at Prairie View, “the faculty were strongly encouraged to either stay on campus or live in
the community.”10 This was because during that time Prairie View was not yet a city so the
community and the university were considered as one. The students and faculty were one with
the community because during this time they were the people who made up the community and
who considered their homes to be permanent. Dr. Thomas-Smith described the feeling of the
university and the community being one as “vibrant”11 because people are often seeing the same
people that they are in a classroom with or in their community with people who more than likely
have similar values as they do. “A community is a group of people who are socially
interdependent, who participate together in discussion and decision making, and who share
certain practices that both define the community and are nurtured by it. Such a community is not
quickly formed. It almost always has a history and so is also a community of memory, defined in
part by its past and its memory of the past.”12
Michael Pittman, Raheem Cardwell, Jimmie Duplessis, Carl Blair, October 25, 2012, transcript
11 Ibid.
12
Bellah, R. N., Madsen,R., Sullivan, W.M., Swidler, A. & Tipton, S.M, “Habits of the hearts: Individualism and
commitment in American life. (New York: Harpe & Row, 1985), pg. 333

7
Now, in the city of Prairie View, the community and the students of Prairie View are not
one due to the many different area choices that we have. Students that attend the university now
do not always choose to live on the campus or in the community because of slow development in
the area. When students do choose to live on campus or in the community, it is on a temporary
basis until they receive their degrees. Most students have come from a city where demands are
met after they graduate. They go back to their cities or a city similar to it. Demands for places
around your home such as schools, hospitals, and restaurants etc. have become much higher; this
is the reason students live in Cypress, Katy, and other surrounding cities.
Although development in the city of Prairie View is slower than other cities nearby, the
elderly who invested in the university and the community remain in the areas and are doing
things to help enhance the community as it continues to grow. I believe with the help of the
current faculty and students, Prairie View can grow into a place where people of the newer
generation would like to invest in to help with the developmental process of the community. If
the students of Prairie View University and permanent residents that live in the city of Prairie
View were socially intact with one another then needs, wants, and issues could met. Socially
interacting with each other will not only meet people’s needs, wants, and issues but it will also
build a relationship with the people of the community and help us further understand the history
of Prairie View. If people were to know more about the community and how the people who live
in the community felt then the community and the university could become unified as it once
was.
The lack of social interaction had not only harmed the relationship between the people of
the university and the people of the community but it has also harmed the reputation of Prairie

8
View A&M University. When the university was first developed, people were proud that
minority students were given a chance to attend college. Though they still had many
disadvantages, students were given an opportunity to receive an education. Today, students are
not as proud as students once were; students all around the world are given the opportunity to
attend college but often take it for granted. If they had more knowledge about the university and
how much work and effort people have put in to get what we have today, then the people in the
community would feel more appreciated and the students would learn to take value in not only
the university but also in the community.
Although the city of Prairie View is in need of many developments and more uplifting
the community members, Dr. Thomas-Smith found herself accepting a job where she would soon
receive an unsuspecting shock. Her career path though before arriving in the city, ended up being
a very interesting one to learn that she is an extremely successful lady. This fact made me
wonder about all the obstacles that she had to overcome in order to gain the status that she has
today. Going into my interview with Dr. Thomas-Smith I, Jimmie Duplessis had a completely
different idea in my head of the things she had to go through in order to be here with us at Prairie
View A&M University. I decided to discuss jobs in the interview, specifically the level of
difficulty that she had to face in order to receive the jobs that she has been so fortunate to have.
First hearing the story of how Dr. Thomas-Smith received her first job truly shocked me.
I was under the impression that Dr. Thomas-Smith would have to deal with so many race issues
because of the fact she is an African American women. Little did I know, her first job
opportunity fell right into her hands. When Dr. Thomas-Smith was in college she was a very
special student. By her being one of the special students the Dean of her school decided to call
her into his office to speak with him. When she went into the Dean’s office there was a man

9
standing in the room with them listening to the Dean and Dr. Thomas-Smith speak. The man that
was in the office with them must have been really impressed with what he had seen and heard
from Dr. Thomas-Smith because the next day he called the Dean and told him about a job that
he had available and that he was interested in Dr. Thomas-Smith being the person to take the job
offering. At first, Dr. Thomas-Smith was hesitant about taking the job, but in the end she decided
to take full advantage of the opportunity that was presented to her. This was the start of a
wonderful career for her.
The job that Dr. Thomas Smith took was in Hawaii where she began teaching English at
public schools. This job turned out to be a pathway for many other jobs in her future. Dr.
Thomas-Smith also went on to work at Washington State located in Washington and the
University of Georgia where she was head of a very competitive debate team. Dr. Thomas-Smith
came to Prairie View A&M University at the age of twenty-four when she began teaching here
as an English professor. She also stated that if she had come to Prairie View for an interview
before taking the job that she would not be here today because of the scenery and the fact that
she received another job offering from Long Beach State offering to pay the same amount of
money that Prairie View offered. The main factor Dr. Thomas-Smith took into consideration
before taking the job here at Prairie View A&M University was the fact that it was much cheaper
to live in Texas than it would be to live in California. Taking this into consideration, Dr.
Thomas-Smith decided to take the job here at Prairie View A&M University without even seeing
the campus in person. The cost of living here in Prairie View turned out to be much cheaper than
Dr. Thomas-Smith expected because initially she planned on living in Houston. However when
she arrived here she found out that the University had a faculty dorm that they wanted her to stay

10
in for seventy-five dollars a month where they took care of her water bill, electric bill, and other
utility bills.
Dr. Thomas-Smith began working at Prairie View A&M University in 1968 She left in
1973 to go back to Washington State and later returned to Prairie View in 1976. Since then she
has had multiple roles here at Prairie View. Students are able to access a full list of her role on
the PV website. For example Associate Professor and Head Department of English 1976-79 and
Prairie View A&M University, Professor Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic
Affairs, 2007 - Present. After seeing this list of things that Dr. Thomas-Smith has accomplished
here at Prairie View it should not be hard to notice the impact that she has had on this University.
When Dr. Thomas-Smith first arrived at Prairie View, she realized how much of an
influence the city could have if the students and community acted together as one. I, Carl Blair
Jr., am going to focus on the organizational side of Dr. Thomas-Smith arriving to Prairie View
A&M. When Dr. Thomas-Smith arrived at Prairie View the people in the community had a much
bigger role in campus life. Residence on and off campus were on one accord. The problems
minorities faced, black people especially, were a lot more blatant and harsh than the
disadvantages we face today. She arrived in 1968 during an era where the college students in that
day were more in tune with the oppression than today’s youth. Times were different along with
the things that were shown on television. Dr. Thomas-Smith explained how the movement of
getting equal rights for black people was televised. Televised documentation of the movement
made the whole world take notice to the brutality shown toward black people in America. The
Black Panther Party was one of the organizations formed to counteract the oppressive behavior
shown by the U.S. Government. Dr. Thomas-Smith explained that her generation had a deeper
passion for education. “Many of my generation came to have an appreciation for the role that

11
education would play in making freedom really ring, because without an education you know,
how are you going to take advantage of opportunities”13 In the 1960’s, education was understood
to be the greatest tool to overcome the hatred shown towards black people. The way to keep a
people at a disadvantage is to allow them to be sub-par in education along with living conditions.
The Black Panther Party leaders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale focused on revolutionary
tactics to overcome unwanted circumstances. They felt “the people not only had to be armed, but
educated so that they could understand the radical underpinnings of the party, which was largely
socialist in nature. This education would give them confidence and knowledge that would enable
them to govern themselves after the “revolution” freed them from oppressive, capitalist
establishment”.14 The outlook and circumstances that Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale had
along with their involvement in the movement were more militaristic than Dr. Thomas-Smith.
The necessity and understanding of education placed seemed to be very much alike. I entered
this project with the mindset to learn so much from the elders of Prairie View A&M. I have
always been a person very much aware of the Panther Party, and Dr. Thomas-Smith’s
commentary made me realize everyone of color in that era was affected. She stated that even to
this day we still face problems to be treated as equals.
Dr. Thomas-Smith reflected back to the people she knew involved with those bombed in
the Birmingham of 1963. This really put things into perspective to for me hearing her talk made
me realize the burden I hold as a black man. Dr. Thomas-Smith was a part of many educational
organizations while here at Prairie View A&M. Director of the Honors Program, head of the
14
Dixon Hollis, “Feeding the Revolutionary Soul: The Rhetorical Nature of the Free for Children Program (paper
presented at N.C.A, 2007).

12
Department of English and Other Languages, Associate Provost and Director of Title III, and
Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. Those were some of the positions Dr. Thomas-
Smith has held while at Prairie View they furthered her point of education being paramount.
Today media has literally evolved to another level compared to the 60’s. The display of the
movement in the Dr. Thomas-Smith arrival at Prairie View has changed today we have so many
outlets to be distracted from the problems black people face. Injustice is not as obvious but the
fact that black people are still being treated as second class citizens is still in full effect. Dr.
Thomas-Smith stated “if this is the constitution and these are the amendments then who are you
talking about if these people over here are being treated this way? Where is justice?”15. The fact
that she has stated opinions like this lets me know there is so much more to be done as a people.
We can’t be complacent or satisfied with what we have overcome there is so much further to go.
“When are we going to be naturalized, he talks about the fact of the Voting Rights Act and how
it often has to be kind of re-upped.”16 That statement was made by Dr. Thomas-Smith’s husband
he often tells her we still haven’t been made real citizens so she explained to us.
The University’s athletics also influenced the community and organizations, in terms of support
for the students. The achievement and success of a school’s sports teams plays a major factor in
the positive or negative publicity of a school, as well as, a school’s social environment. Being
here for over forty years, Dr. Thomas-Smith was able to explain the influence sports had on
Prairie View and the community in the past, and how it is different today. She explained that
upon her arrival at Prairie View A & M University, the number of active sports teams were
limited to the basics, far less than the number of sports that are currently active at the university.
16 Ibid.

13
It seemed that people were still reminiscing on the successes of the Prairie View sports teams
from nearly twenty years prior to 1968, in which accomplished sending athletes to the Olympics
and being a powerhouse for Historically Black Colleges & Universities. At the time she arrived
at the university, sports successes were sporadic. There was neither a consistent losing streak nor
a consistent winning streak. At one point, Prairie View football was very dominant. Not to
mention, it was one of the founders of the Southwestern Atlantic Conference. Over time,
competition began to transform into traditional white schools. This competition came in the form
of both skill set and a higher advantage of resources that benefited recruiting processes. Schools
in the east and west had already attracted African America athletes, as well as other minorities to
their schools. These athletes were particularly from the South leaving Historically Black
Colleges & Universities with little to no options of exceptional athletes to choose from. Due to
the lack of resources, Prairie View began to lose in the recruitment process, and was no longer
able to compete as well as before. This change in competition was merely the downfall of Prairie
View’s recognition in sports and devalued the idea that the school not to be taken lightly.
According to Dr. Thomas, “Then there was suddenly a cataclysmic change that
happened.” As a response to the decade of people being so against integration despite the laws
that were previously passed, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a historical piece of
legislation that outlawed major forms of discrimination against blacks and women, including
racial segregation.17 There came a point where recognizing the athletic prowess of African
Americans in sports was no longer done with credulous attitudes. In terms of the Civil Rights
Movement, not enough attention is given to the role athletics played in leveling the playing field.
“Given the racial climate of the 1950s and 60s, it was no surprise that the first African
1. Arthur, "An Introduction to the Arthur Miller Dialogue on "Sports, Media and Race, 239.

14
Americans to experience widespread exposure via the news media were athletes. Sport has a
tendency to unite across race and ethnicity because athletic competition has the natural ability to
equalize people.”18 Sports is the ultimate meritocracy wherein only ability matters, not the color
of one's skin. Similarly stated, Dr. Thomas declared, “Sports helped people see that liver, kidney,
and heart are all the same, doesn’t matter the color of skin. Character, proficiency, expertise,
constancy of purpose is what matters.”
Nonetheless, Prairie View began to get academically talented students as athletes.
Eventually, they were able to better invest, benefiting the recruiting process to compete better
too. Previous studies found that student-athletes fail to integrate into the university, they do not
attend class on a regular basis, and further they are often exposed to abusive environments.19
Fortunately, Prairie View A & M University was able to prove this study wrong. More emphasis
is put on the academic development of student athletes than there is put on other scholars.
Student athletes integrate into the university just by being role models and talented individuals
who represent the university time and time again. Student athletes are required to attend class on
a regular basis, especially during the time of an allotted sports playing season. Class checks are
practiced by coaches, as well as, weekly reports to be completed by professors to make sure each
student athlete’s performance is in correlation with their performance on the field or court. Even
more so, Dr. Thomas-Smith acknowledged the fact that two years ago, on a list of Texas
Schools, Prairie View A & M University came in second place for Best Student Athlete
2. Ibid.
3. Chung, Jaeyong, Lee Kwang-Yong, and Won Doyeon. 2011. "Sorry, I Am a Student-Athlete":A
Qualitative Research Regarding the Balance between Academics and Athletics." European Journal Of
Social Science 24, no. 2: 154. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed November 29, 2012).

15
Graduation Rates. Even though it took small steps in a larger process of improvement, these
small steps led to iconic and historical representation that helped better the issue of race amongst
America, because of sports.20
During the interviews with Dr. Tomas-Smith, the group was able to obtain a great amount
of knowledge on how the community, as well as the University within Prairie View has changed
over the course of thirty years. In truth, the group gained a greater appreciation for the land the
University was built on, and the surrounding community that needs the students support in order
to make it grow and be successful. That is our duty as a student to be productive in our studies,
and be an example in the community to others, both young and old, that we will continue to have
a voice and support our University long after we graduate.
Prairie View, Texas has transitioned from a city that hosted and mistreated blacks; into
possessing a thriving historically black college known as Prairie View A&M. Everything about
Prairie View A&M ties into its surrounding community. To know that blacks went from being
suppressed and oppressed in Prairie View to becoming the landmark for past, present, and future
minority leaders of this world is very profound.
20 Arthur, "An Introduction to the Arthur Miller Dialogue on "Sports, Media and Race, 239.

16
Bibliography
Bellah R.N, R. Madsen, Sullivan W.M, A. Swidler, & Tipton S.M “Habits of the heart:
Individualism and commitment in American life. New York: Harper & Row, 1985.
Dr. Thomas-Smith (Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs) by Kiana N. Thomas, Celia
Hinkson, Michael Pittman, Raheem Cardwell, Jimmie Duplessis, Carl Blair, October 25, 2012,
transcript
Hollis, Dixon. “Feeding the Revolutionary Soul: The Rhetorical Nature of the Free for Children
Program (paper presented at N.C.A, 2007).
Jaeyong, Chung, Lee Kwang-Yong, and Won Doyeon. 2011. "Sorry, I Am a Student-Athlete": A
Qualitative Research Regarding the Balance between Academics and Athletics."
European Journal Of Social Science 24, no. 2: 154-160. Academic Search Complete,
EBSCOhost (accessed November 29, 2012)
Nieves, David Angel. “To Erect Above the Ruined Auction-Block …Institutions of Learning’:
‘Race-Women’, Industrial Education, and the Artifacts of Nation-Making in the Jim
Crow South.” International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics 1. No. 2. (2005): 277-
293. Ebscohost.
Reyna, Arthur, 2011. "An Introduction to the Arthur Miller Dialogue on "Sports, Media and
Race: The Impact on America.." Texas Review Of Entertainment & Sports Law 12, no.
2- 240. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed November 29, 2012).

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