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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E305]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BLACK HISTORY MONTH--JUEL SMITH
______
HON. KATHY CASTOR
of florida
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the
living legacy of Dr. Juel Smith. Her story starts in Sapulpa, Oklahoma,
where she was born and graduated from Sapulpa High School in 1960. She
married and became a mother of five children. Tragedy struck her and
her family when her husband suddenly passed away, and Dr. Smith became
a widow. She realized that pursuing higher education was her best shot
for her to secure a better future for her family. Dr. Smith persevered
and earned her degree in elementary education in 1972 from Langston
University, Oklahoma's only historically Black college. Dr. Smith
relocated to Tampa and received her master's degree and education
specialist degree with a thesis on ``Women Who Combine Career and
Family,'' a field of study in which she was personally invested. In
1987, she received her doctorate in counselor education from the
University of South Florida (USF).
Always fueled by her faith and perseverance, Dr. Smith has been
driven to serve others and find solutions. As a counselor at USF, she
started her life's work helping and guiding students, particularly
African American students who could not afford to continue their
education. She engaged Tampa's African American community to ``give
more, do more and help more'' to recruit and retain students. She
created the Institute on Black Life in 1986 and the Center for Africa
and the Diaspora, with a mission to bridge USF's resources with the
needs of the Black community and Africa as well as provide support for
Black students and faculty. The Institute on Black Life produced an
annual Black family conference, the campus Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
holiday celebrations each year and a weekly television show titled
``The Bridge.'' The Institute also sponsored nationally renowned guest
speakers and artists. As a partner with the Urban League, they
established an African American advisory board and inner-city office to
plan strategies and share problems. Student enrichment programs,
scholarships, graduate fellowships, faculty research, community service
and fundraising activities resulted. The African center sponsored
international faculty research travel to Gabon that resulted in a USF
and International Center for Bantu Civilization collaboration. Dr.
Smith's effectiveness in community relations, organizing special campus
initiatives and philanthropic fundraising were unmatched at other
Florida colleges and universities.
In the early 2000s, motivated by research regarding the desire of
professional women to support female students, Dr. Smith and USF
leaders launched a vision and plan to establish the USF Women in
Leadership and Philanthropy program. Dr. Smith served as WLP's founding
executive director. The initiative raised an extraordinary amount of
money in the first 18 months to create scholarships and programmatic
initiatives for women faculty and students. In addition, Dr. Smith
became the first African American woman to serve as president of the
Tampa Athena Society. She is a trustee of the Community Foundation of
Tampa Bay, Inc. and a life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. In
addition to her local involvement, she served as international director
of The LINKS, Inc., building more than 50 schools in South Africa and
Nigeria, and served with President Jimmy Carter on the International
Habitat for Humanity Board.
Her beloved husband, Professor John Smith, ensured her living legacy
by establishing the Dr. Juel Hickman Shannon Smith Endowed Scholarship.
The scholarship is designed to support full-time undergraduate students
pursuing a major in Africana studies or elementary education.
Dr. Smith's legacy of enhancing student, faculty and community
opportunities, passionate endeavors that are now part of USF's fabric,
will live on through the students and educators who have more
opportunities due to her leadership. Madam Speaker, on behalf of a
grateful Tampa Bay community, I am proud to recognize Dr. Juel Smith
for her lifelong exemplary service to education, students, women and
leaders in education everywhere.
____________________
