Louis C. Smith ’69
Louis C. Smith ’69 summarizes his experience at University of Puget Sound as the famous opening line of A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” It was the best of times because of the freedom and flexibility he had as a first-year student away from home for the first time, but also the worst of times because he didn’t feel the support on campus he had experienced growing up in St. Louis, surrounded by a diverse community that strongly encouraged its young scholars.
However, everything changed when he visited a friend at the University of Oregon and was invited to the Black Student Union, where he was welcomed with open arms. “It didn’t take long to realize that this was something I would thrive in,” he says. Newly inspired, he founded Washington’s first Black Student Union at Puget Sound in 1967, which immediately started advocating for the establishment of an African American studies program and the hiring of faculty and administrators of color.
Smith continues his service to this day. As the president of the Black Alumni Union, he’s guided by his vision of “Creating Generational Value While Empowering Dreams.” He’s moved by the fact that the BSU has surpassed his original goals and still nurtures Black students’ experiences today. “The fact that it’s still supporting students some 50, almost 60, years later, there’s a sense of pride associated with that that outshines everything else,” he says