[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 13, 2019)]
[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.

                          ____________________