November 16, 1896, is a date that will forever live in the sacred history of Seventh-day Adventist mission. On this date, the Oakwood Industrial School in Huntsville, Alabama, United States, opened its doors to 16 students.
On November 16, 2021, Oakwood University celebrated its 125th birthday. For more than a century, Oakwood University has launched thousands of graduates into orbits of service around the corner and the world.
Today, Oakwood University, a historically Black Seventh-day Adventist institution of higher learning, offers high-quality Christian education that emphasizes academic excellence; promotes harmonious development of mind, body, and spirit; and prepares leaders in service for God and humanity.
he school’s motto, shared by faculty and students, is Enter to Learn, Depart to Serve. In everything it does, the school believes and practices God First, its current slogan. Consistent with its mission statement, Oakwood University is in the business of transforming lives — both for now and, more importantly, for eternity.While the many accomplishments of Oakwood University are legendary, at its very beginning, prospects were less than promising. In 1895, church leaders G. A. Irwin, O. A. Olsen, and N. Lindsey traveled to Huntsville, Alabama, looking for land for an industrial school authorized by the General Conference. From the start, Adventist Church co-founder Ellen White championed Oakwood’s cause and is unquestionably worthy of the title “co-founder of Oakwood.”
In a letter (no. 313) written in 1904, White wrote, “It was in the providence of God that the Huntsville school farm was purchased.” As it grew from its meager beginnings, she continuously spoke out for the school, doing all in her power to make sure it prospered. She wrote, visited, prodded, sacrificed, prayed, donated, advocated, and cried for the fledgling institution to ever fulfill its God-given destiny.
