Stanley Evans

Colonel Stanley L. Evans graduated from Fredrick A . Douglass High School in 1954. Alongside Clara Luper, Evans was one of several young students who participated in peaceful sit-in protests in Oklahoma City. In 1968, he attended Oklahoma State University and enlisted in the United States military, where he was trained as a Nike Hercules Missile Crewman. He was selected for the Artillery Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, graduating in 1970, where he completed Signal Officer Basic and Airborne Courses and was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division's 2/321st Artillery as Battalion Signal Officer.

Evans served in Vietnam from December 1971 to November 1972. His last assignment was Commander, Headquarters Company of the 39th Signal Battalion, notably the most decorated signal battalion in the Vietnam War. He received a number of awards, including the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

In 2003 at age 54, a retired Evans graduated with honors from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. He went on to become the assistant dean of students, the first Black dean of a law school in Oklahoma. With his Oklahoma Lawyers for America's Heroes Program, he was able to assist over 4,000 veterans and their families, offering various legal services. Evans was appointed twice to the Oklahoma Human Rights Commission. In his position as chair, he oversaw investigations of human rights violations, an endeavor which he continues to this day.