Historically Black Colleges and Universities have long been the resilient keepers of history and culture, shaping generations of Black scholars since the founding of the Institute for Colored Youth in Cheyney, Pennsylvania, in 1837. These institutions have been beacons of hope and opportunity, providing a space where Black students could pursue higher education when few other avenues existed. Today, HBCUs continue to nurture young minds, prepare future leaders, and offer a sense of community and belonging—values passed down from generation to generation.
At Prairie View A&M University, the legacy of familial ties to this historic institution runs deep. One such family, the Lanes, has found a home on our campus for five generations, embodying the essence of building and maintaining a legacy. The Lanes are more than students and faculty—they are stewards of the University’s enduring mission to uplift and empower.
“As minorities, not only as Black people, we need space. Every day, we're forced to integrate into a community that isn't built for us. Prairie View provides us with a smaller setting to network so that we can do the same in a bigger setting,” said senior architecture and construction student Jayla Lane, the latest in a long line of Lanes to attend PVAMU. “You don't always get a family in college, but HBCUs are a family, and PV has been a community since the test of time.”
For Jayla’s father, Dr. Cleveland O. Lane Jr. '94 '96, a two-time alum and associate professor practice of biology, the family’s legacy at Prairie View A&M is a point of pride.
I'm blessed that my wife, Perla Lane ‘97, and I can pass on the love of Prairie View to our three beautiful kids, Jayla, Jada and Cleveland III, and other generations we've mentored. This includes many of Jayla's friends and her friend's friends. We want them to be a part of the family.
Dr. Cleveland O. Lane Jr. '94 '96
The Lane family's connection to PVAMU reflects a broader story of how HBCUs, despite challenges, continue to serve as pillars of education, unity, and identity. Their legacy, built on a shared commitment to community, speaks to the lasting impact these institutions have on society.
Prairie View A&M University, especially before the integration of schools, has been the epicenter of Black culture in Texas. "During my great-grandparents’ and grandparents’ time, you left your small town and came to Prairie View to get an education, then took what you learned back to your smaller community or city," said Dr. Lane.
Hailing from East Texas, members of the Lane family have migrated from Crockett, Lufkin, St. Augustine, Nacogdoches, Geneva, Galveston, Lubbock, and Dallas, converging at PVAMU, where they sharpened their intellectual skills before branching out all over the country.
Their lineage stretches back nearly a century to Dr. Lane's great-grandparents and Jayla's great-great-grandparents, J.T. Washington, Sr. '36 '43 and Ruth Spencer-Washington '36 '47 '55. Dr. Lane's grandparents are J.T. Washington, Jr. '51 '55, a 1949 SWAC basketball champion, and Janie Canton-Maiden '52, affectionately known as "Mama Janie."
Mama Janie began her studies at the University when she was only 16 years old and has a stone brick on campus displaying her and her mother's (Leachie Canton' 54) names. She passed in 2023, but not before requesting to be buried with her Gold Jacket and a PVAMU blanket.
The Lane family legacy extends to cousins, uncles, aunts, sisters, and brothers—Ruth Washington-Hayes, Esther Lyons, Jewel Johnson, Cavell Lane Sr. ’00, and CheNeal Lane-DeJean ’08, to name a few. “It’s easier for me to count the individuals who did not go to Prairie View than those who did. Many educators, doctors and other professions in our family were produced by PVAMU.”
Like Mama Janie and Grandpa J.T., Dr. Lane holds education to a high value, earning his bachelor's in biology and chemistry in 1994 and his master's in 1996. He credits his parents, Cleveland Sr. and Cheryl Lane, and other family members for introducing him to the campus and professors who would become his mentors. "They helped me develop as a young man. I walked into a great situation, not only educationally but with my mentors—Dr. Brown ‘60, Dr. Smith, Dr. Humphrey, Dr. Tisdale, and Dr. Martin—helped me get to the next stage in life. It was the best choice I could've made, and I've only continued to grow," said Dr. Lane.
Jayla is honored to walk on the same ground that educated both sides of her family tree, extending back to her great-great-grandparents. Having spent much of her youth at PVAMU football games, homecoming, Labor Day Classics and numerous other campus activities and camps, the University has been her life, a place where she belongs and one that belongs to her. "My mom and dad are very successful. When I look at them and know that they got the best education and that they got it from Prairie View, it lets me know that I'm going to be okay."
The remarkable Lane family legacy has transcended time, connecting them through an enduring spirit of education, power, and progress, furthering their biological relations into a bond crystalized in PVAMU's illustrious purple and gold. "I feel I have a place on campus. A place where my kids and their kids can come and know that is our family. I hold that dear to my heart. We don't need a building with our name on it. I would represent purple and gold even if I didn't come to Prairie View." said Jayla.
Not everyone gets this opportunity to attend a university that has taken care of their family since the beginning and get the best education.
Jayla Lane
Jayla considered other schools, but everywhere else felt wrong. "God told me that I needed to be with my family, at my second home, and that I would thrive. It was the best decision I've ever made, and I haven't looked back since. I wouldn't change it for the world. Prairie View will always be my home."
Jayla was no stranger to PVAMU, but being a student has introduced her to a new realm of possibilities. Her relationships with her friends and boyfriend have become her rock. They've been by her side and had her back as they've progressed through similar struggles, reminding Jayla that she is not walking her path alone. "I still have my legacy, but I also have my friends. Both my parents had these experiences, and now I'm having them, too."
Although Jayla’s journey has just begun, she’s already making a name for herself with administrators and professors she adores helping her. She's received numerous opportunities, including being the secretary of the American Institute of Architecture Students and joining the Alpha Kappa Mu National Honor Society, National Organization for Minority Architects, Women in Architecture, the Associated Builders and Contractors Club, the 54th class of Purple Jackets, and the PVAMU Concert Chorale. From winning first runner-up as Miss Prairie View, where she had the chance to hold her fifth-generation crown high, to her parents coming to celebrate her accomplishment of making the Dean's and Honor Roll List 2021-2024, Jayla has felt a sense of comfortability and security.
"The current dean was the dean when my mom first started college. My mom's class was her first graduating class, and she's been looking out for me since I started."
Born the same year the architecture building was constructed and a connoisseur of home renovating shows and HGTV, Jayla aspires to work for a firm that focuses on commercial construction and the advancement of higher education, especially HBCUs. "I'm following in my mother's footsteps, continuing her legacy as a Black woman in construction. She recently received a promotion to executive director of Construction, Planning and Facilities for Aldine Independent School District," she said. "Building and being in construction is in my blood. I want to continue to push down the barriers in a male-dominated field, just as my mother did."
The memories the Lane family has forged on campus tell their story. In Dr. Lane's 30 years at PVAMU, he met his wife and lifelong friends, won the title of Mr. Prairie View (1993-1994), and returned to the University as a professor.
"Chris Williams ’95, Tony Runnels ’94, Chad Byrd ’96, Andrew Taulton ’96, and Napoleon Higgins ’94 are just some of the friends I met when I first moved to campus, and we are still great friends. We went our separate paths, but we continued growing together while starting our families; it's one of the most beautiful things. I'm at the stage in life where I'm teaching the kids of my friends and even their children's kids. It's a very unique, full-circle moment," he said.
Dr. Lane fondly recalls a time when he took one of his children to the emergency room, and to his surprise, his student was the attending physician. "I could step back and say to my wife, 'We're good. It's not going to be a problem.' Those are the moments when you know that you've done good. You've done what you're supposed to, and that's what it is about. I'm preparing the next generation of students."
Marking this year’s homecoming celebration at PVAMU, which celebrates Legends & Legacies, the Lanes want the world to know that PVAMU and all HBCUs are here to stay. They hope the day will come when everyone understands and respects how they’ve advanced corporate America and society.
HBCUs have been the cornerstone of many communities, not just for Black people. We have an excellent network of alumni. There are so many different communities—various ethnic groups and countries, that have come through an HBCU. They come to Prairie View to learn in a family atmosphere, and that is what I wanted to pass on to my children the same way it was passed to me.
Dr. Cleveland O. Lane Jr. '94 '96
This story is a part of the Excellence Lives Here series led by the Office for Marketing and Communications at Prairie View A&M University.
Credits
Author: Whitney Stovall
Images: Nicholas Hunt '16
Graphics: Tyrell Irby '15
Layout: Ashley Albee
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