Carl White played football, basketball, and baseball for three seasons each.

He was selected at guard for the 1923 All-Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference football second team. That year he was picked by his teammates as "the man who meant most, all the way round, to the team."

In the spring 1925, White set a state meet record of 11-3 in the pole vault.

After graduating from OBU, White earned a doctorate at Cornell University. He was director of libraries at Fisk University, the University of Illinois, and Columbia University.  He later worked for the Ford Foundation in overseas library development.

White, who is deceased, also was the recipient of an OBU Alumni Achievement Award.