Snapshot: University of Arkansas

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Snapshot: University of Arkansas

The contributions by African American students, faculty, staff, and programs enrich and strengthen the University of Arkansas culturally and intellectually. The following pages provide a snapshot of the people, facts, organizations, activities, and events at the U of A – past and present – that highlight the black presence on campus.

Student Body

The 2005-2006 academic year brought 125 new African American freshmen to campus, representing an 7.8 percent increase over the previous year.

African American student enrollment grew 17.3 percent – from 837 in 1997 to 982 in 2005 – and represents 5.5 percent of the overall student body.

Black Registered Student Organizations 2005-2006

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity
Black Graduate Student Association
Black Law Students Association
Black Students Association
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority
National Association of Black Accountants
National Society of Black Engineers
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity
Student African American Brotherhood
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority

Scholarship Support

Since 1996, the Northwest Arkansas MLK Planning Committee has awarded 80 scholarships to students.

The Black Alumni Society has awarded 61 scholarships totaling $110,750 since 1998.

During the 2004-05 and the 2005-06 academic years, there have been 131 Silas Hunt Scholars – of that number, 40 are African American students.

There are 45 undergraduate and graduate scholarship funds at the University of Arkansas designated to blacks, minorities, or students from underrepresented groups. A fund can support one or more students.

The One World Study Abroad Scholarship was created by the Office of Study Abroad and International Exchange to increase the diversity of students who study abroad.

University of Arkansas’s National Panhellenic Organizations and year UA chapter established

Alpha Kappa Alpha, 1976
Alpha Phi Alpha, 1975
Delta Sigma Theta, 1974
Omega Psi Phi, 1974
Phi Beta Sigma, 1978
Zeta Phi Beta, 1978

Recipients of the Alumni Association’s Community Service Award

James Mays, 1993
Randall C. Ferguson, Jr., 2000

Recipients of the Citation of Distinguished Alumni Award

Wiley Branton
Lawrence A. Davis Jr.
George W. Haley
E. Lynn Harris
Edith Irby Jones
Rodney E. Slater

Alumni – By the Numbers

Alumni who have identified themselves as black:

Degreed alumni: 2,616
Total degreed & non-degreed alumni: 3,787
Total degreed alumni, all races: 129,120
Total degreed and non-degreed alumni, all races:148,430

Honorary Degree Recipients

Samuel P. Massie Jr., LLD, 1970
William Grant Still, LLD, 1971
William Warfield, LLD, 1972
Samuel Lee Kountz, LLD, 1974
Daisy L. Bates, LLD, 1984
Barbara Jordan, LLD, 1986
Wiley A. Branton, LLD, 1989
M. Joycelyn Elders, LLD, 1994
John H. Johnson, LLD, 2002
George Williford Boyce Haley, LLD, 2003
Rodney Slater, LLD, 2006

Distinguished Lecturers

Muhammad Ali
Quintard Taylor
R.D. Rucker
James Earl Jones
Rev. Jesse Jackson
Dr. Ozell Sutton
Barbara Masekela
Adolph Reed

The First UA African American…

Graduate student in residence: Benjamin Franklin Lever, 1950
Sports editor of the Arkansas Traveler: Gerald Jordan, 1968
Fulbright College faculty: Gordon Morgan and Margaret Clark, 1969
Male cheerleader: E. Lynn Harris, mid-1970s
President of Associated Student Government: Gene McKissic, 1972
Honorary doctorate recipient: Dr. Samuel Massey, 1972
College of Education and Health Professions professor: Margaret Clark, 1972
Sorority chartered: Delta Sigma Theta, 1974
Fraternity chartered: Omega Psi Phi, 1974
Appointee to the UA Board of Trustees: Raymond Miller Sr., MD, 1974
School of Law professor: George Knox, 1975
School of Architecture professor: Alex Ford, 1977
Female sports editor of the Arkansas Traveler: Linda Bedford, 1979
College of Engineering professor: Charles Tolliver, 1981
Walton College professor: Joseph Wilson, 1982
Bumpers College professor: Freddie Scott, 1985
Member of the UA Teaching Academy: Carlton Bailey, 1988
Alumni reunion: 1990, organized by Lonnie Williams
Academic dean: Roderick McDavis in the School of Education, 1990
Director of the Multicultural Center: Lonnie Williams, 1995
President of the Black Alumni Society: Wendell Griffen, 1998
Dean of enrollment services: Arlene Cash, 1998
Vice chancellor for student affairs: Johnetta Cross Brazzell, 1999
Graduate of the landscape architecture program: Antonio Marshall, 2000
Arkansas Business Hall of Fame inductee: John H. Johnson, Johnson Publishing Co. Inc., 2001
Dean of University Libraries: Carolyn Henderson Allen, 2001
UA graduate appointed to the UA Board of Trustees: Dr. Carl Johnson, 2002
Dean of the Law School: Cynthia Nance, 2006