- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Names Dorn as Chancellor’s Chief of Staff

John Hill — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 14:07:50 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has named Alicia Dorn as the new chancellor’s chief of staff. Dorn, a native of Pine Bluff, serves as the primary liaison to the Office of the Chancellor and assists in areas of communication, planning and preparation, project management, and other administrative responsibilities. One of her first major projects will be to assist in the creation of the university’s new five-year strategic plan. “I am extremely happy and excited that I was chosen as the chancellor’s chief of staff, which means they trust that I am very qualified to assist the chancellor in her vision for the university,” Dorn said. “I’m so grateful to be a part of that. I’m looking forward to all that I will learn in this position and to contribute to the university community in a meaningful way.” Prior to joining ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, Dorn worked as the communications director in the School of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Human Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff where she supervised a staff of five to manage all communication functions for the school. “I became interested in working in higher education because I know the impact that higher education had on my life as far as opening and expanding my mind and the wealth of opportunities that I wouldn’t have without higher education,” Dorn said. “I just want others to be able to experience that and know the power of furthering your education.” She also previously served as the communications director and part-time deputy for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. “In order for me to be effective in my position and represent the sheriff’s office correctly, I felt I needed to understand from the deputy’s perspective, so I completed the part-time certification in conjunction with my full-time job as communications director.” Dorn earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication/broadcast journalism from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and a Master of Public Administration from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. She said she’s grateful for the opportunity to work for the alma mater that helped her so much. “I’m happy to be able to give back to the university that helped establish who I am today,” Dorn said. “They invested in me as a student. I get the chance to come back to a place that helped enhance my skills, abilities, and talents. It’s an honor to give back to the university that gave so much to me.”

Nielson Named Research Editor at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

John Hill — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 13:46:38 +0000

Stevie Nielson has been named the new editor for the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. “I am really excited to join ��Vlog��ý Little Rock,” Nielson said. “I was working in journalism before, so I think this is a great way for me to use those skills and also bring the technical writing skills I learned in my master’s program together. I am excited to put that degree to use, and I look forward to getting people excited about the research taking place at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock.” In the new position, Nielson will be responsible for writing research articles, editing grant proposals, social media management, website maintenance, and serving as editor for Research in the Rock, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s annual research magazine produced by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. “ORSP is very excited to have Stevie on board,” said Lydia Perry, ORSP grant writer. “Stevie will be a great asset to principal investigators at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, and be able to showcase the wonderful research, creative projects, and community service programs that happen at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock.” Nielson joins the university from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, where they worked for 14 years as the city desk clerk, copy editor, online editor, and newsletter editor. Nielson helped design and launch the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Sunday Digest and Coronavirus Update newsletter. A graduate of Little Rock Central High School, Nielson earned a bachelor’s degree in English with a writing concentration from Rhodes College. They will also graduate from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock this semester with a Master of Arts in Professional and Technical Writing. During the graduate program, Nielson served as a technical writing intern with Affirmative Risk Management and the university’s IT Services. Nielson, who has been writing since childhood, is looking forward to using their skills to share tales of innovative research at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, an R2 research university. “I was often writing stories growing up, and since I’ve gone out in the working world, the opportunity to tell the stories of real people has been fascinating,” Nielson said. “I’m very excited to talk to people doing research at the university and share those wonderful stories in Research in the Rock.”

Love is in the Air: ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Couple Gets Engaged at Fall 2022 Commencement

John Hill — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 15:32:03 +0000

Commencement is a time when new college graduates celebrate with their loved ones and look to the future as they start the next chapter of their lives. One ��Vlog��ý Little Rock graduate celebrated another milestone in life by popping the question to his high school sweetheart and fellow ��Vlog��ý Little Rock student – who, of course, said yes! Tobaquious Howard, the graduate from Eudora, Arkansas, said he has been planning to propose to his fiancé Kenya Daniels, a senior finance major from McAlmont, for a whole year. “I was talking to my friends at school, and I said that graduation would be a great place to propose because my family would be here and her family would be here, so it all worked out,” he said. Howard invited many family members and high school and college friends to commencement to celebrate his graduation with a Bachelor of Business Administration and Associate of Arts in General Studies degrees. After the ceremony, the large group of family and friends gathered outside for a group picture, which is when Howard made his move. “I told everyone to get in a group picture,” he said. “She was turned away from me, and I got on one knee so when she turned around she saw me proposing. Everybody knew except for her. We had it all planned out!” Daniels was absolutely thrilled as she got to spend the moment surrounded by her family – her mom, dad, grandmother, sisters, and niece. “I was shocked,” Daniels said. “I did not expect a lot of our family to be there. I was nervous and shocked and excited.” The couple met during a football game at Jacksonville High School when Daniels was an eighth grader and Howard a freshman. Their love story blossomed during high school to the point where they decided to attend the University of Arkansas at Little Rock together. “We wanted to stay in Arkansas, and we had heard a lot of good things about ��Vlog��ý Little Rock,” Howard said. “It was an easy decision for us to come to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock.” While the couple enjoyed attending college together, the one drawback was that they had to separate in order to study because “we have completely different study habits,” Daniels said. “We couldn’t be around each other because we would distract each other,” Howard added. Looking back, Daniels, who is a business student ambassador and Student Affairs Diversity Initiatives mentor, realizes there were hints – lots of family visiting, everyone dressing up, her family’s insistence that she get her nails done – that something special was going to happen on Saturday in addition to commencement. They celebrated Howard’s commencement and their engagement with a large dinner outing to Longhorn Steakhouse. Now that they are engaged, the couple said that they have recently moved into their first apartment and are looking forward to spending more time together now that Howard’s schooling is finished. While they haven’t set a date for their wedding yet, Daniels, who will graduate from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in May, said she “would definitely like a fall or winter wedding for sure.”

LULAC Honors Torres Sanchez as Student of the Year

John Hill — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 14:12:44 +0000

The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Council 750 has honored Kassandra Torres Sanchez, a junior political science major at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, with the organization’s 2022 Student of the Year Award. Torres Sanchez of Little Rock was honored during a Nov. 5 dinner celebrating the 17 ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students who received LULAC scholarships for the 2022-2023 school year. “I wasn’t expecting this award at all, but I am very grateful for it,” Torres Sanchez said. “I instantly went home after the banquet and told my parents that this award is for all of us. In my opinion, the reason I got the award is for all the support I received from my parents since I’m a first-generation student.” Torres Sanchez said her parents, Jose Torres and Teresa Sanchez, couldn’t continue their education because they had to find work to support their families. However, they have always encouraged the importance of education to their children. “My parents always tell me and my siblings that education comes first,” Torres Sanchez said. “It’s because of them that I’ve pushed myself to be here.”

Kassandra Torres Sanchez receives the 2022 LULAC Student of the Year Award.

Torres Sanchez has been a member of LULAC ever since she was a freshman at Little Rock Central High School. She serves as the youth council officer for LULAC Council 771, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s chapter, and has been working to start LULAC student organizations at high schools in Central Arkansas. Torres Sanchez was also among a group of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students who attended the LULAC National Convention this summer in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They were the first students from the university to attend the conference since 2016 and raised more than $11,000 for the trip, where they learned valuable skills in leadership, education, career preparation, and networking. In addition to LULAC, Torres Sanchez is also a member of Young Democrats and a volunteer with the Multicultural Center and the Hispanic/Latinx Initiative. After she graduates in spring 2024, Torres Sanchez plans to attend law school and later work at a nonprofit that provides immigrants with legal assistance.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Graduate Completes Thesis on Content in German-Language Newspaper During WWI

John Hill — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 16:00:44 +0000

A graduating ��Vlog��ý Little Rock student is thankful to the history department for helping prepare him for a career as an archivist through the extensive research he was required to do for his thesis. Little Rock native Harrison Mitchell earned his bachelor’s degree in news editorial journalism from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2011. Now over a decade later, he graduated with a master’s degree in public history on Dec. 17. Mitchell’s thesis explores written content in , a German-language newspaper based in Little Rock during World War I. The Echo is the only surviving newspaper source about Arkansas’s German community, as well as the only insight into what the German press was printing during the war. Mitchell got his inspiration for the topic from the year he spent as a foreign exchange student in Vienna, Austria, in high school. “That experience really cemented the language for me,” Mitchell said. “Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to do this research at all, since most of it was in German.” Mitchell focused his research on the years between 1914 and 1918, comparing the tone and content before and after the United States entered the war to see how the newspaper handled the growing anti-German sentiment in the country during the shift. Research also came from, “Das Arkansas Echo: A Year in the Life of Germans in the Nineteenth-Century South” by Kathleen Condray, associate professor of German at the University of Arkansas. The book examines the topics covered during its inaugural year, including the newspaper’s crusade against prohibition, advocacy for German schools and language, and stance on immigration. “Overall, I’d say the program prepares you for the field really well, especially when it comes to research,” Mitchell said. “I even had a graduate assistantship for the Center for Arkansas History and Culture downtown to supplement my archival learning and give me hands-on experience.” He organized his information on a database, the idea of which he credits to Dr. Charles Romney, professor of history and graduate coordinator of the public history program. “I collected about 300 articles, so it was a lot to keep track of,” Mitchell said. “The database gave me key searchability, helped me identify common themes, and what was going on. Staying organized is one of the most important parts of a research process.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Professor Advises Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission

John Hill — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 14:19:03 +0000

Dr. Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm, associate professor of political science at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, has advised a Maryland commission tasked with investigating the history of lynching in the state. The is authorized to research cases of racially motivated lynchings and hold public meetings and regional hearings where a lynching of an African American by a white mob has been documented. The commission has investigated 38 documented cases of lynching in Maryland. “They are trying to uncover more information about each of these lynching cases and then provide venues for people to talk about these episodes, in particular for descendants of the victims and perpetrators to talk about their feelings and reactions and how these crimes have affected their lives,” Wiebelhaus-Brahm said. “The committee is also prompting memorials to occur in the form of informational plaques at the sites of the crimes.” As the commission wraps up its work in 2024, commissioners will submit a final report to the governor and General Assembly with recommendations to move the commission’s work forward. During a Nov. 12 conference in Baltimore, Wiebelhaus-Brahm presented his suggestions on how to maximize the commission’s impact based upon his research on truth and reconciliation efforts in different parts of the world. “Truth commissions, in many ways, are the start of the conversation about the past,” Wiebelhaus-Brahm said. “Truth is often needed before other things can happen to address the past. Truth commissions produce a final report with a history of what was investigated and recommendations about what else should be done about the past and how to prevent these things from happening in the future. Research suggests that the process should be broadly open to the public so members of the affected communities can offer suggestions for recommendations.” Wiebelhaus-Brahm, author of the books “Truth Commissions and Transitional Societies” and “Exploring Truth Commission Recommendations in a Comparative Perspective,” added that truth commissions often recommend the creation of a follow-up body to coordinate and monitor implementation of the commission’s recommendations. “Involved parties can also keep in contact with local and state politicians to ensure that the commission is not the end of the conversation about racial violence in the state and that there are further conversations about how to improve race relations,” he added. No state-initiated truth and reconciliation commissions have taken place in Arkansas, but Wiebelhaus-Brahm said efforts are moving forward to create memorials for lyching victims in the state. “In Maryland, the commission is helping to prompt memorials,” Wiebelhaus-Brahm said. “In Arkansas, the memorial effort has been moving forward. In some counties, there has already been action taken to memorialize places where lynchings have occurred.” These memorial projects include the Pulaski County Community Remembrance Project by the and the .

Handcock Wins Phi Kappa Phi Essay Contest

John Hill — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 14:03:29 +0000

Bobbie Handcock, a rhetoric and writing graduate student from Lonoke, has won the 2022 Phi Kappa Phi Essay Contest and a $250 scholarship. Phi Kappa Phi, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, selected Handcock as the winner of its 1,000-word essay contest on the theme: Love of Learning in a Pandemic. “I am so honored to receive this award so early in my graduate career,” said Handcock, who is in her first semester of graduate school. “The scholarship means a lot to me, and it will really help me as I pursue my master’s degree.” Handcock, who works as a web content specialist in the Office of Communications and Marketing, plans to graduate in 2024 with a Master of Arts in Professional and Technical Writing degree. She is a first-generation college student who will be the first person in her family to earn a master’s degree. Handcock wrote about how the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged her to make important changes in her life. She had always dreamed of getting her master’s degree, so Handcock took a new and challenging position at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock where she can take advantage of the tuition discount for university employees. “COVID helped me refocus and renew my love of learning,” Handcock wrote. “It helped me pause and see what was possible. COVID might have driven me to grad school but I’m now the one at the wheel.”

Little Rock Wrestling Team Donates Over 200 Hams to Feed the Hungry

John Hill — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 22:40:02 +0000

The has donated more than 200 hams to the nonprofit to help feed people in need in central Arkansas. The hams will be distributed to Arkansas families during a Christmas celebration at the Arkansas Dream Center on Dec. 16. Every Arkansan will also deliver hams to their 14 mobile sites in Central Arkansas during the week of Christmas. “I am very excited by this donation,” said Tori Martinez, office administrator for Every Arkansan. “It’s been a blessing to serve so many families this Christmas. We look forward to doing more together with the Little Rock Wrestling team in the future.” Members of the Little Rock Wrestling Team were on hand for seven hours on Friday, Dec. 16, to hand out hams, but the best part of the day for the wrestlers was loading the 203 donated hams into Every Arkansan’s van. “It feels really good to know that these hams are going to a good place and that our efforts are going to help feed those in need,” said Mason Diel, a redshirt freshman wrestling student-athlete from Hartland, Wisconsin. This is the fourth year that the wrestling team has held their annual ham sale fundraiser and the third year of partnering with Every Arkansas to provide hams for Central Arkansas families. All proceeds will support both the Little Rock wrestling program and Every Arkansan.

The Little Rock Wrestling Team donated 203 hams to nonprofit partner Every Arkansan on Dec. 16.

When purchasing hams, there was an option to directly donate a ham to Every Arkansan to give to local families. Hams weigh from 8-10 pounds, feed up to 16 people, and cost $50. Austin Schafer, assistant wrestling coach, said the coaches were on site for an extra four hours on both Dec. 15 and 16 to get all the hams ready for pickup. “This was my first year enjoying the ham sale, but it’s the fourth year so the team has got a pretty good system down,” Schafer said. “I think it’s a great idea to give back to the community around us.” The wrestling team met this year’s goal of delivering at least 200 hams to those in need. Last year, they delivered more than 125 hams to Every Arkansas. Overall, the wrestling team sold 630 hams during the annual fundraiser. “More importantly, being a part of the Little Rock community, we were grateful to be able to get involved with the community, for the partnership with Every Arkansan and the Arkansas Dream Center, and very grateful for everything that they do for the community,” Head Wrestling Coach Neil Erisman said.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Graduate Finishes College Education 50 Years After Starting

John Hill — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 16:20:09 +0000

A ��Vlog��ý Little Rock history student is celebrating the completion of his lifelong dream of finishing his college education, a dream that is 50 years in the making. By all measures, Ellis “Gene” Thompson of Little Rock has led a very successful life. He has a loving family and had a very successful career in media sales spanning more than four decades. “After leaving KATV as the local sales manager here, I finished that career and was faced with what I want to do,” Thompson said. “Something that had always been nagging me was to get my degree. Life had taken that opportunity away from me earlier when I was in Washington, D.C.” A native of Joliet, Illinois, Thompson joined the U.S. Navy and worked in an experimental surgery unit and then enrolled at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1973. “There I really started to mature and find my sea legs, as you will,” he said. “The doctors were very supportive of me going to college. That is why I went to Georgetown, but I was married and had a child and work. I couldn’t sustain a decent lifestyle and go to Georgetown, which was very demanding.” In 1975, Thompson left Georgetown with an associate degree and a strong desire to one day finish his college education. His career took him from Washington, D.C., to Chicago, to Dayton, Ohio, to Orlando and New York City. His final stop brought him to Little Rock in 2010 to work at KATV. “I had a great run in TV, but I’m done,” Thompson said. “I had a deep love of history, and I got that while I was at Georgetown. One of my instructors was the department head, and I fell in love with history after taking her class. I decided to come to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock as a history major.” Thompson joined ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2017 and graduated with his bachelor’s degree in history in 2019. He will graduate this semester with a master’s degree in public history, which brings his journey to complete his college education to an end 50 years after he started. “It’s something that I feel I should have done a long time ago,” he said. “It’s basically been unfinished business as far as my life is concerned. So, getting this degree is a culmination of a lifelong search for my own comfort with myself. It’s a culmination of something that I felt I should have done a long time ago and should have been determined earlier in my life. However, it feels just as good now. This is who I should have been all my life, a person with a master’s degree.” One of his favorite experiences in graduate school was participating in a class taught by Dr. John Kirk, George W. Donaghey Distinguished Professor of History, which examined the criminal cases of Robert Bell and Grady Swain, two African American teenagers who were convicted of the first-degree murder of Julius McCollum and sentenced to death. Bell and Swain confessed to the crime, but later said their confessions were forced. The class wrote a paper about the case that received the Lucille Westbrook Award from the Arkansas Historical Association for the best article manuscript on an aspect of local history. “That class really grabbed me, and I learned so much about going through archives and dusty, old records,” he said. Thompson wrote his thesis, “The Fight for Freedmen’s Minds in Arkansas,” about the development of educational programs for African Americans in the state in the 1860s and 1870s. “Arkansas was one of the last states to develop a public primary and secondary school system for African American students,” Thompson wrote. “While education was for the most part privatized, an important philosophy for educating African Americans was developed early by the Free African Society and the AME (African Methodist Episcopal) Church that influenced Arkansas public and private Freedman education.” In the 1860s and 70s, there were millions of newly freed formerly enslaved people who needed an education with competing methods of how that should work. Samuel Armstrong, founder of the Hampton Institute, created an educational model called the Hampton-Tuskegee Model, which emphasized character building through manual labor and learning occupational skills. The AME church strongly contested the Hampton-Tuskegee Model. “The AME church put forth the philosophy that they wanted Freedman taught in the classical manner, emphasizing subjects like English, literature, and algebra,” Thompson said. “They wanted to train a middle-class population with doctors, teachers, and lawyers. The Hampton model emphasized teaching people manual labor skills – how to be a blacksmith, how to sew. They taught young girls how to work in houses as maids. It was being put out there that this was necessary because industrialists needed a large workforce.” Thompson dedicated his thesis to his mother, who was the daughter of an AME preacher and an inspiration for him to complete college. “I also did this for my mom who always believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself,” Thompson said. “She used to sit in the kitchen with me to do my homework when I was a child. She instilled in me that desire to get it done, and that was one of the real drivers in writing my thesis.” With graduation approaching, Thompson is thankful to history professors James Ross, Barclay Key, Jess Porter, Edward Anson, Carl Moneyhon, and Marta Cieslak for inspiring him to succeed. “My experience here has been absolutely magnificent,” he said. “I can’t say enough good things about the history department and the professors. These people are first rate, and I know because I came from one of those fancy east schools. I had a very successful career, but this is something different that I needed to do and I’m so glad I did it. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that I would end up living in Arkansas and getting a master’s degree at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. I believe it’s a top-rate education.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Student Nurses Association President Elected to State Office

John Hill — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 13:56:29 +0000

A ��Vlog��ý Little Rock nursing student was recently elected to the Arkansas Nursing Students’ Association (ANSA) state board. The ANSA organizes, represents, and supports students in Arkansas preparing for initial licensure as registered nurses as well as baccalaureate students. They also promote development of the skills that students will need as responsible and accountable members of the nursing profession, advocate for high quality health care, advocate for and contribute to advances in nursing education, and develop the potential for maximal growth in future professional roles of Arkansas nursing students. Niki Buckman, a student from Quinlan, Texas, was elected as the District 1 director during the ANSA convention held in Hot Springs. She will represent and advocate for nursing students in Arkadelphia, Conway, Hot Springs, Little Rock, and Magnolia. She will also serve on the annual convention, fundraising, and awards committees. “I am ecstatic to be able to serve on the ANSA Board of Directors,” Buckman said. “I look forward to working with everyone in District 1.” Once she graduates in 2023 with an Associate of Applied Science in Nursing degree, Buckman will work for the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System. She is a recipient of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Health Professional Scholarship Program, which provides financial assistance to students in the health care industry. She plans to join the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program in the fall 2023 semester. It’s been a lifelong goal of Buckman’s to become a nurse, one that got put on hold while she pursued a career in sales and marketing in the natural pet food industry in Colorado and California. She and her husband moved to Arkansas to be closer to family in 2020, and Buckman decided it was time to pursue her nursing degree. “Nursing was always my plan,” she said. “I have wanted to work in health care ever since I was little. My dad was sick when I was growing up. After seeing his experience in needing a liver transplant, I decided that I wanted to work in health care to help other people through their medical emergencies.” At ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, Buckman, a home health care aide, serves as president of the Student Nurses Association and a volunteer with Kindred Hospice.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

����Vlog��ý Little Rock Names Dorn as Chancellor’s Chief of Staff

Nielson Named Research Editor at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

Love is in the Air: ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Couple Gets Engaged at Fall 2022 Commencement