“Renaissance man” is an apt description of Terry Wright, professor of writing and dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication (CFAC). Wright is a campus fixture with his long, flowing gray hair that cascades past his shoulders, sometimes secured in a ponytail or covered by a jaunty hat.

Wright is a poet and artist married to his high school sweetheart. He has a black cat named Spooky, has published seven books and has been published in magazines and journals ranging from “McSweeney’s” to “Rolling Stone.” He worked as music editor and wrote record reviews for Ozark Entertainment magazine, acted in a Shakespeare in the Park troupe one summer in Iowa, loves Kung Fu movies, helped found KABF-FM radio and was a member of The Malls, the first punk band in Arkansas.

Wright credits his wife, Cindy, his 1974 senior prom date in Yankton, South Dakota for freeing his creativity.

“She gives me a lot of liberty to just be myself, and I’m weird,” he said. “You can look at my artwork and my poems. They’re out there somewhere.”

Wright’s creative journey began at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. He wanted to be a painter, so he took an art history course to get a background in his chosen field before moving on to a painting course.

“I was horrible,” he said. So he became a writer.

He wound up an English/theatre double major at Morningside, where he saw the late Miller Williams do a reading.

“He was the first live poet I’d heard up close and personal, 
and he blew me away,” Wright said of the experience. “I went up to him after his reading and told him, ‘Wow, I love that.’ He said, ‘You should come to [the University of] Arkansas and get in our Master of Fine Arts program [in creative writing].'”

But Wright didn’t follow Williams’ advice.

“I came to Arkansas, but not to the Master of Fine Arts program because I decided I hadn’t read enough,” Wright said. “I didn’t feel like I’d read enough to have context to be a successful writer. So I came to Fayetteville and enrolled in the master’s program, but while I was there I took several creative writing workshops with Miller.”

Along the way, he worked as a house painter, a waiter and a bartender at the old Restaurant on the Corner on Dickson Street.

Wright moved to New Orleans for a few years, then returned to Fayetteville, where he joined Chris Runyan, 
a guitarist, and Stan Lancaster, a keyboardist, who wanted to start a punk band.

“They said, ‘Can you play anything or sing?’ I said, ‘No,'” Wright remembered. “They said, ‘Can you write some lyrics for us and go on stage and jump around like crazy?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I can do that.'”

Thus, The Malls were born. “We were a punk band in a country town,” Wright said. After a year, the band broke up, and he moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he earned his Master of Fine Arts in creative writing.

Wright knew he wanted to teach, so he moved to Little Rock where he took adjunct positions at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the 51ÇàÂ¥, in addition to working at Discount Records. He eventually became one of the charter members of the writing faculty at UCA.

By 2001 he returned to his alma mater, Morningside, to do a poetry reading as part of its distinguished alumni series. Cindy, still living in the area, read about the event and called him at his motel.

“I had not seen or talked to her in all those years, and I blew her off,” Wright said, chuckling. “I’d thought about her over the years. I really thought we’d had something special, but we were too young to realize it.”

Cindy didn’t attend his reading, but she tracked him down at his parents’ house a few days later and called once more.

“She said, ‘I’m going to try one more time
 to talk to you,’ “he recalled. “So we met and realized it was like we just picked up where we left off.”

They married in 2002, and Cindy moved to Little Rock. When Dr. Rollin Potter unexpectedly retired as dean of the CFAC in May 2013, “I got a call from the provost’s office, so I go over, and during the conversation I realized something else was up,” Wright said. “I even said, ‘Is this a job interview?'”

He was named interim dean for the 2012-2013 academic year and dean in 2014.

“What I like about administrative work is it’s not theoretical like teaching,” he said. “As dean, l can actually make things happen. You can have an impact. Now not everyone likes your decisions, but you can make things happen and create change.”

He tries to find some time during the day to write and make art. In fact, one of his pieces, “Trapeze Anxiety,” which he made while serving as dean, was selected for the 57th Delta Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture at the Arkansas Arts Center held in summer 2015.

“My creative outlet is sort of my sanity thing,” he said. “It keeps me level. It’s a stress reliever.”

Courtney Mullen is the new director of the Office of 51ÇàÂ¥ and Enrollment Services at the 51ÇàÂ¥, and she is definitely filled with UCA pride. With her determined attitude and positive outlook, she is ready to use her new position to lead UCA to achieve even greater success.

Mullen comes to UCA from Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, where she spent nearly seven years in the recruitment and admissions sector. “Even though 51ÇàÂ¥ is very well-known across the state, I think it’s time to take things up a notch,” Mullen said. “I’ve always admired UCA, and I truly love it here!”

She is ready to shake things up around campus. “I don’t want us to just rest on our laurels,” Mullen said. “I want people to understand what a cool community we have here.”

Mullen is no stranger to hard work and sees her new position as a role of service. “We are the front door for the institution so we have to be able to put the hat on for every single program that we have here,” Mullen said. “In order to fully serve our students, we need to fully serve faculty and staff across campus. I have a lot of work ahead of me and when I look toward the future, it makes me excited and full of hope.”

The 51ÇàÂ¥ will begin a new performing arts series for K-12 students in central Arkansas. The series brings K-12 students to campus to experience professional theatre at an early age and connects children, teachers and schools to performing arts in meaningful ways that complement the school curriculum.

The Main Stage EdUCAtion Series will start Nov. 17, 2015 with the performance of “Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas” at Reynolds Performance Hall, and reservations will be taken on a first come, first serve basis. Each performance is carefully selected to entertain while educating the audience on an academic topic.

“Exposure to the arts contributes to the overall social and cognitive development of children,” said UCA President Tom Courtway. “Performing arts provides students with a creative outlet of expression that can improve academic achievement, adapt to a wide variety of learning styles and develop diverse multicultural perspectives.”

It will also aid local educators in their efforts to integrate arts into the school curriculum. All shows will be performed by professional, national-touring artists who will provide high quality performances.

“We are thrilled to introduce this new program that will increase access to the arts for schools in central Arkansas,” said Amanda Horton, Reynolds Performance Hall director of public appearances. “The arts can improve academic performance, enrich the lives of our students and enhance the cultural viability of a community.”

Performances include “Walk On: The Story of Rosa Parks,” “Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas” and “Doktor Kaboom in LIVE WIRE: The Electricity Tour!” Students will be charged $5.00 per ticket and schools may apply for a limited number of ticket vouchers for low-income students.

School groups will receive one free adult chaperone ticket per 10 student tickets purchased. Additional adult tickets may be purchased for only $10.00. Educators will receive study guides and resources created for the performances that will assist with educational standards for the chosen field, ensuring a valuable out-of-the-classroom experience for the students.

The inaugural

speakers will be announced in January of 2016.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or fewer) delivered by today’s leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED’s annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, and made available for free on TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman.

Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks, on Facebook at facebook.com/TED or Instagram at instagram.com/ted or visit .

President Tom Courtway hosted the first TEDxUniversityOfCentralArkansasSalon introducing TEDx and sharing his passion for history and legacy of leadership.

Bear Tales – President’s Leadership Fellows

“This is something every university, every board member, every college president and budget officer is concerned about – the cost of attendance and keeping it as low as possible,” said UCA President Tom Courtway. “We all strive to do the best we can with what we have. It’s an effort to hold down the cost to students and families while at the same time offering a high quality education and complete collegiate experience.”

51ÇàÂ¥ Board of Trustees Chair Brad Lacy ’94 credits President Courtway’s leadership and his staff’s hard work for being able to hold tuition rates while still funding faculty and staff raises and bonuses, in addition to funding recent construction projects across campus.

“It is important to note that we were still able to fund raises and bonuses for our dedicated faculty and staff, without whom our students would not receive the superior educational and campus experience we provide at this institution,” said Lacy. “This proves that UCA can build innovative facilities, grow enrollment and offer access to a rigorous academic experience without automatically increasing costs to our students.”

One by one, officials and dignitaries at the 51ÇàÂ¥ took a swing at a wall in McCastlain Hall in the event commemorating the start of renovations to the historic building. The special wall-crashing event was June 9, 2015.

Stacy Hurst, director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, led the group that included UCA President Tom Courtway, 51ÇàÂ¥ Board of Trustees Chair Brad Lacy ’94 and Nan Snow ’57, member of the UCA Foundation Board of Directors. The dignitaries donned hard hats, gloves and safety glasses as they swung golden sledgehammers to take down 10-foot-high drywall panels.

The Arkansas Natural and Cult
ural Resources council (ANCRC) awarded an $800,000 grant in 2014 for the restoration and renovation of McCastlain’s East Commons and Fireplace Room and a $400,000 grant to create a more accessible grand hallway between McCastlain’s East Commons and the Baum Gallery 
in 2015.

Built in 1939 as the first standalone cafeteria on campus, McCastlain Hall is now one of eight buildings comprising UCA’s Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Jan. 18, 2013.

Bear Tales – McCastlain Hall Wall Crashing

Military students who qualify for in-state tuition will be one of the following: a veteran who was discharged or released from active duty within three years before the date of enrollment, the dependent of such a veteran, a member of the armed forces or the spouse of a member of the armed forces.

The in-state tuition starts with the 2015-2016 academic year.

The 51ÇàÂ¥ celebrated another history-making day as the Conway Corporation Center for Sciences was ‘topped-out’ in a special ceremony on Sept. 25, 2015.

The University broke ground in May 2015 on the Conway Corporation Center for Sciences, a 50,000-square-foot addition to the Lewis Science Center.

“This space is really important to the University. It’s the basis of so many things at which we excel,” said Brad Lacy, chair of the 51ÇàÂ¥ Board of Trustees. “Today is another great day for UCA.”

The 51ÇàÂ¥ Board of Trustees voted to name the expanded section of the Lewis Science Center building the Conway Corporation Center for Sciences in recognition of a $3 million gift from Conway Corporation that was announced in December 2014.

“To the board and everyone associated with Conway Corporation, thank you for your generous gift,” said UCA President Tom Courtway. “We, as an institution, can’t thank Conway Corp enough for that gift.”

Lewis Science Center houses several departments in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, including biology, physics and astronomy. The additional 50,000 square feet in the Conway Corporation Center for Sciences allows more classroom and laboratory space, as well as significant improvements in equipment efficiency and energy utilization with LEED certification.

The construction is in fulfillment of the goals outlined in the “Framework for the Future,” which was introduced in November 2013 during the investiture ceremony for President Courtway. The plan laid out three primary goals with several strategies, deadlines and responsibilities to achieve the goals. One goal was to “build, replace and maintain academic and auxiliary infrastructure.”

Bear Tales – Conway Corporation Center for Sciences Topping Out Ceremony

Donaghey Hall Closer to Fall 2016 Completion

Dozens of campus dignitaries and community members turned their eyes to the sky to see a cedar tree mounted atop a steel beam hoisted to the uppermost point of the Donaghey Hall steel framework.

This topping-out ceremony was
held on Aug. 21, 2015 for Donaghey Hall, the four-story,
mixed-use building at the intersection of Bruce Street and Donaghey Avenue. The building will be 67,500-square-feet.

Once completed, the first floor will consist of approximately 15,000 square feet of commercial space that will be occupied by businesses including Mosaique Bistro and Grill of Conway, Uncle T’s Deli-Market of Little Rock, Blue Sail Coffee of Conway and Textbook Brokers, Inc. A section of the first floor will also be a “makerspace,” which is a creative, collaborative, community-oriented space that will allow students and faculty to gather and share knowledge, network and innovate together.

The upper floors will serve as a residence hall with 165 beds for sophomores and juniors.

“We are very excited about this project,” said University President Tom Courtway. “We really look forward to [fall 2016] when students are going to move in and there’s going to be a vibrant campus community on the east side of Donaghey.”

The University broke ground on Donaghey Hall in April 2015. It will be open in fall 2016.

The topping-out of a building tradition dates back to the ancient Scandinavians. Modern-day practice involves an evergreen tree being placed on the highest piece of steel placed on a building’s frame.

The construction is in fulfillment of the goals outlined in the “Framework for the Future,” which was introduced in November 2013 during the investiture ceremony for President Courtway. UCA board members named Nabholz Construction and Doyne Construction as the general contractor and construction manager, respectively.

The plan laid out three primary goals with several strategies, deadlines and responsibilities to achieve the goals. One goal was to “plan, develop and transform Donaghey Avenue.”

Bear Tales – Two Campus Ceremonies

Ashley Love ’07 has been named director of special events. Love succeeds Don Bingham, who became administrator of the Governor’s Mansion for Governor Asa Hutchinson in January 2015. She will oversee activities associated with the President’s Home and other campus venues.

“We welcome Ashley as UCA’s new director of special events. She will do an excellent job managing the President’s Home, a treasured historic hallmark of our campus. We also look forward to her working with other university departments and groups on campus,” said Kelley Erstine ’79, UCA’s chief of staff.

Love earned a Bachelor of Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing management from the 51ÇàÂ¥ in 2007. She was previously director of finance and marketing for UCA Reynolds Performance Hall and began her new role in August 2015.