Kevin Carter ’10 has been hunting since he was seven years old, when his father took him on his first hunting trip after his family moved to Conway from Fort Smith. Carter’s family bought a cabin and some land down in southeast Arkansas, outside of Clarendon, after accepting an invitation to go hunting with a family friend.

“I duck and deer hunt, and I’m a pro-staffer for Avery Outdoors, which is like being a sales rep,” Carter said. “They make duck and goose decoys, blind bags and all kinds of hunting accessories. I’ve been doing that for about 10 years, and I’ve met pro-staffers from all over the U.S., New Zealand, Canada, Iceland and all over the globe.”

It was nothing out of the ordinary when Carter took his wife Samantha ’10, ’12, daughter and newborn baby boy on a trip to their cabin the weekend before deer season in fall 2016 just to “scope it out.” Carter woke up early that Saturday morning and decided to take a walk through the woods to look for a spot to deer hunt.

“I didn’t plan on being gone for more than 10 or 15 minutes,” Carter said. “I came across a deer stand someone in our hunting camp had put up and decided to climb up and take a look around to see if it might be a good spot to hunt the next weekend.”

Carter said he normally wears a safety harness while in a tree stand but didn’t strap one on because he was just scouting, not planning on staying in the tree. He climbed up about 20 feet until he reached the stand and noticed there were a few leaves on the metal platform.

“I stood up on the metal deer stand. It looked brand new, and I began brushing the leaves off with my feet. I’d been up there about 10 seconds and I heard a ‘pop’,” he said. “Before I could even sit down, the metal cables that support the platform snapped. Like a trap door, the stand just broke.”

Carter only remembers the sound of the cables snapping. He woke up face-down in a pile of leaves, disoriented and in the middle of the woods, and nobody knew where he was.

“I reached for my cell phone and tried to call my wife, but the call wouldn’t go through. I had very bad cell phone service,” Carter recalled. “Somehow I got a call to go through to some guys in our camp in a cabin a couple miles away. I don’t remember what I said to them, but they said I told them I fell out of a tree. They found me and they got me to a hospital in Stuttgart.”

Carter survived a blowout fracture in his right orbital socket, but a third of it was completely crushed. He broke his nose and a couple of his ribs, and suffered some minor bumps and bruises, but miraculously wasn’t paralyzed and is still alive to tell the tale.

“I’m a lucky guy, and it was a pretty high fall, so I’m very fortunate that nothing worse happened to me,” Carter said. “I’ve been doing this my whole life. I met one of my hunting buddies while we were in class at UCA. We started talking about hunting and years later, he was in my wedding. That’s why your different communities and friend circles are important. You never know where they’ll take you.”

He takes time to smile and say, “Good morning,” to students who are scurrying across campus headed to grab coffee or take care of a last minute task before an 8 a.m. class. He stops to pick up a piece of paper from the sidewalk that a student likely dropped just moments before.

While Davis modestly approaches his days, his presence has electrified the campus.

Since Davis’ arrival as the 11th president of the 51��¥ on Jan. 23, 2017, UCA social media channels have been abuzz as the community, alumni and students shared their Davis sightings.

Mylon Boston posted to Twitter, “When sits right beside you at the Student Center.”

Conway Pastor Joey B. Cook also took to Twitter with a , “Great to meet you today,” after seeing Davis at the Bill and Hillary Clinton Airport in Little Rock.

Members of the Theta Psi Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Instagrammed a with Davis welcoming “President Davis to the UCA community.”

That same excitement was felt when the announcement of his selection was made.

A crowd of about 100 had gathered in the Board of Trustees meeting room. Many peered toward the back of the room and then left and right, waiting in excited anticipation.

The group stood to applaud Davis’ arrival, and the clapping swelled to a thunderous ovation as Davis entered the room. With a wide infectious smile, Davis graciously shook hands, waved and hugged members of his new Bear family–faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members–as he as he made his way to the podium to make his first remarks as UCA’s new president.

“I expect to see that we are all going to roll up our sleeves, put on our thinking caps and make sure that we continue to advance UCA,” Davis said. “I can’t wait to get here and go to work.”

Davis spared little time between that Nov. 2, 2016 announcement and coming to UCA less than three months later.

His first months were spent on a “listening tour” meeting with faculty, students, alumni, community members and staff. During this time, Davis had dozens of meetings and events he attended each week, many of which were student-centric.

On his first day, he worked with the Student Government Association on a community service project to pack 10,000 meals for the 51��¥ Bear Essentials Food Pantry. In following weeks, Davis met with the President’s Leadership Fellows, a group of 35 student leaders. He attended Bear Facts Day with the Student Ambassador team.

“I actually saw him running across campus trying to meet the students as they marched with their banners,” said Te’Anna Jenkins, president of the Students for the Propagation of Black Culture. The organization hosted a banner display and silent MLK March in January.

Jenkins said students were surprised to see Davis, but they are coming to know him as their president.

“He’s all about us. He’s about the University, but he’s about us most importantly,” she said.

The legacy of being a student-focused leader is one of several goals Davis has for his tenure as UCA’s president.

“Being student-centered is making certain that we are making decisions focused on opportunities to serve students,” Davis said.

He adds that he will work to ensure that leadership asks the important questions, such as “How do these decisions advance our abilities to serve a student in the classroom?” and “How does this enable us to better support that student as they’re pursuing their education or research goals?”

His strong dedication to the student came, in part, due to his own experiences as an undergrad student at Memphis State, now the University of Memphis.

“I had some faculty and administrators that were very giving with their time to me,” he said. “I’d say they probably shaped my higher education goals and aspirations as much as anybody.”

Davis was a very active student, working in various leadership and student activity roles and as a student worker in several departments. It was during these times, he began to develop a sense of career purpose.

“I had the opportunity to work in the president’s office as a student worker,” Davis said. “I also worked in the school’s alumni affairs office and a couple of other offices on campus and got to know several administrators.

“I began to explore how those individuals got to where they were in their careers.”

Davis earned his Bachelor of Science in political science at the University of Memphis. He earned his Master of Education in educational administration at Tennessee State University, and Davis received his Doctor of Philosophy in education and human development at Vanderbilt University.

In addition to defining a career path, Davis also found his life partner while earning his bachelor’s.

Davis and his wife, Jenny, spent their childhood years near opposite ends of the Natchez Trace.

Houston grew up in Clarksville, Tennessee, the fifth largest city in the state, nicknamed the Gateway to the South.

Jenny spent her formative years in Port Gibson, Mississippi, a city Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant called “too beautiful to burn” during his Civil War Seige of Vicksburg.

The two met in college at a Junior Panhellenic fashion show for freshmen Greeks.

Jenny, an Alpha Gamma Delta, was helping decorate the stage when Houston, a Kappa Sigma, asked whether he could assist her.

A friendship grew from that encounter, and like many other great love stories, the two were just friends at first.

“He would call about every three months and ask me out, and every three months, I said, ‘No,’ for about two years,” Jenny said. “And then I… finally said yes and on the first date I knew this was the guy I was going to marry.”

The two will celebrate 22 years of marriage in July. They have three children: Polly, 20, a junior at Georgia Tech; Whitney, 17; and Joshua, 14.

The Davis family is finishing up the school year in Georgia and will join Houston in June.

Davis might first have been introduced to UCA and Conway about 25 years ago through a fraternity brother in college, Conway native Trey McClurkin.

“He wouldn’t stop talking about Conway,” Davis said. “If I ever heard about the city of Conway, about UCA, it would probably have been from Trey talking about his great home town.”

McClurkin graduated from Conway High School and attended UCA, but he transferred to Memphis State to pursue a program that was not offered at UCA. Davis said McClurkin talked about Conway and UCA often, very often.

“I remember talking to him several times about how much I love Conway and how much I loved UCA,” said McClurkin, who moved back to Conway in 2007. “I feel like there was a season of preparation whether that seed was planted then, which I guess it was.”

Having known Davis for nearly half of both their lives, McClurkin has no doubt that Davis is the right choice for UCA’s future.

“There’s just no question in my mind that he’s qualified and is going to do an amazing job,” McClurkin said. “I think that he’s going to bring some new ideas and some vision that can even take it to another level that will be even better.”

Davis joined UCA from Kennesaw State University in Georgia where he had served as interim president. He served as the executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer at the University System of Georgia, vice chancellor for academic affairs at Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, project director and principal investigator for the National Educational Needs Project, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs at the Tennessee Board of Regents and associate vice president for academic affairs and assistant professor at Austin Peay State University.

With these and other leadership roles, he defines himself as a servant leader.

“I like a leadership and structural organization where people feel very empowered to do their work,” he said. “Creating conditions for empowered team members is the goal with a strong accountability structure being important.”

And as Davis continues to visit with individuals and groups in the UCA community, he closes with the same words that he used as he ended his first address to campus, “I’ll leave you with a Go Bears!”

When most people think about speech-language pathology, the first thing that comes to mind is usually a speech therapist working with a child who struggles with a stutter or helping a child who has trouble articulating certain sounds. However, at the 51��¥ Speech-Language Hearing Center, the services extend far beyond that.

The UCA Speech-Language Hearing Center has been serving the community and surrounding areas for more than 40 years. Individuals of all ages with a variety of communication needs can receive a comprehensive speech and language evaluation as well as therapy services.

“Our clients consist of UCA students, faculty, staff and members of the Conway community,” said Kathy McDaniel, director of the clinic. “Our graduate students provide the therapy and are supervised by faculty. Our undergraduate students watch and learn, and it’s wonderful to see everybody connect.”

But the connection doesn’t stop within the walls of the clinic. Most faculty members host community clinics as well, focusing on an area in which they specialize. UCA clinical instructor Candice Robinson teaches a brain fitness class to senior citizens at the College Square Retirement Community with the help of the Silver Sneakers program through the UCA HPER Center.

“We bring the class to them. We have grad students who go to outside locations and we teach brain health, like how to improve brain memory and cognition as they age,” said Robinson. “I teach them what they can do in their life to improve, and possibly ward off signs of dementia. What I love about UCA’s speech path clinic is the community aspect. I love that part of my job.”

Dr. Brent Gregg, a professor of communication sciences and disorders, hosts a community clinic every summer focusing on children who stutter, but he assures that it’s much more than that.

“The kids come in for eight weeks in the summer and do therapy twice a week, for two-hour sessions in a group-based setting. We focus on team work and attitude building, which is way beyond just speech therapy,” Gregg said. “That’s what is lost when people think about speech therapy. It’s more than articulation. It’s cognition, bouncing back from bullying and learning resilience. This fantastic cohort of kids is also part of our community.”

UCA students in the speech-language pathology community are able to work in close contact with their clients, which allows them to get real world experience while being supervised by faculty. They receive support and guidance while learning how to make real connections when they are on the job.

“The best part of working with the speech path clinic for me is just working with the client,” said first-year grad student Holly Burns ’16. “Getting to see them have fun while seeing my skills develop is an amazing experience. I feel like I’m prepared by what I’ve experienced here at UCA.”

“The supervisors are really supportive. They’ve guided us to where we have needed to be,” said Amy Chieu, first-year grad student. “Having smaller classes of 30 classmates means we always have support, and each faculty member has their own specialty, meaning they’re all really knowledgeable, which makes each class more interesting because they are more passionate about their topics.”

Some surprising connections come out of the clinic as well. When the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre begins its summer festival in Conway, the members of the company come to the clinic to ensure that their voices are stage-ready all season long.

“We have individuals after rehearsals who need someone to talk to about voice remediation or rest, or who go through voice issues, especially if they have no understudy and the show must go on!” said Gregg. “We are the ones they come to. We have a partnership with them as well, so our community keeps growing larger.”

“There are so many stories of clients who come through here and have success,” said McDaniel. “I’ve been here many years, and just to see how many people whose lives have been changed and now they are able to communicate, able to use strategies that they have learned here. It’s rewarding. The students get to see that too. It’s a rewarding place to be.”

The origin of the challenge coin in the military is a mystery, with the earliest stories dating back to the Roman Empire rewarding soldiers with small coins or medallions to recognize their wartime achievements and enhance morale. Their origin may be unknown, but their underlying significance to the 51��¥ is no mystery.

“Challenge coins represent the commitment that 51��¥ is making to its veterans and to the community,” said Kim Klotz ’06, ’13, designer of the UCA challenge coins. “They are a symbol of our understanding and respect for veterans and all of the hard work that they’ve put in over their years here at UCA, not only working toward their education but for their service to their country.”

51��¥ is home to approximately 700 student veterans, and David Williams ’12, Veteran Service coordinator and chair of the Veterans Day Committee, is dedicated to making sure that each of those students is taken care of during their time on campus.

“My job is to make sure that everybody who walks through
my office door knows everything there is to know about all the possible educational benefits that they can get as a student veteran,” said Williams. “I love my job and I love what I do. I love being able to take care of veteran students and their dependents.”

UCA student veterans receive a challenge coin at graduation, and the coins are also given out to veterans at UCA’s annual Veterans Day Celebration, which is in conjunction with the city of Conway. Klotz, who has been involved with the UCA Veterans Day Celebration since 2009, said some of the veterans who attend are UCA alumni, but a lot are not.

“This is one way UCA recognizes the dedication and service of the veterans in our community, as well as on our campus,” said Klotz. “David and his team have been really instrumental in giving out these challenge coins because he feels like the veterans deserve something to recognize their dedication and service, in everything they give and all they do for our community through their service.”

Service can take a toll on a student veteran, and that’s where the Student Veteran Resource Center (SVRC) can help. Located on the second floor of Old Main, the SVRC strives to create a sense of community by providing spaces where veterans can be themselves and share their common experiences both regarding their service and their transition.

Dr. Chris Craun, supervisor of the SVRC, helps student service members with questions regarding health benefits, transcripts, disability or housing and finance issues.

“We provide a veterans’ lounge area, a computer area and some small offices that are often utilized for veteran services,” said Dr. Craun. “There are several veteran work-study students available almost every weekday to help answer veteran questions concerning community resources, paperwork or UCA policies, as well as make people feel welcome.”

The Student Veterans of America (SVA) is a student organization that is part of the SVRC. UCA student Joe Franks is the president of the SVA chapter on campus, and he plans service projects and social activities aimed specifically at student veterans.

“We want to help veterans in our community, and also have a place where veterans can hang out,” said Franks. “We can help in finding veterans other benefits that can be used. For those in the guard and the reserves, if they have to deploy, we have a support system here.”

Life on campus is different for someone trying to fit back into society, said Williams. He and director of Professional Development and Training Charlotte Strickland hold a training class called “Understanding ‘Military’ in an Educational Setting” to help faculty and staff understand the different needs of students who are or were service members and how to assist them.

“One of the things we talk about is staying focused while in a classroom setting and how that differs from a military setting,” said Williams. “Student service members may become triggered and may walk out of a classroom. They have to learn how to cope once they are no longer in the military. All of the resources here at UCA are here to help guide them back into civilian life.”

“We have experiences and issues that others would not be empathetic to. Others would not understand,” said Franks. “We are an organization where we can tell stories of our past and others understand. Not just the bad stories, but the good ones too.”

Other student resources available to student veterans include the Counseling Center, which provides mental health counseling and screenings, and the Tutoring Center, which provides tutoring services, study areas, treadmill desks and computer labs and printers in the Torreyson Library.

“David is one of our biggest resources on campus,” Klotz said. “He goes above and beyond; it’s beyond a job for him. He’s here early mornings, late nights and on holidays. This is his calling. This is his passion. But there are people all across campus and in our community, in all kinds of stations, who have served our country. The challenge coin is just a physical representation of gratitude for what these veterans have given.”

Dr. Jayme Millsap Stone ’93 spends one afternoon a week preparing pitchers of Southern sweet tea, made-from-scratch desserts and carafes of coffee for the students she and her dogs welcome at their campus apartment in Bear Hall.

“They come. They sit in my living room for an hour,” she said. “We talk about what they are doing in class. We get to talk about things that matter outside the classroom. That’s what you do with community.”

Zachary Hull, a freshman from Rogers, is one student who has attended the afternoon gatherings.

“It’s just a close-knit community,” Hull said. “Having this learning experience and just knowing that if you ever need anything, you can go to [Dr. Stone] is so important.”

This community is the Residential College program. In this setting, students with similar majors live and learn in their residence hall, where at least some of their classes are held. At least one faculty member, known as the resident master, also lives in the residence hall.

Stone serves as director of Learning Communities for the Residential College program. She said residential colleges are academically focused environments that allow students to find their niche or tribe as freshmen.

The Residential College program at the 51��¥ consists of five living and learning communities with each having a unique theme and character: Health Promotion and Wellness (HPaw) in Baridon Hall; Educating for Diversity and Global Engagement (EDGE) in Hughes Hall; The Stars in Short/Denney Hall; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in Arkansas Hall; and Business Residential College (Biz) in Bear Hall.

The program also includes the Minton Commuter College, a learning community for commuter students located in Old Main.

Jordan Rainwater joined STEM at Arkansas Hall for her freshman year in the Residential College. “Being in an environment where everyone around me is interested in the same things, major-wise, and having such a huge population of study buddies is a major advantage,” Rainwater said. “It kept me motivated and on my game.”

Pushing students to be successful is the goal of the Residential College, as indicated by their motto: “Finis Origine Pendit” or “The end depends upon the beginning.”

“These communities stress the well-rounded student. Getting them connected and also engaged,” Stone said. “The structure is important because everything is brought in or in their living space.”

The Residential College program currently has approximately 1,000 students enrolled, and an untold number have come through the Residential College program and gone on to graduate.

UCA was the first and remains the only institution in Arkansas with a Residential College program, starting with Hughes Hall in fall 1997.

The charter class of “Hughes-ies” are forming a committee to plan a reunion commemorating the 20-year anniversary of Residential Colleges on campus.

“They helped each other get through that first year of college,” Stone said. “These students built relationships. Some of them married each other.”

Trey ’03 and Lauren Geier ’01, ’03 are two such examples.

The pair met as Residential College students in 1997 and married in 2002. While they both were heavily involved in campus activities as students, they both found the Residential College experience helpful in encouraging them to build lifelong relationships.

“Twenty years removed, I can list probably eight of the same people that I talk to on a semi-regular basis who are all from Hughes,” Trey said. “You’ll meet lifelong friends that you wouldn’t necessarily have as strong a contact with outside the Residential College.”

Lauren said, “The fact that [professors] came in, that eased the transition and made me realize they were people. They were approachable, so I quickly found myself seeking out professors, even those who weren’t part of the Residential College.”

Lauren’s experiences propelled her into becoming a Residential College mentor and later, a resident assistant (RA).

“I am a therapist. I work with people. I feel like those experiences on campus and wanting to be a part of what was going on and wanting to mentor and then wanting to be an RA,” she said. “That shaped my career probably in ways that my classes and internship didn’t.”

Trey and Lauren agreed to work on the reunion committee because of the experiences they each had, Trey admitting to one rather unique experience.

“I did wear my pajamas to class several times. It was kind of frowned upon but I did,” Trey said, adding that the professor who lived in Hughes at the time, would sometimes knock on his door to wake him for class.

“That’s the kind of personal contact that I had with the professors that you wouldn’t have had in a regular class that you just attended three times a week,” he said.

The 20-year reunion will give the Geiers and countless other Residential College alums the opportunity to reconnect and renew their friendships. They also hope those in attendance will donate at least $20 for the 20 years of Residential Colleges.

“I feel as if the Residential Colleges are institutionalized. They’re part of the DNA of UCA. They’re part of who we are and what we do,” Stone said. “In doing that, we’ve got a great responsibility, to meet the needs of today’s student.”

When Tab Townsell ’84 graduated from the 51��¥, he had several lofty ideas for his life.

Having served as president of the Student Government Association and in several leadership roles on campus, he knew he wanted to run for public office.

So, he thought he would one day be in Congress and grow a beard.

Townsell never made a run for Congress, saying that he “got away from that” but not from the idea of public office.

Indeed, his life and service in the public office made him a Conway institution for nearly two decades starting in 1998 when he was first elected mayor of Conway.

He recognized a key component for moving the needle on growth and progress for Conway.

“Build a good place to live, the rest will fall in succession,” he said. “If you make it a good place to live, population growth will drive commercial growth. They’ll come here to sell to the rooftops and serve food to the rooftops.”

Townsell lived in the Fort Worth, Texas area while attending graduate school at Texas Christian University. After earning his master’s he moved to Germantown, outside Memphis, Tennessee, to work with his father in his construction business.

Both areas were booming with growth. Townsell took notice of the architecture and the growth planning of both areas.

He returned to Conway and became a member of the Conway Planning Commission because he wanted to employ some of the ideas he’d seen and then apply them to Conway.

“We have a canvas in front of us, and it’s called the future,” Townsell said. “We can choose to paint on that canvas anything we want to from anything, any experiences we’ve had anywhere we want to and we can bring it here and paint it on our canvas.”

Conway’s population in 2000 was a little more than 43,600. The 2010 population was 58,908. Population projections for the 2020 census are close to 64,000.

Townsell points to improving “quality of place” as a driving force behind Conway’s growth.

“Parks has been a key component of proving that quality of place,” he said.

After becoming Conway mayor, Townsell set out to improve the parks and recreation system, as well as creating a revenue stream to sustain the improvements. The community began to see improvements and construction of sports complexes, bike trails, the downtown landscape, pedestrian trails and other changes. Townsell credits Conway Corporation, the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, Conway Downtown Partnership, the City of Conway, and many other entities and individuals that made investments in the community for that growth.

“It made an impression the first time Hewlett Packard rolled into town,” Townsell said. “They remarked how vital and vibrant our downtown was,” he said.

He said the local delegation knew this visit to be an economic development prospect called Project Sigma. They toured the residential neighborhoods, downtown and areas around the city’s colleges. The first tour was in April, as the trees were a “brilliant bright green of spring and the azaleas were in bloom.”

Townsell said representatives remarked how beautiful the city was and that it reminded them of Corvallis, Oregon, which they later learned is the location of Oregon State University and a corporate office of Hewlett Packard.

Project Sigma came back a second time and later a third time to announce that Hewlett Packard was coming to Conway.

Known for his resplendent speeches on and off the UCA campus, Townsell admits to not being a writer. He is, however, a voracious reader.

“I decided in my last year of college,” he said. “I’m going to graduate with the political science degree and it’s 1984. I need to read the book, ‘1984.’

“So I did…fell in love with climbing in bed with the light on and reading a little bit at night, just doing it everyday.”

Through his extensive collection of books, Townsell said he became a lover of language often finding a memorable “turn of phrase” to enhance his messages.

”I deliberately try to look for the unique, and if I can step out and see something from a slightly different perspective, then I can communicate that back in a way that makes it real to people.”

He uses this skill to showcase ideas as a technique to better relate with audiences.

Townsell ended his mayoral career in December 2016. He said he likely will not run for Congress, but he is continuing his work in the public sector as executive director of Metroplan, an association of local governments with a major focus on regional transportation.

As for that beard he planned to have many years ago, “I can’t grow a beard to this day.”

“She broke her ankle in a cemetery. We were just courting, and she was climbing over a tombstone,” said 51��¥ alumnus Jim Dickerson, about his wife, Grace ’78. “She had to go to the hospital and was there for six weeks. While she was there, I asked her to marry me.”

Forty-five years later, Jim and Grace Dickerson are still happily married and living in Washington, D.C., where they have lived since 1971.

“UCA was a big part of my life growing up because I lived just a few blocks from the Arkansas State Teachers College. That’s what we called it back then,” Jim said. “I played basketball and tennis there, went to school dances there, and so it was just natural for me to go to college there.”

“However, I moved to D.C. because I felt a calling,” Jim said.

Jim moved to the nation’s capital to learn more about a unique church there with the intention of returning to Arkansas to start a similar church in North Little Rock. Instead, he met Grace in D.C., who was volunteering with the Mennonite Church, and he began laying down roots for his church there.

“He had a vision of helping families purchase homes at lower-income, affordable rates in order for them to move into affordable housing,” said Grace. “He felt a calling toward an inner-city church as well. He felt very deeply about that. He wanted to start a church that would serve a poor neighborhood, and not only serve the people on Sunday mornings, but throughout the week, and serve the community with whatever needs they may have.”

“When we started, it was with very few families. We met where we worked in this low-income area in D.C., and we worshiped in a conference room in an office space we rented,” Jim said. “We were looking for a building we could use for the long-term.”

Then, on Christmas day in 1984, Jim got a phone call that changed his life.

“I have a building on the 600 block of South Street, North West,” said the voice on the other line. Jim knew exactly where that was: in the Shaw neighborhood in inner-city Washington, D.C.

The property was in great disrepair and had many outstanding liens and fines against it. The city was threatening to tear it down, and the neighborhood was famous for drug activity, crime and poverty. It had been burned out from the riots of 1968 following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“I went and looked at it, like Nehemiah going around the walls of Jericho. It was a drug hole at the epicenter of the drug trade,” Jim said. “I asked the Lord, ‘Are you sure this is the right place?’ And it was.”
The church members took a leap of faith, and with only $2,000 in the bank and fewer than a dozen people, New Community Church was born. With the help of volunteers, they began to renovate. Jim began making friends with the local drug dealers because he knew they used this building.

“I had to have their support if I was going to make a difference in that area,” said Jim. “They helped us renovate the building. They sent their children to church there. In that church, I buried them, and I married them. They knew I opposed their actions, but we made contact and connected as human beings, and it made a difference. We made a difference.”

The full renovation took three years to complete, and many amazing things blossomed since then. Grace’s brainchild, the After School and Advocacy Program was born, which offers a safe environment for children in pre-kindergarten through fourth grade to participate in college readiness-oriented STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) academic enrichment and recreational activities.

“People ask me why I do what I do, and I say it’s because success is addicting,” said Grace. “In my work, we emphasize education so much, and what we are seeing from these lower-income kids is that they aren’t just graduating high school, they’re graduating college. We provide the support to help them get to the end, and it’s so exciting to see kids finish their degrees, get careers and break that poverty cycle that has been in their families for generations. That’s what keeps me going.”

MANNA, Inc., Jim’s ministry in which he buys rundown properties in order to renovate and resell to lower-income buyers, was then incorporated into the church office building. Then came Hope and a Home, a transitional housing program for homeless families. Hope and a Home has provided more than 1,500 homes throughout the last 35 years, and they’re still going strong, with a less than 2 percent foreclosure rate.

“We make sure that they are successful. It’s not a quick fix. It’s not a giveaway program or temporary assistance,” said Jim. “This is a permanent change. It’s helping people change their lives and to have something for their families. It’s breaking patterns. It’s changing lives. It’s giving hope.”

Bicycling is a simple exercise that can benefit your body, your mind and your overall well-being. When combined with service and giving, it can benefit a community.

Bicycles are the most popular product checked out from Campus Outdoor Pursuits and Activities (COPA) in the Health Physical Education Recreation Center, according to Anthony Fillippino, assistant director of COPA at the 51��¥, and each bicycle has a unique back story.

“The cruiser bikes you see in our COPA fleet were originally abandoned on campus,” Fillippino said. “The UCA Police Department and the Physical Plant worked together to pick them up, then we service them. We take some into our fleet, and others we donate to the Conway Advocates for Bicycling (CAB) Share and Repair program.”

CAB’s Share and Repair program in turn donates those bicycles to the Boys and Girls Club of Faulkner County, Bethlehem House, City of Hope Outreach, Soul Food Cafe Mission and other nonprofit organizations in order to give those in need a means of transportation.

Erik Leamon ’98, founder and owner of Conway bike shop, The Ride, does most of the repairing at Share and Repair, with the help of volunteers from the UCA student community.

“I love that UCA has worked together with the community to give back like this,” Leamon said. “Lots of different places in Conway and many people in our community benefit from this program.”

Conway was named a Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) during the 2011 Fall BFC awards in September 2011. Peter Mehl, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts, played a large part in making that happen, along with former Conway Mayor Tab Townsell’s ’84 task force, which consisted of the Bicycle Advisory Board, the Safe Routes to School committee, The Ride, CAB and three institutions of higher learning, including UCA. Mehl is now working to get a similar designation for UCA.

“It certainly brings something to a community in terms of quality of life,” said Mehl. “The bicycling movement began in the community, and now it is benefiting the University.”

Trek Bicycle Store Conway, a bicycle shop with roots in Little Rock, opened a location in Donaghey Hall to serve as a place where community members, bike enthusiasts and UCA students can share their passion for cycling.

“It doesn’t matter who you are. We all ride together,” Leamon said. “It’s a thread that binds people together. Sometimes I refer to it as bike-church. It makes you want to be a better person, and that’s what I like about it. It’s good in the best sense of good. Those are the things that matter in a community.”

Each reference represents a different era in the University’s history. Now, a new era has begun, as that same intersection is now and forever will be home to Donaghey Hall.

“For those of us who grew up in the neighborhood, Short’s Corner has never looked better,” said Elizabeth Farris ’77, chair of the 51��¥ Board of Trustees, while making remarks at the grand opening of Donaghey Hall during Homecoming 2016.

The 67,500-sqare-foot, four-story building opened for usage in August 2016, mixing residential and commercial space.

TJ Johnston ’03, director of Special Projects and Corporate Relations, said the idea for a mixed-use space came from former UCA President Tom Courtway.

Johnston took a primary role in the approximate three-year process of taking Donaghey Hall from idea to edifice.

“I am very proud of Donaghey Hall. It’s a beautiful building,” said Johnston. “I’m most proud of, from the mixed-use standpoint, these businesses that have invested in it.”

Five commercial businesses maintain the lower floor: , /, , Trek Bicycle Store Conway and Mosaique Bistro and Grill.

Uncle T’s Deli-Market is a family-owned staple in Little Rock known for its legendary sandwiches.

“We slice our meats to order,” said Ron Woods, owner of Uncle T’s. “We have a real good reputation for having some of the best sandwiches in Little Rock. No, central Arkansas.

“The sandwiches kind of made our brand.”

Woods said his family had been looking to add a second location for about three years as customers continually asked about additional locations.

After seriously considering a site in west Little Rock, the Woods family settled on adding the second location in Donaghey Hall.

In addition to the sandwiches, Uncle T’s has fresh meats and produce, dairy, snacks and other necessities. They also offer a hot menu.

“[Donaghey Hall] kind of envelops a microcosm of a small-scale society just because you do have the students living upstairs and here, we represent your neighborhood market,” said Bené Woods, owner and general manager of Uncle T’s at Donaghey Hall. “You have a coffee shop. You have a restaurant, all the kind of basic necessities anybody in any neighborhood would want.”

Chad Rockett and his wife, Stephanie ’89, own the Marble Slab Creamery/Great American Cookies in Donaghey Hall. The business opened in October just before UCA’s Homecoming.

The co-branded store offers homemade ice cream that’s scooped onto a marble slab, then customers can customize with mix-in flavorings like cookies, candy or nuts. Sorbet, yogurt, shakes and smoothies are also menu options.

With the two stores in one, customers can also have those all-time favorite cookies like chocolate chip or sugar, but they can also go big with a made-to-order Cookie Cake.

The Donaghey location is their second co-branded store in Conway, with the first being off Salem Road. Rockett said they see this second location as a way to “build on the synergy” of their first store and strengthen the connection with UCA students and community residents in the area.

At this location, Rockett has welcomed customers like students and campus visitors who take tours or attend meetings and conferences who otherwise might not have known about his business.

“The Salem store is more of a neighborhood, community store, and we were missing a lot of UCA students,” he said. “Having [Marble Slab Creamery/Great American Cookies] on campus increases visibility on campus.”

Rockett said he had always admired the beauty of the UCA campus when he would visit his wife while they dated. He said Donaghey Hall adds to the overall beauty of campus.

“It’s a great addition to campus. They did make [Donaghey Hall] unique, but they made it fit in with the rest of campus. It’s a beautiful building.

“It’s like a penthouse for college students,” Rockett said.

Like any other stylish, upscale living and retail space, Donaghey Hall comes with a modern art feature: Otis the Bear.

Bryan Massey, Department of Art professor, was commissioned to create the approximately one-ton, 15-foot-long, eight-foot-wide stainless steel bear that he describes as a “wonderful, bright shiny bear climbing up the side of the building.” Massey named the bear after his favorite character, Otis, on the ’60s sitcom, “The Andy Griffith Show.”

With the businesses on the first floor and Otis hanging on the side, upperclassmen reside on the top three floors of Donaghey Hall.

“As students request more and better housing accommodations, and as we want them to have more amenities on campus, this project meets both of those needs,” Farris said.

For many of the students occupying the 165 beds in the building, the greatest amenity is the sense of community and proximity to commercial businesses.

“You can hardly ever walk or drive by Donaghey Hall and not see groups of people gathered in the hall lobbies interacting with one another,” Aaron Gaul, sophomore student, said. “Having the restaurants below is greatly convenient on many levels. It provides a space to meet with friends or to study, not to mention grab a cup of coffee or some ice cream.”

Ali Abdulrahim, a sophomore, third-floor resident assistant, echoed that same sentiment about living in Donaghey Hall.

“It’s gotten to where we spend time with each other every single night,” Abdulrahim said. “Whether it be baking, cooking, movies, games or just hanging out. There’s always someone that wants to hang out, so it makes it easy to always have something to do.”

Junior Canaan Craig said residents living in Donaghey Hall have created a strong bond.

“Almost every night, there are people hanging out in the lobby, doing homework or watching TV. It’s also common for residents to go eat together or go to campus events together,” Craig said. “Many of the residents have developed a strong sense of community here in Donaghey.”

Michael Norvell ’07, the current head football coach at the University of Memphis, is a former record-setting wide receiver at UCA in the early 2000s. He and his wife, Maria ’03, are both graduates of UCA and made a significant contribution to the UCA Purple Circle that funded the program’s first-ever nutrition center.

“Mike Norvell knows what being a student-athlete is all about,” said Dr. Brad Teague, UCA’s director of athletics. “He recognizes the challenges we face in Division I FCS. We appreciate Mike and Maria Norvell for their significant contribution to our program and for providing a very important resource for the health and well-being of our student-athletes. Coach Norvell is proud of his experience at UCA and has given back in a significant way. We thank Mike and Maria for their support.”

Norvell, a former walk-on receiver who was inducted into the UCA Sports Hall of Fame in August 2016, is the school record holder for career receptions (213) and is fifth in career receiving yards (2,611). He played on teams that won 33 games in his four seasons, including UCA’s best team in the NCAA Division II era. The 2005 Bears finished 11-3 and lost in the Division II quarterfinals.

Norvell served as an assistant coach at UCA, Tulsa, Pittsburgh and Arizona State before taking the reins at Memphis in 2016. He led the Tigers to an 8-5 overall record and a spot in the Boca Raton Bowl this season.

“Maria and I are honored to be able to support the UCA Athletic Program,” said Norvell. “UCA was a wonderful place for the both of us, and we are grateful we have the opportunity to give back. As a student-athlete, there are already many challenges and demands, especially in getting good nutrition for competition and for recovery, so we choose to support UCA with a gift to the nutrition center. This gift will help support those student-athletes in an area that is critical to their health and success.”

The center features healthy meals, snacks and drinks available to UCA’s 400 student-athletes from all 18 varsity teams. The center is located in UCA’s state-of-the-art weight training facility adjacent to the indoor practice center and is under the supervision of UCA strength and conditioning director Alex Fotioo ’10, ’12 and his staff. Fotioo graduated from UCA with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science in 2010 and a Master of Science in exercise physiology in 2012.