Aggies at the Elks Club
Arkansas State University at Jonesboro reported a record enrollment of 14,903 students last fall. The previous record was 14,144 in the fall of 2017. The 2023 total also represented a six percent jump from the fall of 2022.
Todd Shields, the dynamic ASU chancellor, came to Jonesboro in 2022 from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He touts the fact that ASU will soon be the only campus in the state with a medical school (New York Institute of Technology’s College of Osteopathic Medicine), a veterinary school (the ASU College of Veterinary Medicine, which plans to open in the fall of 2025) and a biosciences institute.
“There aren’t many Carnegie Research 2 universities where a firstyear student who wants to get into a research lab can do so easily and even fewer where that same researcher is likely teaching introductory courses and exciting students about their fields,” Shields says.
The number of first-time students was up 20 percent last fall compared to the previous school year.
ASU has come a long way since Gov. George Donaghey signed Act 100 on April 1, 1909. That act, which had strong support from the Arkansas Farmers Union, created what’s now ASU in addition to what’s now the University of Arkansas at Monticello, Southern Arkansas University at Magnolia and Arkansas Tech University at Russellville.
In March 1910, the trustees of the First District Agricultural School selected a farm east of Jonesboro as the school’s location.
“Recruiting a leader to translate legislative authorization into education reality, the trustees hired Victor Kays as the first principal,” Brady Banta writes for the Central Arkansas Library System’s Encyclopedia of Arkansas. “Although only 28, Kays was an experienced agricultural educator. … Having hired Kays, the trustees awarded contracts for an administration building and two dormitories.”
Before those structures were completed, 189 students began classes in October 1910 in what had been the Jonesboro Elks Club. Students referred to the school as Aggie because it emphasized agricultural and home economics training. The first graduates received high school diplomas in 1913.
“The nation’s entry into World War I prompted significant transition,” Banta writes. “Trustees Love Banks and Robert E. Lee Wilson obtained a Student Army Training Corps detachment. The program ended in 1919 shortly after the armistice, but the endeavor had long-lasting significance. Only junior colleges could participate in SATC, so the school hired additional faculty, expanded the curriculum and launched an ambitious construction program.”
Wilson, who owned one of the world’s largest cotton plantations in nearby Mississippi County, furnished construction materials, equipment and labor. Wilson Hall, which now houses the College of Osteopathic Medicine, is named for him.
In 1925, the Legislature changed the name to First District Agricultural & Mechanical College. The North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools accredited it as a junior college and conditionally approved a senior college curriculum. The first baccalaureate degrees were awarded in May 1931.
“Using the art deco style of Wilson Hall as the architectural standard, the school constructed dormitories, classroom buildings, operational infrastructure and a stadium,” Banta writes. “While the 1930s witnessed steady growth, the next decade’s prominent themes were turmoil and transition for the college, especially with regard to enrollment and executive leadership.
“Enrollment fluctuated dramatically as a result of World War II, dropping to an all-time low of 114 as students and faculty entered military service or took employment in war-related industries. Several military training programs used the campus and enabled the school to remain open. A post-war influx of veterans caused enrollment to rebound to more than 1,000. Housing and educating these students tested the college’s resources.”
The Legislature had renamed the institution Arkansas State College in 1933. In 1934, U.S. Sen. Hattie Caraway was awarded the first honorary doctorate. Kays retired as president in January 1943, moving into the role of president emeritus and business manager. Arkansas State had two presidents during the next eight years.
“When the post became vacant in March 1951, trustees moved expeditiously and announced the hiring of Carl Reng,” Banta writes. “Arkansas State entered another period of administrative stability and witnessed development unrivaled in its history. From an enrollment of less than 900, the school grew to more than 3,000 by 1960. It added dormitories, housing for married students, classrooms, athletic facilities, an administration building, a library and a student union.”
Graduate courses were first offered in 1955, and Reng began a campaign for university status. The campus radio station went on the air in 1957 with the call letters KASU in anticipation of that happening.
A bill was introduced in the 1959 legislative session to change the name, but heavy opposition from UA forces led to its defeat. With a new governor in Winthrop Rockefeller in 1967, Reng thought the time was right for another attempt. An intense lobbying campaign began. The bill passed early in the session.
On Jan. 17, 1967, Rockefeller signed the act changing the name to Arkansas State University. Now, 57 years later, the university’s future appears bright at a time when many other institutions of higher education struggle.