John White will stand as a great UA chancellor

In the Nov. 7, 2019, edition of Wally Hall’s “Like It Is” column, Mr. Hall offers a synopsis of how Razorback football fell to the “lowest point in its history.” Part of the blame, he infers, falls on the shoulders of former chancellor John White and what is described as a contentious relationship with then-athletic director Frank Broyles. Concerning Chancellor White, Mr. Hall says, “If White had stayed out of athletics, he might have gone down as one of the great chancellors”.

While I do not know much about the historical inner workings of the Razorback football program, I do know this: To define Dr. White’s legacy at the University of Arkansas by his actions related to the football program is both naive and short sighted. Under Dr. White’s leadership, according to the most recent publication of Arkansas Engineer magazine, the university raised more than $1 billion during the Campaign for the 21st Century. The centerpiece of the campaign was the largest single gift to a public university in the history of American philanthropy: the $300 million gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation. That gift alone enabled the university to establish an Honors College, create an endowment for the university libraries and establish endowed scholarships and fellowships across the campus.

The university grew and improved by almost every metric. ACT scores, grade-point averages of incoming freshmen, freshmen enrollment and retention rates, and six-year graduation rates all increased dramatically. The number of National Merit scholars nearly doubled, from 90 to 171. Research expenditures increased from $73.3 million to $133.8 million, and the university endowment grew more than sixfold, from $119 million in 1997 to nearly $900 million upon his stepping down as chancellor

In addition to Dr. White’ administrative accomplishments, he continued to teach engineering classes and serve as a role model and mentor of great integrity to hundreds of university students, of which my daughter was fortunate to be one!

The bottom line is this: Despite what Wally Hall suggests, Dr. John White stands as one of the greatest chancellors the university has ever known.

MARK LASATER Pea Ridge