University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff

The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) is a historically black university located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, United States. Founded in 1873, it is the oldest HBCU and the second oldest public institution in the state of Arkansas (after the University of Arkansas). UAPB is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund. It is known popularly by its moniker the "Flagship of the Delta."

History

The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, was founded in 1873 as the Branch Normal College; it was nominally part of the "normal" (education) department of Arkansas Industrial University, later the University of Arkansas, but was operated separately due to segregation. It later became a land-grant college under the 1890 amendments to Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act, which required states which did not open their land-grant university to all races to establish a separate land-grant university for each race. The school severed its ties with the University of Arkansas and became Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal (AM&N) College in 1927; it moved to its current campus location in 1929. The school re-joined what is now the University of Arkansas System in 1972, this time as a full-fledged campus, gaining its current name and university status in the process.

Since 1988, the university has gained recognition as a leading research institution in aquaculture studies, offering the state's only comprehensive program in this field, and supporting a growing regional industry throughout the Mid-South (according to the school, aquaculture is a $167 million industry in Arkansas alone and approximately $1.2 billion in the Mississippi Delta region).

Residential life

The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff houses over 1000 students on its campus. Hunt Hall and the Harrold Complex each feature rooms on double loaded corridors with common area bath facilities. They also all feature computer labs, snack kitchens, laundry facilities, study rooms, telephones and cable television in all rooms, study rooms, and lobbies. Internet access is available in all rooms as well. Hunt Hall houses male students. The Harrold Complex, consisting of four halls, Johnson, Copeland, Fischer, and Stevens is for females with freshman females assigned to Johnson and Copeland.

The Johnny B. Johnson Complex; JBJ, as it is referred to by its residents, can house 288 students. 8 students are assigned to a 4 bedroom suite which includes 2 baths, a living and dining area, and a small kitchen with a full sized refrigerator and microwave oven. JBJ has its own dining and laundry facilities that are exclusively for the use of its residents. The Upperclassmen Honor Suites are located at JBJ. Occupancy at JBJ is limited to those students with a minimum of 30 hours and a minimum GPA of 2.0. Preference is given to those students with at least two semesters of on-campus residency.

Built in 1991, The Johnny B. Johnson Housing Complex was named in honor of Dr. Johnny B. Johnson, former Chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. J.B.J. has nine buildings and houses a total of 288 male & female students.

Built in 1955, Hunt Hall was named in memory of Silas Hunt, the first black law student at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Hunt Hall has two floors and houses 134 male students.

Built in 1964, The Harrold Complex, was named in memory of Mrs. Norma E. Harrold, former Dean of Women, It has 4 halls and houses a total of 512 male and female students. Johnson Hall, named in honor of Ms. Nettie E. Johnson was a graduate of the class of 1903, Copeland Hall, was named in memory of Ernestine Inez Copeland, Fischer Hall, was named in memory of Ms. Rubye G. Fischer a former principal of the J.C. Corbin Laboratory School, and Stevens Hall, was named for the late Maggie R. Stevens a former counselor at Branch Normal College.

The newest residence hall at the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff is the new Delta Housing Complex. Built in 2003, the Delta Housing Complex offers first class living accommodations. This suite style complex has 104 private rooms & 140 double rooms and it houses 388 students.

Athletics

UAPB's colors are black and gold and their nickname is the Golden Lions.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff's sports teams have participated in NCAA Division I in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) since rejoining the conference in 1998, and competes in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) for football. Home football games are held at Golden Lion Stadium.

The Lions participated in the SWAC Championship Game for the first time in 2006 after recording a 7-2 conference record. The Alabama A&M Bulldogs defeated the Lions (22-13) in the championship game. The Lions finished the season with an overall record of 8-4.^[1]

In 2009-2010, for the first time in school history, the women's soccer team won the SWAC tournament and made it to the NCAA tournament for the first time ever. Also the men's basketball team received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as champions of the SWAC conference. The Golden Lions won the opening round game against Winthrop and were awarded the #16 seed in the South Region. The team was eliminated from the tournament in the following round by Duke who utimately became the NCAA Champions.

Greek-letter organizations

Eight of the nine National Pan-Hellenic Council fraternities and sororities are represented on campus: The Gamma Delta chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, The Alpha Rho chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, The Delta Eta Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, Phi Beta Sigma, Zeta Phi Beta, and Sigma Gamma Rho. Other Greek organizations include Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma, Phi Mu Alpha, Sigma Alpha Iota, Mu Alpha Mu, Mu Alpha Nu, and Lambda Alpha Mu.

Marching band

In 2009, the UAPB Band, known as the Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South (M4), was selected to participate in the United States Presidential Inaugural Parade.^[2]

Notable alumni

References

External links

• Official website