Editor, The Commercial
As one who passed the baton in the relay race of public service, I did not keep running down the track. However, it is imperative that I share knowledge regarding former Congressman Jay Dickey.
His father and mine were friends, and when he and his father would return from hunting trips, they would come to the President’s home to share the fruits of their venture. Consequently, he was the only non-African American whom I knew as a boy.
Later, I had contact with him on a non-personal basis when I serviced as a table waiter at the Pine Bluff Country Club. We both enrolled as students at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in 1958, standing in the same registration line in Old Main.
When he decided to run for Congress, he visited me in the Chancellor’s residence at UAPB and promised to help build a new stadium for us. He was elected and convened the first organizational meeting for the project in his office in the Federal Building on Eighth Avenue. He secured the first donation of $1 million through his political influence.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Later, he invited me to meet with congressmen in Washington, D.C., resulting in a $2 million grant to UAPB, which enabled the institution to install the top technology in the world (IP), which allows the transmission of radio, television, telephone and internet over fiber optic cables buried 12 feet underground.
We remained friends over the years, and on occasion played golf at the PBCC. Although we were not always in agreement politically, we were in agreement on making life better for others. He chose not to be publicly recognized for his support. I would have been remiss not to do so.
Thanks, J!
Chancellor Emeritus, UAPB
Lawrence A. Davis Jr.