“Hidden gem” is not how Anthony Graham likes to describe his new workplace, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
“No gem should ever be hidden,” he said. “It’s our job to make certain that people know that we’re here, but we’re having significant (impact) on the lives of people who enter the portals and leave this institution, equally as important as having impact on the people who work at this institution.”
Graham officially began serving as UAPB chancellor July 1, coming from Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. He was that school’s interim chancellor from 2023-24, as well as a tenured professor of education, former provost and former vice chancellor for academic affairs. He was also dean of the College of Education at North Carolina A&T State University.
Andrea Stewart was UAPB’s interim chancellor during the previous school year after Laurence B. Alexander, who was at the helm 11 years, took a similar position at the University of Michigan-Flint.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Graham said he intentionally began his job with no preconceived notions or assumptions about his new role. His aim during the first month was simply to listen to all members of the university community.
“The first month has been amazing,” Graham said in his first interview with The Commercial since his arrival. “I have learned a great deal about the university. I’ve learned a great deal about the community. The passion and love that people have for this institution and this university is unparalleled.
Graham also said he learned a great deal about the “value-add,” or economic impact, that UAPB and its community have to each other. According to a 2024 report from the United Negro College Fund, UAPB and its three fellow historically Black colleges and universities make a $191 million economic impact on its local and regional economies, generating 1,990 jobs. The 606 graduates from these colleges in 2021 can expect to earn a total of $1.6 billion in their lifetime — 70% more than without college credentials — UNCF also reports.
“There’s value-add all around what goes on here,” Graham said. “My job, as I see it, is to help coordinate so there is a more compelling story based on impact data for us to tell as an institution and region.”
Graham has also spotted growth opportunities for UAPB, which is the only public institution of the four HBCUs in Arkansas. Regarding the academic space, Graham posed the questions: “Do we have the right blend of academic degree programs within our present inventory, and if not, what are those academic degree programs that yield real return on investment we need to bring to bear?”
UAPB is nearly three years into construction of its $36-million, 62,000-square-foot Student Engagement Center, but it has renovated the L.A. Davis Student Union and is working on updates of Hazzard Gymnasium, where the school’s Division of Military Science is housed.
“We have great facilities here, but there are some facilities that are outdated, need to be renovated or, quite honestly, torn down and with new facilities erected,” Graham said. “We want to make certain we are growing the footprint of the institution not only in the physical sense of the immediate campus but across the region as well.”
Graham declined to mention which buildings need razing or remodeling in the future, but UAPB has other ongoing projects and improvements including a stadium elevator and second-floor HVAC and chiller at Simmons Bank Field at Golden Lion Stadium; demolition and remediation of the Hathaway-Howard Fine Arts Center; and renovation of Larrison Hall.
Graham made clear during a February public forum as one of four finalists for the chancellorship that he is “maniacal” about student success. In the realm of student growth, Graham is focused on introducing more students to the UAPB culture.
“We’ve got a great thing here. We have an amazing product,” Graham commented. “How do we get more people exposed and immersed in what we have in terms of our culture and academic programs, in terms of the individuals, the family feel here?”
The Student Engagement Center, expected to open in the spring of 2026, will likely offer a solution. The primary focus of the center, Graham said, will be on student health and wellness.
“It’s not just about student entertainment — yes, there will be a bowling alley and things of that nature, game rooms — so the entertainment will be there,” he said. “But we’re also looking at Health and Wellness’ offices being in that facility. We’re looking at Career Services housed in that facility.
“We’re thinking about students from a physiological standpoint, a psychological standpoint, an emotional standpoint. It is an investment into student health and wellness, which has to be the focus of what we do at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. If we’re not investing in the students and we’re not doing work centered on the students, then why are we here?”
Among faculty and staff, the morale has changed since Graham’s arrival, said George Cotton, vice chancellor for institutional advancement.
“I’ve been around education a long time, and every now and then,” Cotton said, “you see an educational leader show up that tends to command the room … just by their very presence and the mission they lay out, people see they’re serious.
“And I think Dr. Graham’s presence, from my perspective — and I had a chance to talk with a lot of faculty and staff since his arrival — I think his arrival represents a hopeful optimism here on this campus,” he continued. “I think for a long time, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff has rightfully stood for that resource that provided educational access to people who’d been living at the margins for a long time, but I think in many ways, we kind of got away from that and we focused so much on budget and retention, which is important, but I think we’ve forgotten at the crux of all of that is the responsibility to prepare a world-class education for students, and I think Dr. Graham has been echoing that over and over again.”
Cotton credited Graham with setting a goal of $12-13 million in gifts and donations raised, even as UAPB has posted back-to-back-to-back fundraising years, Cotton said.
“I like that because it gives me a target. But he’s also challenged me and the team to make sure the money we bring in is discretionary and not just for scholarships, which are important,” Cotton explained.
Cotton said Graham poses a question every morning during working meetings across campus: “How is what we’re doing and discussing advancing our responsibility to prepare a world-class education?”
Graham challenges students to tackle another question regarding their own education: “How can I expect that degree to have an economic impact on who I am, but also have an impact on social mobility?”
“We want to make certain people understand they enter here with the idea of leaving in four years or less, no more, because at that point you’re talking about issues of affordability,” Graham said. “We want UAPB to be the preeminent 1890 land-grant institution in the country.”
Within that pursuit, the hopeful optimism Cotton mentioned now flows across campus.
“It’s a refresh every university needs now and then, and he’s forced us to press that refresh button,” Cotton said of his new boss. “I think it’s a good thing. In my opinion, he was the right person for this university at the right time.”
This version UPDATES the estimated cost of the Student Engagement Center.
