UAPB honors departing chancellor

The mark Laurence B. Alexander leaves on the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff was the theme for a farewell dinner in his honor Wednesday night inside H.O. Clemmons Arena.

Except well-wishers were not saying farewell, according to Janice Roberts.

“We are saying ‘go with a golden touch,'” the UAPB/AM&N National Alumni Association director and Pine Bluff city clerk said. Roberts then bestowed upon Alexander a one-year membership into the Alumni Association, adding to the life membership he, his wife Veronica and son David already have.

Given a treatment fit for King Midas, the 64-year-old Alexander was honored for his 11 years as the university’s chancellor. He also received a key to the city from Ward 4 councilman Bruce Lockett and a proclamation from Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson.

“Who are you rootin’ for?” Alexander yelled repeatedly, beckoning the crowd’s answer of “U! A! P-B!” each time.

At the end of the dinner, themed “Leaving … His Mark,” Alexander and company danced away to his native New Orleans’ second-line music, the crowd waving white handkerchiefs in appropriate celebration.

Thursday was Alexander’s final day on the UAPB campus. Today is his last day on contract, ending an era that began July 1, 2013, when he arrived from the University of Florida, where he served as associate dean of the graduate school and director of the Office of Minority Programs.

Monday will mark Alexander’s first day as chancellor of the University of Michigan-Flint, which enrolled 4,751 undergraduates and 1,379 graduates as of last September. Andrea Stewart, UAPB’s provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs for the past two years, has been named his interim successor.

ALEXANDER’S MARK

Alexander boasted a long list of accomplishments. Among them, he mentioned, are the improvement of retention and graduation rates, establishment of several new marketable programs and higher levels of research and grant funding.

Of all the capital projects UAPB has started and will commence, the university will have invested $170 million, Alexander said. Two of those upcoming projects are a Student Engagement Center he expects to have a guaranteed maximum price of $36 million and a nursing building for which UAPB received $15 million in a federal package U.S. Sen. John Boozman championed.

Long-term endowments at UAPB have grown from $8.5 million to $27 million between 2013-2023. The Windgate Foundation, West Fraser, Saracen Casino Resort, Bristol Myers-Squibb, Simmons Bank, Relyance Bank, Synchrony Bank, Sissy’s Log Cabin and CHI St. Vincent hospital have been among UAPB’s biggest contributors, he said.

And the university has received more than 7,000 applications for the fall 2024 semester, the most for a single academic term in five years. UAPB’s enrollment was estimated at 2,100 as of fall 2023, Alexander said. About 3,000 of those applicants have been admitted, and Alexander anticipates more.

“We wish we would get all 3,000 of those, but the reality is that we’ll get a fraction of those,” Alexander rued. “So, we just hope that ultimately the fraction we get will exceed the number we’ve gotten in past years.”

Alexander said UAPB “re-doubled” its recruitment efforts and reorganized its enrollment management staff, leading to the rise in applications, and credited The Design Group of Little Rock with its marketing efforts.

“You begin to see, then, a team in recruiting, enrollment and admissions to continue to push that buildup of applications based on a strong record of experience of those new hires who have come into the university,” Alexander said.

The L.A. Davis Student Union and Hazzard Gym underwent renovations and so is Larrison Hall. The student union and Larrison Hall will have elevators, something previously missing in their structures. The university also has new motor coach buses.

SEARCHING FOR THE SUCCESSOR

Laurence and Veronica Alexander have been married since Aug. 13, 1988. They have two sons, David, 33, and Tyler, who will turn 32 in August.

Laurence Alexander has an older son, Brandon Wilson, who will turn 45 in August. Brandon and Vanessa Wilson have two children.

“For these two, this has not been a job, but a calling,” Bobbitt said of Laurence and Veronica Alexander. “Laurence understands the challenges, struggles and obstacles of first-generation college students. We will miss their smiles and positive attitude.

“… We should not be sad it’s over, but we should be glad that it happened.”

Bobbitt acknowledged it’s remarkable that a university chief stays on the same job for 11 years, as Alexander has in Pine Bluff. Alexander leaves as the longest actively tenured school president or chancellor of an Arkansas public university, Bobbitt said.

Bobbitt even threw his support behind Alexander when the latter told him about his candidacy for the job in Flint.

“Laurence has done an amazing job here,” Bobbitt said. “We’ve developed his talents considerably. I think he’s ready for a bigger stage. I’ve never tried to stop individuals from taking on bigger responsibilities. There’ll be someone like Laurence who will come along with talent to be developed to take this institution to the next level.”

Bobbitt said a national search will be conducted for Alexander’s full-time successor. The committee will include those who represent the student body and student affairs, as well as “all aspects” of the university committee, Bobbitt said.

“With all of that talent, we hope that they’ll be able to get very confident individuals who will be interested in the job and apply, and they’ll help me and the board select the right person,” Bobbitt continued. “We will have an external search committee, and the committee has people located in other parts of the United States, not just Pine Bluff or Little Rock. They’re going to cast the net wide. … It could be an internal candidate. It could be an external candidate.”

Bobbitt said he’s looking for someone who understands students and their challenges, as well as helping them reach graduation. There is no timeline for naming the next permanent hire, he said.

“Ideally, these processes take nine to 12 months,” he added.

STEWART’S TURN

The University of Arkansas System announced June 17 that Stewart will succeed Alexander in the interim. Stewart, 65, has worked at UAPB since 1988. Alexander passed a wooden gavel to Stewart as a sign of handing off the reins.

“The first thing on my plate as interim chancellor is to review all our academic programs and to make sure that we have quality academic programs in a high-demand curriculum,” Stewart said.

Stewart said she plans to serve as interim chancellor for one year and retire in two years.

“I will be around. I will go back to my position as provost and vice chancellor so I can continue the journey until I retire,” Stewart explained. She was previously the dean of the School of Arts & Sciences and a coordinator of UAPB’s social work program.

Patience, commitment and consistent pursuit of a goal are three things Stewart said she learned from her departing boss. In her own career, a plan to stay in Pine Bluff for just seven years has turned into a 36-year run.

“I saw students who look like me with similar issues, and I wanted to make a difference and say, if I made it, you can make it, and to give that personal touch and give extra time,” Stewart said.

MOVING FORWARD

Alexander said the move is not about leaving an institution but an opportunity for sharing his impact with others. He previously was a finalist for presidencies at Louisiana State University and the University of Louisville.

The place UAPB has in America, however, is what allowed him to call Pine Bluff home for 11 years.

“UAPB is a special university, and it holds a special place in the constellation of institutions across the nation,” Alexander said. “It has a niche. It is the second-oldest university in the state, after UA-Fayetteville. It is one of only two land-grant universities in the state, the other being UA-Fayetteville. It is the only public HBCU in the state of Arkansas. It has 151 years of great tradition in this state of educating people from African descent and then expanding to educate people from all backgrounds and giving them opportunities to earn a degree and go on to be successful in their chosen professionals. It has been a prime mover in developing a Black middle class and advancing an entire group of people in our society for better jobs, better opportunities and the betterment of their communities.”

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misidentified Alumni Association life members from Alexander’s family. Tyler Alexander earned a Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.