By: Jonathan Teal
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. —The Alumni Association starts the second part of their Town Hall Series tonight. They launched the series last month with a forum including campus leaders discussing racism on campus.
Dr. Ron Rainey, president of the Alumni Association, said the #BlackatUARK movement was a big reason why they decided to start the series.
He said the biggest reason, however, was some black alumni were not returning to campus for Homecoming because of the insensitive experiences they had while a student at the U of A.
“There are many alums that I’ve talked to at some events that’ll say, ‘I’ll never go back. I got my degree. That’s why I went there to get my degree, and it was a struggle, socially,’” said Dr. Rainey.
Dr. Rainey was a student at the U of A in 1987. He said he understands why some black alumni do not want to come back to the University.
“I never had overt negative experiences on campus,” said Dr. Rainey. “I did have some overt negative experiences within the community that is Fayetteville.”
He said he hopes to not only reach black alumni with these talks, but he also hopes to attract future black students to attend the University of Arkansas. Dr. Rainey said the theme for Homecoming this week is One Razorback, which is exactly the point of the Town Hall Series.
“As one family, we can only be a family once we are recognizing and valuing each member of that family,” said Dr. Rainey.