Arkansas Tech University

Arkansas Tech University (ATU) is a public university in Russellville, Arkansas. The university offers programs at both baccalaureate and graduate levels in a range of fields. The Arkansas Tech University–Ozark Campus, a two-year satellite campus in the town of Ozark, primarily focuses on associate and certificate education.

Arkansas Tech University

Former name	Second District Agricultural School (1909–1925) Arkansas Polytechnic College (1925–1976)
Type	Public university
Established	1909; 114 years ago (1909)
Academic affiliations	Space-grant
President	Robin E. Bowen
Students	9,640 (Fall 2021)^[1]
Undergraduates	8,901^[1]
Postgraduates	739^[1]
Location	Russellville , Arkansas , United States
Campus	Rural, 516 acres (2.09 km^2)
Colors	Green and gold^[2]
Nickname	Wonder Boys (men) Golden Suns (women)
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division II – GAC
Mascot	Wonder Boys & Golden Suns
Website	www.atu.edu

History

Early history (1909–76)

 

Aerial view of Arkansas Tech University, 2008

In 1909, Act 100, passed by the Arkansas General Assembly and signed by Governor George Donaghey, provided for the creation of one agricultural high school in each of four districts stipulated in the act, with what would eventually become Arkansas Tech University in the Second District.^[3][4][5]

The schools were to teach horticulture and textile making in addition to agriculture. The location for each of the four schools was to be chosen by that district's five trustees, appointed by the Governor, taking into consideration "the nature of the soil, healthfulness of location, general desirability, and other material inducements offered, such as the donation of buildings, land or money." The four schools eventually evolved into four present-day institutions of higher learning. The First District Agricultural School at Jonesboro evolved into Arkansas State University; the Second District Agricultural School in Russellville is today's Arkansas Tech University; the Third District Agricultural School in Magnolia became Southern Arkansas University; and the University of Arkansas Monticello began as the Fourth District Agricultural School.^[5]

It was decided on February 10, 1910, to found the school in Russellville.^[6] Construction of the school's Main Building began on April 10, 1910,^[7] with contracts for additional buildings let in June 1910.^[8] On October 26, 1910, the first classes were held in Russellville. The original purpose of the school was to offer a secondary (or high school) education in agricultural and technical subjects.^[9] Later on, the school took on the first two years of college instruction, and the school's name was changed to Arkansas Polytechnic College by the General Assembly in 1925 to reflect this change in purpose. The school became a two-year junior college in 1927 and, at the end of the 1929-1930 academic year, stopped offering high school classes.^[10]

Recent history (1976–present)

The school took on its current name of Arkansas Tech University on July 9, 1976.

In the fall of 2003, Arkansas Tech University announced it intended to take over the state vocational school, Arkansas Valley Technical Institute, in Ozark, the seat of Franklin County. As of July 1, 2004, the Ozark campus has acted as a satellite campus of Arkansas Tech and has begun offering coursework leading toward an Associate of Applied Science degree in various subjects.

From 1997 to 2015, enrollment at Arkansas Tech increased by 183 percent. The fall of 2015 marked the 17th consecutive year that Arkansas Tech established a new institutional record for largest enrollment at 12,054 students, making ATU the 3rd largest institution of higher learning in the state.

Term	Total Students
Fall 2009	8,814
Fall 2010	9,815
Fall 2011	10,464
Fall 2012	10,950
Fall 2013	11,369
Fall 2014	12,002
Fall 2015	12,054
Fall 2016	11,894
Fall 2017	11,830
Fall 2018	12,101
Fall 2019	11,829
Fall 2020	10,829
Fall 2021	9,640
Fall 2022	9,445

Arkansas Tech has invested $180 million in upgrades to its infrastructure since 1995 and the university has added more than 40 new academic programs of study under the leadership of Robert C. Brown, who has served as president of Arkansas Tech since 1993. In April 2014, Dr. Robin E. Bowen was selected by the university trustees selected to succeed Brown. When she took office on 1 July 2014, she became the first woman to lead a four-year, public Arkansas university.^[11]

Facilities on National Register of Historic Places

Several Tech buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[12]

• Caraway Hall — Residence Hall, renovated in 2005.
• Old Art Building — Retired academic building. Now known as Browning Hall, renovated in 2013 to house administrative offices.
• Hughes Hall — Residence Hall, renovated in 2010.
• Techionery — Academic building, mainly used as a theatre shop and performance space by the ATU Theatre Department.
• Williamson Hall — Academic building, renovated in 2003 to include kitchen facilities.
• Wilson Hall — Residence Hall.

Academics

College of Applied Sciences Agriculture Computer and Information Science Electrical Engineering Emergency Management Mechanical Engineering Parks, Recreation and Hospitality Administration College of Arts & Humanities Art Behavioral Sciences English Foreign Language History & Political Science Music Communication and Media Studies College of Business Accounting Management and Marketing Business Data Analytics Economics and Finance Business Education

College of Natural & Health Sciences Biological Sciences Mathematics Nursing Physical Sciences College of Education Curriculum and Instruction Health and Physical Education Student Affairs Administration College of Professional Studies and Community Outreach Early Childhood Education General Studies Professional Studies Academic Centers Academic Advising Center Center for Teaching and Learning Crabaugh Communication Programs Energy Center Museum Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center Student Support Services

Student life

Residential halls

Baswell Hall Brown Hall (Male only) Caraway Hall (Sorority only) Hughes Hall Jones Hall M Street Hall Nutt Hall

Paine Hall Stadium Suites Tucker Hall Turner Hall (Female only) University Commons Apartments Vista Place Apartments Wilson Hall

Baswell Hall

Greek system

Fraternities Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Phi Alpha Kappa Alpha Order Kappa Sigma

Pi Kappa Alpha Sigma Pi Sigma Phi Epsilon Phi Lambda Chi Omega Psi Phi

Sororities

• Alpha Sigma Tau
• Delta Zeta
• Zeta Tau Alpha
• Zeta Phi Beta
• Phi Mu

Service / Co-ed

• Alpha Phi Omega

Music Greek Fraternities and Sororities

• Sigma Alpha Iota
• Tau Beta Sigma
• Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia

Athletics

 

Athletics logo used until 2023

 

Athletics logo (c. 1982)

Main article: Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys and Golden Suns

Arkansas Tech participates in NCAA Division II athletics as a charter member of the Great American Conference. Tech was a member of the Gulf South Conference from 1995 to 2011. Previously, Tech was a member of the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The university fields four men's and six women's varsity sports, as well as a club sports program:

Men's sports Baseball Basketball Football Golf

Women's sports Basketball Cross Country Golf Softball Tennis Volleyball

Club / Recreation sports Cycling Fishing Paddlers Soccer

Facilities

 

Baseball pitcher Bryson Morris in 2014

Arkansas Tech University has dual nicknames: men's athletic teams are called the Wonder Boys, while the women's teams are called the Golden Suns.

 

Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field

• Chartwells Women's Sports Complex (tennis, softball)
• Hull Building (Athletic Training, Athletic Performance Development, intramurals)
• Tech Field (baseball, capacity 600)
• Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field (football, capacity 6,500)
• Tucker Coliseum (basketball/volleyball, capacity 3,500)

Nicknames

On November 15, 1919, John Tucker, a 17-year-old freshman from Russellville, scored two touchdowns and kicks two extra points to lead the Second District Agricultural School Aggies to a 14–0 upset win over Jonesboro. In newspaper accounts following the game, Tucker and his teammates were referred to as "Wonder Boys," and the nickname remains to this day. Tucker was labeled as "The Original Wonder Boy" and was associated with the school for the rest of his life. He went on to play on the University of Alabama's Rose Bowl team in 1931 and served Arkansas Tech in a variety of roles – including coach, athletic director and chemistry professor – between 1925 and 1972. Two buildings on the Tech campus – Tucker Coliseum and Tucker Hall – are named in his honor.^[13]

Tired of being referred to as the Wonder Girls or Wonderettes, the female athletes of Arkansas Tech held a contest in the spring of 1975 to determine what their new mascot would be. Several names were nominated, but in the end, the athletes selected Golden Suns as their new nickname.^[14]

Notable alumni

• Denny Altes (Bachelor of Business Administration), clergyman and Republican former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from District 63; former member of the Arkansas State Senate and former Senate Minority Leader
• Leon L. "Doc" Bryan (Class of 1942), U.S. Navy veteran, Arkansas Hall of Distinction member, Democratic member of the Arkansas House of Representatives (1965 - 1995), Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives (1993 - 1995), honored by naming the Doc Bryan Student Services Center by the ATU Board of Trustees in 1998.
• John Burris, member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from Boone County
• Robert E. Dale (bachelor's degree in mathematics), Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from District 68 in Pope and Van Buren counties; former member of the Dover School Board in Dover^[15]
• Trevor Drown (Class of 2001), Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives for Pope and Van Buren counties since 2015; Libertarian Party U.S. Senate nominee in 2010^[16]
• Jane English (Class of 1981, economics/finance), Republican member of the Arkansas State Senate from District 34 in Pulaski County^[17]
• Jon Eubanks (B.S. in accounting, 1990), Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from Logan County^[18]
• Elizabeth Gracen (Attended), Former Miss America in 1982. She won the contest when she was a junior accounting major at Arkansas Tech.^[19]
• Michael Lamoureux, Republican; former Arkansas State Representative from District 68 (Pope County) 2005-2009; former Arkansas State Senator from District 4, 2009–2013; former Arkansas State Senator from District 16 (Newton and Pope counties and parts of Boone, Carroll and Van Buren counties) 2013-2014; chief of staff to the governor of Arkansas 2015–present
• Andrea Lea (B.S. in emergency administration and management), Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from Russellville since 2009; candidate for state auditor in 2014^[20]
• Kelley Linck (B.S. in business administration, 1986), Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from Marion County since 2011^[21]
• Tanner Marsh, Montreal Alouettes quarterback of the Canadian Football League.^[22]
• Rebecca Petty (B.S. in criminal justice, 2013), Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives for Benton County since 2015; advocate of child crime victims, resident of Rogers, Arkansas^[23]
• Marcus Richmond (B.S. in physical education), Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from multi-county District 21 in western Arkansas^[24]
• Tray Scott (Class of 2008) Defensive Line Coach at the University of Georgia ^[25]
• Greg Standridge (B.S. in business, 1987), Republican member of the Arkansas State Senate for Pope, Newton, Boone, Carroll and Van Buren counties since 2015; insurance agent in Russellville^[26]
• Boyd Anderson Tackett, Democratic U.S. representative from Arkansas's 4th congressional district, 1949 to 1953^[27]
• Steve Womack, Republican U.S. representative from Arkansas's 3rd congressional district, 2010–Present^[28]
• Eliah Drinkwitz, (B.A. social studies education, 2004), Head Football Coach, University of Missouri.^[29]

References

•  Arkansas portal

1. "Enrollment Statistics | Arkansas Tech University". www.atu.edu. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
2. Academic Brand Standards Manual (PDF). Retrieved 2016-12-05.
3. "AN ACT to provide for the establishment and maintenance of Public Schools of Agriculture in the State of Arkansas". Act 100 of 1909. Arkansas General Assembly. The Second District shall be composed of the following counties: Marion, Boone, Carroll, Benton, Washington, Madison, Newton, Searcy, Van Buren, Conway, Pope, Johnson, Franklin, Crawford, Sebastian, Logan, Yell, Perry, Scott, and Faulkner
4. "Session at Old State House Evokes Memory of Act 100 and A-State's Founding". A-State News. Arkansas State University. July 2, 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
5. Smith, Doug (August 21, 2009). "100 and growing—ASU, Tech, SAU and UAM began humbly". Arkansas Times. Arkansas Times. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
6. Silva, Rachel (2009). "Arkansas Listings in the National Register of Historic Places: One Hundred Years of Arkansas Tech University". The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 68 (4): 442–450. JSTOR 40543604. Retrieved 14 November 2022. A board of trustees for the Second District Agricultural School had been appointed by September 1909 and tasked with finding a location for the school as well as the construction of school buildings, hiring of staff, and development of curriculum. In order to be considered as a site for the school, towns had to pledge at least $40,000 and 200 acres. Fort Smith, Morrilton, Ozark, and Russellville all submitted bids. Russellville's bid included $40,000, 220 acres, and free electricity and water for three years, and on February 10, 1910, the trustees announced that the Second District Agricultural School would be located there.
7. Silva, Rachel (2009). "Arkansas Listings in the National Register of Historic Places: One Hundred Years of Arkansas Tech University". The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 68 (4): 442–450. JSTOR 40543604. Retrieved 14 November 2022. Designed in the Colonial Revival style, it was a three-and-one-half-story brick building with a tile roof. The building had two front-gabled wings connected by a recessed hipped roof section with dormer windows. The front and side entrances had arched openings accentuated by pilasters, a simple entablature, and a balustrade flush with the wall. When it opened, the Main Building had rooms for cooking, laundry, a soil laboratory, and an auditorium as well as the president's office and classrooms (Old Main was demolished in the 1970s).
8. Silva, Rachel (2009). "Arkansas Listings in the National Register of Historic Places: One Hundred Years of Arkansas Tech University". The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 68 (4): 442–450. JSTOR 40543604. Retrieved 14 November 2022. Contracts were let in June 1910 for the construction of two men's dormitories, two women's dormitories, a dining hall, and a heating plant. Each dormitory accommodated thirty-five students.
9. Silva, Rachel (2009). "Arkansas Listings in the National Register of Historic Places: One Hundred Years of Arkansas Tech University". The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 68 (4): 442–450. JSTOR 40543604. Retrieved 14 November 2022. Initially, the four agricultural schools offered a secondary (or high school) education in agricultural and technical subjects, but by the 1921-1922 school year the Second District Agricultural School offered freshman-level college classes.
10. Silva, Rachel (2009). "Arkansas Listings in the National Register of Historic Places: One Hundred Years of Arkansas Tech University". The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 68 (4): 442–450. JSTOR 40543604. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
11. LAKANA (22 April 2014). "Election of New Arkansas Tech University President is Historic for State". Retrieved 16 February 2017.
12. "National Register of Historical Places - ARKANSAS (AR), Pope County". Retrieved 16 February 2017.
13. Turrentine, G. R.; Tucker, John E. (PDF). Arkansas Tech University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
14. "Arkansas Tech University Athletics". Retrieved 16 February 2017.
15. . arkansashouse.org. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
16. "Trevor Drown". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
17. "Jane English's Biography". votesmart.org. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
18. . arkansashouse.org. Archived from the original on January 5, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
19. Thomas DeBlack. "A Century Forward: The Centennial History of Arkansas Tech University." Walsworth Publishing Company. 2016.
20. . arkansashouse.org. Archived from the original on January 2, 2014. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
21. . arkansashouse.org. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
22. "Wonder Boy Tanner Marsh for the Win!". Sporting Life Arkansas. 2013-09-04. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
23. "Rebecca Petty's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
24. "Marcus Richmond's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
25. "Tray Scott - Football Coach".
26. "Greg Standridge's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
27. "Boyd Anderson Tackett". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
28. "Steve Womack". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
29. "Eliah Drinkwitz - Head Coach - Staff Directory". University of Missouri Athletics. Retrieved 2020-11-30.

External links

• Official website  
• Arkansas Tech Athletics website

35°17′40″N 93°08′02″W / 35.294371°N 93.133783°W / 35.294371; -93.133783