Philander Smith College President Authors Commentary Supporting Relevancy of HBCUs

President Roderick L. Smothers of Philander Smith College in Little Rock authored a guest editorial supporting the need for historically black colleges for Arkansas Online on December 31, 2015, the web version of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.  Smothers contends that HBCUs are still needed and play a valuable role within the higher education community. 

The article notes that Arkansas Baptist College, Shorter College in North Little Rock, and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff join Philander Smith as the four HBCUs in Arkansas.

Philander Smith College was founded in 1877 as Waldon Seminary is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock was founded in 1884.

Shorter College in North Little Rock was founded in 1886 by the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

As a publicly supported institution, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff traces the founding to 1873 legislation that established the Branch Normal College as part of the Arkansas Industrial University [now, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, AR].