# University of Arkansas at Little Rock

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA Little Rock, UALR) is a public research university in Little Rock, Arkansas. Established as Little Rock Junior College by the Little Rock School District in 1927, the institution became a private four-year university under the name Little Rock University in 1957. It returned to public status in 1969 when it merged with the University of Arkansas System under its present name. As of 2019, the former campus of Little Rock Junior College is used by Philander Smith University.
At 250 acres (100 ha), the UA Little Rock campus encompasses more than 56 buildings, including the Center for Nanotechnology Integrative Sciences, the Emerging Analytics Center, the Sequoyah Research Center, and the Ottenheimer Library Additionally, UA Little Rock houses special learning facilities that include a learning resource center, art galleries, KUAR public radio station, University Television, and a campus-wide wireless network. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".

## Academics

The university features more than 100 undergraduate degrees and 60 graduate degrees, including graduate certificates, master's degrees, and doctorates, through both traditional and online courses. Students attend classes in one of the university's three new colleges and a law school:
* College of Business, Health, and Human Services
* College of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Education
* Donaghey College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
* William H. Bowen School of Law

## Student life

Student body composition as of May 2, 2022 :
| Race and ethnicity | Total | Total |
| White | 48% | 48 |
| Black | 27% | 27 |
| Other | 15% | 15 |
| Hispanic | 4% | 4 |
| Foreign national | 3% | 3 |
| Asian | 2% | 2 |
| Native American | 1% | 1 |
| Economic diversity |||
| Low-income | 59% | 59 |
| Affluent | 41% | 41 |
The student life at UA Little Rock is typical of public universities in the United States. It is characterized by student-run organizations and affiliation groups that support social, academic, athletic, and religious activities and interests. Some of the services offered by the UA Little Rock Office of Campus Life are intramural sports and fitness programs, diversity programs, leadership development, peer tutoring, student government association, student support programs including groups for non-traditional and first-generation students, a student-run newspaper, and fraternity and sorority life. The proximity of the UA Little Rock campus to downtown Little Rock enables students to take advantage of a wide array of recreational, entertainment, educational, internship, and employment opportunities that are not available anywhere else in Arkansas.

### Campus living

UA Little Rock provides a variety of on-campus living options for students ranging from traditional resident rooms to multiple-bedroom apartments. The university has four residence halls on the eastern side of the campus and the University Village Apartment Complex on the southern side of campus. Six learning communities focusing on criminal justice, arts and culture, majors and careers, future business innovators, nursing careers, and STEM are available to students.

### Athletics

UA Little Rock's 14 athletic teams are known as the Little Rock Trojans, with teams participating in the Ohio Valley Conference. Little Rock's main athletic offices are located in the Jack Stephens Center. UA Little Rock offers the following sports:
* Baseball
* Men's and Women's Basketball
* Men's and Women's Golf
* Women's Volleyball
* Women's Soccer
* Women's Swimming/Diving
* Men's and Women's Cross Country
* Men's and Women's Track and Field (Indoor and Outdoor)
* Men's wrestling
Two Little Rock teams that do not compete in the OVC are the women's swimming and diving team (Missouri Valley Conference) and wrestling (Pac-12 Conference), neither of which the OVC sponsors. Wrestling is the school's newest sport, starting in 2019, and is the first Division I program in Arkansas.

## Buildings

* Center for Arkansas History and Culture

## Collections and archives

On July 1, 2014, the UA Little Rock Collections and Archives division was created. The division encompasses:
* Ottenheimer Library
* Center for Arkansas History and Culture
* Sequoyah National Research Center

## Weekend programs

The Japanese School of Little Rock (リトルロック日本語補習校 Ritoru Rokku Nihongo Hoshūkō), a weekend Japanese education program, holds its classes at the University Plaza.

## Notable students and alumni
### Arts & entertainment

* Julie Adams (1946) – Actress (film & television)
* Mike Saunders (musician), also known as "Metal Mike" (B.S. in Accounting) – accountant, singer of the Californian punk band Angry Samoans, and rock critic who is credited with coining the music genre label "heavy metal"
* Symone (2017) - Drag Performer & Model (winner of Rupaul's Drag Race Season 13)

### Athletics

* Kris Bankston (born 1999) - basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
* Deondre Burns (born 1997) - basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
* Malik Dixon – basketball player, top scorer in the 2005 Israel Basketball Premier League
* Derek Fisher – former Los Angeles Lakers player and New York Knicks head coach
* Lis Shoshi – Kosovan-born professional basketball player
* Rayjon Tucker (2019) – professional basketball player in the NBA with Milwaukee Bucks

### Education

* James E. Cofer – Ed.D. alumnus, former UA Little Rock professor, and former president of both Missouri State University and the University of Louisiana at Monroe

### Government & civil service

* Camille Bennett – Arkansas House of Representatives, 2015–present
* Karilyn Brown – Arkansas House of Representatives, 2015–present
* Matthew Brown – member of the Arkansas House of Representatives
* James Richard Cheek (1957) – U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador (1979–1981), Ethiopia (1985–1988), Sudan (1989–1992) and Argentina (1993–1996)
* Charlie Daniels (attended) – Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands (1985–2001), Arkansas Secretary of State (2002–2010), Arkansas State Auditor (2001–present)
* Denise Jones Ennett (M.A.) – politician
* Vivian Flowers (B.S. in political science) – Arkansas House of Representatives, 2015–present
* Herschel Friday
* Kenneth Henderson - Arkansas House of Representatives, 2015–present
* Douglas House (1976) – Arkansas House of Representatives, 2013–present
* Bob Johnson (Arkansas state senator) (bachelor's degree in political science) – politician
* Allen Kerr (attended) – Arkansas Insurance Commissioner (2015–present) and former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives
* Jim Lendall (1974 Bachelor of Arts in political science and history) – American Army veteran, nurse, activist, and politician, including as the 2010 Green Party candidate for Arkansas governor
* Frederick Love (bachelor's degree in political science and master's degree in public administration) – American politician
* Jim Nickels (JD) — American politician
* Tommy F. Robinson – American businessman, lobbyist, and politician
* Mike Ross (1987) – U.S. House of Representatives, 2001–2013
* Bill Sample (attended) – Arkansas House of Representatives, 2005–2010; Arkansas Senate 2011–present
* Robert William Schroeder III (1989) - U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas, Nominated June 2014
* Frank Scott Jr. – current mayor of Little Rock, AR
* Vic Snyder (1988) – U.S. House of Representatives, 1997–2011
* James Sturch – (B.S., Political Science) – Arkansas House of Representatives, 2015–present

### Other

* Marc Perrone (attended) – American labor union leader

## Notable faculty

* Robert Bradley – psychologist
* Carolina Cruz-Neira – Spanish-Venezuelan-American computer engineer, researcher, designer, educator, and pioneer of virtual reality (VR) who is known for inventing the cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE)
* Joycelyn Elders – pediatrician, vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and public health administrator who was the second woman, second person of color, and first African American to serve as Surgeon General of the United States (1993–1994)
* Sara Alderman Murphy – civil rights activist
* Daniel R. Schwarz – professor of English literature