Henderson State University (HSU) is a public university in Arkadelphia, Arkansas,[6] Founded in 1890 as Arkadelphia Methodist College.[7] Henderson has an undergraduate enrollment of around 2,500 students. The campus is located on 156 acres (0.63 km2).[8]
History
Henderson State University is the only university in the state of Arkansas to have been controlled by both church and State. The university is also the only public Arkansas university to be named for an individual[9] - the university was renamed for Charles Christopher Henderson, a Trustee and prominent Arkadelphia businessman,[10] on May 23, 1904.[1]: 37 Overall, the university has operated under six different names: Arkadelphia Methodist College (1890-1904), Henderson College (1904-1911), Henderson-Brown College (1911-1929), Henderson State Teachers College (1929-1967), Henderson State College (1967-1975) and Henderson State University (1975-Present).[11]
The university was founded on March 24, 1890, nearly five months after Arkadelphia city leaders and members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South unsuccessfully tried to lure Hendrix College to Arkadelphia. [12]
On September 3, 1890, Arkadelphia Methodist College opened its doors to 110 students and 10 faculty members. The college also served as an academy, providing high school level education, until 1925.[13]
In 1913, the university football team’s name began to shift from “Reds” and/or “Red Jackets” to “Reddies.” The Henderson State athletic programs and student body are affectionately called Reddies to this day.[14]
In 1929, the university, known then as Henderson Brown College, was pressured to merge with Hendrix College by the Arkansas Methodist Conferences. However, Arkadelphians and southern Arkansan leaders refused to let the institution leave and offered it to the State of Arkansas. The Arkansas General Assembly passed Act 46 to “establish a standard Teachers College in Arkadelphia,” turning Henderson Brown College into Henderson State Teachers College.[15]
Presidents and chancellors
Presidents and chancellors of the university have included:[16]
George Childs Jones (1890-97) (1899-1904)
Cadesman Pope (1897-1899)
John Hartwell Hinemon (1904-1911)
George Henry Crowell (1911-1915)
James Mims Workman (1915-1926)
Clifford Lee Hornaday (1926-1928)
James Warthen Workman (1928-1929)
Joseph Pitts Womack (1929-1939)
Joseph A. Day (1939-1941)
Matt Locke Ellis (1941-1945)
Dean D. McBrien (1945-1963)
M. H. Russell (1963-1969)
Martin B. Garrison (1970-1986)
Charles DeWitt Dunn (1986-2008)
Charles Welch (2008– 2011)
Bobby G. Jones (2011-2012)
Glendell Jones Jr. (2012-2019)
Elaine Kneebone (2019-2020)
Jim Borsig (2020-2021)
Charles Ambrose (2021-2023)
Bob Fisher (2023)
Trey Berry (2024-Present)
Glen Jones years and subsequent financial crisis
Glendell Jones Jr. was named Henderson State University's 17th president on Tuesday, March 6, 2012, and officially assumed presidential duties on July 1, 2012. Jones' tenure as president was rocked by a series of scandals and bad publicity and he and his senior leadership were twice the subject of no-confidence votes by the faculty. These votes were not heeded by the university's board of trustees. When the true scope of the university's budget crisis became public in July 2019, Jones was asked to resign and compensated with a year's further salary and six months free residence at the university's presidential mansion. He currently serves as an adviser to the president of Georgetown University.
Jones—as well as several other current and former administrators, staff, and members of the board of trustees—were called to testify before the Arkansas legislature in 2020 as part of the state's effort to understand the university's staggering financial collapse.
Following Jones' resignation, then-general counsel Elaine Kneebone was named acting president. She was replaced by interim President/Chancellor Jim Borsig, who resigned in early 2021 citing health concerns. Chuck Ambrose was hired in November 2021 as the first permanent head of the institution in over two years.
On October 24, 2019, the Henderson State Board of Trustees voted unanimously to join the Arkansas State University System based in Little Rock.[17]
In February 2022, the university, claiming a pending cash shortfall of over $12 million, declared financial exigency and announced plans to begin cuts to personnel and programs in an effort to "right-size" the university and avert the university's closure.[18]
On May 2, 2022, 37% of faculty received phone calls from the chancellor's office that their positions had been terminated, 12 departments were excised entirely, eliminating many degree programs.[19][20][21] The university cut 67 faculty positions, of which 44 were tenured.[22] Students and faculty protested the sweeping changes, and on May 4, the Faculty Senate voted no confidence in the administration.[23] On May 5, the ASUS Board dismissed the vote of no confidence and approved Chancellor Ambrose's recommendations for program and faculty cuts. Over a year later, Ambrose announced his resignation, effective September 15, 2023.[24][25] ASU System President Charles Welch later announced the selection of Bob Fisher, a native of Arkadelphia and former president of Belmont University, as interim chancellor of Henderson State.[26]
2019 campus methamphetamine synthesis incident
In October 2019, police responded to a campus chemistry laboratory at the Reynolds Science Center following concerns of chemical odors resulting in the building's closure for several weeks. Initial investigation found elevated levels of benzyl chloride and subsequently found methamphetamine residues. Two chemistry professors who were described as having been acting awkwardly were arrested and charged with manufacturing methamphetamine.[27][28][29]
Arkansas HallDonald W. Reynolds Science CenterBaseball player Andrew Reynolds in 2014
Henderson State sponsors in 12 intercollegiate sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, football, golf and swimming & diving; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, softball, swimming & diving, tennis and volleyball. The university also has a co-ed cheer and pom squad.
^"ASU System Board of Trustees Approves Henderson Academic Restructuring Plan" (Press release). Little Rock: Arkansas State University System. 5 May 2022. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022. LITTLE ROCK – The Arkansas State University System Board of Trustees today approved the recommendations of Henderson State University Chancellor Chuck Ambrose for an academic reorganization designed to enhance student success, address community-based workforce needs and produce critical financial savings for the institution's future.
^Jaschik, Scott (4 May 2022). "University Seeks to Cut 67 Faculty, 44 of Them Tenured". Inside Higher Ed. OCLC721351944. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022. The administration of Henderson State University, in Arkansas, on Monday proposed cutting 67 faculty jobs, 44 of them held by tenured professors. The university also seeks to eliminate another 21 positions that are unfilled.
^Bote, Joshua (19 November 2019) [2019-11-18]. "Chemistry professors charged with making meth in school lab after report of strange odor". USA Today. ISSN0734-7456. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022. "Initial testing indicated an elevated presence of benzyl chloride in a laboratory," Hall told USA TODAY. Benzyl chloride is classified as an "extremely dangerous substance" by the U.S. government and is sometimes used in the manufacturing of amphetamines.
^Halford, Bethany (7 February 2020). "Ex-Henderson State University professors plead not guilty to making methamphetamine". Chemical & Engineering News. eISSN1520-605X. ISSN0009-2347. LCCNa41002413. OCLC567617114. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022. Terry David Bateman and Bradley Allen Rowland, the two former Henderson State University chemistry professors who were arrested in November for allegedly making methamphetamine, pleaded not guilty to all charges on Feb. 4. The chemists are formally charged with making methamphetamine, possession of paraphernalia for making methamphetamine, possession of the methamphetamine precursor phenylpropanolamine, and manufacture of a controlled substance in a drug-free zone (the university).
