The 1871 establishment of the first public university in Arkansas — a state still ravaged and rankled by four years of civil war — might seem to us today to be an act more foolhardy than full of hope.
The founding of the university, however, was one of the few achievements during the state’s Reconstruction era that brought former political and military rivals together.
Over the course of its history, the university has continued to bring the citizens of the state together by raising educational standards, improving business and economy, and giving Arkansans a hardy mascot around which to rally.
