Retired UCA official reflects on career that encouraged diversity, student development

Ronnie Williams, retired vice president for Student Services and Institutional Diversity at the University of Central Arkansas, stands Dec. 15 outside the student center that was recently named after him in Conway.
(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe)
Ronnie Williams, retired vice president for Student Services and Institutional Diversity at the University of Central Arkansas, stands Dec. 15 outside the student center that was recently named after him in Conway. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe)

CONWAY -- Standing in front of a building on the University of Central Arkansas campus, Ronnie Williams smiled and looked up dazedly at the name carved in stone: Ronnie Williams Student Center.

"I still get chill bumps," Williams said last month, shaking his head in disbelief. "I am so incredibly humbled by this recognition. For the board and president to think that I did something to warrant that kind of recognition is humbling and I am just so thankful. I didn't see that one coming."

In August 2021, the university's board of trustees decided to recognize Williams' three decades in executive administration by renaming the campus student center in his honor. Williams retired last year.

Williams was the first Black person to serve at the executive level at the university, beginning his tenure in 1980 as assistant dean of students and retiring as the vice president of student services and chief diversity officer.

UCA President Houston Davis said in an emailed statement that Williams' legacy of service, care and professionalism lives on in the university's culture.

"It was a career filled with awards and career distinctions, and UCA was the better for having Ronnie Williams on our team," Davis said. "However, the true measure of his work and impact lives in the tens of thousands of students' lives that he touched and the futures that he impacted. Ronnie was a man of service and conviction in his time at UCA and has left our university better than he found it. We are thankful to call him colleague and friend and his legacy will still be felt long after his retirement."

DIVERSITY INITIATIVES

In an interview, Williams was animated as he talked about building diversity programs at the university "from the ground up." He was UCA's first director of minority affairs, a department that began with only Williams and an administrative assistant and grew to house numerous sub-departments and programs.

"I loved that position," Williams said. "The programming of that position was just right down my alley. And the students responded. We started out with 75-100 students participating."

Williams was tasked initially with developing and implementing programs to address retention and graduation rates of students of color.

He started the university's Minority Mentorship Program in 1991, an initiative that has grown exponentially since and remains a vital foundation for the university's minority retention efforts.

Initially, Williams recruited leaders in the community to act as mentors for the minority students and scheduled speakers to share their experience and knowledge.

Under the program today, upperclassmen are trained to mentor freshmen, not only helping them navigate the campus but also introducing them to college life, both academically and socially. The mentors help the new students with health issues, life skills, study habits and interpersonal skills.

"It's rewarding, especially for the students," Williams said. "I think the true measure of a program is whether or not it makes a difference in the lives of the people that it's intended to impact. And we saw improvements. We saw improvements in retention. We saw improvements in recruitment. And, thank God, we saw improvements in our graduation rates. And we see that now."

Williams is quick to shrug off sole credit for the success of the diversity programs and calls out multiple team members along the way. He especially credits Angela Webster, now the university's chief diversity officer, associate vice president for institutional diversity and inclusion and associate professor of leadership studies, with developing the university's Diversity Strategy Plan.

"I held the title, but I assure you, that was all her," Williams said. "The plan requires input from every segment of our campus. Diversity has become a part of our core values."

'A SLOW WALK'

The journey to implement diversity on the campus wasn't always easy, Williams said, stating that he encountered resistance early on when he suggested campuswide diversity training for students, faculty and staff become a requirement.

"When you talk about diversity, I think the first reaction years ago was whether or not you're going to make someone feel guilty," Williams said. "It took a couple of years for us to finally get that in place to where everybody bought into the idea, including the president at the time. We had a couple of incidences on the campus at the time where I felt that it was necessary. So we went to the president and we talked about the need for diversity training on campus and, well, like I said, it was a slow walk."

UCA has come a long way, Williams said.

"I credit Dr. Houston Davis, who has made a number of pronouncements from the top, and certainly Tom Courtway before him, who felt that diversity was something that should be a part of the fabric of this institution," he said.

Williams' mission of diversity extended beyond the campus bounds and into the Conway community. He was the first Black chairman for the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, where he was honored with the Guy W. Murphy Distinguished Service Award. The award is the highest form of recognition from the chamber and Williams was honored for his inclusive, open leadership and guidance at UCA and toward people and organizations in Faulkner County.

UCA created the endowed Ronnie Williams Scholarship to support full-time students who actively participate in a student organization, with preference given to students in a leadership role with a 2.5 GPA or above.

Williams was vice chairman of the Arkansas Educational Television Commission and he also served on the Faulkner County Shelter for Abused and Battered Women, the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct and the Arkansas Community Foundation Board.

BROTHER'S DEATH

Williams said he has been enjoying his retirement with his wife, Connie -- whom he met in high school -- their two adult sons and five grandchildren.

He recently completed a project that has long been on his plate: the story of the death of his brother Marvin Williams in 1960.

Marvin Williams, 21, died in the Faulkner County jail hours after two white officers -- O.H. Mullenax and Marvin Iberg -- arrested him on a charge of public drunkenness.

More than two decades after the 1960 death, then-Gov. Bill Clinton ordered a special grand jury to investigate. Mullenax and Iberg were charged with first-degree murder, accused of beating Marvin Williams to death, but were acquitted by an all-white jury in 1985.

The jury was not shown an autopsy report that said Marvin Williams died of a brain hemorrhage caused by a fracture to the back of his skull or the test that found no alcohol in his blood.

Ronnie Williams has spent the past 5½ years writing a book about the case and his family's experience. It is set to be published this month.

"It was very difficult to write," Williams said.

Williams said he plans to remain active in the Conway community and is excited to watch the growth at UCA under his replacements -- Webster as chief diversity officer and Robin Williamson as the president for student affairs.

"In this position, things ebb and flow. Any Thursday, Friday, Saturday night, the train will get off the track in terms of student activity. You just never know," Williams said. "My advice is to continue to lean in, continue to stay engaged, don't take yourself too seriously and always continue to put students first."

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