When my parents were students at what's now Ouachita Baptist University in the 1940s, a soon-to-be-famous incident occurred involving the school's president, J.R. Grant.
Male students lived in North Dorm, which was known by its residents as Dr. Grant's Mule Barn. There was only one telephone in the dorm. Students would answer by saying "Dr. Grant's Mule Barn." One day, the phone rang and a student answered as usual. It was Grant on the other end of the line. The president immediately said: "And which jackass is this speaking?"
J.R. Grant's son Dan inherited his father's wit and wisdom. My parents had a Grant as president at Ouachita. I had a Grant as president at the school in Dan. It was quite a family legacy.
Dan Grant, who still held the title of president emeritus, died last month at age 98. The father and son served as president for a combined 33 years, guiding the school through crises and ensuring its continued existence.
J.R. Grant was born on a farm near Dover in March 1880, the seventh of 10 children. He was expected to work on the farm and had little opportunity for classroom instruction. Still, Grant entered the preparatory program at the University of Arkansas in 1904. After finishing school there in 1908, he set out on a career in education that saw him attend what's now Northern Illinois University, earn a master's degree from the University of Chicago, do doctoral work at Columbia University in New York City, and earn a doctorate from Peabody College in Nashville, Tenn., in 1925.
While taking classes, Grant also managed to serve as the school superintendent at Ola from 1908-10 and Greenwood in 1911-12. He later was a UA teacher and in 1920 became supervisor of rural schools for the Arkansas Department of Education. In 1926, Grant was offered the presidency of what's now Arkansas Tech University.
"Tech saw substantial increases in student enrollment, increases in the number of degree-holding faculty and expansion of the library," Sarah Spakes writes for the Central Arkansas Library System's Encyclopedia of Arkansas. "The institution grew into a four-year school and earned accreditation through the North Central Association.
"In 1931, despite Grant's successes, several members of the board of trustees decided to enforce a caveat in the 1909 bill establishing the school that required the president to be a graduate of a standard agricultural school. Grant resigned after the board announced its intention to enforce the 22-year-old rule. The next year, Grant took a position at Ouachita as professor of education and registrar."
Ouachita was suffering severe financial issues, and enrollment was declining. The school lost its accreditation from the North Central Association, and the Arkansas Baptist State Convention established a commission to assess Ouachita's viability. Grant was appointed to serve on the commission. In April 1933, the school's president, Charles Johnson, resigned. Grant ran the college as vice president until being appointed president in January 1934.
"Grant's presidency marked a turning point for the college, which had narrowly averted relocation from Arkadelphia two years prior," Spakes writes. "Grant's leadership revitalized the image of Ouachita among Southern Baptists. His warm, dignified enthusiasm was infectious. Student enrollment increased 80 percent during his first two years. He encouraged the trustees to let Ouachita run on its income so the school would not incur more debt to pay for basic needs."
Ouachita regained its accreditation in 1942. In 1949, Grant retired due to declining health. He died in November 1951.
Dan Grant was 9 when his father began working at Ouachita. The younger Grant became an Eagle Scout in Arkadelphia, was co-valedictorian at Arkadelphia High School in 1941 and graduated summa cum laude from Ouachita in 1945. He later obtained his master's degree from the University of Alabama and a doctorate in political science from Northwestern University.
Grant joined the Vanderbilt University faculty in 1948. During the next 22 years in Nashville, he became one of the nation's best-known political scientists. He was the founding director of Vanderbilt's acclaimed Urban Research Center and was a consultant to cities across the country. In 1962, Grant helped design the metro government concept that combined many Nashville and Davidson County operations.
Grant wrote several books, including the textbook "State and Local Government in America," which was among of the country's top-selling college textbooks for decades. His political science colleagues across the country were shocked when Grant walked away from Vanderbilt to return home to Arkadelphia in 1970. The pay cut was enormous, but Ouachita was calling.
As his obituary noted: "His alma mater was operating in the red, faculty morale was low and relations with Arkansas Baptists were strained. Grant had grown up on campus while his father served as president. He watched his father struggle to save the school from closing during the Great Depression and then lead in its growth and development.
"The decision to abandon his Vanderbilt career did not come quickly or easily. In the end, God, father and alma mater were the reasons he shared with surprised colleagues. During his 18-year tenure as president, Grant led Ouachita in achieving significant growth in academic strength, student enrollment, international focus, relations with constituents, fundraising and a rebuilding of the campus."
Like father, like son. They saved an important Arkansas institution.
Senior Editor Rex Nelson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.