Antoinette Grajeda, Arkansas Advocate

A majority of college faculty in southern states, including Arkansas, are concerned about political interference and are considering leaving academia, according to a new American Association of University Professors survey.

The new study, which received responses from more than 2,900 individuals, highlighted dissatisfaction with the political atmosphere surrounding higher education, with about 70% rating it poor or very poor.

Nearly 57% of respondents said they would not encourage out-of-state colleagues to seek employment in their current state, while 27% are considering interviewing elsewhere in the coming year.

These findings are a “wake-up call for policymakers and administrators” and emphasize the need to address faculty members’ concerns, according to an AAUP press release.

“Failure to do so may result in a significant brain drain and a decline in the quality of higher education in these states,” the release states.

The survey, conducted Aug. 14 to Sept. 1, used social media and email to distribute questionnaires, which garnered responses from faculty members in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Twelve of Arkansas’ 43 respondents reported applying for jobs outside the state since 2022. Their biggest reason for searching elsewhere was the state’s broad political climate, followed by problems with salary; diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies; academic freedom and LGBTQ+ issues.

“Our work is surveilled by the state,” one Arkansas respondent said. “There are intimidation tactics that come both from the state and then from admin and other faculty. This has an impact on the kinds of discussions we are able to have in class and via events — it stifles discussion and that leaves our students unfamiliar with issues that are crucially important and very complex.”

Faculty names were not included in the survey results.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said after taking office in 2023 that she wanted to be known as the education governor. One of her first steps toward that goal was backing the LEARNS Act, a 2023 law that overhauled the state’s K-12 education system. Sanders has said she wants to turn her attention to institutions of higher education during the 2025 legislative session. One survey respondent said “everyone is on edge” because the governor is targeting higher ed.

Arkansas survey participants also voiced concerns about issues of free speech. They cited feeling pressure not to voice opinions about state government or discussing DEI-related issues. One respondent said faculty have been warned about discussing DEI because students have reported faculty to the governor.

Arkansas senator promises to kill DEI at state higher-ed institutions

Sanders signed an executive order on her first day in office that prohibits the “indoctrination” of public school students with ideologies like Critical Race Theory, or CRT. The theory is typically not taught in K-12 schools in Arkansas. The language of the executive order is mirrored in the LEARNS Act.

“There is a fear of reprisal around teaching issues of equity in race and sexual identity,” a tenured Arkansas professor said. “It feels to me that university leaders are trying to keep the institution from being targeted by conservative politicians by preemptively eliminating DEI initiatives on campus.”

The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville announced plans to reallocate staff and resources from its Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion last June. A few months later, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, requested a legislative study of DEI policies at the state’s universities and colleges.

Last week Sullivan renewed his promise to introduce legislation next year targeting DEI at the state’s colleges and universities. He told the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Higher Education subcommittee he would model his legislation after bills passed in Florida and Texas.

Sullivan has said decisions such as college admissions should be based on need and merit, not someone’s ethnicity or gender. When questioned by lawmakers last October, representatives from six Arkansas universities said their DEI efforts support the recruitment and retention of students from various backgrounds and do not include lowered admission standards for certain groups.

Another issue cited by Arkansas survey respondents was the challenges caused by a state boycott, divestment and sanction (BDS) law supporting Israel.

“My state and university’s stance on Palestine and BDS makes it very difficult to bring guests to campus because they have to sign agreements to not support BDS,” one faculty member said. “Additionally, the university didn’t defend Arab and Arab American scholars on campus from bigoted colleagues, which creates a hostile culture, especially for junior and marginalized faculty who want to engage issues related to Palestine and social justice at large.”

Approximately 27% of all respondents said they do not plan to stay in academia long term.

Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com. Follow Arkansas Advocate on Facebook and X.

FEMA opened a Disaster Recovery Center in Harrison Thursday to assist Arkansans impacted by severe weather that occurred May 24-27 in northern Arkansas.

The center is operating out of the Boone County Government Building, which is located at 220 N. Arbor Drive. Residents of Baxter, Benton, Boone and Marion counties can meet with Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management.

Individuals do not need an appointment to visit the center, which is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

FEMA also opened a disaster recovery center in Benton County last week. The center is located at Bentonville’s Northwest Arkansas Community College and representatives are available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

Additionally, FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance crews are in Decatur to assist Arkansans with recovery efforts. Crews are available from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily at Falling Springs Community Church, which is located at 21822 Falling Springs Road in Decatur.

Arkansans are not required to visit the centers to apply for assistance. They can also contact FEMA by phone at (800) 621-3362 between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Assistance is also available online at disasterassistance.gov or through the FEMA app.

Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com. Follow Arkansas Advocate on Facebook and X.

State and federal officials said partnerships will be key to recovering from severe weather that caused widespread damage Sunday morning and killed eight people in north Arkansas.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at a press conference at the Benton County Sheriff’s Office Sunday night that there’s a long road ahead, but officials are committed to helping affected Arkansans get back on their feet.

“In the midst of total devastation, the bright points are all of the people coming together and taking care of one another and looking out for their neighbors and their community and doing whatever it takes to help get people taken care of,” Sanders said.

The National Weather Service found EF-3 tornado damage in Benton County and confirmed one tornado in Boone County. Additional details will be released as surveys of the damage are complete.

Arkansas Division of Emergency Management Director A.J. Gary said a team from the Federal Emergency Management Agency arrived around 3 p.m. Sunday and was working with local officials to conduct a preliminary damage assessment.

State emergency management officials and the governor on Monday are scheduled to survey the destruction in Northwest Arkansas, where there is an abundance of damaged trees and downed power lines.

About 68,000 Arkansans remained without power in eight counties Sunday night, according to PowerOutage.us.

According to state officials, Benton and Marion counties each had three confirmed deaths and Baxter and Boone counties each had one. Benton County Judge Barry Moehring, who declared a disaster Sunday, noted that two of his county’s fatalities included deaths related to the storm, such as a local resident with COPD who did not have oxygen when the power went out.

Sanders signed an executive order Sunday to declare an emergency and authorize funds for the severe weather, tornadoes and flooding caused by the storms.

Former Rogers mayor and current Congressman Rep. Steve Womack at Sunday’s press conference asked Arkansans to be patient because recovery will not happen overnight. He also promised to work with federal officials to support his home state.

“Sen. (John) Boozman, myself, Sen. (Tom) Cotton, and other members of the federal delegation are going to engage the federal bureaucracy and whatever we need,” Womack said. “I’m absolutely confident that we will put the right pressure on the right people to make sure that we get a speedy, a very timely response to this particular disaster.”

Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com. Follow Arkansas Advocate on Facebook and Twitter.

A panel on Tuesday voted to recommend a living wall of flora and fauna be constructed on the Arkansas Capitol grounds as a “monument to the unborn” in accordance with a new state law.

Approved by the Legislature in March, Act 310 authorizes the secretary of state to decide where to place “a suitable monument commemorating unborn children aborted during the era of Roe v. Wade.”

Abortion has been illegal in Arkansas, except to save the life of the mother, since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin in November rejected ballot language for a proposed constitutional amendment intended to ensure a limited right to abortion in the state.

The Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission, which Act 310 directs to oversee the selection of an artist and monument design with input from pro-life groups in Arkansas, on Tuesday selected the living wall proposal from nine submissions received in September.

Tony Leraris, who expressed his frustration with the commission’s task, was the sole member to verbally abstain from voting. Leraris said Capitol monuments should be for military and government-related things. However, Leraris said he “could live with” the commission’s recommendation because the wall was the “most tasteful” of the designs, many of which he “found repulsive.”

“Personally, I just don’t know how you tastefully immortalize an aborted fetus…I just find the whole subject matter almost unspeakable and to think that we’ve got to put a monument up on the Capitol grounds to immortalize this…I just can’t see that this subject matter is something that we need to be doing,” Leraris said.

Proposed designs included a large sculptural monument conceived as an empty tomb, a bronze statue of a blindfolded baby and a monument that incorporates facts about the thousands of children in the foster care system.

“As much as I’m not in favor of any of this, I do have to say that of what I’ve seen, [the living wall] is the least offensive to me,” Leraris said. “I mean when I saw the crypt and I saw that umbilical cord coming out of the ground with a baby in it, I just thought, it’s not going to take me much to throw up.”

Commissioner Beth Gipe voted for the living wall and said if the commission had to make a selection, it should “at least be beautiful and not tragic.”

“It’s the least offensive if we have to answer this charge,” Gipe said.

Arkansas artist Lakey Goff proposed the living wall. In an email to the secretary of state’s office, Goff pointed to a similar installation at Liberty Park, which overlooks the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, and said “living walls are healing, innovative and inspiring.”

The commission voted to recommend the living wall to Secretary of State John Thurston, who will make the final decision. The committee discussed a large concrete structure west of the Capitol that houses HVAC units as a potential spot for the monument and agreed to speak to a groundskeeper about other possible locations.

The state will not use public money to construct the monument because Act 310 established a trust fund to raise money via gifts, grants and donations. A spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office said they had not received any notice of deposits as of Tuesday.

The commission’s next meeting is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 13, 2024.

Monument controversy

The bill creating the new “monument to the unborn” faced bipartisan opposition as it worked its way through the Arkansas Legislature in March. In the House, Reps. Steve Unger (R-Springdale) and Jeremiah Moore (R-Clarendon) joined 17 of the chamber’s 18 Democrats in voting against the bill.

Unger and Moore both told House members they staunchly oppose abortion but believed a memorial monument would not be a good use of time and energy.

“Public memorials to our nation’s wars where we faced an external threat are right and proper,” said Unger, an ordained Southern Baptist minister. “A memorial to an ongoing culture war where we seem to be shooting at each other is not.”

Act 310 was sponsored by Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, who also co-sponsored a 2015 law authorizing the construction of a 10 Commandments monument on Capitol grounds.

Less than 24 hours after the 10 Commandments monument was erected in 2017, a mentally ill man toppled it with his vehicle. A new monument, protected by concrete bollards, was erected in 2018 and is still standing.

Several groups quickly filed federal lawsuits for the removal of the monument, claiming it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits government entities from favoring an establishment of religion.

The lawsuits were combined into one suit and are ongoing.

Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com. Follow Arkansas Advocate on Facebook and Twitter.

A national nonprofit organization urged an Arkansas school district to cease a band performance it says “condemns non-Christian viewers to damnation.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation officials said they were contacted by school district community members concerned about the Lake Hamilton Power Band’s halftime and competition show called “Revival,” which is themed after Christian tent revivals.

The performance includes religious hymns and props with messages such as “sinners beware” and “repent now,” according to a press release.

“Turning a school-sponsored marching band performance into a religious event violates the constitutional separation of religion and government,” FFRF Equal Justice Fellow Kat Grant wrote in a letter to the district. “Lake Hamilton School District has a responsibility to ensure that performances by school-sponsored groups do not impermissibly favor religion over nonreligion.”

FFRF called on the district to stop the promotion of religion in school-sponsored performances.

“Using a high school band to spread disapproval of nonbelievers is a blatant abuse of power,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said.

FFRF, which advocates for the separation of church and state, asked the Prescott School District in May to stop distributing Bibles at an elementary school and leading students in prayer.

The group also criticized a baptism ceremony for more than three dozen inmates at the Crawford County Jail.

Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com. Follow Arkansas Advocate on Facebook and Twitter.