Williams to
receive honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at 2024 Commencement
CONWAY, Ark. (February 20, 2024) — Hendrix
College will honor alumnus, author, and longtime higher education and community
leader Ronnie D. Williams ’76 with an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at
the 2024
Commencement Ceremony on Saturday,
May 11, at 9 a.m., in Young-Wise Memorial Stadium. Following conferral of the
honorary degree, Williams will deliver the commencement address to the Class of
2024.
A native of Menifee, Williams graduated
from Hendrix College in 1976 and earned a master’s degree from Arkansas State
University. His 2022 book, Markham Street, chronicles his family’s quest
for justice surrounding the death of his brother, Marvin Williams, who died in
police custody in 1960.
“We are excited to honor Ronnie
Williams for his leadership in higher education and commitment to community
service,” said Hendrix College President Karen Petersen, adding that Williams’
nomination was enthusiastically endorsed by the College’s Honorary Degree
Committee and unanimously approved by the faculty and Board of Trustees. “His
personal and professional accomplishments demonstrate the value of the
residential liberal arts experience at Hendrix, and his life exemplifies the
values expressed in the College’s Statement of Purpose. In every respect, Ronnie Williams has led a
life of accomplishment, integrity, service, and joy.”
Williams retired in 2021 after four
decades of service to the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) campus
community, beginning in 1980 as Assistant Dean of Students and continuing
through various roles, including Director of Minority Affairs (1990), Assistant
to the President (1992), Vice President of Student Services (1996), and Chief
Diversity Officer (2013). The UCA Board of Trustees honored him by renaming the
institution’s campus center the Ronnie Williams Student Center and announcing
an endowed scholarship in his name.
Active in civic life and community
leadership, Williams has chaired the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce and the
Arkansas Educational Television Commission; and served on the Arkansas Supreme
Court Committee on Professional Conduct and the boards of the Arkansas
Community Foundation and the Faulkner County Shelter for Abused and Battered
Women. In 2018, he received the Guy W. Murphy Distinguished Service Award, the
highest recognition from the Conway Area Chamber presented yearly to a person
who has demonstrated special service to the community.
About Hendrix College
Founded
in 1876, Hendrix College is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools
That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges and celebrated among the
country’s leading liberal arts colleges for academic quality, engaged learning
opportunities and career preparation, vibrant campus life, and value. The
Hendrix College Warriors compete in 21 NCAA Division III sports. Hendrix has
been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. Learn more at www.hendrix.edu.
“… Through engagement that links the classroom with the
world, and a commitment to diversity, inclusion, justice, and sustainable
living, the Hendrix community inspires students to lead lives of accomplishment,
integrity, service, and joy.”
—Hendrix College Statement of Purpose