Join us tomorrow when UA Little Rock will hold a special Memorial Day observance in honor of those who died while serving our country, at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 29, at the Donaghey Student Center Ledbetter Hall. Lt. Col. David Knight Jr. will give the invocation, while Sharon Downs and Karen Kuralt will sing the national anthem. Members of the Arkansas National Guard will perform “Taps.” Col. Shawn Daniel of Little Rock will serve as the keynote speaker. Daniel graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1993 and was first commissioned as an infantry officer with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Create your own degree at our Benton Campus! Interdisciplinary Studies is a customized degree designed to help you finish your bachelor's quickly and less expensively. There's no need to travel to Little Rock - you can start and finish your degree close to home! Classes start Aug. 20.

A team of systems engineering students has gone where no UA Little Rock students have gone before by participating in the Human Powered Vehicle Challenge. For their senior design and capstone project, Team Captain Hugh Benfer, Nathanael Menhinick, Cameron Palmer, Jason Reed, and Shelby Wingate designed and built the university’s first human powered vehicle, "Trojan Horsepower." "It was cool to use what we have learned from the mechanical engineering department and use it and stress test it and watch it fall apart and fix it. We were able to use the skills we learned here at UA Little Rock in a real-world setting.”

Because campus is closed Monday, we will hold a Memorial Day Observance on Tuesday. Please join us to honor those who sacrificed their lives in defense of our country; 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. in DSC Ledbetter.

Did you know financial aid is available for summer classes? Eligible students may receive Federal Pell Grants even if they received full grants during the fall and spring semesters. This will allow you to pay for summer classes with grants that do not have to be repaid. Visit the site to learn about financial aid, or visit our summer site: http://ualr.at/summer

Coming from a town of 188 and being the first in his family to attend college, James Sellers was not even sure about the college application process. Thanks to an encounter with recruiter Louis Scivally, James was steered toward scholarship opportunities and connected to advisors. College helped break James out of his shell. During his time at UA Little Rock, he was part of UA Little Rock Chancellor's Leadership Corps Scholars Program, was a Resident Assistant with UA Little Rock Campus Living, created the Lawn Chair Club, was involved with SGA, Pi Kappa Alpha, and was even the Trojan Man for awhile. “Who I was coming in and who I am going out are two different people. I’ve loved every moment of being at UA Little Rock. It has prepared me for the difficult higher education I’m about to go into. I know how to handle a tough course load and do it well.” James graduated May 12 with a degree in chemistry, and will begin UAMS - University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in the fall. An update from James since this story was published: "I have been awarded the Health Professions Scholarship Program. In doing so, my cost of attending medical school will be covered in full. Essentially, I will graduate medical school debt-free. In return, I will be commissioned as a Lieutenant for the U.S. Army in the upcoming months. Following completion of medical school and residency, I will serve as a physician at the rank of Captain for 4 years. Speaking in terms of career, my primary goal is to make a difference in this world and procure honor in whatever profession I choose to pursue." Congrats, James!

Researchers at UA Little Rock are studying how social bots influence the delivery of news via social media during major disasters. The study examines the role of these automated Twitter accounts that attempt to affect or influence the behaviors of others – and their coordination and communication patterns with complex organizational structures to disseminate information during four natural disasters that occurred in 2017. They discovered that social bots can disrupt discourse in online spaces. While humans have more tightly knit online communities, social bots tend to make rather weaker connections that result in a lack of a sense of belonging in the online community.

Due to heavy rain, UA Little Rock Campus Police have temporarily closed East Campus Drive between 28th and 32nd streets. Motorists are urged to take extra precaution as there may be flooding in other areas. Motorists parked in lots close to Coleman Creek are advised to move their vehicles to higher ground.

There is a new Trojan in town! Matt Wise has joined the men's basketball team as an assistant coach focusing on player development!

UA Little Rock and Easterseals Arkansas celebrated the second graduating class of the Academics, Community, Career Development and Employment Program (ACCE), a post-secondary education program that allows students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to have a college experience and prepare for competitive employment. Twelve students graduated May 21. “We are excited to continue our partnership with UA Little Rock to offer this important program and proud of our 2018 graduates,” said Easterseals Arkansas President and CEO Elaine Eubank. This year’s class has completed on-the-job training at various departments and organizations both on and off campus.

The UA Little Rock Sustainability Committee has awarded a $2,500 grant to the UALR Campus Garden that will provide more growing opportunities as well as an increase in fresh produce for the Trojan Food Pantry. “We feel that a greenhouse will greatly enhance the mission and goals of the Campus Garden. We intend to install a hoop-style, cold frame greenhouse to expand growing capacity and enable year-round vegetable production."

The UA Little Rock College of Education and Health Professions recently celebrated its top students, employees, and community supporters at the college’s annual awards ceremony. Abby Baldwin received the Outstanding Student Award for a student earning an associate degree. Roger Powell received the Outstanding Student Award for a bachelor’s student. Derenda Alexander won the Outstanding Master’s Student Award and Hsin-Wei Huang won the Outstanding Doctoral Student Award.