Celebrate Fulbright College Namesake's 111th Birthday on April 8

Photo Submitted

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Join the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences as together we celebrate the 111th anniversary of the birth of our namesake - Senator J. William Fulbright. The celebration kicks off at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, April 8, in the Jim and Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center.

Kathryn A. Sloan, Fulbright College's associate dean of fine arts and humanities, will serve as the event's emcee.

"This celebration is a great tradition that highlights what an enormous difference Sen. Fulbright and his namesake college have made in the lives of so many students," Sloan said. "The Fulbright College – as well as the Fulbright Program – have become his his ongoing lecacy by continuously making a global positive impact through education, research and discovery."

Two featured speakers will reflect on Senator Fulbright and the legacy of the college, including:

• Hoyt Purvis, professor of journalism, former press secretary and special assistant to Sen. Fulbright, former chair of the presidentially-appointed Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board which oversees the Fulbright exchange program
• Febriyanti Lestari, president of the Fulbright Scholars at the U of A, doctoral student in comparative literature and cultural studies

Refreshments will be served at 3 p.m. after a cake cutting. A musical ensemble from the Department of Music will add to the festivities, which are being co-sponsored by the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society.

The college began the tradition of commemorating the birthday of the former university president and United States senator in 2012. Senator Fulbright is a fitting namesake for the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, as he believed and the college has adopted as its mission:

"… [that] the highest function of higher education is the teaching of things in perspective, toward the purposes of enriching the life of the individual, cultivating the free and inquiring mind, and advancing the effort to bring reason, justice, and humanity into the relations of men and nations."

The college is the largest and most academically diverse unit on campus with 19 departments and 43 academic programs and research centers. It provides the core curriculum for all U of A students.