Arkansas Tech University alumni gather in Fort Smith

 

story and photos by Ruby Dean
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Arkansas Tech University held a meet and greet for alumni members at Mojo’s Ivory House in downtown Fort Smith Thursday evening with 125 people attending.

Upon arrival, alumni signed in and tried to find old friends and fellow classmates to catch up on old times.

Arkansas Tech was founded in 1909 ,and is one of the fastest growing universities in the state of Arkansas. The university’s enrollment for the fall topped 10,000. Each year, 2,000 degrees are awarded.

ATU faculty and board members welcomed the guests. ATU President Dr. Richard Brown thanked everyone for helping put together such an event. He was not amazed at the attendance of the event stating that Fort Smith had a lot of great alumni members.

Brown told the guests that the alma mater had better days ahead, even though they “were glorious during the time that they spent at ATU.” He said the university needed continued help and support.

Dr. Art Martin was the oldest graduate attending having graduated from ATU in 1937. Upon graduation from ATU, he attended medical school and later practiced internal medicine in Fort Smith until his retirement. He still lives in Fort Smith.

Willo Watson Cox attended with her granddaughter, Lisa Jackson. Cox was a 1944 graduate having attended college during the war. She recalls that when she started ATU that boys were there, but then after the war had started, the boys had to leave to enlist in the war. She remembers the college as being small, almost like high school. During the slide show, she was amazed to see the new buildings that were now part of the campus and how much the campus had changed since her time there.

The university is hoping to start a alumni group in Fort Smith. If you attended Arkansas Tech University and would like to become a member of the alumni, contact the university at [email protected]