Campus Disrupted
Times of Tension and Turmoil at the University of Arkansas
In March of 2020, as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic, student life on the University of Arkansas campus was abruptly thrown into chaos. In the middle of a class period, Chancellor Joe Steinmetz announced that in-person classes were canceled. Faculty scrambled to transition to online instruction. Students struggled to find off-campus living arrangements and to understand what the new reality meant for them. Study abroad and internship plans were suddenly not possible. United by their isolation, six student historians came together to use the disruption in their lives to reflect on the disruptions experienced by previous students. Facing the challenges of quarantine and the summer’s social rights protests, these students adapted to the limitations of digital research and the changing environment to create this online exhibition that explores moments of turbulence on our campus.
Born of Disruption
Curtis Worley discusses the origins of education in Fayetteville and the establishing of the University of Arkansas in Born of Disruption.
Wearing the Burden
In Wearing the Burden, Jazlyn Sanderson explores how campus life was brought to a standstill by WWI but, ultimately, students came together in a stronger community.
Building a New Foundation
In her second piece, Building a New Foundation, Jazlyn Sanderson writes about the Great Depression, and its later positive impact on campus.
Humor in Hardship
In Humor in Hardship, Emily Snyder relates the humor found in the Arkansas Traveler student newspaper during WWII to the way in which humor has been used to cope in the current COVID-19 crisis.
Protest Among the Branches
Inspired by protests in the early summer, Cayla McGrail looks back to campus protests during Vietnam War in Protest Among the Branches.
Sink the Censorship
In Sink the Censorship, Sydney Nichols narrates students’ fight for freedom of expression in former U of A literary magazine Preview, reminding readers of the weight that words can hold.
No More Next Time
Michael Fuhrman completes our exhibit with No More Next Time in which he recounts University of Arkansas students’ reactions to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.