Pivotal College Presidents

Dr. John Brown Watson • President | AM&N College (1928-1942)

Watson

A graduate of Brown University, Dr. Watson was appointed superintendent of Arkansas A.M.&N. College in June 1928, after serving for seven years as president of Leland College at Baker, Louisiana. During the period prior to Watson assuming the leadership, the college was called the Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical, and Normal School, which served as a junior college with preparatory, and elementary schools, and a six week summer session for teachers. The title for the head of the school was superintendent; in 1931 Watson’s title was changed to president.

Within the first few years of his tenure, Watson succeeded in reinstating the four-year bachelor degree program, moved the college to its present location, and reorganized the college into standard academic departments and divisions. During the year 1929, a new site for the college was purchased, and the buildings were constructed and furnished the same year, with Watson, his faculty and students moving in on December 15. By the end of the 1929-30 school year, Watson had awarded the first two bachelor degrees conferred since 1885. Dr. Watson worked steadily to improve the curriculum and quality of teaching at A.M.&N. and became a dominant force in the progress of the college. It was a difficult struggle to establish the college program. Particularly in the depression years of the 1930’s, but if needed, President Watson was prepared to offer his personal financial aid to permit a student or faculty member to go on to graduate study. He also worked to bring the best possible faculty to Pine Bluff, seeking out talented young educators who were just starting their careers, with the knowledge that after a few years many of them would go on to larger institutions that could offer them more.

President Watson had established his reputation as a strong leader and a man of firm convictions, earning the nickname “John Bull” among both faculty and students. Watson, a strict disciplinarian, expected everyone on campus to keep active and usefully occupied. He felt that the college had too little money to keep teachers who were not at least of average value to the college. By the time of his untimely death in 1942, the college had reached its greatest height under his administration.

Dr. Lawrence A. “Prexy” Davis, Sr. • President | AM&N College (1943-1972) | Chancellor, UAPB (1972-1973)

Davis

Lawrence A. Davis, Sr., a native of McCrory, Arkansas and a graduate of Pine Bluff Merrill High School and AM&N College, was named president of the college in April 1943, after serving as a member of a three person committee that administered the campus following the untimely death of John Brown Watson in 1942. Assuming the presidency at the age of 29, he became the first alumnus to head the institution and was recognized as the youngest college president in the United States at that time. He was to prove that he was an able successor to Watson. Under his administration, the college would soar to greater heights than ever before.

Having worked his way up from Dr. Watson’s office boy, to cashier, to registrar, to dean, Davis was the unanimous choice of the Board of Trustees. Despite his youth, Davis possessed an inspired vision, which he endeavored to manifest in leading a college for Negroes in the state of Arkansas.

As he began transforming his dream into realities, the world was caught in the grip of the Second World War, and as a result, the enrollment of the college dropped to a new low and many of the young professors were called into the military service. Immediately following the war, the college experienced a tremendous growth in enrollment. Under Dr. Davis’ dynamic and forceful guidance, and with the support from the then Governor Sidney McMath, the college developed phenomenally and became one of the fastest growing institutions among Historically Black Colleges. The college erected new buildings and blossomed. The enrollment, less than 500 when Davis became president, rose to 3,500 students by 1969. Quality accompanied quantity in 1950 when the college received accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and later the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education. With recognition by these national bodies, the college gained in status as a four-year institution.

The 1971 session of the state legislature ordered the merger of UA and AM&N into one system. On July 1, 1972, this merger was complete, and AM&N was designated the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Fearing a loss of identity, many black supporters, citizens, and faculty opposed the merger. They filed a suit challenging it on the grounds that it was unconstitutional because there was no requirement for educational opportunities and equal treatment under the all-white board of trustees at UA, but the suit was unsuccessful. Davis accepted the new position of chancellor in June 1972.