Since it’s about time for Razorbacks football season to begin, I thought I’d post some trivia about the great University of Arkansas a lot of you might not know.  (The season kicks off in Fayetteville on Sept. 1 against Jacksonville State.)  Also here is a list of some of the famous people who went there.

• The school was founded in 1871.
• The 1868 Arkansas Constitution said the General Assembly had to start and maintain a state university, and U of A was it.
• U of A could have been in any city in the state, but Fayetteville pledged $130,000 toward getting a university, which was higher than any other Arkansas city’s pledge.
• The first class was held on January 22, 1872.
• Old Main, a brick building with two towers made in the Second Empire Style, got finished in 1875.  It’s where classes and administration offices were located in the early days.
• Since 1876, all the school’s students’ names are inscribed in the Senior Walk that covers two and a half miles of sidewalk.
• U of A was the first major southern university to admit an African American student without having to deal with the courts.
• Barnett Sure, an agricultural chemistry professor, co-discovered vitamin E.
• The Wide Area Bar Code Reader, which is the most used mail sorting equipment in the world, was created at the U of A with research that began in 1989. 

There are a few trivia pieces about the University of Arkansas.  You can read a lot more of them at this Wikipedia page.

Now, what kind of famous people went to the school?  Here is a short list.  (This is also on Wikipedia.)

• Donna Axum – Miss America 1964
• T.J. Holmes – CNN anchor
• Pat Summerall – sportscaster for CBS, Fox and ESPN
• Jerry Jones – Oilman and owner of the Dallas Cowboys
• Walter Keller – developer of the heart pacemaker
• David O. Russell – Vice President of Verizon Communications
• S. Robson Walton – Chairman of the Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
• Ed Wilson – President of the Fox Broadcasting Company
• Lance Alworth – Hall of Fame wide receiver for the American Football League’s San Diego Chargers
• John Daly – golfer; went on to win five PGA Tour tournaments, including the PGA Championship and the British Open
• Joe Ferguson – former quarterback; went on to have a seventeen-year career in the NFL, primarily with the Buffalo Bills
• Jimmy Johnson – former football coach and two-time Super Bowl winner with the Dallas Cowboys. The first of two coaches to win an NCAA championship and a Super Bowl. Current Fox NFL studio analyst
• Sidney Moncrief – former NBA player
• Barry Switzer – former head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners (3 NCAA Championships) and Dallas Cowboys (1 World Championship); the second of two coaches to win an NCAA Championship and a Super Bowl (the other is former teammate Jimmy Johnson)

So there’s just a few of the well-known and successful people who went to the University of Arkansas.  I would like to know if Fort Smith bidded on getting the school and how much the bid was.

Support the Razorbacks.  Learn about this great school.

Nick & Ellie Glidewell