UALR celebrates former LRJC President

September 23-29, 2013

Becca Bona

Alumni members from Little Rock Junior College, the precursor to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock gathered together last week to celebrate the unveiling of LRJC founder and first president, John A. Larson. 

Larson founded LRJC in 1928 following a discontinuation of lower-level courses offered in Little Rock by the University of Arkansas Fayetteville.

Although there was opposition, Larson believed strongly that there was an education need in the Central Arkansas area. 

Chancellor Joel Anderson explained Larson’s determination to establish a higher level institution at the unveiling: “There was opposition at the time. People didn’t think it was needed, there were already some other institutions in the state, and the city couldn’t afford it.” 

However, as Anderson stated, Larson was not to be deterred. 

Originally from Chanute, Kansas, he traveled to Little Rock as an educator with his master’s degree from the University of Chicago. In 1912 he began to teach and eventually became the principal of Little Rock High School.

He served as president of LRJC from 1930 until his death in November, 1949, shortly after the completion of the site where UALR’s campus stands today. The university memorialized his efforts early on, and the first building on the then-new site was named Larson Hall after the former president.

“For many years John A. Larson was Little Rock Junior College. He recruited students, led fundraising campaigns, he managed construction projects – the list of what he personally was involved just goes on and on,” said Anderson.

Also attending the ceremony was grandson John “Bo” Larson, who was overjoyed at the recognition of his grandfather’s life work. He described his grandfather’s drive: “Although the junior college did not become a full fledged institution until 8 years after his death – he never stopped pursuing his vision for the future of Little Rock, and Little Rock’s education system,” said Larson.

Larson’s legacy lives on in more ways than one, including in the establishment of the John A. Larson Scholarship. Established by LRJC alumni, the scholarship awards a full or part time student who demonstrates academic accomplishment and financial need. This year’s recipient, Ayushi Saraswat is enrolled to become a Registered Nurse Practitioner. 

Larson’s grandson Bo and other attending patrons were able to meet with the sculptor who was responsible for creating the bust. Renowned sculptor David Deming has been commissioned for work at universities and museums across the U.S. and holds a master’s degree form the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He is responsible for the bust of Herschel Friday located at Bowen School of Law as well as the bust of Winthrop Rockefeller located at the Arkansas Arts Center, the Capitol Building, and the Rockefeller Institute. 

UALR would not be what is today without the vision and hard work that Larson put into the LRJC.

Anderson said it best: “He understood that LRJC by itself would not meet the higher education needs of the citizens of the city, but he also understood that the junior college could serve as a stepping stone to the next level and help reach a goal that many others had not had the vision to see – and that was that there could be a major university here in Little Rock.”    v