Meet the new UALR Alumni Board members
December 12-18, 2016
By Jay Edwards
Dr. Danyell Crutchfield Cummings
After graduating from Mills High School in 1992, Danyell Cummings came to UALR and was the first in her family to attend college.
“I always enjoyed school, and education,” Cummings says, “but college was a bit of a rocky start for me, which turned into one of the best experiences of my life.”
Her path of study began in psychology, and then biology, after she was told she should go into medicine. But her degree ended up being in English. “I had a great mentor in Professor Roslyn Knutson. She was a very big influence in my life while I was in school at UALR.”
Cummings knew she wanted to be in service of some kind but had never considered teaching as a career.
“Dr. Knutson told me, ‘You are going to teach adults. You are going to be a professor.’”
“So I began being involved in some of her projects, which included putting on English Lit workshops in the community. She became so inspirational to me that I moved in that direction, not to become a professor, but rather to be in education for K through 12.”
Cummings was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and one of their projects was volunteering with AmeriCorps, and her assignment was working with Baseline Elementary School.
“I was drawn to those children,” she says. “I told Dr. Knutson I wanted to work with children, not adults, and she helped me get there.”
Cummings started taking education courses and student teaching clinics, which reinforced that desire of working with kids.
“I knew I wanted to make an impact,” she says. “I could relate to the kids who were searching for direction.”
Her employer since graduation has always been the Little Rock School District, where she began as a 10th and 11th grade English teacher and today is the director of testing and evaluation.
“I like to think we have been successful in increasing everyone’s comfort level in the process, which has led to improved assessments,” she says.
Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which was signed by President Obama a year ago this month, there has been a push to revamp assessments. Cummings says that everyone doesn’t perform well under standardized conditions and the state is taking into account that there are other ways for students to demonstrate what they know.
She is also still very involved with her sorority, and is the chair of their ASCEND program (focusing on Achievement, Self-Awareness, Communication, Engagement, Networking and Developmental Skills).
“We target local high school students with a 2.0 GPA, the ones who can get into college but need encouragement and mentoring. We let them know, that there are options available to them. It’s our third year and we have students with much higher GPA’s wanting to get in the program because they see there are specific actions we stress that enable them to get to where they want to be.”
Cummings says she is proud to be a new member of the UALR Alumni Board. “This school is a gem. It offers so much of the traditional college experiences many students are looking for.”
“It is wonderful to see how the university and the alumni association is spreading the word, and I’m proud to be a part of that.”
David Hendrix
After graduating from Benton High School David Hendrix began taking classes at UALR in 2005. “My last year of high school I was looking for a place to go to college,” he says. “I had friends going to universities all around the state; friends wanting me to go with them to Conway and to Fayetteville. I chose UALR and it worked out great. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. I was able to live at home, and work and go to school.”
After graduating in four years with a degree in finance, Hendrix enrolled in the MBA program at UALR. He was able to attain that degree while working full time, for the family business, Summerwood Partners, better known as Big Red Stores.
Today he works in their corporate office in Bryant, where his title is merchandising manager.
“I have learned a lot of things at work that helped me at UALR,” he says, “and many things in school that have helped me at work.
His dad and his uncle started the business, and they had their 20-year anniversary this year.
Hendrix’s sister Danielle works for the Alumni Association as the associate director of Annual Giving and Alumni Membership.
He he says she may have had some influence in getting him to join the Alumni Association Board of Directors.
“I’ve always been a supporter of the school since my time here and have had other family members who have come through. There are a lot of connections,” he says.
“Just in the short time I’ve been out you can drive by and see many new buildings and structures.”
“Enhancing connections between the students and the alumni is a goal of the alumni board,” Hendrix says. “We are a non-traditional school with many traditional elements.”
“For example, the basketball season last year just fueled the excitement that we all have, both students and former students.”
“That was something that we all jumped on to together and it just brings so many of the other great things about the university to light.”
Hendrix is from a big, tight knit family. For fun they take vacations together and he plays a little golf. “I’m a bad golfer, but I enjoy it,” he says.
One place the family enjoys going to, is Disney World. “My mom reads all the ‘Insider’ Disney books. She has been double-digit times. If you told her you were going next week she would go home and write you up a travel plan.”
He looks forward to serving his alma mater on the alumni board and says it is easy to promote.
“I feel like it gave me a head start on my peers. I was able to get my education while still working and I don’t feel like I sacrificed anything. I feel like the degree I got here stacks up with anybody’s.”
