LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KATV) — For nearly 150 years, Philander Smith University has stood in Little Rock as a place built to educate, uplift and open doors, and it continues that mission today, even as funding challenges persist for Arkansas’ private historically Black colleges and universities.
Founded in 1877, Philander Smith University was created to educate newly freed Black students in the years following the Civil War. Like many HBCUs across the country, it was established by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named after Philander Smith, a philanthropist whose family helped fund its early work. The university has remained rooted in Little Rock, becoming one of the state’s oldest Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Philander Smith has served as both an academic institution and a community anchor over the decades, training teachers, business leaders and public servants, while helping expand access to higher education for Black Arkansans during segregation and beyond.
Dr. Maurice Gipson, the university’s 15th president, said the school’s identity is deeply connected to its faith roots.
“So I think the very first thing that people sometimes don’t recognize is that we are very, very, very, very, very rooted and tied to the Methodist faith and tradition,” Gipson said. “So you come on this campus, you’re not just coming to a university, you’re coming to an oasis of faith.”
Today, Philander Smith University is a small private liberal arts HBCU focused on leadership, social justice and preparing students to serve their communities across Arkansas and the country. Its students are commonly known as Philanderians.
Among the Philanderians who went on to make history is Lottie Shackleford, the first Black and female mayor of Little Rock. Shackleford pointed to the school’s size as a strength.
“It’s small enough to be able to give almost individual attention to a student,” Shackleford said. “You’re not just a number at Philander Smith University. Of course, when I attended, it was Philander Smith College, and it shows our growth.”
Other notable alumni and former students include former U.S. Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders and Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer Elijah Pitts.
Philander Smith educates more than 700 students, but funding remains a challenge. As one of Arkansas’ private HBCUs, the university does not receive direct allocations from the state the way Arkansas’ public universities do.
Still, Gipson said the work continues.
“But that has not stopped this,” he said. “I like to say that HBCUs have been punching above their weight class since their founding. We have done more with far, far less.”
Philander Smith University remains a center of Black education in the heart of the state, carrying forward a legacy that began in the 1800s and continues under new leadership today.
