President Roderick L. Smothers, Sr., Ph.D


President Roderick L. Smothers takes Philander Smith College to a higher level
By Renarda Williams (aka Abari Sankofa)

On Aug. 29, Roderick L. Smothers Sr., Ph.D, will be inaugurated as the 14th president of historically black Philander Smith College in Little Rock.

Coming from Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, TX, where he was vice president for institutional advancement, Smothers was named president Oct. 1 and began his tenure in January. But he has already made what he calls "considerable progress" advancing the school’s motto: “Philander Forward.”

"We've had some big dreams and visions for Philander," Smothers said. From the start, he added, "I've encouraged our community" to help bring said dreams and visions to fruition.

"They have stepped up to the plate. We have officially launched our long-range planning process. And that ... is a process that will incorporate all of our hopes and dreams [for] the community of our scholars ... and really [give us] a road map for the next 10 years," he stated.

"That's one thing that I am excited about. … As they say in the Bible, … 'Without a vision, our people perish.' It is so important that we have a vision, and that it is a community-wide vision."

One new program already in operation under Smothers' leadership is the college’s first START (Student Tuition Assistance and Readiness Tracks) program. The program allows the college to recruit students on the high end of the academic spectrum. But it also allows them to go after average students — those with grade point averages of 2.5-2.7, Smothers said.

"We created four tracks. One is a Christian track. That focuses on Christian morals and values. Another is a Community track [for] a student who wants to go out and be a true community servant. The third one is the Urban track, [which] focuses on an urban scholar who wants to … solve urban issues. And the fourth track is the Ambassador track. Those are students who we put out front as ambassadors for the institution."

"The culmination of this [is] 75 students, in those four tracks, on campus for a Summer Bridge Program that started on July 1." Smothers' hands-on involvement with the program include taking 20 young men on an Aug. 3 trip to the barbershop for a haircut and conversation.

Smothers is acutely aware of the school’s need for more students. He cites the fact that fall enrollment last year stood at only 545, down "tremendously" from three years ago.

"We are on an upward spiral to get our enrollment increased," he said. "And this START Program is just one of our ways to do that. All of our metrics and data state that we are right on target to increase our enrollment by 100 students this year. This START Program is key in doing that! We're very excited about that."

Smothers’ arrival has also benefited Philander Smith College to the tune of a collection of African art worth $950,000 … which, Smothers said, fits right into the vision for the school’s arts and humanities programs. The collection is an inauguration gift from a Texas philanthropist he knows from his days at Huston-Tillotson.

"I'm thinking he’s got some art for me to sit at my counter,” Smothers said. "This guy shows up with an U-Haul worth of African art." The Kevin and Linda Katz collection will be a part of the African art display at the school.

Smothers has also been busy garnering support for the school, financial and otherwise.

"In the [first] 100 days, and 6 months, we have probably reached out and met 50 entities from corporate Arkansas," including the Walmart Foundation, the Walton Foundation, and Tyson Foods, Smothers said. He’s been doing a lot of what he calls "friend raising"— giving radio and television interviews about Philander and the progress the school is making.

In April, Philander had its annual Alumni Reunion, which Smothers said was a success.

"Our alumni came in from across the country," he said. "I spoke at the closing banquet and at the end of my speech, they raised almost $45,000 for scholarships for our students. So we are excited about that."

Philander has also launched what is being billed as the 1877 Campaign.

"Eighteen seventy-seven represents the founding year of Philander," Smothers said. "We are going out and asking our alumni friends to donate $1,877 — all for scholarships."

And there’s more. The school’s student government association has been named the best by HBCU Digest, a news resource for historically black colleges and universities.

Highlighting school activity during the latter part of its 2014-2015 year was the record breaking number of students who graduated in May.

"We had about 110 students to walk across the stage," Smothers said. "We [even] had a mother and daughter graduating from college together." Also highlighting the end of the year was a display of all work and research conducted by the school’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) students. In addition, Smothers said, "we have students who were on internships this summer [with] some of the most elite institutions across the country."

In an effort to maintain Philander’s connection to the United Methodist Church, from which it grew, school officials hosted a luncheon for United Methodist leaders.

"It's amazing when you can sit back and look at everything that you have accomplished together as a team. None of this is Roderick Smothers alone. It takes a team, [and it] takes a community."

Smothers' plans for student attraction and retention, include:

— Creation of a student recruitment team.
This team is up and running, and has already traveled to neighboring states. "Whenever you have issues at a college, there should not be an issue that is beyond you engaging students to help you solve it," Smothers said. "I saw we had recruitment challenges and I said, 'You know what, students? Come on out and help me recruit some students.' "

—Putting students and good jobs together.
Smothers cites a project called Workforce Innovation and Strategic Economic Public Private Partnerships (WISEP3), which was put before Gov. Asa Hutchinson in the spring. Smothers cites Hutchinson’s inaugural speech, in which he mentioned a desire to get more Arkansans into more livable-wage-paying jobs. "So I [asked], ‘How can Philander begin to be seen as a solution provider? How can we be seen not just [as] a church-based school, on a hill, over looking downtown? How can we get the corporate sector begin to view us as true partners?' "

"We brainstormed," Smothers said. The resulting concept: Create an on-campus workforce center offering educational programs at various levels, including bachelor’s degree programs, and find partners who are willing to offer jobs to graduates. "We ask those private partners one question — 'What types of skills do you need to see in a potential employee?' When they tell us … we come back and create a curriculum around those skills to recruit students from areas where there is a high unemployment rate — bring them in, get them trained, and get them out" to these companies.

WISEP3 is well on its way to reality. “We asked for $1.5 million to create that workforce excellence center,” Smothers said.

—Re-thinking teacher training.
"We talked to a group of strategy [makers] and said, 'What if we scrap our conceptional framework on how we train teachers and [bring] in the most cutting-edge methods that are out there?' " Smothers said. Specifically, since there is a greater need for Black male teachers, Philander’s Black Male Initiative program can be used to get some of the most highly qualified Black men into teaching such classes as math, chemistry and physics and send them out into the community. "And we will help [to] transform some of these toxic school districts in Arkansas.”

—A concept to "put a footprint in the allied health fields in Arkansas."
"Outside of sending our students on to medical school — and many of them graduate from professional school — not a lot of students can go to nursing and counseling," Smothers said, adding that as the baby boomer population ages, demand for these services is increasing. "I charge my faculty to figure out a way for us to get into that space of training and getting nurses and counselors."

Smothers said the school continues to focus on its social justice emphasis, as part of its mission statement. One way to keep that emphasis in the forefront would be the creation of a major in social justice.

"What we are doing to attract new students is really not much different from what I call the traditional recruitment model," Smothers said. "However, we have taken the liberty to accentuate things that we do really well. We build on the strength that we are a HBCU. We have a small learning community and that I know that one of my faculty members can walk into the classroom and he can [for instance] call Mr. Williams by name — and [if] Mr. Williams don't show up for class, that faculty member is knocking on his door," Smothers said.

And because a Christian environment is maintained at Philander, they make sure they come together once a week as a student body to worship and praise God, Smothers continued.

“Everybody today wants a piece of something that is going to allow them to enjoy a certain lifestyle. Education, for most, is the key and a vehicle for that," he said. "[We’re] taking pride in using that personal touch … being caring and compassionate [while] assuring folks that we have a top-notch environment with a quality degree program."

And it's working. Smothers tells of a mother from California who visited with her son and two nephews. With the plan to take a tour of Southern schools, the trio flew into Dallas, visited one school there, then came to Philander. Smothers met and talked with them. The mother called the next morning and thanked him for his time.

"And she said, 'Well, I’ve got good news for you. After visiting Philander, and meeting you, my three young men said they don't want to see the other three schools … they want to attend Philander.' Those three young men are in our Summer Bridge Program," Smothers said.

Smothers' inauguration will be the culmination of an Inaugural Weekend of Events.

Thursday, Aug. 27
• Campus Cookout and Celebration, noon - 2 p.m.
•African-American Art Exhibit, 2 p.m.
• Inaugural Community Symposium, 6 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 28
• A Day of Student Engagement, 9 a.m.-noon
• President’s Inaugural Scholarship Gala, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 29
• President’s Inauguration/Investiture, noon, immediately following the
  Inaugural Reception

Sunday, Aug. 30
• Ecumenical Interfaith Prayer Service, 3 p.m.

To RSVP, contact the Office of the President at (501) 370-5275.