Changing Landscapes: From "The ASU Story" to Modern A-State

Changing Landscapes

The ASU Story, authored by Lee A. Dew and published in 1968, captured the growth of Arkansas State University from its origin in 1909 as a regional agricultural school into a state college and, finally, into a state university in 1967.  As a retrospective, The ASU Story celebrated the university’s achievements in the first sixty years of its existence and looked forward to a future of expanding programs and increasing enrollment. The next fifty years, however, were full of new challenges rooted in the broader national transformations of Civil Rights, identity politics, and globalization. With the strong connection between the campus, city of Jonesboro, and region of Northeast Arkansas, physical and social changes on campus had far-reaching impacts and frequently created tension, most notably the conflict over the university’s long-running mascot and nickname, “the Indians,” which gained national attention. This project explores the many facets of these changes as the university became the A-State that we know today.

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