Posted by ERIC WILSON - As our newest class members become familiar with the Master of Public Service degree program, they are also being introduced to the synergy of downtown. Dean Skip Rutherford has been quoted on several occasions calling the “Central Arkansas Library our school library, the Statehouse Convention Center our auditorium and the Rivermarket our student union.” A favorite student hangout spot downtown happens to be Copper Grill, and restaurant owner Mary Beth Ringgold joined us in welcoming the class with this sign pictured above.
August 19th, 2008
Posted by BEN BEAUMONT - We received some photos from student James Mitchell who is finishing up his International Public Service Project in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania where he has been working to expand rural education. Mitchell recently traveled the countryside to see the sights and prepare for his final Capstone project which he will also complete in Tanzania. Here are some pics:
August 18th, 2008
Posted by ERIC WILSON - The Clinton School was packed this Saturday afternoon as the newest class gathered for the first time to begin orientation. Dean Skip Rutherford welcomed the group of 30 students joined by their families and friends and congratulated them on taking the first step to earning a Master of Public Service degree. The Clinton School’s unique program and mission attracted students from 11 states and five countries including Brazil, Indonesia, Poland, Uganda and Ukraine. For a full description of the class, click here.
August 16th, 2008
Posted by BEN BEAUMONT - More than 700 people, many of the ALLTEL employees, showed up today for the Clinton School’s program featuring Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam. Verizon announced plans in June to aquire Little Rock-based ALLTEL. Click here to watch the speech video.
McAdam, who was introduced by U.S. Senator Mark Pryor, discussed his company’s business and community philosophies, as well as its future presence in Little Rock. The Central Arkansas media was out in full force to cover the event. Click here for early coverage from Arkansas Business.
August 14th, 2008
Posted by DEAN SKIP RUTHERFORD - When I became Dean of the Clinton School in 2006, I left partisan politics at the door. In 1991, however, then-Governor Bill Clinton asked me to serve as chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party. I did so for about nine months. One highlight of my brief tenure was seeing businessman Bill Gwatney of Jacksonville, Ark., enter the political arena as a candidate for the State Senate–a race that he won. It was also the beginning of our 17-year friendship.
Yesterday, in an act that defies reason and logic, Bill was shot and killed in the headquarters of the Arkansas Democatic Party–the same building that I worked years ago when I was recruiting him to run. Bill was a terrific human being. Just recently, we had breakfast with a group of friends and shared political and campaign war stories. Last week we talked about our recent interviews with The New York Times regarding the 2008 presidential election in Arkansas.
Bill was an exemplary public servant. He was a big fan of the Clinton School too and particularly touted our public programs. Why someone would shoot him remains a devastating mystery to me, but on behalf of our school, I extend our deepest sympathy to Bill’s family.
May all those who have been touched by this tragedy find comfort and strength.
August 14th, 2008
Posted by BEN BEAUMONT - The 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, “I Have a Dream” speech will be commemorated at the Clinton Presidential Center with a series of events on August 28. Here’s some info from today’s press release:
Sponsored by The College of Aspiring Artists (TCAA) of North Little Rock, the William J. Clinton Foundation and the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, the commemoration will feature films and entertainment. Special guests will be Gracie Carter of Little Rock who participated in the 1963 march and Joshua and Andrew Withers, sons of the late Ernest Withers of Memphis, a noted civil rights photographer. Withers’ photographs were instrumental in the documentation and establishment of the Little Rock Central High Museum and Visitor Center which led to the Little Rock Central High National Historic Site. Some of Withers’ photographs and prints will be on display during the commemoration.
Click here for more details.
August 13th, 2008
Posted by BEN BEAUMONT - We announced our newest class of 31 students yesterday. They will arrive in Little Rock this week to begin orientation this weekend. Here’s our press release:
The Clinton School of Public Service will welcome 31 new students into its unique Master of Public Service degree program at an orientation program beginning Saturday, August 16. The class will be the fourth to enter into the program that began with just 16 students in 2005.
The new students come from a variety of backgrounds, hailing from 11 states and five countries including Brazil, Indonesia, Poland, Uganda and Ukraine. Arkansas is well represented in the class with 15 students having lived, worked or attended college in the state.
The students also represent a number of colleges and universities from the University of North Carolina and the University of California at Berkeley to Boston University, the College of the Holy Cross and Connecticut College. Arkansas institutions represented include the University of Arkansas, UALR, UAPB, UCA, Philander Smith, Hendrix and Lyon.
“It’s been our goal to bring the best and brightest to Arkansas and to recruit the best and brightest from Arkansas,” said Clinton School Dean Skip Rutherford. “Like previous classes, this group is made up of a wide array of backgrounds. But the one thing they all have in common is the desire to become better public servants.”
Click here to read more.
August 12th, 2008
Posted by BEN BEAUMONT - Clinton School student Idonia Trotter was highlighted yesterday with a feature story in the Eldorado (Ark.) News Times, her hometown newspaper. Trotter just completed her International Public Service Project in Belize where she worked to identify specific challenges facing immigrant women and make recommendations to the Women’s Department as to best practices and actions needed to address those challenges. Trotter is enrolled in the joint MPS/JD program with the Clinton School and the UALR Bowen School of Law.
The Eldorado News Times web site is subscription-only, but click here for a preview of the article. Congratualtion to Idonia.
August 10th, 2008
Posted by BEN BEAUMONT - We heard from Clinton School student Tim Giattina this morning who has just returned from his International Public Service Project in Shanghai, China, where he was working to promote corporate responsibility with American companies doing business there. Giattina found time to see the sights, taking Flat Stanley for a visit to the Great Wall of China:
“To the best of my knowledge, Flat Stanley had yet to climb the Great Wall,” Giattina said. ”Here we are after making the long trek up Mutianyu, incidentally the same spot of the Wall former President Clinton visited in 1998.”
August 7th, 2008
Posted by BEN BEAUMONT - Orientation for the Clinton School’s newest class of more than 30 students will begin August 16 and classes will start August 25. Stay tuned for more information on the new class.
August 4th, 2008
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