Johnny Moore didn’t have a Plan B when his pro basketball dreams never materialized, but a romantic trip led to a Florida college. His heart never left Arkansas, though, and he returned last summer to take the helm at his alma mater, Philander Smith College.

By L. LAMOR WILLIAMS

As a small-town boy from southwest Arkansas, Johnny Moore dreamed basketball would be the vehicle that would take him to the big city and, more importantly, the big bucks.
It seemed possible. Likely, even. He had earned basketball scholarships to Philander Smith College and the University of Texas at El Paso, where NBA great Tim Hardaway would’ve been a classmate.

But as an impressive senior year – where Moore was averaging about 28 points per game for Philander Smith – drew to a close in 1989, Hardaway would be known for his “UTEP two-step” and Moore would still be waiting for a call from the scouts. It never came.

“You assume you’ll get picked up by some team, but there are no phone calls and you start wondering, what am I going to do? Fortunately, I had studied a little bit, so I had other opportunities academically,” said Moore, who today is president and chief executive of his alma mater. “I didn’t have a just-in-case in mind so I decided to go to grad school. … I thought [a master’s degree] would buy me more time, but they still didn’t call.”

Moore, 46, will be officially inaugurated as the university’s 13th president May 3 inside Harris Auditorium, just in time to preside over the school’s commencement ceremony the following day.

It hardly seems improbable today, this lofty academic spot, but Moore began graduate school at Arkansas State University still thinking about pro basketball. The closest he came to that dream was the day he took the court with former Harlem Globetrotter Geese Ausbie and his Geese Ausbie All-Stars. The team was playing a game not far from Jonesboro and was one man down. Ausbie called Moore as a temporary fill-in.

Because of school, Moore couldn’t travel around the country with the All-Stars and Ausbie encouraged him to continue his studies.

“When you look at my resume you might think, ‘Wow, this guy had it together,’ but I didn’t have a clue as to what I wanted to do in terms of a professional career outside of sports,” Moore said from across a round table in his spacious office at Philander Smith.

CAREER-MINDED ROMANTIC

While finishing his graduate degree at ASU, Moore took a teaching position at East Arkansas Community College, where he met his wife, Sequoyah, who was a student there. He was engaged and living in Forrest City, but a chance trip to Florida for a romantic getaway led Moore to Indian River Community (now State) College.

“It was Feb. 12, [1994]. Sequoyah was my fiancee at the time and said we never do anything romantic. I was looking at the Chronicle of Higher Education and noticed an advertisement that said, ‘Visit the state of Florida.It’s the Great 28’ because they have 28 community colleges. There was a minority job fair and I thought: ‘Oh man, I’ve never been to Florida. It’s near Valentine’s Day. The fiancee is harassing me that we never do anything romantic. I got it!”’

That spark of romance and, OK, an ulterior career-minded motive, was how Moore ended up at a job fair that weekend.

“We were there for 16 years.”

Moore rose through the ranks at the Fort Pierce, Fla., community college, becoming a tenured professor and then vice president of student affairs. Success notwithstanding, the fresh start was bittersweet.

The day after the move, his mother died and his family returned to Arkansas for her funeral. After they returned to Florida, getting closer to home and aging parents was never far from their thoughts.

Johnathan was born eight years ago and they yearned for him to know his grandparents. They wanted to be closer to home.

So where is home, exactly? He generally tells people he’s from Hope. It’s the birthplace of former President Bill Clinton and is more recognizable, even to Arkansans, than Old Washington. “And really [home] is in between Old Washington and Hope. So it’s just somewhere,” he says.

“A funny thing is that our home address where we lived as kids said Old Washington, but our phone was a Hope prefix, 777, and our electricity and gas was Texarkana, so you tell me where I’m from.”

Moore’s ascension in academia seems like a series of happy coincidences. And one such coincidence got him and his budding family closer to home.

THE PRESIDENCY

Even in Florida, Moore’s career had caught the attention of Mike Metke, president of Tyler Junior College in Texas, less than three hours from Moore’s home town.

“I had heard about him and his reputation and that he’d been considered for presidencies already and was getting recognition,” Metke said. “If he came to a college like Tyler, I thought it would help him move into a presidency. It was really as much a matter of us recruiting him as him being an applicant.”

Moore was executive vice president of student affairs at the junior college when he was picked a year ago to lead Philander Smith, which this semester enrolled 658 students.
“He was every bit and more of what I had heard. He exceeded all our expectations, and our expectations were pretty high.”

Generally, when someone cites as a best quality an ability to “see the big picture” and “bring people together,” such assessments seem cliched at best, disingenuous at worst, but colleagues and friends struggle to find more artful language to sum it up for Moore.

“I saw him as a future president and, frankly, I would’ve loved to see him succeed me here at Tyler. He has great interpersonal skills and is a visionary who can bring people together,” Metke said. “Oftentimes, when you have a leader of a unit, that person only advocates for and tries to secure as much of the campus’ resources for that unit as possible. With Johnny, it wasn’t about how much money he could wrestle from the budget for his area, but what was best for the entire college. He was great at finding innovative ways to partner with other departments.

“There are lots of people I work with who are colleagues and whom I respect. But above all that, I really like Johnny Moore. He’s fun to work with.”

He’s a great basketball player too, Metke said.

“We were just talking about our intramural basketball games … I think he surprised some of the young students. [We] had a very competitive intramural team because of Johnny. He might not be able to dunk the ball, but he’s a really good shot. Still makes the three-pointers.”

Where building partnerships is his greatest strength, Moore sees his age as his greatest challenge.

“I’m not that old,” he said. “I have experience but this is my first year as president. I’ve been in higher education for 23 years … executive-level for 10 years. I’m not set in my ways [which] I guess is a strength and a weakness at the same time.”

That’s humble, says Sherman Tate, a Little Rock business owner, Philander Smith alumnus and former board member who was serving when previous PresidentWalter Kimbrough was hired, but Moore’s age can only be a huge asset for one of the state’s historically black colleges.

“I saw him as a younger man, which was good coming on the heels of Dr. Kimbrough, who was also a young man. The students seem to identify with younger leadership. What I saw in him was energy and commitment. I can’t overstate how important it is to have someone coming back that started their academic training at Philander Smith College. He understands the college’s unique history.”

Where Kimbrough was known as the “hip-hop president,” Moore is more likely to become known as the “jazz president.” He has a calming yet commanding, easygoing but upbeat demeanor, where Kimbrough, who left Philander to lead Dillard University in New Orleans, seemed like a live wire, a bundle of energy just waiting to be expended on the next project.

DIVERSITY 2.0

For Moore, the next project is completing the school’s latest five-year strategic plan. The most recent plan ended in 2012. Moore didn’t reveal details of the next plan, but he wants to expand the college’s distance learning and studyabroad programs.

The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, and “part of our mission is to create disciples for Christ and try to prepare them to make a difference in the world,” Moore said. “To do that, we need a lot of diversity not only among students but among the staff.”

Can there be so much diversity that it’s no longer “an HBCU,” the acronym for historically black college or university?

“Unfortunately, years ago African-Americans could not go to predominately white institutions, but these institutions [HBCUs] have always been open to people regardless of race, ethnicity … you name it,” he said. “That’s also part of our mission. So I don’t think so.”

The Philander Smith of today is a vastly different campus from the one Moore attended in 1989. The building that houses his office didn’t even exist, nor did the one next to it. He played basketball games at the Dunbar Recreation Center; such were the options for indoor athletics on the school grounds.

A few faculty members remain who knew him then. Frank James, the vice president of academic affairs, taught him calculus. A Philander alumnus and former football player, James said he readily identified with theyoung Moore.

“My class was very early in the morning. It was scheduled at 7 a.m. I started at 6:45 a.m. and seldom did I ever finish on time. I believed that students should get their full money’s worth. One thing I remember about Johnny was his determination, his ability to stick to a task.”

James knew that determination alone might not be enough to get the 5-foot-11-inch Moore to the NBA, no matter how talented he was.

“I would never discourage a student’s dreams, but I always advised them to have a Plan B,” James said. “At the time he came through, NBA contracts weren’t as big as they are now. They didn’t have a [development] league like they do now. If he had come through now, I think he would’ve been picked up.”

But then, what of Philander Smith College? What of a dream deferred? As thepoet Langston Hughes put it, sometimes it explodes.

“In all of my students that have done well, I take a certain pride, but in Johnny’s case, I take particular pride,” James said. “He’s going to make his own legacy and I hope that legacy will be as large as my pride for him getting this job.”

Moore today leads chapel services in the same building where he once sat daydreaming – a finger-roll layup over an opposing center, a buzzer-beater from six feet beyond the arc, all that NBA acclaim.

“We have President’s Chapel: I talk to them about leadership … was telling them dream big because several years ago, I was in those same seats listening to the president and I had no idea that one day I would be the college president,” he said. “Being a college president was not on my radar; as I told you before, I was all about basketball. I told them that if I can do it, they can do it. I tell them to take it serious. I took it serious but not seriously enough. I didn’t dream big enough.”

SELF PORTRAIT Johnny Moore
BORN: Nov. 30, 1966, in Old Washington, Ark.
FAMILY: Wife Sequoyah, son Johnathan and daughter Jayna
WHAT’S ALWAYS BESIDE MY BED: My iPhone
MY FAVORITE PLACE IN THE HOUSE IS my study. This is a place where there’s no TV. It’s not an office because I don’t work in there. I don’t take my cell phone in there. It’s a place where I catch up on reading. There’s only one person who’s allowed to come in there and bother me when I’m in that room and that’s my 15-month-old because I can’t control her.
THE LAST BOOK I READ WAS a book on leadership, The Advantage.
WHAT’S ALWAYS IN THE FRIDGE: Ozarka spring water.
MY GUILTY PLEASURE: Ice cream. I am an ice cream fanatic. I have a banana split almost every other night. I have an 8-year-old, he comes downstairs and that’s what we usually do. I’m thinking about getting some ice cream right now.
MY LAST MEAL: I’m a country boy. I love when my wife makes a Sunday-type meal [of] yams, chicken, green beans, cornbread. That’s one of those meals you eat on Sunday and watch football and sleep.
I WON’T EAT beets. They’re disgusting!
ONE ON ONE, YOU AND PRESIDENT OBAMA … No question. I would win hands down. And, there would be no need for a recount.
ON A DESERT ISLAND I WOULD NEED: Something to read. I wouldn’t need a TV or anything as long as I have something to read.
ONE WORD TO DESCRIBE ME: Focused

Philander Smith College has earned a spot in the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Top 25 teams in the nation poll. According to the NAIA, Philander Smith is ranked No. 22, is listed in the ranking for the first time since 2000 – 01. Philander Smith brings a nine-game win streak into its next contest against No. 13 Xavier this Saturday.

This has not been an easy journey for the Panthers as they have suffered numerous close calls in the quest for success, recovering from multiple-overtime and double-overtime wins in the last few weeks alone. The Panthers have dug deep and used a combination of offensive and defensive tactics to overcome their competition.

The poll announcement was made on the eve of Philander’s overtime win against Talladega College, where the Panthers performed in front a rowdy away crowd, to once again come out victorious. With top offensive performances from Juvon Demerson (22 points, 7 rebounds); D’Alvin Brown (19 points, 5 rebounds); and Clayton Busby (18 points, 5 rebounds), the Panthers used and all-around approach to get the job done.

With less than 20 seconds left in overtime, D’Alvin Brown fearlessly drove to the basket, drawing increased attention from Talladega’s defenders. As Brown released the ball towards the rim, the defender stealthily snatched the ball from the iron. Consequently, the defender was charged with a goal-tending offense, placing Philander Smith up by one. Talladega was unable to produce on the offensive end, which led to Philander Smith recording its ninth consecutive win and improving its conference record to 4-0 in GCAC play (13-4 overall).

The Panthers travel to New Orleans Saturday to take on Xavier College. Tip off is at Noon for the men and 2 p.m. for the women’s teams.

A Philander Smith College freshman, Latavia Hill, 18, from Chicago, will be featured in the upcoming “UNCF’s An Evening of Stars” televised fundraiser for the United Negro College Fund. The show airs Sunday, Jan. 27, at 9 p.m. on Black Entertainment Television channels around the nation.

Hill is featured on the program because of her amazing drive and determination to attend college on a full scholarship. She received the Chicago Public Schools’ Teachers scholarship to attend a historically black college or university. She selected Philander Smith College with the help our recruitment team and the lure of such a prestigious academic center located in a beautiful city.

This year’s show is presented by Target and will be hosted by Anthony Anderson of NBC’s Guys With Kids. Other featured guests include: Chaka Khan, Yolanda Adams, Charlie Wilson, Keyshia Cole, Trey Songz, Tyrese Gibson and many, many more.

To preview Latavia’s appearance on the show click the link below:

https://silo.mediasilo.com/quicklink/064F1863BA457E5A468B1B63CFE8435D/matt.carvette@gmail.com/

Philander Smith College is the only UNCF-supported campus in Arkansas.

For more information contact, Shareese Kondo, Director of Public Relations and Marketing, at (501)370-5279 or at skondo@philander.edu.

Philander Smith College’s Division of Natural and Physical Sciences received a $1.75 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities – Undergraduate Program. The program aims to increase the number of minorities graduating from an HBCU with degrees centered on careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
Philander Smith College received the first phase of this project’s funding in 2006 with an allocated amount of $3 million. That funding phase expires in February 2013. The second phase of the project’s $1.75 million grant extends from Oct. 1, 2012 to Sept. 30, 2017.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for Philander Smith College to continue recruiting students interested in pursuing stable, prosperous careers,” said Dr. Frank James, Vice President of Academic Affairs, who is among the faculty overseeing the project. “We use this funding to offer courses that enrich students’ minds and prepare them for careers that secure their futures.”
Drs. Samar Swaid, Cynthia Burroughs and Chantia Hickman work with Dr. James to develop courses, programs, partnerships and seminars to carry out the terms of the project. Their curriculums under the project aim to increase students’ success, retention and persistence in STEM education. These courses also strengthen students’ preparation for graduate and medical school entrance exams. These faculty members work to enhance our current STEM undergraduate research infrastructure; improve STEM education by developing and implementing Transformative Cyber infrastructure-based Strategy in Teaching and Learning; and effectively prepare incoming high school students for transitioning into college-level STEM courses.
“We hope to experience continued growth in STEM at Philander Smith College as our STEM majors have increased from 81 in 2007 to 221 in 2011. This can be directly related to student interests evolving to more scientific fields. The HBCU-UP grant funded by the National Science Foundation has influenced these numbers, as well.” said Dr. Frank James.

The seventh annual Arkansas Black Independent Film Festival (ARBIFF) is scheduled to occur Sept. 6 to 9. Philander Smith College will host the festival on Sept. 6 to 8 with screenings and directors and film workshops held Elder’s Lecture Hall inside the Kendall Building. Other screenings will be held at Arkansas Baptist College and Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. A closing ceremony will be held at the Dreamland Ballroom.

Special guests will include M.K. Asante, director of Black Candle: A Kwanzaa Celebration which is narrated by Maya Angelou depicting the origins of Kwanzaa. This film is one of several that will be screened on Philander’s campus. Julie Dash is also scheduled to be present during the festival. Dash is the director of Daughters of the Dust, a drama film depicting the culture of the Gullah people and an African-American family’s decision to move North during the early 20th century. Both film makers will be conducting workshops on campus as well. Film screenings are schedules to start at 11 a.m. each day.

Students from both Philander Smith College and Arkansas Baptist College are eligible to receive free tickets to the festival due to a $1,000 donation by Michael L. Williams, former railroad commissioner of the state of Texas. Williams is the uncle of Matt Ra Butterfly, executive producer of the ARBIFF. For non-students, standard admission tickets will be $15 while a four day pass is available for $75. Philander students must stop by the Office of Institutional Advancement inside Kelly Hall, Tuesday, Sept. 4 to obtain tickets. Tickets will be distributed on a first-come-first-served basis.

The Henry L. Dumas Foundation is the primary sponsor of the festival. For more information about tickets, locations, and film screenings, please visit www.arbiff.com.

Philander Smith College is offering a flexible course plan to new students who have yet to complete their college registration process this school year and who want to ease into base level classes. These registrants will be allowed to complete at least nine credit hours by taking one class at a time starting Sept. 13 and ending Dec. 2.

“This semester within a semester will allow new students the opportunity to get plugged into their college courses with ease and flexibility,” said President Dr. Johnny Moore. “What’s imperative for students to know is that it’s not too late to sign up for college. We still have financial aid and scholarships available. We’re aiming to meet the needs of those who put off applying for college to the last minute.”

This system is designed to appeal to central Arkansas students who do not need campus housing. The flexible schedule allows new students to take sessions on Saturdays and at least four hours during weekday evenings.

The classes are offered one at time, meaning for four weeks, students could take Developmental English, Math or Reading; then, over the next four weeks select another class and complete a third class over a four-week period, ending in early December. The other classes being offered include Composition One, Introduction to Political Science and Introduction to Sociology, Basic Speech, College Math or Algebra. Each class is worth three credit hours.

To obtain information about cost, financial aid assistance and registering, call Cathy Young, in the Philander Smith College Admissions Office, (501)370-5221.

Dr. Johnny Moore, president of Philander Smith College is making history by hiring two visiting professors to assist in infusing social justice themes and missions into the institution’s curriculum.

Professor Jonathan Hutchins and Dr. June Christian will be joining the faculty for a one-year appointment and to teach two classes per semester. Both professors will be working under the guidance of the Office of the Social Justice Initiative where director Dr. Joseph L. Jones will collaborate with on several community engagement projects. Both professors will also conduct workshops for faculty in our Social Sciences and Education Divisions to infuse or develop courses that include social justice themes.

Professor Hutchins earned his bachelor’s degree in African American Studies and master’s in History from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Fla. Upon completing his master’s degree, he became the first Feeder Scholar from Florida A&M University to enroll in the doctoral History program at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss. He recently finished a summer seminar at Yale University focusing on slave narratives that focused on the writings of Fredrick Douglas. Jonathan’s research analyzes the intersections of public and private space, as well as power and racial uplift in the development of African Americans’ role in Mississippi and national politics. His dissertation examines Perry Wilbon Howard (1871-1961), an Assistant Attorney General, National Republican Committee member for the state of Mississippi, successful lawyer, and accomplished mathematics professor at Alcorn State College. Hutchins is committed to using his scholarly credentials in pursuit of “archival justice” to rediscover and reclaim the legacy and contributions of African Americans who have been on the margins of history.

Dr. Christian earned her bachelor’s degree in English Literature as well as her master’s degree in Education from Washington University in St. Louis. She also earned a master’s degree in Literature from Tennessee State University in Nashville. In August of 2011, she received her doctorate degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in Educational Leadership and Policy with an emphasis on Social Justice. A long-time social justice advocate, Dr. Christian has facilitated numerous social justice workshops and leadership institutes aimed at assisting youth, teachers, superintendents, community members, health professionals, and university staff in understanding and dismantling several forms of oppression including racism, classism, sexism, ageism, genderism, and heterosexism. She taught middle school reading and creative writing in both the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and the Normandy School District in St. Louis, and is currently editing her book, The Black Flame Trilogy; Multigenerational Trauma, and the Dehumanization of Black Students, under contract with Lexington Books.

Philander Smith College is elated to have such rising scholars join our ranks and as we continue to fulfill our mission which is to graduate academically accomplished students, grounded as advocates for social justice, determined to change the world for the better.

To obtain more information contact Dr. Joseph Jones, (501) 975-8543, or at jjones@philander.edu.

The Bless the Mic speaker series — a Philander Smith College and Little Rock community staple, kicks off the school year with a hot bed of political prowess featuring national talents David Gergen, Donna Brazile and Eugene Robinson.

Starting Sept. 20, Gergen senior political analyst for CNN who has served as an adviser to four U.S. presidents will enlighten our students and the community. He is also professor of public service and the director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School.

On Oct. 15, we’ll host Donna Brazile, Democratic political strategist and a university professor, author, columnist, and the Democratic National Committee’s Vice Chair of Voter Registration and Participation. She’s the author of the best-selling book Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics. Ms. Brazile can be seen as a political contributor on CNN and ABC as well as “This Week with Christiane Amanpour.”

And on Nov. 13, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Eugene Robinson is scheduled to Bless the Mic. Robinson is political writer at the Washington Post.

Each speaker is scheduled to appear at 7 p.m. in the M.L. Harris Auditorium. There are no tickets or reservations required for these events.

For more information, contact Shareese Kondo, Director of Public Relations and Marketing, (501) 370-5279.