09 Aug 2023 Decades to diploma
By Richard S. Plotkin
The day Ron Hill graduated from Beebe High School, the Conway Log Cabin Democrat reported that the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill to increase the minimum wage to $1.60 an hour.
An advertisement in the newspaper promoted the upcoming “Wednesday Special” at the Dog ‘N’ Suds at Harkrider and Oak streets in Conway — a chicken basket for 99 cents, “3 pieces of heavenly fried chicken, tangy cole slaw, french fries.”
The date was May 27, 1966. Fate, however, soon got between Hill and a college degree.
But for those who know him, Hill is a force of nature who does not accept “no” for an answer. So, on May 5 — almost 57 years after his high school graduation — Hill received a Bachelor of General Studies at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA). “He’ll break down barriers for himself,” said Cheryl Theall, adviser for UCA’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. “But he’ll break down barriers to help others as well.”
Out of high school, Hill enrolled as a physical education major at what was then Arkansas State College-Beebe. He wanted to be a football coach. After two years, Hill transferred in 1968 to State College of Arkansas in Conway, which became UCA in 1975. Hill began coaching youth football in 1968. At UCA, he joined the football team and still planned to get his degree in physical education. Fate had its own plans. “I injured my knee in spring football,” Hill recalled. “I dropped out but neglected to withdraw.”
Hill returned to UCA about 10 years later with what he recalls being 108 credit hours and a grade-point average (GPA) of 1.03. The university admitted him, but he was told, “Don’t make a C [or less].” Hill’s major again was physical education, but he did not give up his day job at Dean Milk in Conway. Close to graduation in 1984, Hill had earned 172 credit hours, a 2.52 GPA and $272 in parking fines. Unable to pay, Hill decided to “lay out” a semester.
He did not go back.
Years passed, but Hill built a life for himself. Along the way, he coached youth football for 51 years – “They’re all my kids,” Hill proclaims now – and started a concrete business in 1998. In 2002, he married the love of his life, Karen. They live in Conway and share two daughters, two stepsons, five grandsons and a granddaughter.
As a member of the Kiwanis Club of Conway, Hill helped organize the group of civic clubs, businesses, government officials and individuals that constructed the two City of Colleges signs in Conway. Then three or four years ago, Hill thought, “I’ve got money. Even if they [UCA] take $272 and multiply it …”
Hill’s motivation was to not let 172 credit hours go to waste. Also, he explained, “I’ve always put ‘attended.’ I have not put ‘a graduate.’ So, I wanted to change it from ‘attended’ to ‘graduate.’” A chance meeting with UCA President Houston Davis at Einstein Bros. Bagels on campus marked a watershed in Hill’s journey. He said Davis told him, “We’ve got a program, a degree, for you. A General Studies degree. Call these people and talk to them.”
One of those people is Theall, who worked with the registrar’s office to determine that Hill needed only nine credit hours for a General Studies degree. In Hill’s case, Theall explained he needed three upper-division courses after factoring in the number of hours he already had earned — most at UCA, which simplified the determination — in areas that could be pulled into General Studies concentrations. “When we’re talking about the Bachelor of General Studies here at UCA, every student is uniquely different, based on what they’re coming in with,” Theall said. “There are so many different pieces to the Bachelor of General Studies.”
UCA first offered a Bachelor of General Studies in 2018. The requirements for completion have changed since Hill re-enrolled. According to UCA’s Undergraduate Bulletin for 2023-2024, it is a flexible, multidisciplinary program designed for students who have at least 60 hours of college credit but have not completed a bachelor’s degree.
“The help of everybody at UCA was unreal,” Hill said. “I didn’t have a clue. They walked me through it, they told me what to do.”
The day Hill at long last got his college degree, he describes himself as “just grinning.” He received hugs from President Davis and Theall at commencement. He was 74 years old that day, heading to 75 on Dec. 23.
He had outdueled fate. And he still does not like to take “no” for an answer.
