1. Ronnie Williams to be Keynote at UCA’s Annual MLK Prayer Breakfast
NEWS RELEASE
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS
JANUARY 10, 2025
CONTACT: Fredricka Sharkey, (501) 852-2659 or [email protected]
CONWAY–The University of Central Arkansas will host the annual MLK Prayer Breakfast on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in the Ronnie Williams Student Center Ballroom.
The official program begins at 9 a.m., and breakfast begins at 8:15 a.m. The keynote speaker for the event will be author and former longtime UCA executive administrator Ronnie Williams. The theme for the event is “Shining a Light on the Dream.”
For more than three decades, Williams was a pillar of the UCA campus community. He began his career at UCA in 1980 as assistant dean of students. In 1990, he became director of Minority Affairs, and in 1992, he was named assistant to the president. Williams became vice president of Student Services in 1996. His role expanded to include chief diversity officer in 2013. Williams retired in 2021, and an endowed scholarship was created in his name the same year. Also in the same year, the university’s student center was renamed to the Ronnie Williams Student Center.
Williams’ accomplishments stretched beyond the UCA campus. He was vice-chairman of the Arkansas Educational Television Commission. His service also includes the Arkansas Community Foundation Board, the Faulkner County Shelter for Abused and Battered Women and the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct.
He was also the first Black chairman for the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. The Conway Area Chamber of Commerce recognized Williams with the Guy W. Murphy Distinguished Service Award in 2018. The award is the highest form of recognition from the chamber and is presented each year to a person or group who has demonstrated special service to the community. The chamber cited Williams’ inclusive, open leadership and guidance at UCA and toward people and organizations in Faulkner County.
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