FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas attorney Arkie Byrd idolized Thurgood Marshall, who overcame adversity, fought civil rights battles and later became the first Black person to become a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice.
She wanted to follow in his footsteps and pursue a career as a civil rights attorney.
But Byrd said Friday that if not for the example set by Silas Hunt -- who made history on Feb. 2, 1948, when he became the first Black student since Reconstruction to attend a major public university in the South and the first ever admitted for graduate or professional studies -- she might not have cleared obstacles and reached her goals.
"I would not be here if not for Silas Hunt, [and] I don't think we can say enough about his determination" to obtain a legal education, Byrd said.
The persistence he demonstrated is still necessary today for many students, especially those from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in higher education, particularly law school, said Byrd, who spoke Friday at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville as part of celebrating Hunt's legacy. "Some of the challenges he faced are still with us.
"You have to be the engine and take the initiative [by being] forward learning," Byrd told students. "How badly do you want a legal education, and what are you willing to do to get it? There are always challenges, but how do you navigate them?"
Byrd, who received her undergraduate and law degrees from UA-Fayetteville, regularly tells law students "it's OK to stay in Arkansas and have a career here."
"I got an excellent education here, and I benefited immeasurably from the experience," said Byrd, a partner with the Little Rock-based law firm of Mays, Byrd and O'Guinn PLLC. However, she also benefited from moving to Washington, D.C., following graduation, to gain work experience.
"Don't be afraid to look outside the box," she said.
But, she also returned to Arkansas, she said.
"Don't be afraid to come back."
She idolized Marshall growing up. However, "not everyone who graduates from law school has to practice law" -- she spent five years working in public policy after law school -- and there are "so many avenues available now that were not" available during her era.
Byrd has advised corporate, governmental and individual clients in Equal Employment Opportunity matters as well as EEO claims, and she's represented clients in domestic, probate and criminal matters, according to the university. Byrd has also served as a cooperating attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc.
She advised students to embrace their educational opportunities, even if they at times feel isolated.
Byrd, a former fellow of the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and staff attorney for the National Partnership for Women & Families (formerly the Women's Legal Defense Fund), was one of only three Black people -- the only Black woman -- to graduate from UA-Fayetteville's law school in 1978, but she still knew she "belonged," she said. "You belong here, too, [and the university] belongs to you, [so] embrace your belonging, and that you have a stake in this place."
The UA-Fayetteville School of Law, the Black Graduate Student Association, and Enrollment Services hosted Byrd as part of Friday's "75 Years of Progress: The Lasting Legacy of Silas Hunt" celebration. The campus community is also invited to watch "Silas Hunt: A Documentary" screenings throughout Black History Month in Silas H. Hunt Hall (Office of Admissions) and participate in a "belonging dialogue circle" facilitated by Student Affairs.
Hunt, a native of Texarkana and World War II veteran, only completed one semester of classes before becoming ill and withdrawing from school, dying roughly 15 months after he started school, but students Wiley A. Branton, George W. Haley, George Howard Jr., Christopher Mercer and Jackie A. Shropshire quickly followed in Hunt's footsteps, and together they became known as the Six Pioneers, according to the university. They were instrumental in breaking down segregation in higher education in the South.
"They paved the way for so many of us here today," said Camille Gilmore, a first-year Ph.D. student in public policy at UA-Fayetteville, who attended Friday. "Through the ambition of Silas Hunt, and those like him, we are here today."
It is "extraordinarily appropriate" for UA-Fayetteville to celebrate Hunt, who is "an icon" to the university and "represents so much of what we strive to be every day," an institution that supports all students and creates opportunities for them, said Chancellor Charles Robinson. Throughout American history, "you see the forces of fear against the forces of hope -- fear works against hope -- [and Hunt] was one of many who worked to push us closer to what we hope to be" as a country.
Though he wasn't exactly "welcomed" because of those forces of fear, he helped establish a foundation at the university that makes it such a welcoming place today, and he "deserves our respect," said Robinson, the first Black chancellor in the university's 150-year-plus history. Hunt was critical to the ongoing effort to be "a more-perfect university."
"We are not where we need to be, but we are much closer than we were when he was here, and we're doing everything we can" to be better, Robinson added. "Every time we support students, especially underrepresented students, we are signifying our commitment to his legacy and making our campus inclusive."
