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Army Science Constructing Named for First African American College Member, Frederick Turner
06/03/2021
JONESBORO – Alumnus and former Military officer Frederick C. Turner, the primary African American to serve on school at Arkansas State College, will likely be honored in perpetuity following motion right now by the ASU System Board of Trustees.
Turner, who started educating programs in army science in 1969 as a part of the Military Reserve Officers’ Coaching Corps (ROTC) program, turns into the namesake of the Lieutenant Colonel Frederick C. Turner Jr. Army Science Constructing.
The seven-member board voted unanimously to call the constructing in response to an A-State Pupil Authorities Affiliation initiative.
“As one of many first African American college students to step foot on this campus and to later be a part of as the primary African American workers member in army science, Mr. Turner has completed greater than cash should buy and has paved the way in which for a extra various and inclusive Arkansas State College,” stated Rashad Kirksey, who led the motion to call the constructing whereas he was serving as SGA president.
“A real pioneer, Lt. Col. Turner pushed by means of institutional boundaries that had been deemed inconceivable to interrupt within the Nineteen Fifties, and we see because of {that a} college the place African American college students can thrive and obtain high quality greater schooling and a basis for a profitable and impactful life. This honor is well timed and properly deserved. I’m elated to have been in a position to push for the renaming with my workers, administration, Lt. Col. Joseph Loar, and Mr. Nathan Wheaton,” Kirksey added.
A local of North Little Rock, Turner earned a bachelor’s diploma in schooling and his infantry officer fee by means of ROTC at A-State in 1960 and his grasp’s diploma in schooling in 1972. Following service within the Military, he returned to his alma mater to show, serving to put together different college students who finally would enter army service as commissioned officers.
In a pair of statements learn by Kirksey on the board assembly, the Turner household expressed their gratitude for the distinction.
“As I’ve traveled the world since graduating from Arkansas State, it has been my privilege to carry excessive this college,” Turner wrote. “I proceed to take action through the twilight of my life. Thanks for contemplating me for this nice honor.”
“My father is actually a rare American, veteran, man, and father,” his daughter, Dr. Debbye Turner Bell stated. “His lifetime of service to his nation and his neighborhood is testomony to the character, integrity, and valor nurtured in him from a younger boy. He served his nation with honor. He has lived his life with ardour and excellence. I’m immensely pleased with him and proud to be his daughter. I’m humbled by this effort to rename the Army Science Constructing in his honor.”
Chancellor Kelly Damphousse expressed his assist for the SGA’s advocacy for the naming.
“Naming the Army Science Constructing after LTC Turner is a part of an ongoing effort to acknowledge the unimaginable impression that pathbreaking school members have had on our campus. As the primary Black school member on our campus, LTC Turner served (and continues to serve) as an inspiration to A-State college students,” he stated. “As Rashad stated at right now’s Board assembly, it’s empowering for college students of colour to see professors and directors who appear like them.”
Whereas the college will plan a dedication occasion within the fall when the Turner household can return to campus, Chancellor Damphousse stated the college will begin the method of adjusting signage and updating campus maps and promotional supplies to mirror the Turner Army Science Constructing as quickly as sensible.
“As the house of the Pink Wolf Battalion for the U.S. Military’s ROTC, the Turner Army Science Constructing is a part of the most important on-campus ROTC coaching facility in our state and among the many largest within the nation,” Damphousse additionally stated. “The Turner constructing will tackle further roles with our common pupil physique and with our neighborhood relations within the upcoming yr.”
As one of many first two African American graduates at A-State, Turner is also one among two people for whom the Sturdy-Turner Chapter of the Arkansas State College Alumni Affiliation is known as. The opposite namesake is Walter Sturdy, who with Turner and Larry Williams entered then-Arkansas State School within the Nineteen Fifties because the establishment’s first African American college students.
Throughout A-State’s centennial yr in 2009, the Alumni Affiliation revealed a commemorative subject, “100 Years, 100 Voices,” of its Voices journal, that includes 100 people who performed key roles within the establishment’s improvement. The article on Turner recalled the circumstances of his admission to A-State, and counted these college students among the many “trailblazers who quietly led social change.”
Inducted into the ROTC Corridor of Heroes in 1995, his quotation notes Turned served three fight excursions in Vietnam the place he commanded a detachment of Armed Door Gunners and an organization within the twenty seventh Infantry (Wolfhounds) Regiment of the twenty fifth Infantry Division, and served as a senior adviser to South Vietnamese Regional and Fashionable Forces. Throughout this time he acquired the Fight Infantry Badge and was twice awarded the Bronze Star Medal. He went on to function the commander of U.S. Military Forces at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), in Belgium, after which as a member of the college and workers of the Command and Normal Employees School at Leavenworth, Kansas.
Following his army profession, Turner held skilled public service positions in greater schooling and authorities in Texas and Virginia earlier than coming into retirement.
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