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Civil rights leaders to join Jan. 24 MLK event at CHARTS

University of Arkansas Pulaski Technical College will host a panel discussion on the topic of equity in education on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 11 a.m. at CHARTS Theater on the UA-PTC Main Campus in North Little Rock. A reception in the CHARTS lobby at 10 a.m. will precede the panel.

The event honors the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Panelists include Dr. Terrence Roberts of the Little Rock Nine; Dr. Sybil Jordan Hampton; and UA-PTC Instructor of History Brenda Bradley. UA-PTC Assistant Teaching Professor of Computer Science Mayo Johnson will moderate the discussion and the following Q&A session.

Admission to the program is free of charge. It is open to the public as well as all UA-PTC students, faculty and staff. The event ushers in Black History month, which is observed throughout February.

The event is presented by the UA-PTC Cultural Diversity and Community Involvement Committee and Little Rock Central High National Historic Site.

Rev. Cecil Gibson will recite Rev. Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream” speech at the beginning of the program.

About the panelists

Terrence J. Roberts, Ph.D. is one of the “Little Rock Nine” who desegregated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. As a 15-year-old eleventh grader, he joined eight other students and became one of the first nine black students to go to a formerly segregated public high school in Little Rock.

Dr. Roberts is CEO of Terrence Roberts Consulting, a management consultant firm devoted to fair and equitable practices in business and industry. A graduate of California State University at Los Angeles (BA), and UCLA (MSW), Dr. Roberts obtained his Ph.D. in Psychology from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois.

Dr. Sybil Jordan Hampton is a lifelong educator and social justice foot soldier. Prior to retiring in 2006, Dr. Hampton served as President of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation in Little Rock and as Contributions Manager, Education and Culture, at the GTE Corporate Foundation in Stamford, Connecticut. Twenty-three years of her career were spent in academic administrative positions at Iona College (New Rochelle, NY), the University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wisconsin) and Southwestern University (Georgetown, Texas). Early in her career she taught at the Louis Champlain Elementary School and worked at the Social Security Payment Center (Chicago, Illinois).

In 1962, she became the first three-year African American graduate of Little Rock Central High School.

She earned an undergraduate degree in English Literature at Earlham College (Richmond, Indiana); a Master’s of Science in Teaching at the University of Chicago; a Masters of Education and a Doctorate in Higher Education at Columbia University's Teachers College (New York, New York). Southwestern University awarded her the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (honoris causa).

Brenda Bradley is an instructor of history at the University of Arkansas - Pulaski Tech. Born and raised in a farming family in central Arkansas, she earned attended bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Central Arkansas. After teaching in high school, Brenda raised a beautiful family and moved on to teach at UA-PTC, where she is blessed to share her love of history with her students on a daily basis. She serves on the UA-PTC Cultural Diversity and Community Involvement Committee.

Mayo Johnson is a native of Little Rock. He is Associate Teaching Professor of Computer Science at the University of Arkansas - Pulaski Tech where he teaches Information Security and has worked as a Faculty member since 2001. He graduated from Hall High School and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Information Systems from the University of Central Arkansas and a Master’s Degree in Computer Information Management from Webster University. He worked at Acxiom Corporation as System Analyst/Administrator and worked as Technology Consultant in London, UK where he also studied International Information Management at Regents University. He is Chair of the UA-PTC Cultural Diversity and Community Involvement Committee. Mayo has University Teaching Certifications from the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) and Johns Hopkins University. He is a former Chair of the Faculty Senate and CIS Department.

Mayo is a former Chair of the Little Rock Racial and Cultural Diversity Commission (RCDC) and led policy development by coordinating efforts to produce data showing the demographic composition of all City Boards and Commissions with the goal of inclusiveness in appointing citizens that reflect the diversity of the city.

He also has moderated a series of Community Forums on Race and Culture featuring Ms. Minnijean Brown Trickey (Little Rock Nine) during the 50th Anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School in 2007. He collaborated with Dr. Michael Eric Dyson as moderator for the UA-PTC Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. virtual event in 2021 themed Equity and Social Justice in the Pandemic. In 2023, he moderated the UA-PTC Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. panel discussion on Inequity in Mental Health featuring Ms. Elizabeth Eckford (Little Rock Nine) and presented her with an honorary degree from the college at graduation.

Pictured, from left: (top) Terrence J. Roberts, Ph.D., Dr. Sybil Jordan Hampton, (bottom) Mayo Johnson and Brenda Bradley