Find out more →

Get unlimited access. Become a digital member!

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Make that Dr. Mara Leveritt. UALR honors a famous grad

Posted By on Sat, May 17, 2014 at 7:53 PM

click to enlarge DOC LEVERITT
  • DOC LEVERITT

I was going to wait until morning, but too many fans at UALR demand instant news coverage of UALR commencement today at which Chancellor Joel Anderson awarded an  honorary Ph.D. — Doctor of Humane Letters — to Mara Leveritt, who graduated from UALR 40 years ago.  Dr. Anderson taught her then.

Mara Leveritt is the co-founder, godmother, senior editor, award-winner and, still, conscience of the Arkansas Times, which itself came to life as a scrappy newsprint magazine 40 years ago this fall. Would we still be here today without her immense contributions? Doubtful.

Thanks and congratulations, Dr. Leveritt.

Mara continues her work on a trilogy of books on the West Memphis 3, her passion and obsession and a key part of the lifeline that saved three wrongly convicted East Arkansas youths. If that story be her fame and glory, be assured that it was really a small part of her legacy of advocacy, compassion and courage here.

UALR put commencement on YouTube. Her segment starts at 1:41:45.

Tags: ,

Favorite

Speaking of Mara Leveritt

Comments (11)

Showing 1-11 of 11

Add a comment

 
Subscribe to this thread:
Showing 1-11 of 11

Add a comment

More by Max Brantley

Readers also liked…

  • Catholic bishop says diocese will intervene to support ban on same-sex marriage

    There's a new pope who's made some famously friendly remarks toward gay and lesbian people, but the Little Rock Catholic diocese made it clear today that it wants to keep same-sex marriage illegal in Arkansas. It will attempt to intervene in the lawsuit on the side of preserving legal discrimination. Bishop Anthony Taylor did describe what he termed a "third way" course between "marginalization" of homosexuals and "inventing rights" for them. That way, he said, is "supportive of the dignity and human rights of the homosexual person, while at the same time promoting and protecting marriage as the basis of the family, the primary unit of society." The people who married today found little dignity, of course, in being treated as second-class citizens when it comes to forming families.
    • May 12, 2014
  • Arkansas: Again a pioneer in human rights

    Ernie Dumas writes brilliantly this week on Judge Chris Piazza's ruling striking down the state ban on same-sex marriage. He recalls when Arkansas was a trailblazer once before — on ending criminal laws against sodomy. If the Constitution matters, Dumas thinks the Arkansas Supreme Court, though it might stay Piazza's ruling, must eventually continue the march of progress for a sexual minority long pushed into shadows. Until this glorious week. Dumas notes Piazza's was a decision rooted in the 1874 Arkansas Constitution's equal rights provision.
    • May 13, 2014
  • Allen West comes to Arkansas to campaign for Tom Cotton

    Wow. I'd missed that extremist former Republican Congressman Allen West was coming to Arkansas Saturday to campaign for Tom Cotton. Birds of a feather. Cotton already had the wackjobs lined up, not sure how West adds to that total.
    • May 16, 2014

Most Shared

  • Twenty problems with 20/20's coverage of the Justin Harris 'rehoming'

    More than you ever wanted to know about my thoughts on last night's 20/20 program about the Justin Harris adoption and rehoming scandal.
  • A conversation with '20/20's' Elizabeth Vargas on the Justin Harris 'rehoming' episode

    I spoke yesterday afternoon for the first time with Elizabeth Vargas, anchor of 20/20, the ABC news program that tonight at 9 p.m. will air its version of events surrounding the adoption and rehoming of two young girls by state Rep. Justin Harris (R-West Fork) and his wife, Marsha.
  • Lyons: In defense of restraint

    An awful lot of people think about foreign relations the way they think about football. That is, they view the United States as the beloved home team perennially competing for victories in a season that never ends.
  • If the legislature wants to make the Medicaid program more complicated, it needs to commit to outreach

    The Arkansas legislature has been hostile to outreach efforts for the private option. Now it's considering lots of complicated new bells and whistles for the policy. But for these tweaks to the private option to have any shot at working, the state will have to commit to effective communication and education. The state's consultant — which recommended the changes — was clear in testimony last week that outreach to beneficiaries will play a vital role.
  • National Endowment for the Arts honors Pharoah Sanders

    North Little Rock native and free jazz legend Pharoah Sanders has been named as one of the recipients of a 2016 Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, along with vibraphonist Gary Burton, saxophonist Archie Shepp and Wendy Oxenhorn, director of the Jazz Foundation of America. Sanders, who turned 75 last week, will receive "a $25,000 cash award and perform a free concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on April 4 that will be streamed live on arts.gov."

Most Viewed

  • Twenty problems with 20/20's coverage of the Justin Harris 'rehoming'

    More than you ever wanted to know about my thoughts on last night's 20/20 program about the Justin Harris adoption and rehoming scandal.
  • STOP the freeway expansion; Highway Department feeling some heat

    State Highway Director Scott Bennett is feeling the heat from growing Little Rock objections to his agency's plan to massively expand the damaging path Interstate 30 cuts through the heart of Little Rock. It's time to turn up the heat and Stop This Outrageous Project.
  • Premiums on Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace up 4.3 percent in 2016

    Average premium rates on the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace will be up 4.3 percent in  2016 as compared to 2015, according to information released today by the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). That makes for relatively flat premium growth overall since the Marketplace began in 2014 — last year, premiums actually went down a little more than 2 percent. All of this is good news for the private option, which uses plans purchased on the Marketplace, and projects to be well under the budget caps set by the federal government when the state enacted the policy.
  • BuzzFeed nails Huckabee on Social Security/Medicare flipflop

    Mike Huckabee has flipflopped on Social Security and Medicare. Don't believe us. BuzzFeed quotes Huckabee's own book.
  • Monday's open line

    The open line and the news roundup on video.

Most Recent Comments

Blogroll

 

© 2015 Arkansas Times | 201 East Markham, Suite 200, Little Rock, AR 72201
Powered by Foundation