Don Jones originally wanted to work in radio. He enrolled at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, but he spent little time as a speech major.

“We had to learn all the parts of the larynx, and that was it,” he said. “I also had this history class and teacher that just struck me. In the spring of ’61, I changed my major, and I never looked back.”

That change in major was the first step toward his journey to the University of Central Arkansas, where he has been since 1968.

Jones completed his 50th year as a faculty member in spring 2018, making him the first employee in BT����history to complete 50 years of service.

“It seems longer than that,” Jones said with a chuckle. “It’s just 50 years. I know 50 is 50, but I didn’t really think anything of it.”

Jones was recognized at the 65th annual Employee Service Awards in April 2018. At least four local media outlets featured stories about his achievement. Sen. Jason Rapert presented him with a citation, and the BT����Board of Trustees presented him with a resolution. The College of Liberal Arts established the Don Jones Lifetime Achievement Award, and Jones was the first recipient. He was featured in the 2017-18 BT����Annual Report, and of course, this magazine article.

“I’m not the kind of person who seeks out publicity. As a matter of fact, I shun publicity. I go the other direction and try to hide out,” Jones said. “I do what I do, and that’s that.”

Jones earned his bachelor’s and master’s in Louisiana. He later earned his Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Kansas. While there, he received a prestigious Eisenhower Graduate Fellowship from the Eisenhower World Affairs Institute.

He began working at BT����as an instructor of history. Over the last five decades, he has held a few administrative roles and was even interim chair of the history department. Still, he always came back to the classroom.

“I never got into this to be rich, and I never got into this to be in administration. I just like being in the classroom,” Jones said.

With his newfound “15 minutes of fame,” he said he has most enjoyed hearing from former students. Jones said he has received many letters, emails, telephone calls and other messages from former students congratulating him on his 50-year anniversary and thanking him for being a great teacher.

“I have cards that say, ‘Hey, we saw you’ve been there 50 years. Glad to hear you’re still there,’” Jones said.

He even keeps a special file of all the written communication he has received. Periodically, he thumbs through the messages and smiles when he reflects upon his time at UCA.

“The comments that people have made—the president, the Board of Trustees, Sen. Rapert and others—those are pretty humbling comments,” Jones said.

When asked when he will retire, he gave a slight shrug, not ready to give an exact date.

“I think about it every day. It will happen. I’m closer than I’ve ever been, but no date yet,” he said. “I still enjoy what I do, teaching and working with students.”

A home football game at the University of Central Arkansas has several 
 constants: the Bears, Bruce Street tailgating, the Bear Marching Band, the Stripes and Susan Hoggard ’67 cheering in the stands.

“I say, ‘I’m not just a fan. I’m a fanatic,’” Hoggard said.

For 56 seasons, Hoggard has attended every BT����home football game. That accounts for nearly 300 consecutive games, considered a university record.

“I feel blessed to have been able to have done it, and I’m so appreciative of BT����and their program. I’m grateful for the opportunity to go watch them,” she said.

Hoggard never intended to set any records. She left Stuttgart and came to Conway as a freshman band member at Arkansas State Teachers College, now UCA.

Her years in the Bear Marching Band account for the first years of her football game attendance. The remaining seasons “just happened,” she said.

Her late husband, Jim ’66, was also an avid sports fan. After the two were married, they attended football games both at home and on the road.

Hoggard recalls attending all but one away game when the university was in the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC). The Bears were playing Harding University in Searcy.

“It was snowy and icy, and I was eight months pregnant, and I decided that I didn’t need to slip and slide,” she said.

When BT����left the AIC to join the Gulf South Conference, the family continued to attend all the games.

“We had a motor home, and we drove to Grand Junction, Colorado, and we flew on the plane with the team to Elon, North Carolina,” Hoggard said. “We went to all of them.”

Since her husband’s passing in 2003 and UCA’s move to Division I in 2010, Hoggard travels to very few away games. As for the home games, nothing keeps her away.

In 2017, she underwent two knee replacement surgeries; the second one was within a few days of the first home football game of the season. So, what did she do?

“I went in a wheelchair,” she said.

Hoggard also attends tailgates at Buffalo Alumni Hall to visit with other alums and friends, but once that first whistle blows, she’s only focused on the game.

She usually watches from the Bear Hall skyboxes with other fans while simultaneously listening to play-by-play radio coverage.

“We don’t even visit when the ballgame’s going on,” Hoggard said. “We’ll make a touchdown or get a first down or interception or something, and we’ll get excited. They’ll go, ‘Oh, did we score?’”

Hoggard was recognized at Homecoming 2018 as one of two recipients of the Alumni Service Award because of her sustained support of UCA, as well as her record Bears game attendance.

“I feel special because of the recognition that people have given me and the praise for doing it. I feel blessed to have been able to have done it, and I’m so appreciative of BT����and their program,” she said.

And as impressive as this record-setting achievement may be, Hoggard said UCA’s student-athletes and coaching staff are even more so.

“It’s just amazing to me the grade point averages that these teams carry. It says a lot for the recruiting. And that’s what I appreciate so much about our coaching staff in all those sports is they’re not just after the best athlete,” Hoggard said. “They’re after the good student and the good person.”