The Cultural Diversity Awareness Club (CDAC) at National Park College (NPC) welcomed
Elmer Beard and Linda Franklin, with special guests Joyce Craft and Debbie Ugbade,
to celebrate Black History Month as part of the CDACs “We Belong” guest speaker series.
Elmer Beard has spent many years dedicated to public service. He served as an educator,
served on the Hot Springs City Council for 16 years, established himself as a lifelong
freedom fighter and has more than 50 years of community service and civic leadership
according to a biography provided.
Beard has gone on to self-publish his book “The Challengers: Untold Stories of African-Americans
Who Changed the System in One Small Southern Municipality.” He has completed his latest
work titled “Let Reason Roll: Race, Religion & Reflections,” and it will be available
soon. This book is a collection of poems that take a poignant look at historical events
and pressing issues through the eyes of an octogenarian, or a person between 80 and
89, states his bio.
The Democratic Party recently elected him as the Garland County Election Commissioner.
Linda Franklin earned an Associate of Arts, Associate of Science and an Associate
of General Education from NPC. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in
Education with a major of Mathematics from Henderson State University (HSU). Franklin
is one of the founding advisors of the CDAC at NPC. She is a treasure at NPC and will
be retiring in May 2019. Franklin has served as the president of the local chapter
of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for the
last 10 years.
Beard welcomed Craft and Ugbade touching on the differences that they have made in
the community in their years of services. Craft has served on the board of trustees
for NPC since 2000. Ugbade spent 15 years working as a teacher and administrator in
the Job Corps Program. She retired from the U.S. Forest Service in 2013. She has worked
at NPC since 2013 as an adult education instructor.
