On August 20, Curtis Williams celebrated his 34th anniversary at the UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law.
Surrounded by many friends and colleagues, Williams said he was excited to begin his 35th year at Bowen.
“When I started working here today in 1990, I never thought I would be here for this long,” Williams said. “Through discipline, hard work and dedication, I am still here and continue to grow.”
Mr. Williams graduated from UA Little Rock in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts. He joined Bowen in 1990 as a library academic technician and said he enjoys the opportunity to research the various case studies housed in Bowen’s law library.
“We have a huge collection of cases downstairs and it keeps me pretty busy,” Williams said. “There is never a particularly boring time in a law school or law library.”
Melissa Serfas, an electronic resources librarian who has worked with Williams for 32 years, described him as a very hard worker.
“He’s a great colleague,” Serfas said. “His two immediate supervisors both praised the quality of his work and his dedication to the law school and library. He almost never missed a day of work.”
In the late ’90s and early 2000s, Williams became very well known around campus as a huge Trojans sports fan.
“He was never officially on any team, but he played in every game,” said Jesse Burchfield, associate dean for information technology services and director of the law library. “He would dance with the cheerleaders and do backflips on the gym floor during halftime.”
Williams became known as the “plaid guy” before and after campus sporting events.
“In the 1990s, there was a famous plaid sport coat that I wore to every game. That name stuck over the years, like a badge of honor,” Williams said. spoke.
Mr. Williams and his friends and colleagues watched a video from the early 2010s of Mr. Williams dancing among a crowd of excited students during a basketball game. To celebrate his love of the game, the Little Rock Athletics presented Williams with a special basketball autographed by coaches Steve Wiedauer and Darrell Walker.
“This is quite an accomplishment,” said Bowen Dean Colin Crawford. “It’s a pleasure working with you. We all greatly appreciate your humor, good company, good work ethic, and responsiveness.”
Sarah Haber, director of admissions at Bowen College, joined the law school the same year Williams started working at Bowen College. She said it was nice to see familiar faces when she returned to work at Bowen last year, and Williams is exactly the same as she remembers.
“He’s a lot of fun to work with, very reliable, a lot of fun, and he has a great sense of humor,” Harbor said.
In addition to the anniversary of his important work, Williams has a lot to celebrate this year. In July, Williams and her sister were able to move into an apartment in the Quapaw neighborhood, within walking distance of her workplace. A few years ago, Williams’ family home was destroyed in a fire. Williams is grateful to have a new place to call home.
“My sister and I lived in an extended stay hotel for a year and in an Our House shelter for two years before finding this new apartment in July,” Williams said. “It’s very quiet at night and I can rest well. This experience inspired me to get out of my backwards position and move forward. I don’t know how far I can go.”
