Abstract Arkansas State University was founded on April 1, 1909 when Governor George W. Donaghey signed Act 100 into law, establishing four district agricultural schools. As part of the act, Governor Donaghey appointed the first board of trustees to the school where they established the location of the school in Jonesboro and hired V. C. Kays as the school’s first principal then president. The first few decades saw the board establish and expand the school, changing it from an agricultural high...