Hendrix Rivalry: Many people will be surprised to learn that UCA and Hendrix College had, at one time, one of the most intense college rivalries found anywhere in the United States. A cross-town rivalry is usually a heated affair but the UCA – Hendrix rivalry came to be so emotion-filled that the two were forced to stop playing each other for several years.
Early Competition: UCA began playing football the first year the college was in operation, 1908. In the beginning UCA was no match for the long established Hendrix Bulldogs. Hendrix had some outstanding athletes and was always more than a match for UCA. Hendrix was so much better than UCA in the early years that from 1909 to 1913 UCA did not score against Hendrix in football. UCA students and players always maintained an attitude that they would win a game from Hendrix and they did, in 1928. In 1928, UCA beat Hendrix for the first time in football under legendary head football coach Dan Estes by a score of 13 to 0.
Rivalry Grows: As UCA became more competitive and began winning games in other sports, basketball and baseball, the rivalry grew more intense. Things came to a head between the two colleges in 1919 when several Hendrix men were on UCA’s campus for the purpose of “calling” on UCA women. This did not sit well with the UCA men and they went to Donaghey Avenue, which at that time was a rock road, and picked up handfuls of rocks and pelted the Hendrix men. More than 30 Hendrix men returned to UCA to confront the attackers of their colleagues. Due to that violent event the UCA administration and the Hendrix administration felt it best to cease competition in sports.
Peace Conference: Relations between UCA and Hendrix broke off in 1919 and a peace conference was held in 1924 to see if there was a way to patch up the ill-will and hard-feelings that existed at the time. Both schools missed the intense rivalry, but everyone knew that there had to be a degree of civility observed on both sides. The two schools met on neutral ground at the First Methodist Church in the fall of 1924. The presidents of both schools believed that both colleges contained enough “civilized” people to allow athletic contests to be held without the threat of violence. UCA and Hendrix played football the next year, in 1925, with Hendrix winning again, 30 to 6. No serious violence was reported when athletic competition resumed between the cross-town rivals.
Source: “From the Archives” by Jimmy Bryant, director of the UCA Archives.