The words “Go Here, Go Anywhere” really do mean “anywhere” in the case of University of Central Arkansas alumna Lencola Sullivan ’79, who currently lives in The Hague in the Netherlands. Sullivan works as a diversity and inclusion trainer and tax office manager at the Royal Dutch Shell Headquarters.
Today, Sullivan leads diversity and inclusion workshops across the nation as well as Europe, and she recently served as moderator for a TedX event that was broadcast to more than 21 Shell locations around the world.
“I came to the University of Central Arkansas planning to become a teacher, knowing that UCA has such a long history of being an excellent place to major in education because it was the Arkansas State Teachers College,” said Sullivan. “But after being there for a while, I realized I wanted to speak. It was my passion. I decided to go into broadcasting.”
After graduation, she was hired at KARK in Little Rock as a news anchor, which she says was “her dream job.” On the weekends, she would even go hang out at work just to soak up more information. “If the weather was bad, I would go up to work and help chase tornadoes!” Sullivan said. “I’m a total news and weather junkie.”
Sullivan used her love of current events to make her first foray into pageants in 1977 when she was crowned Miss Morrilton. Using her love of public speaking, she continued and was crowned Miss UCA in 1978 and Miss White River 1979. In 1980, she became the first African-American Miss Arkansas.
“I was watching the news as usual, and there was a man being interviewed by Tom Brokaw. He was talking so negatively about the state of Arkansas saying we were 25 years behind the times,” said Sullivan. “I went to Miss Arkansas, not to win top five. I went to win the title. I was doing it because I wanted to refute everything that man said about Arkansas.”
In the judges’ interview, Sullivan was never asked why she wanted to win Miss Arkansas but was asked if she wanted to add anything.
“I said ‘When you think of Arkansas you think of three things: Hillbillies, the Razorbacks, and Central High School 1957. If I were to have the honor of being Miss Arkansas, not only would it show Arkansans that we’ve come a long way, it would show America that we’ve come a long way since 1957,'” Sullivan said.
Sullivan represented Arkansas in the 1981 Miss America pageant later that year and became the first African-American contestant to win preliminary awards and was also the first to place in the top five. “Even to this day I still get notes from women of color who actually have become Miss America and still say ‘thank you’ for opening the door because somebody had to open it, and I’m honored to have served in that capacity and show that it is possible for a woman of color to represent America.”