Арканзас штатындағы Хендерсон мемлекеттік университеті

Public university in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, U. S.

Henderson State University (HSU) is a public university in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, Founded in 1890 as Arkadelphia Methodist College. Henderson has an undergraduate enrollment of around 2,500 students. The campus is located on .

Henderson State University is the only university in the state of Arkansas to have been controlled by both church and State. The university is also the only public Arkansas university to be named for an individual the university was renamed for Charles Christopher Henderson, a Trustee and prominent Arkadelphia businessman, on May 23, 1904. Overall, the university has operated under six different names: Arkadelphia Methodist College (1890 1904), Henderson College (1904 1911), Henderson Brown College (1911 1929), Henderson State Teachers College (1929 1967), Henderson State College (1967 1975) and Henderson State University (1975 Present). The university was founded on March 24, 1890, nearly five months after Arkadelphia city leaders and members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South unsuccessfully tried to lure Hendrix College to Arkadelphia. On September 3, 1890, Arkadelphia Methodist College opened its doors to 110 students and 10 faculty members. The college also served as an academy, providing high school level education, until 1925. In 1913, the university football team’s name began to shift from “Reds” and/or “Red Jackets” to “Reddies.” The Henderson State athletic programs and student body are affectionately called Reddies to this day. In 1929, the university, known then as Henderson Brown College, was pressured to merge with Hendrix College by the Arkansas Methodist Conferences. However, Arkadelphians and southern Arkansan leaders refused to let the institution leave and offered it to the State of Arkansas. The Arkansas General Assembly passed Act 46 to “establish a standard Teachers College in Arkadelphia,” turning Henderson Brown College into Henderson State Teachers College.

Glendell Jones Jr. was named Henderson State University's 17th president on Tuesday, March 6, 2012, and officially assumed presidential duties on July 1, 2012. Jones' tenure as president was rocked by a series of scandals and bad publicity and he and his senior leadership were twice the subject of no confidence votes by the faculty. These votes were not heeded by the university's board of trustees. When the true scope of the university's budget crisis became public in July 2019, Jones was asked to resign and compensated with a year's further salary and six months free residence at the university's presidential mansion. He currently serves as an adviser to the president of Georgetown University. Jones—as well as several other current and former administrators, staff, and members of the board of trustees—were called to testify before the Arkansas legislature in 2020 as part of the state's effort to understand the university's staggering financial collapse. Following Jones' resignation, then general counsel Elaine Kneebone was named acting president. She was replaced by interim President/Chancellor Jim Borsig, who resigned in early 2021 citing health concerns. Chuck Ambrose was hired in November 2021 as the first permanent head of the institution in over two years. On October 24, 2019, the Henderson State Board of Trustees voted unanimously to join the Arkansas State University System based in Little Rock. In February 2022, the university, claiming a pending cash shortfall of over $12 million, declared financial exigency and announced plans to begin cuts to personnel and programs in an effort to "right size" the university and avert the university's closure. On May 2, 2022, 37% of faculty received phone calls from the chancellor's office that their positions had been terminated, 12 departments were excised entirely, eliminating many degree programs. The university cut 67 faculty positions, of which 44 were tenured. Students and faculty protested the sweeping changes, and on May 4, the Faculty Senate voted no confidence in the administration. On May 5, the ASUS Board dismissed the vote of no confidence and approved Chancellor Ambrose's recommendations for program and faculty cuts. Over a year later, Ambrose announced his resignation, effective September 15, 2023. ASU System President Charles Welch later announced the selection of Bob Fisher, a native of Arkadelphia and former president of Belmont University, as interim chancellor of Henderson State.

In October 2019, police responded to a campus chemistry laboratory at the Reynolds Science Center following concerns of chemical odors resulting in the building's closure for several weeks. Initial investigation found elevated levels of benzyl chloride and subsequently found methamphetamine residues. Two chemistry professors who were described as having been acting awkwardly were arrested and charged with manufacturing methamphetamine.

Henderson State's athletic teams are the Reddies. The university is a member in the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Great American Conference since the 2011–12 academic year. The Reddies previously competed in the Gulf South Conference (GSC) from 1993–94 to 2010–11; as well as the defunct Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1930–31 to 1992–93. Henderson State sponsors in 12 intercollegiate sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, football, golf and swimming & diving; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, softball, swimming & diving, tennis and volleyball. The university also has a co ed cheer and pom squad.

The university's football team's home games are played at Carpenter Haygood Stadium in Arkadelphia. Henderson State shares the longest rivalry in Division II football with Ouachita Baptist University Tigers, the Battle of the Ravine, which began in 1895.