The Derek Olivier Research Institute’s (DORI) ultimate goal is to reduce Black on Black
violence through education, research, and social development. Since 2007, Arkansas
Baptist College has maintained a 50% or more male student population. Many of these
males come from low economic home environments where violent crimes happen often in
their neighborhoods. There is a need to educate these students on how to be successful in
college. This Institute will address this challenge using the Urban Community Leadership
academic and research programs.
Through collaborative efforts the following goals will be pursued:
The Institute aligns with the following Strategic Plan initiatives:
Derek Joseph Olivier was an Arkansas Baptist Football player whose life was cut short by
gunfire in September 2012. Derek was shot and killed not far from the Arkansas Baptist
College campus while he was helping a friend change a tire. To date, no arrests have been
made. Derek is survived by his father Joseph, mother, Alma Marie; sister, Felicia; brother,
Antoine; and a host of relatives and friends in his hometown Iberia, LA and around the
country. Derek’s loved ones refuse to allow his death to be in vain by simply resulting in yet
another casualty of black-on-black crime.
As such, the 13th President, Dr. Fitzgerald Hill (2006-2016) established the Derek
Olivier Research Center for Black on Black Violence, under the auspice of the Urban
Community Leadership Program, as a means to study and remedy the problems that plague
urban communities.
