| Less than two minutes into taking the podium, Smokie Norful belted a short, a cappella rendition of “I Need You Now,” the title track of his 2002 gold-certified album. That was just one highlight from his 14-minute address to University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff graduates at their spring 2025 commencement Saturday inside the Pine Bluff Convention Center. A 1995 UAPB graduate who’s won two Grammys and 19 other prestigious awards as a gospel artist, Norful also offered a message to the 252 graduates and their supporters: They did it. Two of Norful’s children have finished college with one presently a junior in southern California. When Tre’ Norful graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Smokie recalled, billionaire Robert F. Smith pledged to pay off the debt of every student in the 2019 class. The donation, Smokie said, was estimated at $40 million. READ MORE |
