A Ten Commandments display hangs inside a bus depot on the University of Arkansas campus on Oct. 17, 2025. The donated posters are being hung around the Fayetteville campus in compliance with a new state law. | Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate
By ANTOINETTE GRAJEDA | Arkansas Advocate
A growing number of Arkansas universities are receiving Ten Commandments posters they’re expected to display in classrooms in accordance with a state law a judge has called unconstitutional.
Act 573 of 2025 requires that “a durable poster or framed copy of a historical representation of the Ten Commandments” be “prominently” displayed in public school classrooms and libraries, public institutions of higher education, and public buildings and facilities maintained by taxpayer funds.
A federal judge this week deemed the law unconstitutional and blocked it from being implemented at six Arkansas public school districts — Bentonville, Conway, Fayetteville, Lakeside, Springdale and Siloam Springs. The lawsuit, which was filed last June, only applies to K-12 schools.
No lawsuit has been filed challenging the law’s enforcement at public institutions of higher education.
Arkansas State University spokesperson Todd Clark confirmed Thursday that Jonesboro Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan recently delivered about 50 posters to the school, which has an on-campus enrollment of 8,141.
“We’re working with our Facilities Management team to coordinate installation, which will take place as their workload and project schedule allow,” Clark said in an email. “At the same time, the university is developing a communication plan to ensure transparency and provide appropriate context for our students, faculty and staff.”
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s law school received 19 posters this week and “plans to comply,” Chief Communications and Marketing Officer Carrie Phillips said in a Thursday email. The displays were delivered by Sullivan, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Wednesday.
Sullivan voted in favor of the law, but was not a co-sponsor of the legislation.
The University of Arkansas Fayetteville hung Ten Commandments displays on its campus last fall after receiving about 500 posters. The displays have prompted pushback, including from at least one donor who rescinded his scholarships because of the law.
The Advocate reached out to other institutions of higher education Thursday. The only one to respond by publication was the University of Central Arkansas, who has not received any donations related to the Ten Commandments, according to Director of Media Relations Tiffany Head.
Supporters of the law contend the Ten Commandments have historical significance because they influenced the nation’s founders and the country’s legal system.
Opponents of the displays have said they violate the First Amendment of the Constitution by having government entities endorse a religious belief.
Similar Ten Commandments laws have been challenged in other states, including in Texas and Louisiana.