Ouachita Stories

Brett Rogers '90: People are the Priority

Ouachita has been a home away from home for every student who’s lived in campus housing. Every year for Tiger basketball student-athletes, it’s also a home away from home for the holidays.

Master's degree in counseling dovetails with Ouachita's mission

Ouachita’s newest graduate program equips students to become Licensed Professional Counselors with the skill to treat clients professionally and ethically in response to the global mental health crisis. The program gets at the heart of Ouachita’s mission to prepare students for lives of meaningful work.

Home - person, place, or thing?

“When I first stepped foot on Ouachita’s campus, it just felt like home.”

Julyse Migan-Gandonou Horr: Director of Applied Behavior Analysis Program and Assistant Professor of ABA

With a toddler and a newborn, Dr. Julyse Horr and her husband, Corey, are in that early phase of parenthood when sleep is a rare treat and your most valuable currency can be Cheerios and Goldfish crackers.

A Home for the Times

When I was six, my family moved into a president’s home as my father took the helm at a Baptist university. Early on, I discovered that he put loose change in his briefcase and didn’t seem to mind that I collected the coins. In time, I started reading his papers, sparking my interest in Christian higher education.

Dan Turner '94: Partnering Through Prosecution

When Dan Turner ’94 was preparing for law school as a political science student at Ouachita, he never would have predicted using campus as a makeshift courthouse – a pivot during the pandemic to accommodate social distancing requirements – or being honored on campus for his work prosecuting one of the most notorious sex offenders in the state.

Finding Home: Following Christ in Cambridge and Cone-Bottoms

It was my first time to attend a Cambridge formal hall, a posh ceremonial dinner for which the world’s oldest universities are renowned. As a fifth-generation Texan and a faithful Baptist since birth, I knew everything about BBQs and potluck fellowships. But I knew next to nothing about formal halls, except that they required black tie and sub fusc (the flowing academic gowns we see on Harry Potter).

Karen (Stabley) Matros '92: Director of Student Financial Services

Karen Matros is passionate about a few things – her family, her alma mater and serving others. Matros began working for Ouachita even before she graduated, serving part time in admissions counseling while she finished her degree. She graduated in May of 1992, was married a week later in Berry Chapel to Brant Matros ’93 and began working full time in admissions that summer.