Ouachita Stories

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When College Isn't the Time of Your Life

September 03, 2025

You often hear that moving into college is one of the most exciting and amazing experiences in your life; mine was a little different. An accident sent me to the ER a week into school, I tried to transfer home the week after that, and I thought that my life could not get any worse than it was at college. I ended up loving Ouachita after my first year, but if you or your student are struggling right now, trust me – I’ve been there. It can feel like you are stranded and have no rest from the uneasiness of the unknown. If college is not the best thing ever for your student or yourself at first, here are some things I learned that I hope will help you.

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Ouachita dedicates Hickingbotham Family Track & Field

August 28, 2025

Ouachita Baptist University dedicated its new Hickingbotham Family Track & Field in a ceremony at the facility on Monday, Aug. 25. Attendees included the venue’s namesake, Frank D. Hickingbotham and family, who provided the capstone gift enabling the project’s completion.

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Bill Vining Sr. remembered for excellence, leadership on and off the court

August 20, 2025

Bill Vining Sr., Ouachita Baptist University’s all-time winningest basketball coach and the longest-serving athletic director in school history, died Aug. 15, 2025, at 95 years old. He is remembered for his achievements as well as his unmatched spirit and love for Ouachita.

Ouachita's graduate counseling program receives $1.1 million grant

August 12, 2025

A Mom's Guide to Move-in

August 8, 2025

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Aug 01

Graduate Intensive Weekend

Aug 02

Next Level Elite Skills Academy | Session II

Aug 04

FOOT Session 1

FOOT provides incoming freshmen with a unique opportunity to form lasting relationships and see the ...

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The Signal Student Newspaper

OUACHITA CIRCLE: SUMMER 2023

The alumni magazine of Ouachita Baptist University

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.

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.

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.

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.

Students gathered outside Evans Student Center

Home - person, place, or thing?

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

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).

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.

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