Ouachita Stories

With Convocation, we bring together new and returning students with faculty and staff to formally mark the beginning of a new academic year.

Once a week, we pause campus life for Chapel. We come together to sing, to pray, to hear scripture and to be encouraged. Together. Here in JPAC and in Berry Chapel.

Chapel is a priority at Ouachita. It’s a priority for me – I like being with you.

In high school, I competed on my high school tennis team in rural Bolivar, Missouri. One of our opponents was Kickapoo High School from nearby and much larger Springfield, and I once faced Kickapoo’s most famous graduate: Brad Pitt.

This summer, I found myself thinking about Brad Pitt while Lisa and I watched his latest movie. It’s a high-octane sports drama about Formula One racing that follows a veteran driver, played by Pitt, mentoring a talented rookie driver.

The movie is about relationships between generations and our shared desire to succeed. That theme resonates with what we do here. A college campus brings together different generations: experienced faculty and staff investing in younger undergraduate students.

The faculty seated behind me – along with staff colleagues across campus – serve at Ouachita because they want to invest their lives in yours; to help you succeed and to help you become the person God intends.

With that in mind, let me share three brief thoughts as we begin Ouachita’s 140th year.

I attended a Baptist university like Ouachita in a community like Arkadelphia. As a student over four decades ago, Professor Bernard Holmes helped change my life.

His New Zealand accent first caught my attention, though I was initially nervous about approaching him because he rarely smiled. But that hesitation faded as I heard him speak about his relationship with God, which made me eager to learn from him.

While I never took a formal class with Holmes, I sought every opportunity to hear him speak in chapel, church and small groups. He instilled in me a deeper love for God and taught me practical ways to daily read, reflect and respond to God’s word. He became so important that when Lisa and I were considering marriage, we sought his advice. I’m forever grateful for how Professor Holmes invested his life in mine.

I’ve heard similar stories from Ouachita alumni about our faculty and staff. They are here for you, yet often you must take the initiative. Students: I invite you to seek out and learn as much as you can from faculty and staff. You never know how it might change your life for good.

Faculty and staff can also learn from students. I certainly have.

When we moved here from Indiana, students advised me to say “y’all” more. Y’all – it really is a handy word!

Some of the best ideas for improving Ouachita during my nine years here have come from students. Last week’s dedication of the Hickingbotham Family Track & Field made me think about Jorie, who graduated in 2021.

I met her during the college search process. She was from Chicago – a long way from here – but was interested in our dietetics major and cross country program. After she enrolled, we occasionally crossed paths and chatted. I noted, as did other faculty and staff, her character, service and leadership.

On March 5, 2019, Jorie wrote me an email on behalf of the seven women on the cross country team. She wrote respectfully, thoughtfully and persuasively about their need for a full-time coach and made the case for adding a men’s team.

It’s probably the best email I’ve ever received from a student, and her timing was perfect and providential. Unknown to Jorie and her teammates, we were already considering a full-time coach, and her email helped confirm that we should move forward. Six years later - Ouachita has 130 men and women running cross country and competing in track and field, excelling in both competition and the classroom.

I’m forever grateful for what I’ve learned from students. And faculty and staff: I invite you to learn from the younger generation.

This intergenerational learning is both common sense and biblical. Scripture commands older men and women to serve as role models and pass along wisdom to the younger generation. Yet it also reminds us that people shouldn’t be discounted because of their youth, exhorting the younger generation to be examples in Christian living to those who are older.

As we learn from one another, our opportunity at Ouachita differs from most universities. We have access to and acknowledge the Master Teacher: Jesus Christ.

Scripture tells us that people were astonished at Jesus’ teaching, wisdom and authority. Regardless of one’s religious belief or unbelief, the evidence is that Jesus was the greatest teacher who ever lived.

Yet what sets Jesus apart isn’t just his teaching skills but the astonishing claims he made about himself – and what they mean for us. He said:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). He also said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will never die” (John 11:25).

As Ouachita Baptist University, we believe that Jesus Christ is our Master Teacher, and he is also our God, Savior and Lord. Our first university value states, "We believe that life is lived most abundantly in response to the love of God through Jesus Christ."

I invite all to learn from Jesus Christ through our studies – and by God’s Spirit – in this Christ-centered learning community to become more like him this year. If you’re unsure about Jesus – and what it means to follow him, I invite you to consider him, and we’re here to help you explore that journey.

Lead photo by Lily Roddy

• Tags:
• Blog
• Chapel
• President