Ouachita Stories

Every school has traditions that are passed down from year to year. For the Ouachita Baptist University Tigers, one annual event involves hours of dedication. During Battle of the Ravine week (the week when Ouachita’s football team takes on their cross-town rivals, the Henderson State University Reddies), classmates stay up all night long together to guard the school mascot’s statue and prevent any damage caused by rival Reddies.

Each night during the week leading up to the game, a different class is responsible to watch over the Tiger statue all night. Campus clubs and organizations come together to host games and refreshments to kick off each night of guarding. There’s everything from chili dogs and Monday night football or car bashes and bonfires to early morning pep rallies and coffee.

Some of my favorite memories are spontaneous decisions with my friends of what to do with ourselves each year during our guarding time to keep us awake all night. Junior year included setting up karaoke next to the Tiger, singing our lungs out all night long and miraculously not receiving any noise complaints from the rest of campus. This year, my friends and I brought a couch, a TV and a Nintendo 64 from one of our dorm rooms. We bundled up in blankets and sleeping bags and played Mario Party and Super Smash Bros. for hours in the amphitheater, still keeping a close eye on our beloved Tiger.

I’d like to say I participated in the festivities every year; however, I slacked off my sophomore year. I chose to sleep in my cozy dorm room bed in Gosser Hall instead of out in the cold. Although, I could still catch a glimpse from my bedroom window through the fog across the bridge to see the Tiger and Ouachitonians surrounding it, allowing me to still feel a part of the fun.

Nights of guarding the Tiger are ones that you will never forget. There is not another night of the year that brings some of the most random people from your class to come together with one goal in mind. From classmates who you never see to close friends you live with, guarding the Tiger together is a beautiful picture of the community that is so cherished at our school. The lack of sleep and a warm bed are balanced out by the memories made and friendships created and strengthened. Though the rivalry runs deep and tensions run high at the Saturday football game, guarding the Tiger is a responsibility that becomes an honor for students in representing our school and showing our pride.

By Staci Gore, a senior business management and finance double major from Centeron, Ark.

 

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