Ouachita Stories

In my mind stewardship and tradition are inherently linked.

There is no tradition without people to pass it along. Traditions can be lost or changed depending on how we handle them, care for them, improve them, steward them. There is no Ouachita without the people who have devoted their time and heart to her, without the people who have stewarded our Queen of the college world.

This edition of the Ouachita Circle is both a monument to stewardship and an example of it. After 16 years in Campus Ministries, I had the privilege of stepping into a new role in Ouachita’s Office of Communications & Marketing. In doing so, I became immediately grateful for those who had previously stewarded the work of that office and this project before I arrived.

Much of what you will read in the pages that follow was dreamed of and created by those who came before me, and I am thankful for the work they handed on. They, too, were handed a tradition of excellence by previous champions and keepers of the Ouachita story.

As you read, you will want to consider the thoughtful reflections on tradition by Deborah Root ’81, someone who also has stewarded our story well through decades of the award-winning Ouachitonian. And be sure to enjoy some classic photos of Ouachita traditions. I hope you will also read special profiles in this edition that focus on past faculty and staff members whose devoted years became significant chapters in university history. Some of our own living legends contributed reflections on those who came before them, like Tim Knight ’84 on Ken Sandifer ’49 and Jeff Root ’83 on Rosemary Chu.

This work of stewarding Ouachita’s story matters because, as Christians, we know the Ouachita story only has significance as part of the much bigger story of God’s work in Jesus Christ. The church historian Jaroslav Pelikan wrote, “Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.” While traditionalism can be a danger we should avoid, if we keep the Ouachita story connected to the gospel story, we can rest knowing that we have not just stewarded a tradition, but a living faith.

One final note: having not published an issue of the Circle since 2023, we’ve tried our best to include all the news and alumni updates we could fit. Please forgive any omissions. Apologies also for the delay — you were not, as many asked, dropped from the Circle mailing list!

The complete Fall/Winter 2025 Ouachita Circle is available here.

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James Taylor has served Ouachita as assistant to the president for communications since 2024. Prior to this, he was director of Campus Ministries for 16 years. James pastors Cedar Grove Baptist Church in Arkadelphia and is a graduate of Ouachita (’99) and Beeson Divinity School, Samford University (’02).

 

 

 

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