Ouachita Stories

What an honor it is to share a few words about a man who impacted my life so profoundly. As a good Baptist, I thought I would arrange my thoughts around three alliterative points: paper, people and purpose.

I want to begin by highlighting a unique quality of Phil’s: the man loved paper. He wasn’t incapable of navigating a computer. But for some reason, he preferred a yellow legal pad, a pencil and an eraser. When I inherited his dean’s office, I was amazed at how many paper files he kept. For example, he kept unsubmitted drafts of accreditation documents from the 1990s. We kept them because … well … I don’t know why we kept them. Initially, I refused to dispose of all those documents because I feared Phil might one day ask for a document from 1999 that no one else had thought about in decades. Now I just cannot get rid of them. They are an extension of Phil, and I have become rather fond of those old pages. They make me smile when I see them.

Phil always wanted what was best for his people. I remember a time when a valued faculty member told Phil he was leaving to take a job at a university closer to his family. This was a significant loss for the school. But knowing the move was best for the faculty member, Phil supported him along the way. I saw him do this on numerous occasions, and I respected him so much for his ability to look beyond any burden a faculty change might create for him to see the meaningful opportunity for his departing friend and colleague. As a young faculty member myself, this spoke to me. I know I have failed on many occasions, but I have always tried to model Phil’s commitment to value people first and foremost. 

Phil consistently encouraged his students to pursue their purpose with passion, persistence and professionalism. Apparently, Phil appreciated alliterative Ps as well. His purpose was to follow God faithfully. His purpose was to love and honor his family. And his initial purpose at Ouachita was to help the Hickingbotham School of Business become the smallest business school in the world to earn accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Without Phil’s dogged determination and singular focus on achieving accreditation, it never would have happened. Phil always had a purpose behind his actions. He never wandered aimlessly, and I admired him so much for that.

To honor Phil’s memory, I wrote several drafts of this profile on a yellow legal note pad using a pencil and an eraser. I also hope to honor Phil’s memory by prioritizing the people within my sphere of influence — my family, my students, my colleagues. And I plan to pursue the purposes to which God has called me with the same passion, persistence and professionalism that Phil modeled.

Thank you, Phil, for being such an example for each of us. Our lives are better because of you.

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Bryan McKinney ’93 is dean of the Hickingbotham School of Business and general counsel for Ouachita. He holds a bachelor's degree from Ouachita and a J.D. from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock.

 

 

 

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