Equipping leaders
December 14, 2021With its strong history of producing worship leaders who serve in well-known churches in Arkansas, Texas and beyond, Ouachita’s School of Fine Arts has been on the radar of local churches for decades.
Feed Arkadelphia Seeks to Address Hunger, Reduce Waste, Reach Hearts
December 14, 2021As a senior in high school, Reanna Johnson first realized her passion for ending hunger through her volunteer work with a local food pantry.
The Johnson Family
December 14, 2021When you think of Tigers for Life, the Johnson family may have set a record – six Ouachita graduates in eight years, and one more headed for the stage in 2023.
Rachel (Waggener) Pool ('07)
December 14, 2021When Dr. Rachel Pool stepped onto Ouachita’s campus for Super Summer in high school, she fell in love. Not with a boy from another Arkansas town – she was in love with Ouachita.
Kluck takes on his latest leadership challenge
March 12, 2021Dr. Wesley Kluck did not have a restful 2020. As university physician and vice president for student development at Ouachita, he led the university’s health efforts in response to COVID-19, chairing Ouachita’s Health Monitoring and Action Team (HMAT).
Closing Thoughts: Progress in a pandemic
March 12, 2021In the midst of a pandemic, Ouachita’s progress makes us an encouraging outlier in higher education. While total university enrollment in the country continues to decrease, Ouachita increases – our highest in 20 years. We’re also graduating students at our highest level in history plus a placement rate of 97%.
Editor's notes: "Navigating unprecedented times" and other clichés
March 11, 2021As we chose the theme for this issue of the Ouachita Circle, no words seemed sufficient. Even words that were accurate and appropriate had lost their meaning, becoming clichés in our collective consciousness. However, what we have done in 2020 as a global society and here at Ouachita, was truly unprecedented – both for the challenges we faced and the triumphs big and small that we achieved along the way.
Faculty Profile: Ruth Plymale, holder of the J.D. Patterson Chair of Biology
March 10, 2021Ask Dr. Ruth Plymale what she loves about Ouachita, and her answer is easy – the students! Born in Japan and growing up in Texas and Northwest Arkansas, Plymale arrived at Ouachita to teach biology in 2009 after earning degrees at the University of Arkansas and Penn State. Now Arkadelphia feels like home and her students like family.
Staff Profile: Rob Hewell, director of Online Learning Initiatives & professor of music
March 10, 2021While many of us were home in March learning to bake homemade bread or binging Netflix, Dr. Rob Hewell was working swiftly with IT Services and other campus partners to shift every Ouachita student to remote learning. Hewell thrived not only assisting current students but also faculty and staff with moving courses to Zoom and Moodle while continuing his typical daily work with students in Ouachita’s online degree programs.
Adapting in an unprecedented, challenging, remarkable year
March 08, 2021"2020: The Worst Year Ever,” declared the Dec. 14 Time magazine cover. Thinking in terms of “worst” primes us to dwell on all that went wrong this year. Thinking of the ways 2020 is unprecedented invites us to acknowledge the negatives but to be grateful, too, for the good in this very challenging year.
Ouachita launches graduate Dietetic Internship during pandemic
December 14, 2021To say you started anything new in 2020 would, well, raise eyebrows – especially launching something as involved and hands-on as an academic program including clinical healthcare. But that’s exactly what Ouachita did during the 2020-2021 academic year, launching its first graduate programs in more than 20 years.
Hope by way of lament
December 14, 2021“Back to normal.” Since the middle of last March, those words have felt like an impossible dream. As illness disrupted life for many and restrictions disrupted life for all, we longed for things to just be the way they used to be.
Leading and learning in a pandemic year - and beyond
December 14, 2021Navigating college always has its unique challenges, but doing so in the midst of a global pandemic is a feat that seemed nearly impossible a year ago.
Rickey Rogers ('02), Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life
December 14, 2021Rickey and Lydia Rogers have developed more than 20 years of history at Ouachita, in part due to simple geography. With Rickey recruited to play football from six hours away in Mississippi and Lydia coming from six hours away in Texas, Ouachita and Arkadelphia were right in the middle – which made attending college and settling after graduation here between their families a perfect fit.
Ouachita's new M.S. progam in applied behavior analysis addresses critical needs
March 12, 2021Establishing the first full master’s degree in applied behavior analysis (ABA) in Arkansas is a significant milestone for Ouachita as well as for families across the state. The university’s Master of Science degree in ABA officially launched in May and is designed to address a critical shortage of trained Board-Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) throughout the region. Graduates will be equipped to provide therapy options to treat such issues as autism, dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Shepherd returns to Ouachita with goals for belonging: A Q&A with Dr. Lewis Shepherd
March 11, 2021Dr. Lewis Shepherd returned to his alma mater in August as special assistant to the president. In an interview for the Winter 2021 Circle, Dr. Shepherd answers questions about his new role, conversations he is having with students and alumni of color and university goals for working toward a sense of belonging on campus.
Listening and leading toward biblical belonging
March 11, 2021Ouachita’s progress in recent years reflects the input and ideas from listening to responses from two questions in regard to our future: “What shouldn’t change?” and “What should change?” A part of our listening includes hearing the voices of our students and alumni of color. Until we listen, we can’t understand how to make Ouachita a place where belonging is central to an outstanding educational experience.
Alumni Profile: Christa Neal ('08) Facilitating hope and healing
March 10, 2021Seven years ago, Christa Neal was named executive director of the newly established Percy and Donna Malone Child Safety Center in Arkadelphia. There wasn’t a “center” to speak of at the time, just a vision of helping children who were victims of abuse or maltreatment in the area. Soon, a location would be found, Neal would grow funding and support and families would gain much needed services.
Tiger Tunes Rewind reimagines Tunes tradition despite pandemic
March 08, 2021In August 2020, the Ouachita Student Foundation (OSF) announced that its flagship event, Tiger Tunes, would be adapted due to COVID-19 with the theme “Tunes REWIND” and showcase recordings of favorite shows from years past in a single virtual event instead of its usual live, three-night format.
Commencement 2020: A year of circumstance ends in celebration
March 08, 2021Only days after typically bitter December weather, 213 Ouachita graduates walked under a beautiful cloudless blue sky on Benson-Williams Field at Cliff Harris Stadium to receive their diplomas. Saturday, Dec. 5, marked nearly seven months since the class of 2020’s original May commencement date, which was canceled due to COVID-19 last spring.
OUACHITA CIRCLE
ALUMNI MAGAZINE
The Ouachita Circle is a publication of Ouachita Baptist University’s Office of Alumni Relations and Office of Communications & Marketing.
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