Ouachita Stories

ARKADELPHIA, Ark.—Ouachita Baptist University students, faculty and staff members are invited to participate in a Student Village groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 11.

The brief ceremony, which will be held in the construction zone adjacent to Conger Hall, will include an opportunity for participants to sign a steel construction beam that will be used in the student housing project. Students, faculty and staff are invited to sign the beam prior to or after the 11: 45 a.m. ceremony, between 11 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.

Ouachita President Rex M. Horne Jr., will speak during the outdoor ceremony. Also on the program will be architects Burt Taggart and Gary Clements of Clements and Associates and general contractor Gus Vratsinas of VCC, Inc., as well as Ouachita Student Senate President Becca Woodall, a Christian studies major from Bryant, Ark., and OBU Board of Trustees Chairman Mike Vinson of Corning, Ark.

“The building of the new Student Village on the north side of campus has the potential to have as great an impact as any construction project we have entered,” Horne emphasized. “I think it shows that we are not only trying to address current needs but taking a long look at the future.

“Although this is the main part of this two-year project,” he added. “there are other components that are going to be rolled out over time that are going to bring cohesion to both sides of campus as well as convey the excellence that Ouachita represents.”
The service also will honor Dr. Bob L. Gosser Sr., a 1956 OBU alumnus, and his wife, Marianne, a 1955 OBU graduate. One of the 17 houses in the Student Village is being funded and named in their honor by their five children, all Ouachita graduates, and their spouses: Jenny Turner, Bobby and Donna Gosser, Johnny and Glenda Gosser, Leigh Anna and Jonathan Askins, and April and Jeff Weeks.

Phase one of the $33 million Student Village construction project is scheduled for completion in December 2009, with phase two expected to be completed by August 2010.
The state-of-the-art student housing complex will feature residential facilities for more than 500 students and will include fitness rooms, game rooms, study rooms and laundry facilities. The new housing will replace more than one-third of Ouachita’s current residence hall facilities.

by Trennis Henderson