Ouachita Stories

The long, hard weeks of practice put in by many Ouachita students finally paid off in spectacular Tiger Tunes 2009 performances. Thursday, Oct. 8, through Saturday, Oct. 10, the Ouachita Student Foundation’s (OSF) Tiger Tunes entertained packed audiences with eight widely different groups as well as host and hostess pieces and Tiger Blast with the overall winner Campus Ministries announced on Saturday night.

Campus Ministries’ Tunes director Jessica Schleiff, a junior English major from Beijing, China, began practicing with the group near the beginning of September for three hours, four days a week. She said, “Tunes definitely consumed my thoughts all day every day and even into the night as I (allegedly) directed Tunes in my sleep.”

The participating Ouachita groups included Beta Beta Men’s Social Club as Jockeys, the men and women of Campus Ministries as Southern Baptists, Chi Delta Women’s Social Club as Jungle People, EEE Women’s Social Club as Airline Passengers, the men of Fourth Floor as Campus Safety, Kappa Chi Men’s Social Club as Knights, Rho Sigma Men’s Social Club as Monks and Tri Chi Women’s Social Club as Soccer Moms.

“I was so impressed and excited about how cohesive the group was,” Schleiff noted. “I mean, really, the [Campus Ministries] church body was a wonderland.”

Between group performances, the hosts and hostesses kept audiences entertained with music from many genres. These eight Ouachita students began preparing for Tiger Tunes 2009 in February brainstorming ideas and selecting and editing music before summer began. Two weeks before regular classes began in August, they returned to Ouachita and began rehearsing anywhere between three to five hours a day, sometimes on weekends up until the final performances.

“It is very time consuming, but it is all worth it,” said hostess Emily Morgan, a junior accounting major from Mountain Home, Ark. “The show turned out great. I think we achieved our goal of having a lot of variety with our music and having a very entertaining show.”

Hostess Maggie Taylor, a junior music education major from Russellville, Ark., added, “I loved getting to know everyone involved—not only other hosts and hostesses, but also several OSF members, the technical crew and even members of some of the clubs. Obviously I love dancing and singing, but this group of people really made the dancing and singing so much more enjoyable.”

The overall winner of Tiger Tunes 2009 was Campus Ministries, with the women of EEE in 2^nd place and the men of Kappa Chi in 3^rd place.  The congeniality award, given by OSF members, was awarded to the women of Tri Chi, and the People’s Choice award went to the Fourth Floor.

The awards for each of the four criteria (costume, choreography, musicality and theme and lyric) were announced after each of the four performances. Thursday night’s winners were: Kappa Chi for costume, Campus Ministries for choreography, EEE for musicality and Rho Sigma for theme and lyric. Friday’s early show winners were: Campus Ministries for costume and theme and lyric and EEE for choreography and musicality. Friday’s late show winners were: Kappa Chi for costume and Campus Ministries for choreography, musicality and theme and lyric. Saturday night’s winners were: Rho Sigma for costume, EEE for choreography and musicality and Campus Ministries for choreography and theme and lyric.

The hosts and hostesses included: Nikki Anderson, a sophomore music education major from Heber Springs, Ark.; Mark Bartels, a freshman church music major from Henderson, Texas; Leslyn Ichter, a senior music education major from Conway, Ark.; David Jacks, a junior accounting major from Fountain Hill, Ark.; Emily Morgan, a junior accounting major from Mountain Home, Ark.; Alex Ray, a junior political science major from Jacksonville, Ark.; Maggie Taylor, a junior music education major from Russellville, Ark.; and Jacob Watson, a sophomore musical theatre major from Wynne, Ark.

To view the Tiger Tunes 2009 Saturday night performance, visit www.obusignal.com.

By Rebecca Stone