Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University has been named to the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement. This marks the third consecutive year that Ouachita has been named to the prestigious Honor Roll.

The Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers the annual recognition, honors more than 700 colleges and universities for their impact on issues from poverty and homelessness to environmental justice. On campuses across the nation, thousands of students joined their faculty to develop innovative programs and projects to meet local needs using the skills gained in their classrooms.

“Congratulations to Ouachita Baptist University and its students for their dedication to service and commitment to improving their local communities,” said Patrick Corvington, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “Our nation’s students are a critical part of the equation and vital to our efforts to tackle the most persistent challenges we face. They have achieved impactful results and demonstrated the value of putting knowledge into practice to help renew America through service.”

Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors including the scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses. Ouachita students compiled more than 40,000 community service hours last year, including such areas as America Reads/America Counts, disaster relief, ElderServe and Tiger Serve Day.

“I am so pleased that the word ‘service’ is on our university seal,” said Ouachita President Rex Horne. “I am most proud that service is a part of the DNA of Ouachita. The commitment of students, faculty and staff to serve children through senior adults is exemplary. This is an award that we cherish.”

Ian Cosh, director of Ouachita’s Elrod Center for Family & Community, noted, “The Presidential Honor Roll is a national recognition of the fact that Ouachita continues to make an effective commitment to community service. We believe in developing our students’ sense of civic responsibility in the hope that they will continue to give back to society well beyond their college days.

“Service provides the avenue to show practical concern for others,” Cosh added. “It instills an appreciation for the blessings we enjoy and for our responsibility to reach out to others in their times of need.”

Ouachita Baptist University, a private Christian liberal arts university in Arkadelphia, Ark., has been ranked the No. 1 Baccalaureate College in the South for three years in a row by U.S. News & World Report. With an enrollment of almost 1,500 students from more than 30 states and 50 nations, Ouachita seeks to foster a love of God and a love of learning in a vibrant, Christ-centered learning community.

For more information about Ouachita Baptist University, visit www.obu.edu or contact OBU’s office of admissions counseling toll-free at (800) DIAL-OBU.

By Trennis Henderson, OBU's vice president for communications