Ouachita Stories

Continuing the legacy of faithful support of Ouachita Baptist University, trustees of the Hammons Charitable Foundation helped dedicate the Hammons House on Ouachita’s Arkadelphia campus April 27.

Hammons House is one of 12 houses in Ouachita’s Student Village residential complex, which opened last August. The Student Village features two four-story residence halls configured in 12 houses that include 92 private and semi-private suites to accommodate a total of 360 students.

The Student Village’s latest named house honors the memory of Dr. Edward P. Hammons, a prominent Arkansas physician, who established the Hammons Charitable Foundation in 1991. Dr. Hammons, a resident of Forrest City, Ark., and a member of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn., was actively involved in medical and mission trips around the world. He and his mother established the foundation in memory of his father, O.P. Hammons, to provide college scholarships for students from east Arkansas and west Tennessee who plan to attend Ouachita or other qualified Baptist universities.

Ouachita currently has 17 students who are recipients of Hammons Charitable Foundation Scholarships. In addition to providing scholarships, the foundation provides capital gifts on an annual rotating basis to three Baptist universities. Past Hammonds Charitable Foundation gifts have provided funding for Ouachita’s Hammons Guest House and Hammons Fine Art Gallery.

Speaking during the Hammons House dedication service, Ouachita President Rex M. Horne, Jr., said, “Landmarks are important, but legacies are even more important.

“When we think of Dr. Hammons, we think of a legacy,” he added. “The legacy is written in the lives of young men and young women who study here.”

Dr. Keldon Henley, vice president for student services, told the crowd, “Today, we’re celebrating the completion of the Ouachita circle. … We’re here to celebrate the generosity of the Hammons Foundation who has joined us with foresight and faithfulness in helping us to achieve this vision.”

Following a prayer of dedication by Stephen Johnson, president of Ouachita’s Student Senate, representatives of the Hammons Charitable Foundation unveiled the name of the new Hammons House. Foundation representatives included Dr. David Moore, president of the Arkansas Baptist Foundation; Jonesboro businessman John Hill; and Doug Walker, a development officer from Union University.

Hammons House is the 10^th of the Student Village’s 12 houses to be named in honor or memory of prominent donors or friends of the university.

Gosser Hall, one of the two structures, is named in honor of OBU alumni Dr. Bob and Marianne Gosser. Five of the seven houses in Gosser Hall are named in honor of the Gossers’ five children: Jenny Gosser (OBU Class of ’82), Bobby Gosser (’83), John M. Gosser (’84), Leigh Anna Gosser Askins (’89) and April Gosser Weeks (’94).

The two other houses in Gosser Hall are named in honor of Rosemary “Mom” Chu who retired last year after serving more than 42 years as the hall director of Frances Crawford West, and longtime OBU staff members John and Yvonne Cloud. Cloud is Ouachita’s senior development officer for planned giving and Mrs. Cloud is manager of the Ouachita bookstore.

Student Village houses also are named in honor of Andy and Jeanna Westmoreland and the Daniel family. Dr. Andy Westmoreland, former president of Ouachita, has served since 2006 as president of Samford University. Dr. Jeanna Westmoreland is the former dean of Ouachita’s Huckabee School of Education. The Daniel family established a continuing endowment for the former Daniel Hall, which was built in 1967 and razed last year to make way for the new Student Village.

Naming opportunities are still available for two Student Village houses as well as East Village Hall and the entire Student Village residential complex. For more information, contact Terry Peeples, OBU vice president for development, at (870) 245-5169.

By Trennis Henderson, OBU Vice President for Communications