Ouachita Stories

Hundreds of students, faculty and staff from Ouachita Baptist University will gather on Saturday, Sept. 27, for Tiger Serve Day, a semi-annual community service event that serves members of the Arkadelphia community. The event is sponsored by Ouachita’s Ben M. Elrod Center for Family and Community.

Judy Duvall, assistant director of the Elrod Center, said, “Tiger Serve Day is a wonderful way for our campus to get to know and care about the residents of Arkadelphia and also do hands-on work that the residents may not be able to do by themselves.

“In a society that is often self-centered, it is refreshing to see over half of our student body get up early each Tiger Serve Day to serve in very practical and relational ways,” Duvall added.

Haley Dahl, a senior biology major from Red Oak, Texas, has participated in every Tiger Serve Day since coming in as a freshman. “There is something special about uniting with your friends to go out and love on the community of Arkadelphia,” Dahl said. “Every semester I look forward to serving with my friends and meeting new people in the community through Tiger Serve Day.”

On Saturday morning, the teams of participants will meet at the Elrod Center at 8:30 for breakfast provided by Sodexo. Following breakfast, teams will head out into the community to complete assigned service projects with tools provided by the Elrod Center. These projects include activities such as yard work, car washing, painting and small repair jobs. The teams are then invited to reconvene at the Elrod Center at noon for lunch sponsored by Sodexo. Vision Source Arkadelphia also serves as advertising sponsor for the event.

Twenty-one OBU students currently serve on the Tiger Serve Day leadership team that supports the Elrod Center staff with recruitment, project visits, tool maintenance and publicity.

Rachel Wicker, a junior Christian studies and mass communications double major from Benton, Ark., is chair of the projects team this year. “There just isn't anything that compares to the excitement of the day as students join with their teams in their bright Tiger Serve Day shirts, ready to be the body of Christ to those in the community,” reflected Wicker. “But my favorite part is when teams return from their projects eager to share the stories of those they were able to serve. It truly is so satisfying for them, and that is what makes it worth it for us.”

“We are committed to developing graduates who are servant leaders, and Tiger Serve Day is all about discovering the joy and power of serving others,” said Ian Cosh, vice president for community and international engagement at OBU. “Tiger Serve Day shows what it means to put our compassion into action as Christians and Ouachitonians.”

This fall marks the 36th Tiger Serve Day since it began in the spring of 1997. Over the past 17 years, Ouachita students, faculty and staff have logged more than 66,500 hours of community service through the event.

Although the Elrod Center has planned more than 30 events, Cosh said, “Our leadership philosophy is to take each Tiger Serve Day seriously and bring our best energies to the table every single time. Our focus is always on making the upcoming Tiger Serve Day better than the last.”

To sign up for Tiger Serve Day or for more information visit www.obu.edu/serve or call the Elrod Center at (870) 245-5320.

By McKenzie Cranford // Photos by Tyler Rosenthal